As feared Forbidden Journey is Not for Many

[MinneTinK]

any more info on the height limit? I read on here several different theories, some say 6'3 is the cutoff, others 6'6 and then I read that a 7'0 NBA player rode...just looking for some confirmation from the tall people out there, thanks!

 

[Bunney]

I'm really surprised at this design as well. There's a conference of fans happening in July, and I know I'm going to see a lot of disappointed people there. :/

Are you going to Infinitus as well??

 

[OrlandoUnited]

any more info on the height limit? I read on here several different theories, some say 6'3 is the cutoff, others 6'6 and then I read that a 7'0 NBA player rode...just looking for some confirmation from the tall people out there, thanks!

I've yet to see an actual report of anyone getting turned away due to their height. It's more about upper leg and torso width and girth.

 

[TwingleMum]

I've yet to see an actual report of anyone getting turned away due to their height. It's more about upper leg and torso width and girth.

Let us know if you get to ride. Keeping fingers crossed for you

 

[Albytaps]

Just adding another person who could get on. My husband in 6'1" 270 lbs., broad shoulders but with a 44 inch waist (for slacks). He was able to ride.

Thanks Phantom this gives me hope. I was going to go through and have them check me if need be but either way I was gonna try... I'll yank that thing down hard! 1 week left yeaaa boyyyy!

 

[yeslek]

any more info on the height limit? I read on here several different theories, some say 6'3 is the cutoff, others 6'6 and then I read that a 7'0 NBA player rode...just looking for some confirmation from the tall people out there, thanks!

It's hard to say because people carry their height (like weight) in different places. Some people have long legs while others have longer torsos. The NBA player got on because he rode with one click. You are ABLE to ride with one click, but the manufacturer recommended 3 for safety. I know they hate turning people away and making them angry, but they definitely do not want a death on their hands.

 

[Friendly Frog]

It's just so crazy that in a country and a fan base that are full of big-uns, that Uni would design a ride that is not very friendly to the "Poppin' Fresh" population. I guess none of their designers ever saw a Frontierland turkey leg line around 12 noon or a scooter parade down Main Street at MK closing. Maybe a redesign or a tub of melted butter at the loading belt is needed?

That has to be the funniest thing I have read all week. ( and painted a very accurate picture as well.)

 

[OrlandoUnited]

So I went last night. The area was packed, Universal must have done something right with Potter because most wait times were 20+ minutes at 9:30. I tried the test seat outside, no green light this week. But I did see that I'm only about 3/4 of an inch to getting it. The boy handling the test seats outside, David, was very helpful. He told me different ways to hold my body to see if I could get the light;
- Sitting with my shoulders back and touching the back of the seat with my head
- Scooting my butt forward so my torso could compress more, giving the harness more room up top
- Sucking in my gut and crossing my legs to relax my quads

but alas, nothing worked. I had only brought my daughter to the park to ride Hippogriff anyhow, so no big loss. Once I get my man-girdle in tomorrow, I'll try the actual test seats inside, something I have yet to do.

 

[Skuba2]

I can totally see the reasons for the restrictions. Anything different and the experience would not be fantastic. It is the closeness to the visual effects that make it so amazing. I looked back and saw that basically the ride is picked up by what can only be described as a forklift that basically moves on a track and takes you tossing and tumbling thru the ride. You go far enough back to get your head just below your body a few times.

I think these parks do as much as they can for those individuals who are for some reason unable to participate in the rides in the usual manner. There is a balance between what they want to present in a ride and what they can do to make sure everyone regardless of size or handicap can enjoy the ride. This is a ride that is tipped more toward the presentation of the ride and I think rightfully so. I can see this as the next generation in rides. The only thing is I hope everyone respects the ride and doesn't try and destroy it by being the one who "kicks" the robots even if they can reach them.

DG

 

[czycropper]

I can totally see the reasons for the restrictions. Anything different and the experience would not be fantastic. It is the closeness to the visual effects that make it so amazing. I looked back and saw that basically the ride is picked up by what can only be described as a forklift that basically moves on a track and takes you tossing and tumbling thru the ride. You go far enough back to get your head just below your body a few times.

