The park's main attraction, the Big Dipper roller coaster, became the site of the deadliest roller coaster accident in history. As the ride was being pulled to the top of the launch hill the lift chain detached from one the trains and the anti-rollback mechanism malfunctioned.

Historically, the deadliest roller coaster accident occurred on May 30, 1972, at Battersea Park Funfair in London, known as the Big Dipper disaster. A wooden roller coaster train being hauled up the lift hill broke loose; the "rollback" brake failed, sending the carriages hurtling backward into the station where they derailed. The accident killed five children and injured thirteen others. In more modern times, the 2015 "Smiler" crash at Alton Towers in the UK (resulting in 16 injuries, including two leg amputations) and the 2016 "Thunder River Rapids" tragedy at Dreamworld Australia (killing four adults) are often cited due to their high media profile. In 2026, roller coasters are statistically safer than almost any other form of transportation or recreation, with an injury risk of roughly one in 15 million. These rare tragedies are almost always the result of a "perfect storm" of mechanical failure and human error, leading to the incredibly strict automated safety protocols we see in modern parks today.