Cedar Fair being unfair to those who need eyeglasses?

I've read two different reports of people not being able to ride the new coasters at DP and KD even with a eyeglass retaining strap. I don't wear eyeglasses, but my friend does, and I have yet to tell him because I know he'll be quite upset.

In one of the early seasons of S:ROS at SFA, they made him take off his eyeglasses and there were no shelves to put anything on. Sure, enough he gets back and someone had stepped on them.

I know that some people will say that this is even more of an argument to put stuff in lockers, but why should people who need assistance seeing be a) forced to stand in a queue where they can't see anything and b) be forced to ride and not be able to see anything either?

Until Lasik surgery is 100% safe, this is not an option for a lot of people (not to mention the cost), so what's the deal Cedar Fair?

I had lasik, and it was great. Wear cargo shorts and place the shades in the lower big pocket. If they fall out, you buy another.

Policies such as this and not being allowed to wear a hat while "queueing for ages" in the evil sun really piss me off. I can live without the hat, although it's much easier to keep from burning with one, but even though I can see fairly well without my glasses, I usually need sun glasses to shield my overly sensitive eyes from the sun even on an overcast day. And I much prefer riding with my glasses, especially sunglasses when they are needed. It's a medical device for crying out loud!

And since you brought it up, lasik surgery won't ever work for some people (including me). *** Edited 5/31/2008 12:12:38 AM UTC by Acoustic Viscosity***

I wear glasses, but I regognize that nothing that you, I or CF can do will repeal the laws of gravity.

It would not surprise me if CF has staff sitting around thinking up arbitrary policies to put in place (see "If 1 drop of rain is spotted within 25 miles of the part shut everything down"), but this isn't one of them. Stuff falls off. Period.

They don't allow ANY loose objects on certain rides for saftey reasons. Until Gravity makes an exception for essential eyewear, glasses are as risky as cameras.

Zippered pocekts and/or fanny packs are dorky, but so wasn't "I Like Ike." He won 2 terms and Indiana Jones & The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull has already grossed over $300m. Trust Me.

I don't mind having to wear a strap with my glasses if that's what it takes. But they are now saying that isn't allowed.

When I visited SFOG, the only coaster they weren't allowing glasses on was Goliath. I just stuck them in my pocket and when we hit the lift hill, I put them back on.

I prefer to see clearly also and a ride like Goliath actually presses your glasses to your face with the forces.

The real mind boggler was at Knotts. The only coaster in the park where it was mandatory to remove earrings was on Silver Bullet. I removed them but it was a waste of time and ridiculous.

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Agent Johnson said:
I had lasik, and it was great. Wear cargo shorts and place the shades in the lower big pocket. If they fall out, you buy another.

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Not a useful suggestion when you have prescription sunglasses. My (secured) glasses have survived rides as diverse as the Kissimmee Skycoaster and the travelling KMG XXL. The latter is the only ride to ever shake them even moderately loose. No coaster ever has.

My glasses are prescription and I (almost) always have my strap with me. I only use the strap when the rules dictate as such. In all my days of riding, I have never come close to losing them on a ride. I'd argue that it's safer to have them on than not. For how many times I've ended up with bugs on different parts of my body, I can't imagine how it would feel to get hit in the eye by a bug. A friend of mine was at Cedar Point on opening day and took a Bee directly to the forehead on Millennium. Last year I was with a group of people and while on Millennium, one of my friends who wears glasses, took a Muffelhead directly on the right glasses lens. I thought I had a picture of that one, but I can't find it.

What I felt was even more ridiculous was the fact that at Knotts, they have a no glasses policy for Accelerator (regardless of whether or not you have a strap). They say it's unsafe, yet they tell you to stick your glasses in your shirt. Their much more likely to fall out of my shirt than off my head while wearing a strap. I love Accelerator, but that policy really annoys me. I'm glad it's not my home park. So far Cedar Point is still allowing you do ride everything with glasses (Except maybe Power Tower I can't remember). Some rides require a strap. *** Edited 5/31/2008 1:57:22 AM UTC by Jason Hammond***

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Captain Hawkeye said:
Zippered pocekts and/or fanny packs are dorky, but so wasn't "I Like Ike." He won 2 terms and Indiana Jones & The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull has already grossed over $300m. Trust Me.

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...what?

