Young creatives today are flocking to YouTube to hone their craft. Some want to make box office-defying horror movies, others want to film themselves eating illegal chicken nuggets on a roller coaster. With sauce. Such was Allen Ferrell’s dream when he went to Six Flags’ Cedar Point amusement park in Sandusky, Ohio and boarded the Millennium Force ride — which reaches heights and speeds of 310 feet and 93 mph — with a 10-piece McDonald’s chicken nugget order stuffed in his underwear. His cameraman held onto the sweet & sour sauce. While Ferrell failed to complete the task — eating only seven of the 10 nuggets — his video of the affair was a (de)boned-a-fide success, racking up 862K+ views on YouTube and making national news. (It also was tastefully set to Mozart’s “Eine Kleine Nachtmusik,” a nice touch.) But just like the very roller coaster he was riding, the high of the moment soon plummeted to a great low. Among those national viewers was Six Flags themselves, who here and forthwith have BANNED Allen Ferrell from all their parks, FOR LIFE, for violating their safety policies. Hark, do not say banishment!
In a statement first obtained by EW, a representative for Cedar Point — a world-renowned Six Flags-owned amusement park in Sandusky, Ohio — tells us that “safety is a cornerstone of our business, and we have zero tolerance for inappropriate and unsafe behavior.”
The statement from park rep Tony Clark continues, “Our ride safety policy strictly prohibits all loose articles on rides, including food which can become a choking hazard. Safety is a partnership between our guests and the park, and guests must follow all written and verbal instructions for safe riding. Guests who violate our Code of Conduct are not welcome in our parks, and this guest has been banned from all Six Flags parks for life.”
Cedar Point’s safety guidelines stipulate that, on most rides, “items must be safely secured in cargo pockets, a waist pack, in a bin on the ride platform, left in a locker, or with a non-rider.” On Millennium Force specifically, “loose items that are not able to be stored in waist packs or cargo pockets are not permitted in line and must be stored in a locker or with a non-rider.”
EW previously reached out to Ferrell directly for comment, though he did not provide one at the time.
Last week, Ferrell, who has nearly 4 million followers on TikTok and 1.8 million subscribers on YouTube, shared a video of himself sticking a 10-piece box of chicken nuggets into his pants before boarding the Millennium Force roller coaster.
Ferrell is seen in the footage pulling the box out and eating the nuggets while the ride drops from its 310-foot height. His riding partner then extends a hand holding an open container of sauce, into which Ferrell dips his nugget before it slides off his face.
“Loose articles are not permitted on Millennium Force,” Clark previously confirmed in a statement to EW. “Cedar Point does not condone the behavior demonstrated in this video,” he added in his email.
At what cost, fame? That he should reach the steep heights of virality, yet hence from Six Flags Allen art banishèd. Naturally, Allen didn’t respond with poetic prose, but through his preferred medium of expression: social media video. He apologized to Six Flags and Cedar Point, to his “future family that will never get to go on a Six Flags family vacation,” and to the chicken nugget community. Oh Allen, the family vacations will just go on without you. On the one hand, he seemed measured in his self-produced video, acknowledging that he fully understands how Six Flags has to hold the line (and not just the wait lines to board a ride) on the utmost of safety standards. That is their primary obligation, and there really are so many ways Allen’s stunt could have gone south in seriously consequential ways. Which is why I was a little perturbed to see Allen be somewhat flippant in other interviews. When asked if he had any regrets, his sole answer was, “Getting caught!” Ah yes, the tragedy of being found out… after posting the evidence on all your social media platforms. My dude, you weren’t “caught,” you outed yourself!
PS — Do you ever wonder what the world would look like if these kids spent half the time they do on stuff like this, on reading instead? I think about that. A lot.