Fitting onto the rides

Hi everyone. Im very excited cause im going to cedar point tomorrow. im just worried about something. i have a friend who is kinda big..not huge but ya know what i mean. i just dont want my friend getting up to the platform and to get embarrassed cause they cant fit. maybe im just worrying too much.

Tell your friend to ask the park operators for the
"large seat", some of CP's coasters have seats on them that are more accomadating for bigger riders.

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I'd walk through hell in a gasoline suit to keep riding roller coasters

Thanks for that info.

Does your friend have big shoulders or something. Or is he a husky fellow?

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SFGAm Trip - July 13-17, 2001

What about woman who are well endowed, if you know what I mean? Some have trouble with OTSR, like on B:TR, any help? The safety belts on Batman are just a little too short!

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Just a couple of G-force junkies!

I have been waiting patiently for this topic to come up and now I can express my concerns. Be prepared... essay coming.

It seems to me that more and more rides these days are being built for people under 5'10 and 165lbs. Before there was of course the restrictions due to weight. This I can understand to a degree.. mind you a degree. Nothing infuriates me more than to go to Amusement parks these days and see high profile rides that turn away guests who have waited hours to ride their new attraction because the seat belt just won't go that extra 1/8 of an inch.
First off it's completely embarrassing for the patron to be put on display as ride-ops shove the restraints down trying to buckle a freaking seat belt?! Since when did seat belts become that much more advanced in holding in people that the multilocks on the trains themselves?? Even more embarrassment is when the line is held up due to this and the rider has to exit in front of everyone due to his/her size.
Example scenario. Hypersonic (not picking here) opened this year, at a recent outing XLC broke down and a core group of us waited it out in the station to ride. During this time I talked with the ride ops about safety policies of KD using extended belts on their rides. The OP actually thought that it wasn't a problem of having to reject riders due to their size!! It has yet to fail that every wait results in one or more people not fitting. Well just so happens that there was a girl and her mother who waited for the ride. I motioned to the ride OP to make a friendly wager that (a) the girl was not going to fit and that (b) there was going to be an extremely ugly scene if she didn't. The bet was on. 3 1/2 hours later the ride opened and guess what.. she didn't fit. The op gave me a nervous look and quickly moved her to a more "loose" seat. Well she still was unable to make that seatbelt click...until an attendant actually used their foot and crammed the device into her enough to latch. Extremely embarrassing and humiliating for the girl who by standards wasn't "Fat" but a bit on the chunky side.
Why isn't it that parks that have these awesome rides that only accommodate short skinny people place a train at the front of the line for people of size to test before wasting their day??

Next up is the question of length! On a recent trip to Six Flags America.. I was actually checked for height as I may have been TOO TALL?!?!?! for Superman:ROS and Mind Bender. WTF is going on in the coaster world? Are head choppers (a cheesy effect in my opinion) now going to single out tall riders? Mind you i'm not Michael Jordan (6'3) but come on! When will ride designers and park owners realize that there are people out there who would love to come to their park and fork out the $$$ to ride some rides, but don't for fear of embarrassment.
One last note. I fully understand the laws of physics and gravity and the effects it has upon the human body. I agree that people of a certain weight should not ride (300+) but those who are within the 200-250 should be able to ride. Just my little ol' opinion. Essay over.

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Riding the rails from the East Coast to the West Coast

I agree with the height thing. 6'3" is not that much taller than the average height of a man. Also, it's not something you can't control. On the other hand, weight is. If you really love to ride coasters, it seems to me that would be great incentive to lose weight. They can only make the seats so big. I have a friend who can't fit into certain coasters. He usually can't close OTSR's, not because his upper body is too big, but cause he doesn't fit all the way down in the seats, especially the B&M bucket seat. Remember, designers have to build seats that will handle the majority of people. I would assume that at least 95% of people who meet the height requirements can ride comfortably. This is one case where I'm perfectly happy being "average."

Hersheypark's Wildcat is notorious for this. I know a few people who can fit into the seat with no problem and can get the lap bar closed with on problem at all, but can't ride because the seat belt is too short. And these are people who can ride all the other coasters there.

Personally, I have never had the problem (even being a bit on the "chunky side"), however I have been visiting the park with people who have, and it is very embarrassing for them, and it (rightfully so) brings them down for the rest of the day.

The "OTSR's" on B&Mers are a different story. I've not personally known anyone who could not fit into the "big boy" seat, however I do know some people who can not do a front seat ride on them (which is the best way to experience an inverted coaster).

The seat belt thing just seems to be a fluke… other belts fit, even the more tight fitting Lightning Racer. However the Wildcat just ha short belts… no two way about it.

As for the B&Mers, someone said that it is because they are designed by Europeans and the average European is of a smaller stature than most Americans. Any truth to this? Or is this just talk?


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"I wasn't always this cynical, but then I started kindergarden..."

I agree Z-man. Want to ride the coasters then do something about your weight. I know it is hard but it will get you on coasters and probably improve your self esteem and way of life.

