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Accommodating Restraints - and unaccommodating restraints


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You see, I actually love Skyrush's restraints. I love the feeling of having nothing to the side of you or on your chest. You're upper body is completely free which makes for a pretty exhilarating experience, especially for first time riders.

 

That's a very good point, but B&M hypers have a similar concept and in my opinion are designed to be more comfortable. And since they're mechanically ratcheting restraints they don't typically tighten on your legs so its a more "free" experience

 

You see, I have the opposite problem. I have somewhat muscular legs and pretty big hips and because of that, the few times that I rode Apollo's Chariot, the sides of my legs would constantly be pinched by the restraints.

 

Good ride otherwise.

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  • 2 weeks later...
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The extra clicks needed on Steel Dragon 2000 and Shambhala turn those usually comfy B&M clamshells into a pain in the butt. The seatbelts on Milennium Force and Top Thrill Dragster are very short, but I wonder if they could add a couple of extra inches onto that belt with no safety concerns because I didn't feel stapled into the restraint at all.

 

I saw a lot of people turned away from El Toro and Outlaw Run, but I found those restraints pretty roomy. It depends on your dimensions more than your weight for whether you will fit or not.

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The extra clicks needed on Steel Dragon 2000 and Shambhala turn those usually comfy B&M clamshells into a pain in the butt. The seatbelts on Milennium Force and Top Thrill Dragster are very short, but I wonder if they could add a couple of extra inches onto that belt with no safety concerns because I didn't feel stapled into the restraint at all.

 

I saw a lot of people turned away from El Toro and Outlaw Run, but I found those restraints pretty roomy. It depends on your dimensions more than your weight for whether you will fit or not.

 

How many extra clicks do SD2K and Shambhala need? On Nitro, I can expose the yellow line (highest position) comfortably, do another click quite uncomfortably, and possibly do a third click to cut off circulation to my legs. And why do SD2K and Shambhala need those extra clicks? It it just because of more intensity or were they designed with smaller people in mind (because, as much as I hate to admit it and react with anger when my country is insulted, the US is a bit "larger" than most (if not all) places in Europe and Japan.)

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I love this post I have a local themepark Frontier City in OKlahoma City...I'm a 5'11" 290lb man and my park I fit comfortably in all the coasters. Well myself for the first time since 2009 decided to go to a Major Thrill park SFOT. In 2009 I was 4olbs lighter. I was able to ride most of the coasters except. The New Texas Giant I was ushered to the test seat while entering the ride cue. The dreaded test seat...I pulled the seat bar down and the light didn't stay on it came on went off came on the test seat operator said sorry Unfortunately you can not ride. I said what if my Girlfriend pushed my restraint down he said sorry I cannot let you ride today. The other coaster that was not comfortable was the Titan I was able to ride but my girlfriend had to push the restraint down. The ride does not have a test seat the operators have a small red block if the block fits between the bar and seat wall then you cannot ride. So the operator asked me to put my wallet in the restraint pouch in front of me and said your girlfriend can push your restraint down. She did but it was not a comfortable ride. So just FYI on the Titan you have the greatest chance of walk of shame . Anyway, The rest of the coasters were comfortable . I still want to ride a RMC coaster so I am working to get my weight off myself and my girlfriend both have set a goal to lose weight because we want to go too SDC and make a return trip to SFOT next season.

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It's weird how everyone looks down on the original Intamin T-bar restraint, even though Millennium Force has been operating with them for 15 seasons now. After visiting Cedar Point twice (2012, 2014), I've never witnessed anyone get the walk of shame (and there were some not-so-skinny people in line). I don't know if it's the ride, the ops, or both, but why can MF operate with them consistently over a number of seasons while the Supermans can't?

 

They turn a ton of people away from MF at the test seat. If you're a fat guy (I am) they usually pull you aside and make you try it before letting you waste 2 hours in line. Although, in my experience the MF test seat is much less forgiving than the actual trains. One time I couldn't even get the test seat seatbelt within an inch of the buckle but I risked the line anyway and got on fine.

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It's weird how everyone looks down on the original Intamin T-bar restraint, even though Millennium Force has been operating with them for 15 seasons now. After visiting Cedar Point twice (2012, 2014), I've never witnessed anyone get the walk of shame (and there were some not-so-skinny people in line). I don't know if it's the ride, the ops, or both, but why can MF operate with them consistently over a number of seasons while the Supermans can't?

