Walk Of Shame? Theme Park Wise

[cfc]

I've been denied a few knock-off SLCs and the "toboggan with a loop" in China, which was probably for the best.

[aCoasterStory]

I'm a heavy guy, and I carry most of my weight around my midsection, but I've never had to actually take a walk of shame. I have come close a time or two, though. The worst was El Toro, where the ops had to staple me in...I didn't really enjoy the ride because of how stapled I felt. I've also had some close calls on the Intamin impulse coasters where not all of the seatbelts are the same length. One seat, it's long enough to have plenty of extra belt...the next, I'm struggling to get it latched...same coaster/same day. Go figure. I want to say I had a similar close call on Mille once as well.

 

What I *really* don't understand are the people who are 300+lbs and who don't bother to check the test seat (or think based upon prior experience) before waiting 2 hours to ride. And most of the time, the rest of their group then gets off too... I guess if 1 member of your group doesn't get to have fun, no one can??? I don't get it.

[screaminkid2005]

The only coaster I did the walk of shame for was Roller Soaker at Hershey Park. I wasn't wicked upset about it because I did get the credit earlier in the day. Also we would have been on the last train of the day so no one but the ride crew and my friends really saw me walk away. The crew was really nice about it though and seemed kind of confused as to why I couldn't fit because I wasn't as big as I am now at the time. Oh well, the rides dead anyway.

[tribar]

I'm a heavy guy, and I carry most of my weight around my midsection, but I've never had to actually take a walk of shame. I have come close a time or two, though. The worst was El Toro, where the ops had to staple me in...I didn't really enjoy the ride because of how stapled I felt. I've also had some close calls on the Intamin impulse coasters where not all of the seatbelts are the same length. One seat, it's long enough to have plenty of extra belt...the next, I'm struggling to get it latched...same coaster/same day. Go figure. I want to say I had a similar close call on Mille once as well.

 

What I *really* don't understand are the people who are 300+lbs and who don't bother to check the test seat (or think based upon prior experience) before waiting 2 hours to ride. And most of the time, the rest of their group then gets off too... I guess if 1 member of your group doesn't get to have fun, no one can??? I don't get it.

 

I really wish every coaster at every park had a test seat to avoid this problem. It can't be that hard to install one

[Nrthwnd]

I think two of the funniest Walk of Shames I remember, involved

almost every single member of our 2010 TPR visit to Flamingo Land.

 

There is a notorious (sort-of) wacky worm in the family area of

the park, and the ride op DOES NOT ALLOW ANYBODY OVER _____ tall.

AND ADULTS. I forget the number, but even Stacey's son Cameron,

was not allowed on! It was funny and sad at the same time, lol.

 

And then, I remembered we also went through this with the same

ride op, four years earlier, on the very first 2006 TPR Tour! (eep)

 

I think those are the ones I will always remember.

Edited September 23, 2014 by Nrthwnd

[Emma164]

I had my first walk of shame a few days ago and i've never felt so mortified

I went to Port Aventura, Spain and tried to ride on Shambala and the ride operator wouldn't let me ride.

I'd been on Dragon Khan in the 'normal' seats and i was fine, bit squished but no worries but on Shambala the bar clicked down into place but was on my thighs not by torso so i got kicked off.

Absolutely gutting that there were some really hefty people (bigger than me) riding no problem however upon further research afterwards it seems there's quite alot of people who have issues with Shambala. However obviously i'd rather it be safety first and alive with fat thights not dead, lol.

On a positive note though my boyfriend got off the ride and refused to go on without me which was lovely however following not being able to get on Shambala it threw my confidence for the rest of the day.

[Fire2box]

I think I've might of done a personalized walk of shame from Topgun/flight deck. Back then I was maybe 14-15 and still getting the nerve to go on anything past Paramount's/CGA's wooden coaster.

 

I did a walk of shame down a few flights of stairs at a water park due to my fear of heights and the slightly uncontrolled aspect of water slides. I knew it would of been safe. But for me water slides are still a no go, for now.

 

 

 

Oh, there was a walk of shame on medusa on Sunday. guy seemed as big or bigger as the woman who fell off texas giant.

Edited September 24, 2014 by Fire2box

[VF15]

I've never had to do the walk of shame on anything, but whenever I visit a park, it seems to always happen to someone else at least once. I always feel bad for whoever it is.

[MagnumFreak25]

It's kinda pathetic when you see the huge amount of people taking the walk of shame on body slides like Cliffhanger (SFOG). Last time at least 10 people chickened out in a 15 minute wait.

[YoshiCraft2011]

Disregarding height restrictions, I have never walked the "walk of shame". However, while I was at GhostRider's station during my visit to Knott's this year, there was a passenger of size wanting to come in. The seats now have barriers, so he could not fit into the seat. The man eventually had to leave the station.

