Bigger riders mean tighter fits into roller coaster and other ride seats, particularly on attractions designed a generation ago. As a result, parks are adding "plus-sized" seats to roller coasters, "test" seats at the beginning of ride queues, and in some cases, rebuilding ride systems entirely. But the changes are not coming quickly enough for some frustrated visitors, who are going online to ask others for advice on which rides will be able to accommodate them.
Theme Park Insider reader Rachel Crichton expressed her frustration over a trip to Cedar Point. "I only stood in line for five rides before giving up on the park," she wrote in a thread on TPI's discussion board.
After "being brutally embarrassed at three of them, I managed to fit Mean Streak and Gemini just fine, but was asked to get off of the mine ride and Blue Streak, and didn't even bother trying to fit... into Magnum.
"They say to try a test seat before waiting in line, and i gladly would've done that... except they only have test seats at, like, four rides, and none of them were rides I tried getting on. The website claims you can skip the line to try out the seats before waiting in line, but if you ask me, that's even more humiliating than waiting in line and then getting turned away," Crichton wrote.
Busch Entertainment Corporation spokesperson Damon Andrews acknowledged that theme parks are concerned about the trouble that some visitors are having.
"It's an issue we've recognized and we've tried to make accomodations where they've made sense," he told TPI in a phone interview earlier this year.
"On many rides, such as a Sky Tower, there's no need for individual weight restrictions," Andrews said. "But on a ride like a roller coaster, you are going to reach a point where you will have difficulty accommodating people over a certain weight."
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported in 2005 that the average weight for men aged 20-74 increased 25 pounds between 1960 and 2002, from 166 pounds to 191 pounds. During the same period, the average weight of women the same age increased 24 pounds, from 140 pounds to 164 pounds.
Kids are getting bigger, too. The CDC reported that the average weight for a 10-year-old boy increased from 74 pounds in 1963 to 85 pounds in 2002. Girls' average weight increased from 77 pounds to 88 pounds over the same period.
And as average weights increase, so, to, do body shapes.
"It's an issue of proportion," Andrews said. "Perhaps the top fits well on a ride, but the bottom doesn't. So that person really needs to see the ride seat beforehand, so that he or she can decide whether to ride."
Busch, like other theme park companies places sample seats at the entrance to selected rides, so that overweight visitors can try to fit themselves into the ride seat before taking the time to wait for that ride... and risking the embarrassment of not fitting in when they get to the load platform.
But sample seats are only ones of the accommodations that parks have made for larger riders.
"Depending on whether the ride manufacturer allows it, we've made accomodations ranging from extended seat belts to adding extra-large seats on some rides," Andrews said. "If, even with the larger seat or other accommodation, if we see someone still having a problem, we try, as tactfully as we can, to suggest that rider might not be able to go and to offer an no-wait admission on another ride."
The Walt Disney Company is making changes, too. Walt Disney World spokesperson Zoraya Suarez would not provide specifics in response to Theme Park Insider's query, but noted that "the diversity of our guests is one of many considerations in the design phase of our attractions."
Al Lutz reported on MiceAge earlier this month that Disney will next year rebuild the ride system of the It's Small World attraction at Disneyland to add larger boats and a deeper flume, to prevent what's become a common occurrence -- the 1960s-era boats "bottoming out" and coming to a stop, due to the excess weight of today's riders.
"The new flume will follow the exact same path as the original, and it will travel past sets that are in the exact same locations. But the extra depth of the new flume and the added buoyancy of the new boats should allow for several hundred extra pounds of churro-loving park visitors to pile into the new boats before they bottom out and bring the ride to a stop," Lutz wrote.
Some visitors aren't waiting for parks to design new seats and rides, however. They're using bad experiences with theme park rides as inspiration to make their own changes to, literally, fit in.
"I had the crappy experience this weekend of not fitting onto the Powder Keg at Silver Dollar City," wrote Theme Park Insider reader Becky Clubbs, on another discussion board thread. "I am now on a diet/weight loss program because not fitting onto theme park rides is a pretty big motivator for me."
Here is a sample of recent TPI discussion threads about weight issues:
Weight restrictions at Busch Gardens Europe
Weight limits for coasters at Busch Gardens Europe
Size issues at Busch Gardens Tampa?
Cedar Point Planning for a Big Guy
Are there any overweight Cedar Point Riders out there?
Need help! Question about Kennywood
Size limits (Six Flags Great Adventure)
Test Seats/Weight Restrictions (Six Flags Great Adventure)
Six Flags St. Louis for overweight riders?