 

They turn a ton of people away from MF at the test seat. If you're a fat guy (I am) they usually pull you aside and make you try it before letting you waste 2 hours in line. Although, in my experience the MF test seat is much less forgiving than the actual trains. One time I couldn't even get the test seat seatbelt within an inch of the buckle but I risked the line anyway and got on fine.

 

I should try the test seat sometime to see the difference. Haven't used it in forever. The buckle on MF's real train is hard to buckle for me, but once it is buckled, it isn't all that tight.

 

The T-bar is probably infamous due to having several incidents that were attributed to the rider's size, which led to severely shortened belts.

 

How are Bizarro's restraints compared to MF? Better or worse? If worse than MF, how do they compare to El Toro? Finally, can anybody answer the Shambhala question?

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I don't think I've ever found one particular type of restraint or manufacturer to be consistently problematic. Intamins have a reputation for being small but most of them aren't too bad. Piraten was extremely tight (thanks again for getting me in Robb!) and Jet Rescue isn't friendly to anyone with big thighs (although that is not the case with Juvelen).

 

For me it's more been random rides you expect to be fine that end up being a squeeze. I had to walk of shame on Technic Coaster at Legoland Billund, but never had an issue with any other Mack wild mouse. The mine train at Ocean Park had extremely small seatbelts that I've not seen anywhere else.

 

I've found that the vast majority of coasters are pretty good at accommodating bigger riders. I probably feel worse for the tall guys whose shoulders get in the way of OTSRs because, well, if I don't fit I can at least lose weight and come back another day. But if you're too tall, not a lot can be done about that.

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I don't think I've ever found one particular type of restraint or manufacturer to be consistently problematic. Intamins have a reputation for being small but most of them aren't too bad. Piraten was extremely tight (thanks again for getting me in Robb!) and Jet Rescue isn't friendly to anyone with big thighs (although that is not the case with Juvelen).

 

For me it's more been random rides you expect to be fine that end up being a squeeze. I had to walk of shame on Technic Coaster at Legoland Billund, but never had an issue with any other Mack wild mouse. The mine train at Ocean Park had extremely small seatbelts that I've not seen anywhere else.

 

I've found that the vast majority of coasters are pretty good at accommodating bigger riders. I probably feel worse for the tall guys whose shoulders get in the way of OTSRs because, well, if I don't fit I can at least lose weight and come back another day. But if you're too tall, not a lot can be done about that.

 

Piraten is worse than other Intamin T-bars?

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Piraten is worse than other Intamin T-bars?

 

The only one I can compare it to is Xcelerator (I think that still has t-bars?), which I didn't have any issues with. I haven't been on any of the other megalites though.

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Piraten is worse than other Intamin T-bars?

 

The only one I can compare it to is Xcelerator (I think that still has t-bars?), which I didn't have any issues with. I haven't been on any of the other megalites though.

 

I've never been on ANY Mega-Lite.

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I should try the test seat sometime to see the difference. Haven't used it in forever. The buckle on MF's real train is hard to buckle for me, but once it is buckled, it isn't all that tight.

 

The T-bar is probably infamous due to having several incidents that were attributed to the rider's size, which led to severely shortened belts.

 

How are Bizarro's restraints compared to MF? Better or worse? If worse than MF, how do they compare to El Toro? Finally, can anybody answer the Shambhala question?

 

 

The test seat on Millie is much smaller. I risked it in the line and an op belted me 3 times.

 

Bizarro had a bigger belt, I could easily fasten it myself. The restraint, I'm not sure as the ride op stapled me before I could push it down myself.

 

On the issue of seatbelts and size, wasn't it the same issue as NTaG that the restraint was touching the rider's stomach and not their legs.

 

I'm not sure exactly how many extra clicks but it seemed like 2 extra clicks on Shambhala and probably the same on Steel Dragon (but then again it might have been more as there was a hell of a lot more effort to get me into that seat). I'm not sure why they need those extra clicks, Shambhala is definitely not the most forceful B&M hyper.

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I should try the test seat sometime to see the difference. Haven't used it in forever. The buckle on MF's real train is hard to buckle for me, but once it is buckled, it isn't all that tight.

 

The T-bar is probably infamous due to having several incidents that were attributed to the rider's size, which led to severely shortened belts.

 

How are Bizarro's restraints compared to MF? Better or worse? If worse than MF, how do they compare to El Toro? Finally, can anybody answer the Shambhala question?

 

 

The test seat on Millie is much smaller. I risked it in the line and an op belted me 3 times.