I think these parks do as much as they can for those individuals who are for some reason unable to participate in the rides in the usual manner. There is a balance between what they want to present in a ride and what they can do to make sure everyone regardless of size or handicap can enjoy the ride. This is a ride that is tipped more toward the presentation of the ride and I think rightfully so. I can see this as the next generation in rides. The only thing is I hope everyone respects the ride and doesn't try and destroy it by being the one who "kicks" the robots even if they can reach them.

DG

Very good points.

I can't blame the ride designers for something which is in my control (to be more Fiona shaped)....yes, I understand that there are some that it's not in their control because of medications (my Mom is one of them). She's always said is that even though she can't ride certain rides she enjoys watching our faces when we come out of the ride and she's never complained. That's what she always said whenever we went to ANY park that had rides she couldn't get on unfortunately now she can't even do that because she's completely bedridden. So, now we take videos so she can still "experience" the parks.

 

[phamton]

I tried the test seat outside, no green light this week. But I did see that I'm only about 3/4 of an inch to getting it. Once I get my man-girdle in tomorrow, I'll try the actual test seats inside, something I have yet to do.

Try getting on the ride. Like I said, many have had trouble on the test seat and were able to ride. I honestly don't think my husband would get the green light on the test seat.

 

[keishashadow]

No I wasn't. I'm not sure that would have helped but I may try it next time and see. The TM was very nice about it. I hope they will change it somehow so more people will ride. I am going to try to lose some weight and see if that helps for the next time we go. But I'm not going to count on it since the girls never seem to shrink when I lose weight...LOL

thanxgood luck

im late to party as to the test seatsglad to hear there's a TM to help explain though

im starting to worry if there's pressure pushing down on the shoulders (for lack of better example how the stitch one @ disney feels when it 1st comes down?)

just wondering as i have back/neck issues (yes, i know i shouldn't ride it, but manage to do mummy once each trip).

Im not a fan of coasters with the overhead restraints if they apply pressure to top of shoulder area throughout the ridenow worried this one may be of that ilk.

 

[seadd67]

So will they let you get as far as the ride It self If you fail the test seats?, I am one of these big guys,but have never been denied getting on a coaster. So I am thinking will they at least let you and or have the attendents(CM) help you squeze Into the seat(squeze Into the seat, I just love saying that) at that point,hay I gave It a try If I ride I ride,If not I will let my DS go off and Fly with Harry. Someone needs to be there to catch him when they get off the brooms

 

[phamton]

At the entrance of FJ, no one was asking people to test the seats but I did see a few people who stopped at the test seat themselves and the TM helped them with that seat. We just walked past. The test seat near the load area was only being used by people who were pulled out with their group. No one said anything to my husband at all. We just loaded the ride and then were able to get the third click with help from the TM.

 

[MrsRJLupin]

Here is what I don't understand.

If the safety requirement is that the harness must click three times, why did they not design it so the harness could come down even closer to smaller people? For example, for a 130-pound person, it could click up to 6 times, as opposed to just three clicks for a larger person? I'm thinking of a cheap plastic wrist bracelet that has many holes to secure it. A person with a smaller wrist just pulls it tighter. Wouldn't this have allowed for both larger and smaller body types to ride safely, without the smaller types "sliding around"? Especially since the bars are individual and not across all four riders?

And for those of you citing "safety issues," rumor has it that Universal will be making some larger seats to install in the future. Therefore, it CAN'T be a safety issue if they CAN do this. In fact, they already knew this was a problem at their park because of the larger seats on other restrictive rides. Couldn't they have planned for this from the start? Coming in with at least a few larger seats would have kept a significant portion of society from feeling as though they had been marginalized.

 

[marivaid]

Couldn't they have planned for this from the start? Coming in with at least a few larger seats would have kept a significant portion of society from feeling as though they had been marginalized.

Maybe they wanted to know just how many they needed. The cost must be astronomical, we're not talking about a couple lawn chairs here

 

[Magpie]

Here is what I don't understand.

