Episode 774 - Big And Tall

Authored by: ranseus on Friday, September 17 2010 @ 11:47 AM CDT

I'm right around 6' 6", pretty thin. The kind of thing you're discussing is just part of the deal with being tall.

The thing I have to deal with is the length of my femur, making me contort my legs a little bit to sit in a ride vehicle.

The rides that are the biggest problem are Space Mountain (it's actually kinda funny looking, because my knees stick up above the sides of the vehicle), and any of the OmniMover style rides (where I have to sit at an angle). Now that I think about it, even rides like Pirates, the Great Movie Ride, and the "Grand Siesta Tour" (my wife made that up, I was so proud) are a little cramped.

...but let me say this: my size is MY problem. I deal with a world made for shorter people every day, and I don't expect the world to adapt to suit me. I would MUCH rather see a new attraction, or an update to an old one, than have Disney spend the same money to give me a few more inches of legroom.

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Authored by: frandog on Friday, September 17 2010 @ 12:15 PM CDT

I am a 6'4'' male and weigh 200 pounds. The only ride I have ever hade a problem getting into in Central Florida was, as Fred mentioned, Dudley Do Right at Universal. I have no clue how anybody over the age of ten could fit into the front row of those logs. Ironically, I had no problem fitting into Harry Potter.

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Authored by: CatsDad on Saturday, September 18 2010 @ 07:46 PM CDT

At 6'4", the one ride I really have trouble with is Rock'n'Roller Coaster. The shoulder bar pinches and the headrest is WAY too low. Of course my daughter LOVES this ride and as the designated parental rider, I have suffered through this ride multiple times (and no doubt multiple times to come).

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Authored by: jaypenguin150 on Sunday, September 19 2010 @ 03:04 PM CDT

I've listened to the past few shows, and enjoyed them all. But I decided for some reason to play today's show backwards. All I heard was "Len is dead. Len is dead. Len is dead." Can the other members of the fab 4 comment on this?

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Nothing is more wonderful than the imagination. For, in a moment, you can experience a beautiful fantasy. Or, an exciting adventure!

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Authored by: DisneyAlli on Wednesday, September 22 2010 @ 08:47 PM CDT

I'm neither particularly tall or "big" being an averaged size 10 5'6" female but I do know what you're saying about rides being designed for smaller people as my dad is about 6 feet tall and has ranged from 200-250 lbs and I do think that some rides should have a ride vehicle or two for the larger sized guests... It's horrible watching someone be embaressed because they cannot fit into a seat and be forced to leave the ride (and really hard for their children too) but I really liked what Mike said about the lower ride vehicles being hard to get in and out of. I've been stuck in WDW's Space Mountain a couple times because I couldn't get my legs under me fast enough and was actually yelled at by a Disneyland CM because I didn't get out of a ride vehicle fast enough for him... At 24 I'm not exactly old or slow moving but I just couldn't get out of the vehicle quickly because of the design.

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Authored by: YoPaulie on Thursday, September 23 2010 @ 11:19 AM CDT

One thing that our esteemed panel always fail to recognize is the real-world implications of larger or heavier guests is load limit for the attractions themselves. Like elevators that have a weight capacity regardless of how big the seats are, the capacity stays the same.

They did a refit of a roller coaster here at Six Flags Great Adventure, and added in speakers and sound effects. To accommodate, they removed two seats from each train. Each train now holds 28 people, instead of 30. Not a great reduction, but a reduction nonetheless.

So, just "Adding a little extra" on the ends of seats, you will need to cut weight from somewhere else, meaning diminished capacity in ridership. Take the 6 person Space Mountain train. You could remove the middle seat and make it comfy for 4 people per train, but do you want to wait in lines that are 33% longer?

I'm hardly svelte, but a true discussion of this topic requires acknowledging the real-world implications of these requested changes.

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