Haunted Theme Park?

This is my first time posting on this board, very interesting to read, but I shall now tell you of some strange occurrances at the theme park I work at in the south of England.

I work as a rides team leader, which means i'm responsible for 9 of the rides and the relevant staff, which means I'm often still on site way after the rides staff have gone, and all the rides are closed. One of my rides is a dark ride attraction, where you go around on trains holding 30 people, with laser guns shooting at LED targets, themed as an ancient tomb. It is a well known fact that a german worker fell from the roof and onto the ground below at the start of the ride, which is a ramp that takes the train up to the second level of the building. There is a plaque in rememberence underneath the track where he fell. He is said to haunt the attraction, which I was skeptical of at first, but recent events have got me thinking.

One evening, I was helping the ride operator walk the ride and clean any rubbish left by the riders of the day. We were the only ones in there, as the operator has to close all the access doors and leave through a fire exit in the engineer's workshop, which only the ride engineers have the key for. We went for a peek into a storage area where animatronics from a previous incantation were stored, with a figure that held a large diamond. I said to my companion how freaky it would be if he suddenly turned on and said "get out, get out". He laughed, and then we heard a sound like a train making it's way up the ramp, and then some footsteps. The first could not have been possible, as we had turned off the power into the attraction, except for the house lights. We both said we'd forget about the cleaning for the night, and left the room to go back and out to the exit. My colleague started walking towards the 'ramp', but i reminded him that that was the direction from the sounds came from, so we walked, well, fastly walked the entire rest of the course, back around the ride, trhough the station to the exit which is at the bottom of the ramp. As we went through the fire exit, we both heard a whisper, like a distant coughing, but nearby, and some more, heavy fast footsteps. Was a very unnerving experience.

There have been other reports over the years about 'Herman Moments', where over a week there were complaints from guests about a worker in the ride area who was clanking a hammer on to the handrails on the walkway around the track. Well for one, no staff member would be allowed in the ride area when it's moving, 2, there was no-one of that description working at the park at that time and finally, to have the same complaints about the ruining of their ride experience, from different people, over the course of a few days.

Another new operator last week shut the ride down and it had to be searched for a "miscreant in the ride area" as she had followed a train on the cctv monitors with only one gentleman on the back carriage, but the train came into the station empty. We searched the entire ride for anyone in there, but no one. No mistake on the cctv, as the infrared cameras show people on the trains very clearly.

However the worst expereince I had in there was one evening when we were having a staff 'management thank you' party. We had the ride open, for staff to ride, only two of us working on it, myself who was platforming, and dan the operator. Before we could open to the staff, the ride had to be ridden after the operator's checks. I went on, and sat on the last carriage which has two rows, a front row of 2 and a back row of 3 seats. I sat in the row with 2 seats. There's a scene in the ride where the train stops for about 30 seconds. After about 15 seconds I felt as if someone was watching me (not dan on the cctv ). Then something pulled my hair on my head, quite hard from behind. I turned around and no one was there. It would've been hard for someone to sneak in and get on the carriage as it rotates loosely, so woulda felt the carriage move if someone lent over and grabbed my hair, and I know that in that scene behind me is a void of unused space, about 15ft to the wall, with wooden floorboards for a walkway, I would've heard someone on it! I haven't ridden it on my own or walked around the ride on my own since.

There has also frequently been problems of the ride emergency stopping itself, which can only be done by thte operator. The e-stop button has been changed numerous times, and the electronics of the control panel and circuit breakers in the workshop, but all okay. It's strange as if it was a train malfunction, the ride wouldn't e-stop itself, only the train would stop, as they're completly seperate from the other systems. The ride can only be complelty e-stopped by the operator, otherwise the indiviual systems fail.

Ther have been reports on other rides of strange goings on, such as the log flume ride, the team closing it up said they heard footsteps coming from the queueline, which is a bridge in the station, but there was no access to there as the entrance shutters were closed, but no one came round and into the station.

The site has a manor house which has been there in some form or another since the 14th century, so who knows what's been happening over the years.

Sorry it's quite long, but I thought I'd just share my experiences.

J