 

Bizarro had a bigger belt, I could easily fasten it myself. The restraint, I'm not sure as the ride op stapled me before I could push it down myself.

 

On the issue of seatbelts and size, wasn't it the same issue as NTaG that the restraint was touching the rider's stomach and not their legs.

 

I'm not sure exactly how many extra clicks but it seemed like 2 extra clicks on Shambhala and probably the same on Steel Dragon (but then again it might have been more as there was a hell of a lot more effort to get me into that seat). I'm not sure why they need those extra clicks, Shambhala is definitely not the most forceful B&M hyper.

 

So I would have to be painfully stapled in? Why? I know that people in Europe and Japan tend to be less "large" than people in the US, but skinny people ride B&M hypers in the US and elsewhere every day without issue.

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Piraten is worse than other Intamin T-bars?

 

The only one I can compare it to is Xcelerator (I think that still has t-bars?), which I didn't have any issues with. I haven't been on any of the other megalites though.

 

Piraten is the only T-Bar I've seen where the restraint had to be set at a lower level. MF and others don't seem to be as strict, but Piraten's seat belt was also a lot bigger than MF and Xcelerator. So it's 6 of one, 1/2 dozen of the other in my opinion.

 

Juvelin was a nightmare for me. I'm 6'6" and have big thighs, and I could barely get out of the seat. My legs were pretty heavily bruised after that ride.

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Lightning Run's restraints are pretty tight. The insane airtime you experience on the final set of bunny hills is like getting Heimlich maneuver. That being said, it's still a very good ride.

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Lightning Run's lap bars are very unforgiving, but not so much to overweight people but to people who just can't "fit" properly under the restraints. Most of the time, those who can't get the restraint under their belly down towards their waist can't ride. I've never really had any problems with fitting into a ride, but I see people take walks of shame on Lightning Run all the time. I've yet to do an RMC coaster, but the restraint system looks very, very similar to each other.

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The extra clicks needed on Steel Dragon 2000 and Shambhala turn those usually comfy B&M clamshells into a pain in the butt.

Which extra clicks? Or have they changed it?

I was there 2 months ago and it needed just 2 clicks total to get going.

It was very tight though and I think the reason is the seating position is not exactly horizontal but with an angle upwards for the legs.

This plus big legs makes it so tight.

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^I rode shambhala a few months ago and noticed no difference between that and nitro which I had ridden half a year before. I thought they were extremely comfortable. The seating position is not my favorite just because I prefer the feeling of sitting upright rather than "sinking" into the seat.

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  • 2 years later...

Apparently, I was a few pounds heavier this time around going to Carowinds as opposed to last year. While I've had no issue on Fury 325, which requires two clicks. I had voluntarily did the walk of shame on Intimidator, despite being able to ride earlier in the day, due to the fact that it requires three clicks for some reason. I don't know if that counts as a walk of shame because I asked to be let off, but the few times I went on it, they had to give it a good push.

 

So when it comes to B&M's hypercoaster restraints, sometimes they're big person friendly and other times they're not. It all depends on how many clicks the park requires to be considered "locked"

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My heart will always be with the old school stuff; Schwarzkopf lap bars, buzz bars, NAD lap bars and similar classic styles. What's especially amazing about the Schwarzkopf lap bars is even though they are individual, you still have plenty of space to slide around for the lateral forces, and space for what I call "real" air time where your butt actually leaves the seat.

 

Least accommodating would have to go to RMC. Sorry guys :/ They make the experience very un-coaster like in my book. I guess it's a trade off if you have to have crazy hang time and snap your spine "uplift forces."

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The only time I had to walk off a ride was on It at Morey's Piers in the Spring. I think the reason it didn't fit was that I had so many things in my cargo pockets that it couldn't come down anymore. The closest I've come to not fitting on a coaster was Superman: Ride of Steel at Six Flags America. The lap bars fit on me just fine with plenty of room to spare (although the ankle restraints are horrific), but the seat belt just barely fits for some reason. I've seen plenty of people get the green light on the test seat with no problem, but then not be able to fit on the real train. But I've been losing weight, so I've been fitting a little bit more comfortably in a few rides.

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  • 11 months later...

Seeing as how RMC Hurler is going to be a reality, I've read somewhere that RMC restraints aren't that accommodating for guests of larger size. Can anyone on TPR attest to this?

 

If it's true, then I'm definintley going to throw away every piece of junk food in my house and I'm renewing my gym membership. I've been dying to to ride an RMC, and I'm not going to let this opportunity pass me by.

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