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NEWS: Fat People Can Ride Roller Coasters Too!


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I'm not sure how to take this article. On one hand it's really positive, on the other hand it just basically says "We now have to make seats bigger because people are fatter..." Hmmm....

 

http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=4618967

 

New Roller Coaster for Big Dippers

 

By Alex Thompson, PA

 

 

A new roller coaster will be fitted with outsized seats for the larger thrill-seeker, it emerged today.

 

The so-called “big boy seats” mean adrenalin junkies of all sizes will be able to sample the £3 million ride being built at Drayton Manor Theme Park, near Tamworth, in Staffordshire.

 

 

 

The seats add to concerns about the rise in size of the average Briton.

 

According to promotional literature from the ride’s German manufacturer: “This seat has been developed to suit the needs of corpulent riders.”

 

The roller coaster – called G Force – does away with traditional shoulder restraints and pins punters in their seats at the hip, leaving the rest of their body dangling free.

 

The design has been hailed as revolutionary. It means thrill-seekers can experience g-forces of 4.3 while whizzing along at speeds of up to 70km per hour (more than 40mph).

 

The maximum weight of riders will not be determined until after tests.

 

The chairman of the Roller Coaster Club of Great Britain welcomed the new seats, which he said were a world first aside from a prototype in Germany.

 

Andy Hine said: “I have a lot of club members who are larger and get very upset when they get to a park and queue for two hours and are told they can’t get on a ride.

 

“I think the designers are doing the right thing. I have seen the embarrassment it causes when people who are not necessarily large, not obese, get to a ride and can’t do the seat belt up.

 

“The general size of people is getting bigger and at last someone is addressing that from a leisure point of view. These are the first specially designed big boy seats in the world.”

 

Mr Hine said that in American theme parks, where the problem of obesity was greater, riders were routinely invited to sit in a sample chair and try and lock the restraints before joining a queue.

 

Another enthusiast, Justin Garvanovic, founder of the European Coaster Club, said the ability to accommodate bigger passengers on G Force was a “really nice by-product” of the new type of restraint.

 

Colin Bryan, managing director at Drayton Manor, said he was excited about being the first theme park in the world to commission such a coaster.

 

He said: “We have built up an enviable reputation for innovation and this will add to our ride stable of the world’s first stand up tower drop, Europe’s only stand up roller coaster and the UK’s fastest wet-knuckle ride.

 

“Coaster fans from all over the world can’t wait for it to open.”

 

A Drayton Manor spokeswoman added: “We are having to design bigger seating arrangements for bigger people. We appear to be going the same way as America.”

 

She said: “If you get on a ride in America, the average setting on an over-the-shoulder restraint is bigger. If you’re a slim Brit on an American ride, you’re going to be swimming about in the harness, it’s set for ten-ton Tessies.”

 

The ride will feature one big boy seat – which has a wider locking mechanism and bigger surface area – in the back row of the two trains.

 

It will be officially launched at the 280-acre site on July 26.

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I talked to one of the ride ops on TTD at Cedar Point while I waited in line. He told me that the seatbelts were reduced this year by Intamin again on both TTD and MF. They were reduced last year because of the SFNE death on Superman. I must say, being a person that isn't too fat, but definately overweight, these seatbelts were hard to clip this year. I clipped them fine last year, but good luck on TTD and MF this year. You might not be able to ride them.

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You know we all make choices in life.

 

Some people drink alcohol, others smoke cigarettes, and some eat large quantities of Krispy Kreme doughnuts. These are individual choices and I'm fine with that.

 

But if you choose to drink alcohol, you risk developing cirrhosis of the liver, smoke some cigarettes maybe develop emphysema, and if you Plow Down to many Krispy Kremes then you may not get to ride some great rollercoasters!!!

 

It's ridiculous that a person gets angry at an amusement park for not designing a ride large enough to accommodate someone who (often through their own personal choices) is obese.

