Too fat to ride!

[Wes]

You bring up my sore spot... El Toro. lol

When I was there Leo and I tried the test seat, and I couldn't get the green light. However I waited the short line just in case.

I noticed the actual restraints are less padded than the test seat, so I thought I might have a shot.

When I got up there I got the belt on all by myself, I thought that was a good sign.

But when it came down to it, the ride ops wouldn't push on the restraint at all. They said they weren't allowed, which I found strange and rather annoying.

I know each park has its rules, but Carowinds will literally jump up and down on people on Intimidator to get them in, I've seen them do it. Not that I ever have that problem with the B&M's. *looks at Intimidator ride count below*

[Antoine]

Yeah, that is one thing I never did understand about Toro either. That ride has more no-gos than any other roller coaster I have been on before. I wonder if it is strict guidelines set by Intamin or something because all other rides SFGADV will try harder to get the restraint on someone. Toro's big brother in Germany is a different case because the restraints on that ride are a LOT different. You have more leeway in the belt and I'm pretty sure Shaq could fit under the leg restraints. I still don't understand why the trains on Colossos is so different. It is an older ride though and Toro was built during the era of Intamin having issues with their Ride of Steel coasters. That could have played a huge factor.

And you need to seek help for your Intimidator addiction. I mean 237 rides on it? You realize that if the track was laid out flat, you could go all the way to Dollywood...with quite a few miles to spare.lol

[Wes]

I still find it strange how different parks do belts.

Batman at SFOG has no big boy seats, but longer belts. They just pushed a bit and I was in.

Afterburn they have shorter belts, so I have to use the big boy seats. It makes no sense, the belt doesn't stop me from falling out, the restraint does.

And if a longer belt would endanger my life, wouldn't I have fallen out on Batman?

[jordyn1]

do you all no about kings island? what rides that ill have trouble fitting on?

[Katie]

Jordyn,

Assuming your weight hasn't changed much since you last posted (in May). Depending on a few factors you might have an issue with Diamondback (its all about the thighs on this ride). I never had issues with Vortex, Invertigo, Flight Deck. Beast may be a tight squeeze (only because they run the older PTC trains that are extremely uncomfortable). Drop Zone might be an issue as well, they are tighter than Vortex and Flight Deck restraints (Intamin Drop rides always are). Just go and have fun!

[jordyn1]

thanks for your answer'
could you tell how much you weigh/ height
thanks

[Wes]

I wear about a 40 pants, and a XL shirt if that helps any.

I've never been deined a coaster at Kings Island, even at my heaviest. Diamondback was probably tight, but I never was denied in my 10 rides. I'm about that same weight now, and trying to lose more so I can finally get on El Toro.

Beast with it's PTC trains is tight because of the seat divider. Drop Tower I never had a problem with, even if it was a bit tight with the belt.

[Daniel Barto]

do you all no about kings island? what rides that ill have trouble fitting on?

I made it on Diamondback twice, then got denied twice. It all depends on if you can thrust the restraint down into your lap or not.
I wear a 41ish" waist, 6'5" tall, and wear a XL tshirt

[jordyn1]

thanks for ur answer

[APE]

had my first too fat to ride experience yesterday. drop zone of all things.

** i also have too wait 75 seconds between posts? what is this forum so worried about. the trolls wont get you. lol.

[Steven]

Yeah it's there to slow down people. Plus, keeps people who decide to go post flooding at bay, making it easier to clean up.

[APE]

i dont want to be slowed down through

[Steven]

Yeah you do... trust me, especially after reading some of your posts, including the one you just posted.

Hint: http://www.thrillnetwork.com/faq.php..._faq_etiquitte

[terrehautian]

had my first too fat to ride experience yesterday. drop zone of all things.

That is my only ride so far that I haven't been able to ride!

Once it gets cooler, I am going to start riding bike more (trail is 1/2 mile down the road). Goal is 200, right now I am at 250. Once I get to 200, I am driving to Vincennes to ride Blue Flash.

[APE]

Steven I don't believe I have posted anything wrong plus your link says content unavailable. I just don't like to be held up with something stupid like that I like to post and move on. No wasting time.

