Will WDW Add Weight Limits to Ride Signage?

[flynnibus]

as far as I know yes,........ a big yes IN CONJUNCTION with my hands grabbing the pulldown steel restraints for lateral balance

if I had no hands then I'd think I would very likely fall out

This is like people thinking they can hold themselves in place during a car accident. The issue is your muscles and brain can't respond quick enough nor are they strong enough to maintain that position under such rapid application of forces (impulse acceleration). That's why we have physical restraints.

 

[lewisc]

Water parks weigh customers at some attractions. Too light and the guest can fly off. Too heavy and the guest will come down too fast and may not slow down enough through the run off section at the end.
I know Volcano Bay and Aquatica weighs guests. I don't know if Disney's water parks use scales

 

[thomas998]

Im sure that all the rides have weight limits right now, but the reality is a person that was at the limit on most rides would already be at a point that the wouldn't fit on the ride. Even elevators have weight limits.

The kid that died in the other park likely didn't have the seat completely locked, from the photos i saw i dont think you could have set the seat in the locked position without pressing it down so hard that the kid would have been unable to breath. He wasn't just a little overweight he was insanely huge.

 

[lazyboy97o]

The kid that died in the other park likely didn't have the seat completely locked, from the photos i saw i dont think you could have set the seat in the locked position without pressing it down so hard

The information released so far is that the restraint was locked and remained locked.

 

[Married5Times]

This is like people thinking they can hold themselves in place during a car accident.

I don't think that at all. There are some who think if they are not wearing a seatbelt then they can brace themselves during impact of a car collision.......... one's arms would break like toothpicks(likely).
.

and to a second point the drop tower ride's movement is nothing like a car collision. One can still use arms to grab the steel restraint to help stabilize the body. Since the ride goes, more or less, exactly vertical with soft and gradual breaking it bears no resemblance to a car perhaps skidding and hitting a tree or one car striking another. Tower rides have foreseeable, fluid and controlled movement whereas car impacts close to always do not.

 

[Married5Times]

Even if you did realize in the fraction of a second that you were still in motion, nobody has the strength to hold on and it actually work out.

I flat out disagree.

with hands on the grad bars (which I've been grasping the entire ride) and I start to slide a few inches from the optimal seating position a belt between the legs now supports most of my 180 bs. I would have lateral stability during the more or less perfect 90 degree controlled ascent and descent.

 

[thomas998]

The information released so far is that the restraint was locked and remained locked.

I saw the report that said it was in the locked position when the wide came to a stop. I have seen no evidence that shows it was locked when it started. Many rides have locking mechanisms that will lock from the movement of the ride if it is empty to avoid the mechanism causing damage when the ride goes empty. Given the mechanism used on this ride would have attached between the rides crotch to the seat i seriously doubt it was locked when the ride started and probably locked when it came to a rest as the then empty seat would lock by itself.

There is simply no way a human that size could be pulled out the bottom of that seat if it were locked. If superman had grabbed his legs and ripped him trough the botton it would have left large chunks of the rider or more than likely ripped his legs off and left the body. That initial report you mention was from someone stating what was seen at the accident site not from a thorough investigation.

 

[thomas998]

I don't think that at all. There are some who think if they are not wearing a seatbelt then they can brace themselves during impact of a car collision.......... one's arms would break like toothpicks(likely).
.

and to a second point the drop tower ride's movement is nothing like a car collision. One can still use arms to grab the steel restraint to help stabilize the body. Since the ride goes, more or less, exactly vertical with soft and gradual breaking it bears no resemblance to a car perhaps skidding and hitting a tree or one car striking another. Tower rides have foreseeable, fluid and controlled movement whereas car impacts close to always do not.

Depends on the speed of the car crash. I have been in a crash at 35mph with no seatbelt and was only bracing myself with my legs. Nothing broken on me or the driver who also had no seat belt on. Car crashes have lots of variables from what is hit to speed and so many others that you cant really compare them to each other or other accidents.

 

[lewisc]

There is simply no way a human that size could be pulled out the bottom of that seat if it were locked.

Locked but not far enough down to adequately secure the rider.

 

[Married5Times]

Given the mechanism used on this ride would have attached between the rides crotch to the seat

not on this ride.......

the pull down restraint does not attach to the seat so ultimately it never reaches crotch

 

[Married5Times]

Depends on the speed of the car crash. I have been in a crash at 35mph with no seatbelt and was only bracing myself with my legs. Nothing broken on me

yes, and good point

 

[thomas998]

Water parks weigh customers at some attractions. Too light and the guest can fly off. Too heavy and the guest will come down too fast and may not slow down enough through the run off section at the end.
I know Volcano Bay and Aquatica weighs guests. I don't know if Disney's water parks use scales

Problem is too often the staff working in parks don't follow the rules. I remember a few years back they had too much weight in a water park ride in Kansas City and the result was some poor kid getting his head ripped off. I think it turned out they were about 100 pounds over the limit.

 

[flynnibus]

and to a second point the drop tower ride's movement is nothing like a car collision. One can still use arms to grab the steel restraint to help stabilize the body. Since the ride goes, more or less, exactly vertical with soft and gradual breaking it bears no resemblance to a car perhaps skidding and hitting a tree or one car striking another. Tower rides have foreseeable, fluid and controlled movement whereas car impacts close to always do not.

Sorry - you're wrong here. Your holding of supports is not going to cut it. Most people can only hold about their body weight, or a small multiple of. These drop towers usually decelerate at over 3G.. that means your arms would have to support 3x your body weight. Can you bench press 540lbs?