 

So get a Life!!! Shed a few pounds, and have a great time riding ALL the rides at your local theme park.

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^^I understand where you commin from a little but its ways to do things. Not everyone is short and parks try to design coasters w/ enough heigh clearence so taller than normal people can ride. The people who are slighty overweight may have a problem fitting into a coaster w/ a seat designed for someone that weighs 150 pounds. I think its a great move for the parks to add slightly larger seats so EVERYONE to enjoy.

 

Its easy to point the finger at someone until you know exactly what got them to that point. Everyone isnt obesed because if eating doughnuts. Some people have thyroid problems and things like that, where they cant fully control their weight.

 

Im not saying this because im overweight, because im not, im saying this because its kinda saddens me to hear people talk like you.

 

And you wonder why suicide rates are climbing the charts...

 

Jarvis "glad some of you guys dont run the parks" Morant...

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^ Granted you may have someone with a thyroid problem or other medical condition, but this is the minority, the vast majority of people who are obese are that way due to their own personal eating habits.

 

Just compare the United States to other parts of the world. When people visit from countries in Asia they can't often believe how large the portion sizes are here in the USA. A small drink at Burger King is something like 24 ounces + free refills, in other parts of the world that would be a jumbo size.

 

I love it how people never want to take personal responsibility for their own actions, or inactions, and instead they look for someone other than themselves to blame. I myself weigh about 195lb, at 21% bodyfat, and I'm 6'2. I have never had any problems fitting onto a ride.

 

This isn't meant to be a bash against people who are overweight, it's just a reminder that in most cases we live our lives based on our own personal decisions, and we ultimately have to accept the consequences of those decisions.

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^Agreed. I hate the cups at the movie theatres. BIG IS MORE.

BIGGER IS A LOT MORE!!!

This country has made it easier to get overweight in the last 30 years.

Of course, I'm waiting to see undersized seats for anorexics. That, too, has grown the last two decades.

I come from a family of overweight people. I'm average weight. My sister says they should have larger seats at theatres. I don't agree with her.

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And you wonder why suicide rates are climbing the charts...

 

Not a lot of people aret comiting suicide because they are fat. Most people are commiting suicide because (probly):

 

Money

Stress

Family

Being gay

Obesity

 

Those are probly some of the more major causes. Although obeseity is the 2nd of the chart of death in Americans, it doesn't include suicide.

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Every B&M I've ridden already has bigger seats in some parts of the train. Even in the regular seats for me the restraint can't come all the way down to my legs! That is actually good, as it gives me more airtime and on Hydra, it provided a bigger sensation of falling out during the jo-jo roll.

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And you wonder why suicide rates are climbing the charts...

 

Not a lot of people aret comiting suicide because they are fat. Most people are commiting suicide because (probly):

 

Money

Stress

Family

Being gay

Obesity

 

Those are probly some of the more major causes. Although obeseity is the 2nd of the chart of death in Americans, it doesn't include suicide.

 

Umm, obesity=being fat...ok, really fat, but fat nonetheless.

 

Hey Robb, what was your dieting secret? You're not half the man you used to be (at least in pics)

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On the other hand I am curious how the ride in the big boy seats would compare to the other seats for someone who isn't big, one would think there would be better air in the bigger restraints. . . well one would hope

 

Scott " we need Big boy seats on Ghostrider" Brown

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Well, I'm 5'7, and weigh around 220 lbs. I used to weigh about 245 before I started going to the gym two years ago. I lose weight very slowly, and I work in an overly tempting enviornment, a grocery store, which is not good, especially since I tend to snack a lot when I'm stressed out, which is quite often. If I could just tame the snacking, I could probably lose more weight then.

 

But despite that, I've yet to have any problems getting on coasters. There was a slightly larger guy next to me on Apollo's Charriot last year who was forced to get off, but they let me stay on.

