The Scream Machine — Attraction in Upper Grand Lagoon

We had an interesting ride on the Scream machine: it broke down. After "warming" the boat up with some tricks, the engines overheated, shut off and we were dead in the water with 25+ people on board. To lift the back up to look at the engines, all those in the back row had to stand and squeeze into other rows. Apparently, there was a coolant leak of some sort and both engines needed time to cool off. Mechanic issues happen, so I understand that. But it was apparent that "flaws" in the trip had affected the captain's mood; he was annoyed and agitated.

He and his co-captain seemed at odds. Prior to the engine failure, the captain's music cut off and he spent a long time driving in circles trying to get his phone to sync. Passengers kept looking at each other wondering what was going on because they couldn't see what he was doing. The co-captain asked everyone if anyone felt sick yet. Ha!

After the engine failure, there was a point when the co-captain even fell off the boat. The captain hollered for him, wondering why he wasn't replying. We had to inform him, that he was in the water. Obviously, he couldn't reboard until the captain was done looking at the engines. When one engine came online, the captain put the boat in gear before the co-captain or even the standing passengers could return to their seats. The co-captain had to remind the captain it was probably best to let the paying customers get safely back to their seats first.

Since only 1 engine was working, we had to slowly return to the docks. Eventually, engine #2 started up. We were offered a refund or an opportunity to rebook. We rebooked for 2 days later. The following day, the office called to tell me the captain decided to suddenly take an impromptu week+ vacation and she had to refund us. The poor gal sounded frustrated. So, I'm not sure what went on behind the scenes, but hopefully, the captain gets the 'rest' he needs and comes back to a working boat and a fresh outlook. The first part of the trip was good, but the rest, was awkward.

*EDIT: The captain never offered a same day option. He told us to call the number on the sign by the check in booth to rebook or get a refund. We rebooked, as I stated above, but his last minute vacation is why we couldn't get back on the Scream Machine. His response to my review speaks volumes. Judge...

My family and I were very excited for this boat ride on the Scream Machine. We are from PA and staying in Destin. We had an 1.5 hour drive to get there. It’s called THE SCREAM MACHINE.. but don’t bother screaming because you’ll get told about it and then have the guy keep acting as if I damaged his ears. I was trying to have a good time but after I was rudely told to be quiet I went mute and found it hard to really enjoy the ride. Shortly before this he said something to me and I was telling my Mom what he said and he looked at me and said can you be quiet so I can talk now. Usually when you go out on these boat trips the person driving is upbeat and fun. Unfortunately this was not the case for me and my family. The ride itself wasn’t as long as expected so much of it was in the no wake zone which took up so much time and it wasn’t as thrilling as it was made out to be or that we expected. I would have enjoyed it more had I not dealt with the rudeness from the driver. Just killed my mood. Also had a picture taken we were told was a freebie but never received it.

Replying to the reply I received regarding my review above. No I would never return. The captain was the rudest person I encountered the entire week of vacation. When I come visit again I will definitely go with the other boat rides I did but The Scream Machine will not be on my list. Definitely shouldn’t be called the scream machine either since you can’t actually scream or have any fun in the ride. And I was not talking over the captain or not allowing him to talk. I was talking just like everyone else to my family. If he wanted to talk to the passengers all he had to do was say so instead he called me out specifically and I was told to be quiet. So no I’m not the rude one he is. He also shouldn’t have been driving since he mentioned a few times how...

Scheduled and booked a ride for 11am, July 3rd. Received a text the night before, stating that ride was cancelled so I could pick the 6 or 7pm rides; I picked the 6pm ride—on July 3, at 5:49pm, as my son and I were waiting at the docks, a phone call came in and he said that due to traffic, customers were running late and all rides were being moved back an hour. I had firework plans and could not do that. I am a local, but other people were waiting there from Georgia and Tallahassee and one couple was from further away. I texted to be certain I would get my refund and was then told the ride had to be pushed because he was “short a crew member”. Once I reminded him he told me it was because of customers being stuck in traffic, he stated, “yes, customers and crew”. Idk, if everyone else that was there ON TIME could make it ON TIME, so should the crew and everyone else—not thwart the plans of others due to lack of time management and responsibility of a few and the crew. I would recommend and rather spend my $$ on the Sea Screamer or renting a sea-doo. The lack of professionalism from scheduling to not getting the time I paid for due to irresponsible people—customer service was highly...