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Thank you for Riding Millenium Force and enjoy the rest of your day here at Cedar Point, America's Roller Coast."

Everyone, please keep in mind that some people with weight problems can't do much about them due to various other health problems, many of the endocrine variety. Yes, some people who CAN lose weight could stand to DO something about it, but making a sweeping statement like "If you don't fit, lose the pounds" really isn't fair to many people out there. How'd you like to be the one trying and failing, only to have someone tell you "Lose the weight bud..."


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--Greg

http://www.pobox.com/~gregleg/

Exactly. While everybody can control their weight to an extent, some people are just genetically predisposed to being heavy, or have a medical condition.

I myself sometimes have trouble with PTC trains with seat belts, and i'm not even that big of a guy. Its not the lap bar, but what someone else mentioned, its just kinda tough to get the seat belt around me at first.

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The day that I spend more time analyzing the rides than screaming my head off like a moron is the day that I hope someone will kick my in the love sausage and tell me not to be a moron. - Jeff
*** This post was edited by ravenguy98 on 7/12/2001. ***

My wife, who is not fat and who has never even come close to not fitting into a ride, gets VERY nervous before each new ride, fearing that she won't fit. In fact she has skipped some rides because of this very fear.

Just shows what small seats can do for one's self-esteem.

I'm about 6'1" and 260lbs. I don't find any steel coaster to be a problem for fitting. On PTC 3-bench trains, I fit well, but it is a little tight. I have no problems with the seat belts. But on a 2-bench PTC, like on the Georgia Cyclone, The Seat Belt again fits fine, but the seat dividers are evil. I fit, but very uncomfortably. On a Schwarzkopf with lapbars, no problem there! Best seats ever! I just don't like Ga. Cyclone style seats...Any of those at CP?

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Millennium Force: Go Full Force...

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SLFAKE said:
"Hersheypark's Wildcat is notorious for this. I know a few people who can fit into the seat with no problem and can get the lap bar closed with on problem at all, but can't ride because the seat belt is too short."

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Actually I believe I saw a seat belt extension at the ride ops control panel. It's a short seat belt with the two ends of the lock to give that extra inch or two.
I also know a guy who bought one to use it on other coasters. Not sure where he got it though.
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Hello, My name is Dan and I'm a coasterholic.

Yeah , life sucks when you have your whole life built your body to accomidate playing football. I am 6'6 and 315 pounds. I am a monster when I walk into the que house. The Ride ops Know to push until it clicks, but come on I am to big to ride every wooden coaster in the country Except Lightning Racer. I have spent thousands of dollars every year to travel to try new rides. Now I can not even enjoy the rides. I took a trip to ride Hypersonic. They would not let me in the line. Telling me I am to big. We I think they need to think about the new normal 6 foot something upper 200 pounds. I love riding these beasts but I am going to stop going place that tell me no I am to big before I even step near a ride. Six Flags will at least try. I tried to ride every Flat ride at SFGADV. Only 5 I fit on. I have been trying to be an extender belt for all BM machines. I was told that was available by a ride op in Busch Gardens. He said to buy the belt and you can ride evrything. well I can not seem to find a seller of this Product. I will end my rant with saying 30 players on my college team exceed the max size for these rides. And I have to say that is not fair.
Thanks.

Well B&M inverts havea max. bust size of 54 nches if you are bigger you have to get in the deeper seats. Raptordoesn't have the deeper seat but they might have one of those seats at the enterence where you can see if you fit. I really have never been too big for a coaster, I thought Hypersonics lap bars were very small and I almost freaked out when the seatbelt wouldn't becuase the restraint was too hard to pull down but I pulled down as hard as I could and it came down about five more inches. I also observed on Hypersonic that there is a little 4-5 inch foam pad at the bottom of the seats if it wasn't there more people could fit.

If these seat belt extenders really do exist, I want to know where to find them! Weight is not the issue here, but frame and bust size is. No problem with 99% of coasters, but Batman The Ride is. OTSR will latch but that @#$%! belt is about 1/2 inch too short, even if stapled, which for a female is extremely uncomfortable with OTSR's if you know what I mean!

The only problem I have had is once because of a really tight seat divider... I wish they sold extenders for those...

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Did you realize that Theme Park Nacho cheese isn't really cheese?

You know...a pretty good percentage of Americans are overweight, I would think that these people would have figured out the cha-ching factor in developing more accommodating seats. Having said that, I'm a 240 lb woman (I can tell you this cuz this is anonymous--woo hoo!) with a 42F bust and I always panic when I get into the station even though I've always been able to wedge myself in there. OTSRs squish my bezooms a little but it's worth it.

So far I haven't had a real problem, but I can see the day coming. First, I have those "child bearing hips". No fat on them, just bone, but I still find Beast a tight fit. Second, when you're an 18-year-old that has trouble with OTSR's because of "them", imagine what it'll be like after I have kids. AAAAHHHHH!!!!
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We are the ones who wait in line for hours for a 45-second thrill, and consider it time well spent.