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Could someone please explain the logic to me behind the "slack" belt on MF? I always figured that if a belt was properly fastened, then it was doing it's intended job. It seems to me that it's a pretty easy call, since either you can fasten the belt or not, instead of this judgement call thing they're doing now...

 

dt

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^ Couldn't agree more. If the belt is fastened ... then the belt is fastened.

 

While some will think that big people have no place on rides, the restrictions on MF are rediculous. I have seen people denied on that ride that didn't very big at all and the worse thing is that no two belts are the same size. That means someone could have rode the thing 3 times already and get denied on the 4th. It just seems a little rediculous after waiting 90+ minutes.

 

// Not a very big guy and has never been denied a ride on anything (except kiddie coasters).

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^ Couldn't agree more. If the belt is fastened ... then the belt is fastened.

 

While some will think that big people have no place on rides, the restrictions on MF are rediculous. I have seen people denied on that ride that didn't very big at all and the worse thing is that no two belts are the same size. That means someone could have rode the thing 3 times already and get denied on the 4th. It just seems a little rediculous after waiting 90+ minutes.

 

// Not a very big guy and has never been denied a ride on anything (except kiddie coasters).

 

I don't get it. I'm that big... at least I don't think so. Coaster Mania Friday, I just about got kicked off the train because of the new 1 inch slack rule they just started that day. Yet, I can go on to Dragster, buckle in fine, and ride with no problems.

 

I talk to one of my buddies that I worked with on Raptor in 1996 and was at Coaster Mania on Friday, and he said that he has ridden Dragster over 400 times, and each seatbelt in different.

 

I'll have a TR on Coaster Mania when I get back to California. Right now, I have to go catch a plane.

 

Hope evryone had fun at the BBQ!

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I like the idea of this new coaster. I am in the minority that I am on drugs that make you balloon horribly, I have bad asthma and have to inhale 3 different types of steroids 6 times a day. Some people can't help their weight either. Genetics doesn't help anymore. And the more you try the harder it is to lose the weight. Some people will do really stupid things to lose weight. If people don't like you for the way you are screw them, they weren't your friends to begin with.

 

I can fit on everything BUT intamin coasters. The OTSR's on Wicked twister didn't fit for one reason. I have a big chest, and those things are small for cryin out loud.

 

Dragster I couldn't ride becuase they wouldn't staple me. My buckle was touching. I was so mortified. I tried the test seat. I fit. I was not about to go around and find a seat that fit with me. It's total BS. And embarassing, but a lot of you wouldn't know that.

 

Since I couldn't fit on dragster, I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that I wasn't gonna fit Millenium Force. Glad I didn't get embararssed again.

 

Do some of you know how actually humiliating it is to get on a coaster you have been dying to ride for 2 years and couldn't ride? I was so embarassed that it isn't my fault that intamin and CP decide to shorten their belts so not EVERYONE can ride. I find it ridiculous, and I agree with Ted and Dave, if you can buckle a belt it is securly fastened. There really is no need for a slack rule. NO other coaster makes you do that. What the hell?

 

I will not be going back to CP anytime soon. Until I get off my steroids, which isn't happening anytime soon, I'll stick to B&M's. They are better in my book anyway.

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^ Couldn't agree more. If the belt is fastened ... then the belt is fastened.

 

While some will think that big people have no place on rides, the restrictions on MF are rediculous. I have seen people denied on that ride that didn't very big at all and the worse thing is that no two belts are the same size. That means someone could have rode the thing 3 times already and get denied on the 4th. It just seems a little rediculous after waiting 90+ minutes.

 

// Not a very big guy and has never been denied a ride on anything (except kiddie coasters).

 

This is why Cedar Point put out test seats at the entrance of the queue

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^^ I could fit the test seat then couldn't fit in the coaster. So what about that? I was so embarassed I was not about to go back and look like an idiot in front of everyone, because I couldn't fit in EVERY seat. The belts are different. Period. Don't tell me they aren't. Been there done that.

 

Katie

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