Tower of Terror - lapbelts vs. lapbars

[travelbug]

Did I hear correctly that Tower of Terror now has lapbelts instead of the lapbars? If so, do you think this makes the ride scarier or more tame or about the same?

I thought it was plenty scary with the lapbars!

 

[sunking]

yep...they now have lapbelts in each of the elevators...i like the ride with the lapbelt better then the bar...it seems that it allows for a little more "air time"...
have fun!!!!
sunking

 

[wannabee princess]

Dh and I both agreed that we thought the lapbelts made the ride less scary. I think you are held in your seat better by the belt, and so you don't feel the falling in the same way.

 

[jordgubben]

I remember my friend telling me that with the lap bar when she rode with her dad (who's a really big guy) the bar won't even come close to being down as far as she thought it should be. The lap belt eliminates that kind of problem. I did like being able to hold on better to the lap bar though. With the belt I crossed my arms and held on tight to the belt.

 

[TowerBellhop]

I would think that this would make the whole experience that much more terrifying, given that the "Seatbelt Seat" in the back of the elevator used to be the most requested by thrillseekers, and most frightening for the squeamish (sp?). However, I wouldn't anticipate extra "air time" because of it.

Don't seatbelts by their very nature tighten around the rider (driver) to prevent them from flying all over the place? I'd be pretty upset if I was in a car accident and my seatbelt allowed for "air time"... And not to be offensive, but how great was it to ride Tower while in the same lapbar row as someone whose body size was quite a bit larger than yours? Now *that* was airtime

And this is why I'm glad there's an edit button. After reading my post, it makes it sound like I'm trying to call "sunking" a big liar. But I'm not, promise. I wonder if the increased feeling of "air time" comes from the more openness you feel without the lapbar, and the inability to hold on to anything other than the guest next to you. Either way, I'm looking forward to it

Take care,
Jay

 

[gshoemate]

The first time I went on it after they made the switch, I hated it. But I went on it about a week ago and it wasn't that bad. There is handles down by your legs that you can hold onto and if you are all the way against the wall, they have put a handle on that also. So you will have something to hold on to for dear life

 

[wdarling]

the lapbar added an extra thrill but i am a very tiny person and the lapbar adjusts to the heaviest person in the row. my dad is a larger man as a result the lapbar did nothing for me on the ride. my brother had to hold me down from flying out....lol

 

[travelbug]

Thanks everyone! Sounds like I'll have to try it with a lapbelt now to figure out if the "scare factor" gets higher or lower for me.

I'm glad to hear that there are handles to hold onto. Otherwise I'd probably end up holding onto the people sitting next to me with a vise grip clutch.

 

[QuickGold]

I'll always prefer the lapbars.

 

[4greatboys]

I loved the lapbars. The airtime was great--especially if someone on your row was bigger than you, then you had that extra room. The seatbelts do tighten up I try to leave mine a tad loose but you have to hold it out but it still does tighten up as you go up and down. I still love ToT--its my favorite but I do miss the lapbars.

 

[Snurk71]

I'm a thrillseeker and I just rode last week with the belts. I pulled out a lot of extra slack - probably close to a foot of slack. So I got plenty of extra air time with the belt - more than I ever have with the bar. I just had to hold on to the belt to keep it from tightening down on me.

 

[kevind65]

we've done it many times both ways now. I think that you for sure get better "air time" with the belts as oppossed to the bars(that may not be true in the small person/large person scenerio). The belts are not like modern day seat belts with the shoulder harnesses or anything. they allow plenty of slack in them which allows for the "air time". I think more than style of restraints is the drop sequence that makes this attraction more or less thrilling.

 

[Chip126]

This has always been my least favorite ride (even though I do it once each trip). With the lap bar it used to freak me out because the lap bar never came down to my legs and I did not like the feeling of coming off the seat.

However, I rode this last week with the seatbelts and I liked it so much better! I have always considered this a terrifying ride (the drops), but I felt much more secure with the seat belt and I hung on to the bars on the sides of me for dear life!

 

[DebbieB]

I rode with the lapbelts for the first time last week. I prefer the bars for the extra airtime. I didn't even feel the need to hold on with the lapbelt. For some reason, the drops don't seems as fast to me now.

 

[paladin]

I was there last week and rode several times - it's my favorite ride. I had more air time with the current seat belts - which I think is great ( I used to request the seat belt seat - now I don't have to!)

 

[travelbug]

Seems that there's really a mixture of opinions on which one gives more excitement. Guess I'll have to go on it myself now and see what I think. Thanks again, everyone.

 

[crusin'minnie]

The lapbar made it so much better!!!!

 

[KristaTX]

With the bar my legs used to get kind of shaky when I would get off the ride because of all the air time. Much less air time now and I don't get that shaky feeling (unfortunately), but I still think this is the absolute best ride ever. I thought it was too hard to try and keep slack in the seatbelt. I guess safety comes first, though, so I'm not complaining about the seat belts.

 

[drp4video]

I like the seat belts. It seems scarier cuz there is nothing in front of you. Altho, I raise my hands in the air the whole time anyhow.

 

[Ducky4Disney]

I definately understand the problem with the original lapbars. My DH is a HUGE guy and when we rode it a few years ago we sat with a mom and young daughter. The lapbar came nowhere NEAR the girl's legs! She thought it was more fun that way but I'm sure her mother was terrified that her daughter was gonna fly out of the seat.

Not everyone is a thrill seeker and the lapbars forced some people to catch more air or experience the fear of falling out. Can you imagine taking someone on that for their fist time and they sit next to someone that's way bigger then them and they are scared to death of falling out? That's not fun.

I liked the seatbelts, I felt a little safer but I was afraid it would come unlatched. Also, having nothing to hang onto was scary enough!

D4D