singforfood Posted August 31, 2014 Share Posted August 31, 2014 (edited) I need to complain about something for a quick second. What's with the trend of parks imposing max height limits on rides that previously didn't have them? I understand that it's just part of the design limitations for certain rides (like Vekoma Giant Inverted Boomerangs), but why add one years after the fact (Bizarro at SFNE, Millennium Force)? I'm quite tall, but I fit into rides. I sit in the test seat and close the lap bar until the light turns green and have plenty of room to spare, but the sign says I'm 3 inches too tall to ride. I ride Xcelerator all the time, and I've never had a neck injury, despite my head reaching higher than most on the headrest. I think it may have something to do with accidents occurring because of guests who are of a larger girth not being able to secure themselves safely, but the parks don't want to seem discriminatory against overweight people, so they add a height maximum too to make it seem more even handed. Rant over. TL;DR: If I fits, how come I can't sits? Edited August 31, 2014 by singforfood Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coasterkyle Posted August 31, 2014 Share Posted August 31, 2014 All intamin rides have a 6' 6" hight maximum Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
singforfood Posted August 31, 2014 Author Share Posted August 31, 2014 (edited) All intamin rides have a 6' 6" hight maximum Several might but definitely not all. CA Screamin has none, neither does Xcelerator, Kingda Ka, El Toro, Intimidator 305, Volcano (even though Wicked Twister is 6'6" and they are the same ride vehicles), Goliath at Wabili World, Expedition GeForce... the list goes on. And for whatever reason, Bizarro at SFNE and Ride of Steel at Darien Lake have a 6'4" limit instead of 6'6". As far as I know, when they opened as Superman, neither had a max limit. Edited August 31, 2014 by singforfood Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YoshiFan Posted August 31, 2014 Share Posted August 31, 2014 Possessed has a height limit of 6'3". That's strange Wicked Twister is different even though its the same chain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VF15 Posted August 31, 2014 Share Posted August 31, 2014 Steel Venom at Valleyfair has a maximum heigh limit of 6'6", so that's really strange to hear that it's 6'3" on Possessed when they're exactly the same. I guess these policies vary by park, but it doesn't make sense that these clones don't have consistent policies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
singforfood Posted September 1, 2014 Author Share Posted September 1, 2014 ^ This is my point exactly. Having a max height limit doesn't make any sense from a safety standpoint when there's no consistency to it, even within rides that are legit clones of each other. Makes me believe more that it's a byproduct of "size limits" covering height as well as girth in order to not offend people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GCI Wooden Posted September 1, 2014 Share Posted September 1, 2014 All intamin rides have a 6' 6" hight maximum Several might but definitely not all. CA Screamin has none, neither does Xcelerator, Kingda Ka, El Toro, Intimidator 305, Volcano (even though Wicked Twister is 6'6" and they are the same ride vehicles), Goliath at Wabili World, Expedition GeForce... the list goes on. And for whatever reason, Bizarro at SFNE and Ride of Steel at Darien Lake have a 6'4" limit instead of 6'6". As far as I know, when they opened as Superman, neither had a max limit. I believe that Kingda Ka has a height limit of 6'5''. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gerstlaueringvar Posted September 1, 2014 Share Posted September 1, 2014 Maybe it is because of the clearance envelop? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Generic Name Posted September 1, 2014 Share Posted September 1, 2014 Maybe it is because of the clearance envelop? That would make sense for inverted coasters (like the aforementioned GIBS), but why would a normal sitdown ride (like Bizarro) need it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thrillseeker4552 Posted September 1, 2014 Share Posted September 1, 2014 All intamin rides have a 6' 6" hight maximum Several might but definitely not all. CA Screamin has none, neither does Xcelerator, Kingda Ka, El Toro, Intimidator 305, Volcano (even though Wicked Twister is 6'6" and they are the same ride vehicles), Goliath at Wabili World, Expedition GeForce... the list goes on. And for whatever reason, Bizarro at SFNE and Ride of Steel at Darien Lake have a 6'4" limit instead of 6'6". As far as I know, when they opened as Superman, neither had a max limit. I believe that Kingda Ka has a height limit of 6'5''. Xcelerator also has a height limit of 6'6". They don't measure it exactly to the inch, but if your neck exceeds the headrest, you can't ride. The launch would give quite a whip lash! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoasterGuy06 Posted September 1, 2014 Share Posted September 1, 2014 The execs of the parks just sat around one day and decided they wanted to upset as many guests as possible. They figured an arbitrary maximum height restriction that had nothing to do with any possible safety issue was the way to go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gerstlaueringvar Posted September 1, 2014 Share Posted September 1, 2014 Maybe it is because of the clearance envelope? That would make sense for inverted coasters (like the aforementioned GIBS), but why would a normal sitdown ride (like Bizarro) need it? For coasters that have neck choppers and supports that are close to the track on the sides, this could be a problem. Mack had a huge part of Battle of Bluefire's queue rebuilt because the wall is 2 cm closer to the track than planned. Imagine a super tall rider put his/her arms to the sides, there could be some injury and lawsuit. And I think Americans love to sue parks. So this is why the parks(especially American parks ) set the maximum height. I remember on a Kingda Ka documentary, the handrail on the Top Hat is super close to the clearance envelope. Plus, as mentioned, launch coasters can cause neck injury. Imagine if Dodonpa doesn't have headrests, we can pick up heads next to the launch track! That would be how it's like for the super tall riders. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