[Duff]

A REAL walk of shame (walking home in public in the clothes you wore the night before, after a one-nighter) happens after a "ride" with a casual hook-up. Being denied a ride is not the same thing.

 

My body type has never been denied riding a coaster. But I recall one particular obese man who tried to ride Vortex at Kings Island when I was a ride op back in 2001. After he entered the car, it was clear that the restraint wouldn't lock. My colleague suggested that we tell him he couldn't ride, but I didn't give up. I used my hands and my foot, pushed HARD, and forced the restraint closed. One click was enough for him to ride. He loved the Vortex, and he thanked me when he left the station.

[DrachenfireOP]

I'm surprised that I didn't see mention of B&M lap harness hyper coasters like AC and Nitro in here! AFAIK, those are some of the most unforgiving, because thick thighs, wide hips, a big stomach etc. will all independently not let the harness come down enough. Once the harness is "parallel" to the floor, it's unsafe given the seat design so the computer won't let it go out. In fact, I was denied AC once many moons ago and that was part of what tipped me off to lose weight. I've seen more people denied AC than any other coaster, and on my only trip to SFGA I saw two different people denied Nitro. It doesn't help that unlike other B&M's, there's no "big boy seat" option.

 

Also, ^ Someone not fitting in Vortex must need to be a really big dude! I've worked as an op on three different Arrow coasters, including LNM at BGW which uses the same trains, and I've seen some REALLY big guys/gals manage to get in! In fact, Alpengeist/AC used to send denied riders to wolf/LNM with a skip the line voucher if they waited in line and got denied. People not fitting in the big boy seat of Alpengeist never had any problem at all with LNM. I was saw a guy going out of the station wearing the harness as a necklace, but it locked, and it didn't violate Arrow's guidelines, so out he went!

 

Drachenfire didn't have the most forgiving trains, but I don't recall ever seeing anyone not fit in it (though many people, even very fit people complained about how the trains were designed to cram everyone in like sardines).

[screaminkid2005]

The one ride I got denied for was Roller Soaker at Hershey Park. I rode it earlier in the day but when I tried to ride again in a different car, we couldn't get the seatbelt buckled. Thankfully I was going to be on the last car of the night and no one else was in the station. The Attendants were super nice about it and even offered up another car because apparently every car had different length seat belts. I decided to just wait and take photos. Needless to say, I'm glad that ride is gone!

[boldikus]

Never happened to me, but almost every single time I ride El Toro it happens to at least one person. Amazes me people will wait that long without using the test seat.

[Barge84]

El Toro is kind of a different beast. You see a lot of people booted from that ride that have probably never been too big to ride any other rides, so I can understand why they didn't try the test seat.

[Ccron10]

Tried riding El Toro in the last row back in April and got denied, but knowing that each seat is calibrated differently, I asked the supervisor if I could try a different row and managed to fit in the third-from-last row on the left. Went back in June wearing a pair of shorts that were made of a thinner material and tried the test seat. Got the green light and got to ride in the last row with no trouble. This time around last month something happened with the first scenario wearing the same type of pants. Went to the test seat out front and got the green light. I told the greeter and she was kind of surprised and said that she'd let them know about it up in the station. I can still ride in the third-to-last row so I guess it varies from seat to seat.

Did the walk-of-shame from Wicked Twister, but who hasn't?

[Mater]

Did the walk-of-shame from Wicked Twister, but who hasn't?

 

 

I haven't. But every guy I've ever been with has.

 

 

The down sides to dating bears

[aCoasterStory]

Tried riding El Toro in the last row back in April and got denied, but knowing that each seat is calibrated differently, I asked the supervisor if I could try a different row and managed to fit in the third-from-last row on the left.

 

Never heard of that before. Maybe I shouldn't have tried the back row for my first ride (had to get stapled to fit; did not enjoy it).

[Barge84]

I've had my best luck (and was told by the crew) to do last row, left seat. I was just there this weekend and was able to ride, with a little pushing from my friends. One tip on El Toro... Once you get the seat belt fastened, pull it up as high as you can on you. That way, the restraint doesn't have the belt in the way when they're pushing on it. Even that 1/2 inch can make a big difference between riding or not.

[CoasterCrazyBoy1]

I was turned away from a miami at a local fair for being too skinny, I had sat down and the restraints had come down but my belly was about 50cm away from the bar (and my legs were dangling) i was a super skinny six year old at the time.

[StuckInSD]

I remember a walk of shame from one of those horsey rides at Legoland when I was 12. But I don't really run into that issue on coasters. The closest I've got to walking off one was on Pony Express, and that was because of the way my crotch sat in the seat more than anything else.