Space Mountain Tip for Tall People

jlandis44

jlandis44

Member
Original Poster
I am 6'7" tall. When I first rode SM, I did the usual thing I do on roller coasters and sat in the front seat expecting better leg room. Bad idea. I could barely get the lap bar down, and had to extend my knees sideways. This meant that during every turn on the ride, I felt like I was going to pop out of the seat. Made for a very unpleasant experience. When I went back a year later, I spoke to a CM who said I made the classic mistake. I needed to sit in the back seat. While there is a seat in front of you, you can actually extend your legs under and beneath the seat in front of you. Bottom line - tall people, sit in the back seat on SM. And, if you're over about 6'8" tall, don't even go on the ride...
 
jlandis44

jlandis44

Member
Original Poster
Nothing that isn't really a standard problem on many rides. Things like Dinosaur required me to accept that I was going to bang my knees on the front of the car...some other rides just required me to turn my legs sideways (and therefore sit with my younger son so I had more side room). The other thing to note is rides like Everest have a headrest that is not quite tall enough for me...I have to really focus on keeping everything in the perfect position, especially when travelling backwards. On RnRC, I can scoot down enough to get a bit of a headrest. That's a ride that, given the dynamics involved, you could probably ride without any restraint and the physics would keep you in the seat anyway.

But, just note that rides that sit (generally) 4 people across (Living with the Land, 3 Caballeros, Small World, etc) are ones that you might need to sit funny, or split the legs to fit into it. Four across is sometimes really tight...
 
graphite1326

graphite1326

Well-Known Member
although I am not as tall as you I did notice something when I had my knee out to the side to create a little more leg room. It has happened to me twice now. Once on EE and I believe the other ride was BTMR. I have me knee out to the side because there isn't enough leg room. Before I am situated the CM comes along and lowers the lap bar. Unfortunatley my knee gets caught betwen the lap bar and the side of the seat. Very painful. And on EE the CM just kept on going. Luckily I was able to worm my leg out.
 
jlandis44

jlandis44

Member
Original Poster
Interesting how we each have our own body shape issues...I may be taller, but I'm guessing you must have really long legs. I'm familiar with the problem you describe from some of the older, wooden coasters I've ridden in the past. But, I've not had any issues on EE. On BTMR, just remember to ride in a front seat of one of the cars. I actually said to a CM that I wanted a front row, and she said something like, "They're all the same"...I then spent 30 seconds demonstrating to her (using my foot as a measurement tool), how the front seat in each car actually has about 2 inches more leg room than the other seats. The bigger problem I have with that ride is I can't ride with my 7 year old...the lap bar won't come low enough on him to make me feel like he's secure. I ride with the wife and let the two kids ride together, and just hope they can make it through the ride without finding a reason to beat on each other.
 
eranwolf

eranwolf

New Member
Brilliant!! Thanks for this thread. I have been to WDW several time and always go for the front seat!! Never even thought about the back. I am 6'6" and 295 so to say I am challenged on rides is an understatement. I manage to get on them all though. I have to do exactly what every other poster on here has done. Sit sideways. I actually have more issues with the over the shoulder harnesses then lap bars. They tend not to go down always to the point where the safety buckle can clip in. Example of this is/was Dueling Dragons at Universal (IDK what its called now in HP land). They specifically make a seat for the taller crowd that I had to move to. If you ask ahead of time it will save you the embarrassment of holding up the ride to get out and move rows.
 
jlandis44

jlandis44

Member
Original Poster
Yeah, those over-the-shoulder harnesses are very inconsistent from one park to the next. At Potter-Land, I fit fine in the (non) Dueling Dragons in the bigger seats, but not the regular ones...Dominator at Kings Dominion is the same way...but, it's a tight fit on Alpengeist at Busch Gardens VA, and I cannot even get on Raptor at Cedar Point. Yet, they're all basically the same ride with very similar designs (except Dominator is different). But, most parks have test seats outside so that helps with the harness, but tells you nothing about leg room.
 
Thunderstruck

Thunderstruck

Member
Splash Mountain

Has anyone had any issues with new lap bars on Splash Mountain. It's always a tight fit for me but have not been back since they installed lap bars.
 
Contrast

Contrast

Member
I made the same mistake during my last trip 2 years ago. Safe to say I won't be making it again this time round, thanks for the tip! Being tall does have it's disadvantages.
 
WellFedDave

WellFedDave

Well-Known Member
jlandis44 said:
I am 6'7" tall. When I first rode SM, I did the usual thing I do on roller coasters and sat in the front seat expecting better leg room. Bad idea. I could barely get the lap bar down, and had to extend my knees sideways. This meant that during every turn on the ride, I felt like I was going to pop out of the seat. Made for a very unpleasant experience. When I went back a year later, I spoke to a CM who said I made the classic mistake. I needed to sit in the back seat. While there is a seat in front of you, you can actually extend your legs under and beneath the seat in front of you. Bottom line - tall people, sit in the back seat on SM. And, if you're over about 6'8" tall, don't even go on the ride...
Click to expand...

Thanks for posting this. I ran into the same mistake last trip and just about killed my knees on SM. They really should post this somewhere in SM or have the loading cast member mention it to people.
 
PhilharMagician

PhilharMagician

Well-Known Member
6'4" and I can tell you that the front seat of Space is no joy, nor is sitting in the back but it is slightly better. I actually find Splash more uncomfortable in the rear rows, but the front has more room. The worst is the plane ride to Orlando where my knees are jammed into the hinges for the seats in front of me. My knees have indentations in them for 3 - 4 days after flying.
 
GrumpyDude

GrumpyDude

Active Member
6' 5" here. I always get my feet placed in the car before I sit. I always dread getting into doom buggies at HM. The curve of the the car is hits my head unless I lean over or slouch forward. The bar on RR isn't very friendly either. I learned the lesson SM also. BTMR cars are very hard on the knees also. The only time that I wish I were "short" is getting on rides at WDW and flying.
 
GrumpyDude

GrumpyDude

Active Member
I also have an issue when I ride roller coasters that are standard 2 people side by side. All of my family members are average size so when I lower the lap bar as far as it will go on my thighs, there is a large gap for the other person. If I ride with my 94 pound daughter, I always keep my arm ready to help hold her in the car.
 
GrumpyDude

GrumpyDude

Active Member
PhilharMagician said:
6'4" and I can tell you that the front seat of Space is no joy, nor is sitting in the back but it is slightly better. I actually find Splash more uncomfortable in the rear rows, but the front has more room. The worst is the plane ride to Orlando where my knees are jammed into the hinges for the seats in front of me. My knees have indentations in them for 3 - 4 days after flying.
Click to expand...
Yep
 
JBravo1977

JBravo1977

Member
jlandis44 said:
I am 6'7" tall. When I first rode SM, I did the usual thing I do on roller coasters and sat in the front seat expecting better leg room. Bad idea. I could barely get the lap bar down, and had to extend my knees sideways. This meant that during every turn on the ride, I felt like I was going to pop out of the seat. Made for a very unpleasant experience. When I went back a year later, I spoke to a CM who said I made the classic mistake. I needed to sit in the back seat. While there is a seat in front of you, you can actually extend your legs under and beneath the seat in front of you. Bottom line - tall people, sit in the back seat on SM. And, if you're over about 6'8" tall, don't even go on the ride...
Click to expand...

I'm 6'-2" and I always feel like I'm going to be decapitated on SM.
 

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