singemfrc Posted September 1, 2014 Share Posted September 1, 2014 I need to complain about something for a quick second. What's with the trend of parks imposing max height limits on rides that previously didn't have them? I understand that it's just part of the design limitations for certain rides (like Vekoma Giant Inverted Boomerangs), but why add one years after the fact (Bizarro at SFNE, Millennium Force)? I'm quite tall, but I fit into rides. I sit in the test seat and close the lap bar until the light turns green and have plenty of room to spare, but the sign says I'm 3 inches too tall to ride. I ride Xcelerator all the time, and I've never had a neck injury, despite my head reaching higher than most on the headrest. I think it may have something to do with accidents occurring because of guests who are of a larger girth not being able to secure themselves safely, but the parks don't want to seem discriminatory against overweight people, so they add a height maximum too to make it seem more even handed. Rant over. TL;DR: If I fits, how come I can't sits? I could be wrong but I believe it's because of the ride envelope. The theory I guess being that if someone is that tall their head or arms sticking out could hit things where it wouldn't with a shorter person. All intamin rides have a 6' 6" hight maximum Not all, V2 at SFDK's maximum heigh is 6'4". The ride ops periodically call over the PA asking (for seemingly no reason) if anyone is over 6'4" and if anyone raises their hands they take em out of line. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Comeagain? Posted September 1, 2014 Share Posted September 1, 2014 Sometimes the height maximum is based on shoulder harnesses and the high probability that they won't close properly because of someone's shoulders. At least that's what we've been told as far as GIBs (and SpinCycle). And I've seen it happen, where someone's shoulders were high enough that the harness didn't actually close far enough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DLex Posted September 1, 2014 Share Posted September 1, 2014 For a moment, I thought this thread was going to be about 54" height limits on kiddie coasters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanks4me05 Posted September 1, 2014 Share Posted September 1, 2014 Maybe it is because of the clearance envelop? That would make sense for inverted coasters (like the aforementioned GIBS), but why would a normal sitdown ride (like Bizarro) need it? Likely because taller people generally have longer arms, so they can stretch out to the sides more, thus the clearance envelope will have to be increased. I can easily see how that will be an issue on RoS for example because when you exit the first helix it appears to be a very tight fit. I'm only 5'10" and even I put my hands down a couple times during that crossover. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
singforfood Posted September 1, 2014 Author Share Posted September 1, 2014 Maybe it is because of the clearance envelop? That would make sense for inverted coasters (like the aforementioned GIBS), but why would a normal sitdown ride (like Bizarro) need it? Likely because taller people generally have longer arms, so they can stretch out to the sides more, thus the clearance envelope will have to be increased. I can easily see how that will be an issue on RoS for example because when you exit the first helix it appears to be a very tight fit. I'm only 5'10" and even I put my hands down a couple times during that crossover. But my original question stands... Why, after years of operating without a maximum height limit, would one be added to an existing coaster? The clearance envelope didn't just spontaneously shrink. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thewesker Posted September 1, 2014 Share Posted September 1, 2014 Vortex at Kings Island needs one. I'm 6'3" and could just barely close the OTSR. It wasn't comfortable either. Mantis and Magnum at Cedar Point were awful too for a tall person. For rides like The Beast, I put my arms down for those tunnels. They look awful tight and I'd bet I could touch the top if I tried. I'm not risking it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gerstlaueringvar Posted September 1, 2014 Share Posted September 1, 2014 If I reach out, I swear I can touch almost every traditionally constructed wooden coaster's handrail. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thesman Posted September 1, 2014 Share Posted September 1, 2014 i was going to say because your neck is higher than the head rest but if several others don't have a max high especially execrator and kingda ka. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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