If the safety requirement is that the harness must click three times, why did they not design it so the harness could come down even closer to smaller people? For example, for a 130-pound person, it could click up to 6 times, as opposed to just three clicks for a larger person? I'm thinking of a cheap plastic wrist bracelet that has many holes to secure it. A person with a smaller wrist just pulls it tighter. Wouldn't this have allowed for both larger and smaller body types to ride safely, without the smaller types "sliding around"? Especially since the bars are individual and not across all four riders?

And for those of you citing "safety issues," rumor has it that Universal will be making some larger seats to install in the future. Therefore, it CAN'T be a safety issue if they CAN do this. In fact, they already knew this was a problem at their park because of the larger seats on other restrictive rides. Couldn't they have planned for this from the start? Coming in with at least a few larger seats would have kept a significant portion of society from feeling as though they had been marginalized.

Okay, I haven't ridden yet, but from what I've read on this board, the harness DOES come down more than three clicks on smaller people. Some people have described hearing many clicks.

NO ONE has mentioned sliding around. Small people are tucked in quite securely. The bars are just as individual as you described with the bracelet.

The problem is that the "bracelet" has a limit to the number of holes available, and some people with very large wrists just can't get it on.

They will almost certainly be making larger seats, but that requires a redesign of the restraints along with extensive safety testing to ensure that a 350-plus pound individual won't cause the locks to fail, when her entire weight comes down on the restraints.

These seats were designed to fit the majority of the population, based on the "average" person. Now you can argue that Americans are not "average", but the fact remains that most people can still ride - even if they're American.

As for why they didn't have larger seats to begin with... the engineers may have wanted to see the ride in operation first, or management may have decided that this was one thing that could be sacrificed in the interested of opening the ride on time, and avoiding significant delays.

In fact, I can see it now: "Okay, we can finish designing the Big Seats, and open the ride in the Fall. Or we can barely squeak in before the end of Spring with Regular Seats and install the Big Seats next year."

"Go with the end of Spring!"

 

[Pax]

I'm in favor of more people being able to fit, maybe via seat size adjustment (even if only to quiet all the not at all endearing angry buzzing ), but I just hope that installing larger seats won't require a drop in intensity to remain safe.

Plenty of tall, non-svelte folks have been reporting fitting on the ride. I think they found a good balance between rider size capacity and ride performance.

For the small (but vocal) minority who can't ride, I'm sorry for you... I just don't think Universal has done anything wrong, or should have to change the ride. There are intense rides everywhere that will not accommodate larger riders. Disney has no real intense rides. Lose the effects and even RnRC at the Studios is tame. Some people not being able to ride is a lousy reason to only have slow moving, bench seat rides everywhere.

That said, if larger seats will not impact speed or intensity, I'm all for it!

I also wanted to add how amazing some of the posters have been... those working very hard to fit on the ride (I know precisely how hard it is), and especially those who have listed their personal details in hopes of helping others. Kudos, and good luck.

Pax

 

[MrsRJLupin]

They do have the models of their other rides with larger seats to follow, so they could have simply planned as many larger seats as they did for those rides.

Also, the price cannot be "astronomical" as they are going to do it anyway. In fact, I imagine it would have been more cost-effective to do it right the first time rather than go back and fix it.

As for the time element...doing it quick and easy has alienated a good many paying customers. It might have been better business to take a bit more time.

 

[damo]

Here is what I don't understand.

If the safety requirement is that the harness must click three times, why did they not design it so the harness could come down even closer to smaller people? For example, for a 130-pound person, it could click up to 6 times, as opposed to just three clicks for a larger person? I'm thinking of a cheap plastic wrist bracelet that has many holes to secure it. A person with a smaller wrist just pulls it tighter. Wouldn't this have allowed for both larger and smaller body types to ride safely, without the smaller types "sliding around"? Especially since the bars are individual and not across all four riders?

And for those of you citing "safety issues," rumor has it that Universal will be making some larger seats to install in the future. Therefore, it CAN'T be a safety issue if they CAN do this. In fact, they already knew this was a problem at their park because of the larger seats on other restrictive rides. Couldn't they have planned for this from the start? Coming in with at least a few larger seats would have kept a significant portion of society from feeling as though they had been marginalized.

It does come down further than 3 clicks on smaller people.