New Matterhorn bobsleds too small?

Originally Posted By Anatole69

Oh duh, do these new bobsleds decrease capacity?

I messed up on the math I think. >_<

- Anatole

 

Originally Posted By Moon Waffle

"So do you think that without this "monster" Disney or other amusement park operators would be as concerned about your safety? Disney has a good track record, but is isn't perfect. The Columbia and Big Thunder tragedies come to mind, not to mention lack of adequate safety restrains on the Peoplemover and the Matterhorn, both of which led to the deaths of guests who tried to stand or exit their vehicles."

Disney wants people to come to its parks. People won't come if the park isn't safe. Disney is responsible enough to do this without lawyers and OSHA breathing down their necks. What's more, PEOPLE should be responsible enough to know that when you are on a roller coaster, you don't try to get out, or else you will get hurt and/or possibly die. But I guess I'm asking for personal responsibility. I know that's a tall order.

"I'm sort of wondering why you think that a secured lap bar can be so easily unlocked."

Did I say that? Not at all. I'm saying that some moron who is bound and determined to get out of their restraint on a ride is going to do it, regardless of whether it is a seat belt or lap bar. There are plenty of ways around any so-called safety system.

 

Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt

"I'm sort of wondering why you think that a secured lap bar can be so easily unlocked."

>>Did I say that? Not at all.<<

No? Then what does this mean:

>>I'm saying that some moron who is bound and determined to get out of their restraint on a ride is going to do it, regardless of whether it is a seat belt or lap bar. There are plenty of ways around any so-called safety system.<<

 

Originally Posted By tashajilek

"the beauty of Matterhorn is you could be big, or take a 3 year old on it "

Would they now be changing the height requirements too?

 

Originally Posted By skinnerbox

There's a simple solution for this.

For those individuals who are either too large or too tall, create a couple of four seater sleds where the middle seat has been removed, giving extra legroom for the third seat. Most folks in this category wouldn't mind the additional wait, if they really wanted to ride. And the loss of those two seats on two or four sleds wouldn't seriously ding the capacity.

Has anything like this been done for MK's Space Mt?

 

Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt

Doesn't the new Harry Potter attraction have a weight/size limit? I seem to remember reading that there were some visitors that have been turned away from the ride because they were too big to ride.

I think that anyone who goes to a theme park who is so overweight that they can't fit into a seat should consider that a warning sign to drop a few pounds.

 

Originally Posted By tashajilek

"I think that anyone who goes to a theme park who is so overweight that they can't fit into a seat should consider that a warning sign to drop a few pounds. "

Maybe, but you cant discriminate against paying customers. My brother who isnt really over weight at all had a hard time fitting in the maliboomer because his shoulders are really broad. Yes i know the maliboomer is gone LOL but still an example!

 

Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt

"Maybe, but you cant discriminate against paying customers."

It's only discrimination if someone can prove that they purposely designed the seats to keep unusually overweight people off of the ride. Given the age of the Matterhorn there's likely only so much they can do to the ride to accommodate modern safety requirements and expanding waistlines without ripping out the entire track and starting all over.

 

Originally Posted By mawnck

No ride can possibly accommodate the full range of human body types. If your body is on the outer edges of the bell curve, you're going to have problems that the average schmuck won't have, and that might include fitting into the Maliboomer.

It's not discrimination. It's just the way the universe works. Not everybody gets to do everything.

 

Originally Posted By Manfried

Did you know that there was an overweight person who sued the National Park Service and the federal government demanding that they put an elevator in at the Grand Canyon so that he and others who were not capable of hiking down or taking the mules could get to the bottom of the canyon?
The nerve.

 

Originally Posted By ADMIN

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Originally Posted By FerretAfros

The new sleds will be very similar to the design in WDW's Space Mountain, but instead of using a lap bar they will use locking seatbelts, similar to Indy, TOT, and Star Tours. From my general experience, the WDW cars have significantly more room in each seat than having to share a seat on the Matterhorn. I haven't been on WDW's Space Mountain since I was large enough to have some height problems on other rides, so I can't really compare, but the rockets are surprisingly roomy. I would guess that Al isn't very familiar with the WDW attraction's set-up, and he's just trying to stir the fire to get them to stop the new sleds.

Personally, I really like the current set-up. It really shows that it's an old attraction, and makes it that much more charming. It's a shame that we're losing things like this all the time, but unfortunatley I don't see there being anything to stop it here. Complaints that big people may not fit certainly won't hold under fire, since WDW's guests tend to be larger than DL's, and they manage just fine with lapbars, which are much less forgiving than seatbelts.

 

Originally Posted By Manfried

Al stir up the fire? No. He wouldn't do that would he?

 

Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt

Cue the Al Defenders.

 

Originally Posted By Manfried

Dalmations, wait until they find my thoughts on Al's five wishes....

 

Originally Posted By Yookeroo

"My point is that changes like this are a waste of time and money, because the idiots will still find a way to injur themselves."

Except you acknowledged earlier:
"There is no 100% foolproof restraint system. All the new sleds do is make it less likely that an idiot will find a way to get out and injur/kill themselves."

"People won't come if the park isn't safe."

How will they know it isn't safe? Wait until someone else gets killed?

"Did you know that there was an overweight person who sued the National Park Service and the federal government demanding that they put an elevator in at the Grand Canyon so that he and others who were not capable of hiking down or taking the mules could get to the bottom of the canyon?"

Cite?

 

Originally Posted By CuriouserConstance

The only thing I don't like about the new seats is that I can't ride with my little kids and they are too afraid to go on without feeling "safe" with my arms around them.
My daughter's favorite ride is Splash Mountain, but we have to ride in the very back together so I can hold on to her when we go down the "dips". She doesn't feel safe riding alone. She's almost 7.

 

Originally Posted By Manfried

Cite? It was pre-Internet days. So hard to look up the article. But it did happen. Got thrown out. It was shortly after the ADA act took effect.

 

Originally Posted By Ohana

<<<Looking at the picture posted in Al's column it looks like there's enough space for a big or tall person to be seated in the sleds to me.>>>

Hans, How dare you suggest Al is stirring up some issue where none may exist!

And we all know how stupid Disneyland is. They have NO idea how BIG their guests are getting. That's why they would make a ride smaller than before. (see nostalgia files titled: New Small World Boats, Army of ECV Rentals, Longer Seatbelts in Star Tours)

Any other examples, please jump in

 

Originally Posted By Ohana

<<<No ride can possibly accommodate the full range of human body types. If your body is on the outer edges of the bell curve, you're going to have problems that the average schmuck won't have, and that might include fitting into the Maliboomer.

It's not discrimination. It's just the way the universe works. Not everybody gets to do everything.>>>

THIS! ^^ And some other theme parks like Knotts and Six Flags are way more restrictive than DLR. It is much tougher fitting into Ghostrider for example than it is the Matterhorn or California Screamin