 

[correcaminos]

I saw the report that said it was in the locked position when the wide came to a stop. I have seen no evidence that shows it was locked when it started. Many rides have locking mechanisms that will lock from the movement of the ride if it is empty to avoid the mechanism causing damage when the ride goes empty. Given the mechanism used on this ride would have attached between the rides crotch to the seat i seriously doubt it was locked when the ride started and probably locked when it came to a rest as the then empty seat would lock by itself.

There is simply no way a human that size could be pulled out the bottom of that seat if it were locked. If superman had grabbed his legs and ripped him trough the botton it would have left large chunks of the rider or more than likely ripped his legs off and left the body. That initial report you mention was from someone stating what was seen at the accident site not from a thorough investigation.

Reports have stated more than once that if the ride were not locked it would not have ascended.

 

[thomas998]

Reports have stated more than once that if the ride were not locked it would not have ascended.

If the ride had a safety switch that kept it from going unless all seats were locked then at switch may have failed... Although a lot of those so called safety switches don't actually stop a ride from going they just light up a warning light on the control panel. I doubt anyone will know exactly how it happened until it gets more thoroughly dissected which I'm sure it will be when the lawyers get involved and they have more experts going over it than probably were involved in all the rides in that park had working on them when they were designed. I'm kind of shocked that no videos has surfaced of the rider when it was taking off. I've seen the video of him when he was on the ground and they were waiting for the ride to start but nothing of the actually ride starting which I always thought was odd given someone was clearly videoing him sitting there waiting so it just seemed off they stopped recording before the ride started.

 

[correcaminos]

If the ride had a safety switch that kept it from going unless all seats were locked then at switch may have failed... Although a lot of those so called safety switches don't actually stop a ride from going they just light up a warning light on the control panel. I doubt anyone will know exactly how it happened until it gets more thoroughly dissected which I'm sure it will be when the lawyers get involved and they have more experts going over it than probably were involved in all the rides in that park had working on them when they were designed. I'm kind of shocked that no videos has surfaced of the rider when it was taking off. I've seen the video of him when he was on the ground and they were waiting for the ride to start but nothing of the actually ride starting which I always thought was odd given someone was clearly videoing him sitting there waiting so it just seemed off they stopped recording before the ride started.

Not on this ride. I think it is wise to not create speculations based on other ride systems. Along with the visual check what you are speculating is not what reports found. Something may have faulted mid ride but it was locked before it started and remained locked at return.

“The ride will not ascend unless the harnesses are locked in,” said John Stine, director of sales and marketing for The SlingShot Group. “There were no indications there was anything different. So this is what we’ve got to find out.

State inspectors investigate ride at ICON Park in Orlando after teen’s deadly fall

The Orlando FreeFall is shut down indefinitely as state inspectors from the Florida Department of Agriculture begin their investigation into how a teen fell from the ride and plummeted to his death Thursday night.

www.google.com

 

[lewisc]

Problem is too often the staff working in parks don't follow the rules. I remember a few years back they had too much weight in a water park ride in Kansas City and the result was some poor kid getting his head ripped off. I think it turned out they were about 100 pounds over the limit.

After that water parks installed scales are the top of the tower. Red light or Green light. Some parks also weigh you before you climb the stairs. You're also weighed at the top.

 

[correcaminos]

Problem is too often the staff working in parks don't follow the rules. I remember a few years back they had too much weight in a water park ride in Kansas City and the result was some poor kid getting his head ripped off. I think it turned out they were about 100 pounds over the limit.

The boy was 10 and the ride was found at fault. It wasn't due to overweight limits either. In fact that one had a minimum limit which was met

Raft Carrying Water Slide Victim Caleb Schwab Met Weight Requirement

The three people on the Verruckt ride weighed a combined 545 pounds

www.google.com

 

[flynnibus]

I saw the report that said it was in the locked position when the wide came to a stop. I have seen no evidence that shows it was locked when it started. Many rides have locking mechanisms that will lock from the movement of the ride if it is empty to avoid the mechanism causing damage when the ride goes empty. Given the mechanism used on this ride would have attached between the rides crotch to the seat i seriously doubt it was locked when the ride started and probably locked when it came to a rest as the then empty seat would lock by itself.

The ride does not have an attachment at the crotch. The ride uses contoured seats with a OTS restraint that locks in position. The restraint is not seen moving in the video... the ride operators both confirmed the ride had given them the ride controller had given them the clear the ride can start.

There is simply no way a human that size could be pulled out the bottom of that seat if it were locked. If superman had grabbed his legs and ripped him trough the botton it would have left large chunks of the rider or more than likely ripped his legs off and left the body. That initial report you mention was from someone stating what was seen at the accident site not from a thorough investigation.

Large people can be 'squishy' in the sense their resting body volume and position can be deformed significantly by force. The person's chest size and seat shape can change dramatically as they are placed under force. Their body mass is not stiff or rigid... far more so than a person with less mass.

And if the rider isn't down in the seat due to their body size.. they loose a significant portion of the restraints holding them in position. Additionally, don't forget the ride's seats tilt forward.. basically removing the recline of the seating position. Encouraging the body to move forward when facing decelleration.

As seen in that second image... if the OTS restraint has not traveled far enough down... you basically get a big hole in front of the rider's hips.. if the rider's seat is significantly larger than the contours of the seat... the seat offers little restraint.

They are likely to find this guy simply slid off the seat like you would see someone falling off a chair being tilted forward because of the lack of physical containment of his body due to his size and the position of the OTS restraint.

 

[Married5Times]

hese drop towers usually decelerate at over 3G.. that means your arms would have to support 3x your body weight. Can you bench press 540lbs?

read again what I wrote.

essentially I said that arms/hands hold grab bars for lateral stability. The belt holds or supports almost all of the 180 lbs of body weight. thus your 540 lbs is irrelevant to the equation.

the 540 sounds good but is wholly misplaced