Too tall for Deja Vu-

Well I was denied this past weekend in Gurnee as I approached the train on Deja Vu. I was wondering if anyone knew why there's a height max on this one? I noticed the wooden emergency exit deck between the loop and the 2nd tower is really close to the track, but that seems like an avoidable engineering issue if that's it.

Just curious.
And I'm 6'5".
First time posting, been reading for a while.

-jason *** Edited 9/16/2005 2:59:58 PM UTC by Semi-Addicted***

IIRC the height restriction is so that a taller rider's hands won't accidentally become in contact with the wheel assembly.

You just missed being able to get on as the max height is 6'4".

Did you try removing your shoes? I have seen a few people do this and they are then able to ride.

I was measured once back in 2002 but since then they haven't bothered.

Poor guy, only 1' too tall. :(

Swoosh (only 6'4") Shaddy

actually, You don't have to be that tall to reach the track and wheel assembly.

Deja is not the only ride with a height restriction for too tall. Drops Zone has one and its because your shoulders sit to high for the bar to come down.

Chuck, who throught it very strange the seats sat so close to the track and as I understand it, The first design change was to allow more clearance.

So does the 'seat to track distance' on Deja Vu not match that of other Vekoma inverted coasters (their SLC)?

I did take off my flip-flops, hunched down, and even pleaded with the ride op. She was nice enough about it, and was just about to be persuaded when my seat was filled by a single rider.

-jason

On normal SLC. You sit completely below the track and under a wheel cover. On Da Vu's you actually sit outside the ttack in the outer seats. It seem perilously close to the track with your arms up.

Too-tall height restrictions are out there in unlikely places. For instance, @ Dorney, the Hang Time (TopSpin) has a 77" max (6'5") although a ride op once told me that the rule of thumb is basically whether or not the lapbars close all the way. The height restriction is just an added layer of protection so if someone doesn't fit, they can say "well, we have signs posted that it's 77" maximum" (darn lawyers! :) )

Also at Dorney, Musik Express has a 78" maximum, which is strictly enforced though I don't exactly know why.

King Chaos at SFGAm has a 76" restriction also. I'm 2" under that and the restraints are uncomfortable at my height. It must really be painful for someone taller.

Height restrictions are stupid. Engineer's should design for any height, AND any weight.

/\ That was the most ignorant comment I've read in a long time.

There is no way manufacturers can possibly design rides that seat for people of all kinds of height and weight. If you make seats too big, the smaller, thinner, and less heavy people are put at risk, if you make seats taller (therefore, higher restraint system) to accomodate the 6-foot 5 five inches guests, you put the shorter guests in danger.

However, in the case of Deja Vu, it sounds like it's not the size of the seats/harnesses so much as their proximity to the wheel assembly...and that does seem like it should be easy to adjust.

-jason

I suppose you're right. I don't understand why Vekoma chose to employ that awful V-shaped seat design of the poorest ergonomics on their Giant Inverted Boomerang rolling stock. The seats are suspended so close to the track above and the seating arrangement confuses guests like non-other!

Let's not forget that the parks also had that problem with the train design regarding the possibilty of "knee/leg injury" on these GIB's. Very tall riders (I suppose that's the 6'4" and up group) tend to have longer legs, and the articulation of the seats during the vertical drop and pull-out are dangerous if riders were to stick their legs straight out ahead of them and push against the seat backs in front of them. Can we say possible knee snappage? And we know that's a problem, 'cause every Deja Vu seat-back has those signs warning of potential injury telling riders NOT to stick their legs out and push against the seatbacks in front of them while the ride is in motion.

I'm 6'6" and have ridden the Deja Vu at SFoG all three times Ive been there when it was open. I didn't have any issues at all, but then again, it's my torso that's long, not my legs.

As for the installations in Chicago and LA, I couldn't say as both of them were down when I went to those 2 parks last year...:( *** Edited 9/15/2005 11:25:17 PM UTC by Fafolguy***

I am 6'4" and I can BARELY ride Vu at SFGAm. Next year is not looking too good for me...

I'm 5'9" lets hope I stay that way. But tallness run's in the family, my dad is 6'5". :(

I'm only 17 so only time will tell. But I think I'm done growing pretty much.

I remember Deja Vu, possibly Vekomas best creation, minus the Capacity.

Sorry you didn't get to ride it.

I've seen this happen at PKI as well. On Delirium there was a guy a couple of seasons back who was tootall for it. They have a little black piece of tape on the operators station wall that they measured him by, and he was a couple of inches over it. What sucked for him was that it was 45 minutes of wasted time.

I never have asked, but since there's nothing over the head to grab once your fastened down the height limit, I'm assuming, is because of the roof and runway lights you swing over...right?

Seems a lot of Vekoma hanging coasters have limits. I think 6'5" or 6'6" is the posted height limit on Morey's Great Nor'easter. I know the junior invert at Cypress Gardens has a height limit of 6'2" (I barely made it on that thing). Do B&M inverts have any height restrictions?

I found the spot why there is the height limit on Great Nor'Easter when a 6'4" friend rode beside me The is a spot in the ride when you get very close to the spine of the track for another part of the ride. My friend quickly pulled his feet up as we got close and was swearing like crazy that he almost cliped the spine with his feet. Also Mind Eraser at SFA has a spot also where the same thing happens but it isn't with the track it's with the ground as you do the station fly by.