You know, I know that I am heavy, but I do not need a reminder in front of strangers, probably the worst kind of embarassment at a theme park. Damm right they should change these roller coasters if they can. Either that or get test seats outside of the ride. The whole point is there is nothing like that. Also, I am a little heavy, but not morbidly obese and I do not fit too well in some of the roller coasters. Its a big problem and I think that the theme park industry needs to fix it for the future rides if at all possible.
Sports stadiums are doing the same thing. Seat in a seat at Fenway or Wrigley, then compare those to a modern stadium like Coors. Modern ballparks, even the "throwback" designs, are huge, thanks to the need for wider seats, aisles and concourses. People from 2007 simply do not fit in seats designed for people from 1910.
Complain all you want. Lose the weight yourself, if you wish. But if you want theme parks to stay in business (and I certainly do!), then you ought to be pleased to see parks doing the things that they need to do to appeal to a larger number of customers.
There are a select few rides out there, though that do seem a bit small. My only size limitation, if any, is being too small at 5'2". But one type of seat in particular, Ghostrider at Knott's Berry Farm, seems tight. I'm surprised how anyone bigger than me (which is pretty much everyone) can ride in it.
People that have closed minds and only see things from one point need to think before sounding off.
Also, the whole "not all of them can help it" excuse doesn't float. Maybe 2-3% of these people have a medical condition that causes there obesity. Your not going to make me feel bad by saying they can't help it.
Does it bother me when I go to Busch Gardens and see the "larger seats" for overweight people? Yes it does because that just shows American culture is conforming to a problem in a way that it thinks is the best solutions. It's like putting a bandaid on a knife wound, it's only going to get worse. Next they'll be making every seat on every train to fit larger people. What happens to us average or smaller sized people? More injuries will start to show up, both in the average/small size Americans as well as the overweight. Reason being that the average/small size Americans will have too much room to move around during the ride and that heavyweight people will be crammed into a ride that their body isn't designed for. Not to mention, allowing them larger seats on a ride is only allowing this health risk to continue.
Lastly, all of these changes to accomodate are coming right back at us. With parks having to spend more money on "alterations," there goes their budjet for new rides. You know where they get all the money when their budjet runs out? Ticket sales, so not only are people getting fatter America, but everyone's wallet will only become anorexic because of theme parks and amusement parks.
P.S. - Before any retaliation comes my way, yes I have not fit on a ride before. I have plenty of friends who are overweight but they are all trying to do something about it because they want to be able to go out and do stuff again. If everyone works together, we can stop this issue of overweight. If someone's overweight, don't sit there and laugh or talk behind their back, be polite. They are intelligent and the comments don't help them. If everyone was a little more supportive, we could change a lot of things.
Yes, most folks, even overweight and some obese ones, can fit on to many theme park attractions. But weight loads take their toll on ride systems. And being able to put just three people in a boat row, as opposed to four, for example, affects ride capacity and wait times.
The Small World example is appropriate. Perhaps it helps some readers to think about what Disney is doing not as an accommodation for "fat people," but as prevention for ride downtimes. Either Disney does that, or everyone continues to suffer through increasing downtimes... or Disney puts scales at the entrance and starts turning away people over a certain weight.
Roller coasters aren't the main issue here, to be frank. Sure, that's where you see the sample seats and plus-sized seats. But there comes a point where weight and body mass correlate strongly with the heart and circulatory problems that endanger people who go on high-G-force thrill rides. And seat sizes can be an effective way of screening out riders who would be at risk.
G forces are not an issue on dark rides, boat rides and in theater shows. Capacity and visitor satisfaction are. For *those* reasons, parks are going to have to deal with what is happening in society, and adjust in an effort to retain and expand their market share.
Back to the financial aspect. The reason I say it "might" be a good move is because I have my doubts. Obese person much more likely to have heart problems. High intensity thrill rides may not be suitable for these persons. Does the potential for lawsuits from the families who could be hurt by a obese loved one being seriously injured or dying outweigh the possible financial gains. It's not a risk I would want to take, but that's also why I'm not a CEO.
Finally, I do agree all rides should have a test car or harness before you enter a line. People who can't fit the ride only slow down the line and cause embarrassment.
this idea could save a lot of money because they would only have to change a few cars, and not the whole ride system.
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I don't care it people are embarrassed to sit in the test seat, that's what there there for. If you can't fit in the ride and are to insecure to try the test seat don't complain. It's not your right to ride roller coaster. These people have made a personal choice to be overweight don't make the rest of us pay for it.