Just this past Sunday at Cedar Point, wore sunglasses with straps the whole day no problem. And I rode Maverick, Raptor, MF, Power Tower and attempted to ride TTD with them (TTD went down.)

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Jason Hammond said:
I can't imagine how it would feel to get hit in the eye by a bug. A friend of mine was at Cedar Point on opening day and took a Bee directly to the forehead on Millennium. Last year I was with a group of people and while on Millennium, one of my friends who wears glasses, took a Muffelhead directly on the right glasses lens.

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Bingo. If a bug hits you in the eye you can't sue CF. If your glasses fall out and hit some one in the eye both you AND CF will get sued. CF can't regulate bugs, but they can regulate guests.

I'm guessing CF will be he one who pays

Probably nothing will change until the day a guest is denied the ability to wear secured glasses and they end up getting hit in the eye and (god forbid) losing their sight.

I recently complained in another thread about not being able to wear my glasses (with a strap) on Voodoo when it first opened. Today I rode it twice with my glasses on (with strap). I even chatted with a ride op before riding, and he said nothing to me about it. I hope things stay that way.

The topic title is scandalous and silly. A couple of isolated incidents by some new ride ops hardly makes it a policy of the company being morons to everyone. Are you trying to stir up crap?

I do wonder what's up, as I have heard about Knott's Xcelerator-like policies implemented both on Dominator and on Voodoo. Which is interesting as both rides came from Geauga Lake, and I have ridden both of those rides. Which means I rode them with my glasses; I do not ride without them.

Experience indicates that the best way to secure your glasses on any ride is to make sure they are properly adjusted, and WEAR THEM. Like Jason, I only use a strap on my glasses when the park requires it (at Cedar Point, that's Power Tower and any coaster that might go backward at high speed: Dragster, Maverick, and Wicked Twister). In fact, the only time I ever came close to losing my glasses on a ride was *because of* the strap (actually happened on Wicked Twister when the strap went over my head and nearly yanked my glasses off).

It seems that this comes up every so often. For some of us, riding without glasses is not an option, in the interest of our own safety and the safety of those around us.

All I know is that if someone hits you with such a rule, challenge it. Take it to the customer service group. Send letters and email. I have run into ill-informed ride operators more than once who wanted me to remove my glasses (sorry, it isn't happening...) and ended up taking it to the front office. In only three cases...Xcelerator at Knott's, the Boomerang at Wild Adventures, and the Silver Comet at MFI...was the "policy" actually backed up by the customer service office. At Knott's, they claim it is Intamin's rule (even though it does not exist on any other Intamin ride). At Wild Adventures they cite an incident (and it's only on the Boomerang), and at MFI they basically told me to go do something biologically impossible. Everywhere else, it has been an ill-informed ride operator who was making up policy on the fly, and managers were able to set the ops straight.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

Not a legal expert... but seems like an awful lot of liability to assume in terms of an ADA Lawsuit.

Again not an expert... but if you recall recent incidents where "ill-informed" staff informed women they could not breast feed in public, the lawsuits that resulted. Seems like an ill-informed ride-op on prescription glasses could open a big-ole-can-o-worms.

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Jeff said:
The topic title is scandalous and silly. A couple of isolated incidents by some new ride ops hardly makes it a policy of the company being morons to everyone. Are you trying to stir up crap?

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I don't see how this is scandalous and silly. I brought up an example at an SF park. All of the rideops said the same thing, "no eyeglasses on this ride". It's not rideops making up rules or being new. They were all preaching the same thing.

That reminds me, I need a new strap before CMania next week!

I wear both glasses and contacts (and have been most of my life) but usually wear contacts at amusement parks (with sunglasses) and have never really had a problem.

I am almost afraid to wear my prescription glasses for fear of losing them, but I didn't have any issues at HWN.

I am always buying Dollar store sunglasses for amusement parks because I usually break/lose them anyway. No big loss.

-Tina

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RideMan said:
Experience indicates that the best way to secure your glasses on any ride is to make sure they are properly adjusted, and WEAR THEM.

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Indeed, I've only worn glasses for a few years now but I learned my lesson pretty quick - glasses have a record of being much safer on my face than getting crushed in my pocket.

Both my husband and I wear glasses, and while I can go without them, he can't. I've never had an incident where either one of us were told not to wear them on a ride. I also wear the sunglasses that fit over my regular glasses, and have never been told to remove them, either.