I'm 265 so I was surprised this was the first ride I didn't fit on. Didn't really care though. I'd be more upset if it were a coaster I like.

[jordyn1]

i could ride every things at kings island except drop zone.

[Wes]

After a frustrating 2 years since my denial at El Toro, I'm trying Body By Vi. It's less than a week since I started this program and I've already dropped a belt loop.

[chokeslamcena]

Hi folks,

Came across this thread in a Google search and unfortunately strikes quite close to home with myself.

Can I ask ye guys, would any of you happen to know about 'fittable' sizes for the B&M Clamshell restraint? I'll be heading to Port Aventura next week and I've recently heard that some people have issues with these restraints (on their newest coaster, Shambhala). I have pretty big thighs. Definitely more-so than the average person, so I'm a little concerned of the 'walk of shame'. I currently weigh 238lbs. Is there a guide measurement or maximum measurement for thighs/waist for these restraints, at all?

I've Googled, but not found anything at all, really (I assumed that B&M would have had an official size guide or such).


Cheers.

[Wes]

Hey, Welcome to TN!

There's not really a guide to go by, I wish there was.

I don't know how Shambhala is, if it has the more narrow B&M hyper seats or the old standard ones. It's the new style train, but not sure if they just made Intimidator's so narrow because of the major airtime on the coaster.

I've seen guys with huge bellys get to ride, but people with big legs/hips be turned away.

Now the clamshell I think you'll probably be ok on. I have big legs too for a guy, and I've never been denied any B&M.

Update: I've been on Body by Vi since 8/2/12 and lost 24 lbs!!!

[chokeslamcena]

Thanks for the welcome, bgwfreak.

Shambhala seems to be a strange case, in that (apparently) for it's opening day, they were turning away several riders every time they tried to fill the trains (which, again apparently, caused the park to receive hundreds of complaints). I've been hearing people say that it's turning away even average sized people that have larger thighs and such, so I'll admit to being a bit worried (I'll be travelling over with about 10 friends and would be fairly embarrassed to be kicked off).

Like most people here, I've done a bit of a clean up of my diet and started doing some more exercise in the build up to the holiday, which has seen me drop about 18lbs in the last 2-3 months or so.

Can I ask you, bgwfreak, you say you've not been turned away from such a restraint, yet? Without trying to get too personal here (and feel free to tell me to mind my own business, of course) but could I ask how large you are in the leg/waist area? Personally, I wear pants with a 40" waist comfortably enough, and a quick wrap of a measuring tape around the largest area of my thighs would bring me in at around 43"-44" there.

I do find it surprising that there's no online seating chart/guide for rollercoasters and their relevant restraints. I remember flicking through the website of Thorpe Park (I think it was) and when viewing the page on each of their coasters, there was a note saying "this ride can accommodate users with up to a 51" waist" (or something to that effect). I'm surprised all coasters/parks don't have/do this.



And of course, it goes without saying, but my hat is in the air for everyone on here who has lost weight (regardless of whether your motivation was a roller coaster or not). It's a serious achievement and ye should all be proud. Just make sure to try and stick to it though; it can be easy to let it pile back on after two or three bad days. Hopefully we'll all be thinner, leaner people for our future roller coaster rides. It'd be great to not have to worry or pass any remarks about this kind of this, wouldn't it!

[Wes]

I wear a 40" too, although I've lost some weight recently. I've never been denied a B&M hyper, even the more narrow one on Intimidator I've ridden 247 times.

I think the reason that parks don't put measurements, is that it will vary by person who will fit. Hopefully they will have a test seat there for you, then you can check before waiting in line.

[Austin]

At 238lbs I would say you'll definitely fit. I'm about 280 (more later) and I rode Diamondback about a month ago. That was a seriously tight fit for me. It was more my legs than belly like Wes said earlier about the restraints. I really doubt I'll be able to keep riding it though until the weight comes down because about halfway into the ride I could tell I was losing blood flow to my legs.

Anyway, I've been doing some weight loss stuff this week but just getting so inconsistent really because my schedule changes all the time and keeps me from doing exercises etc. I'm taking Hydroxycut Max! to help get it going and set me into a plan to lose weight and so far it's working as intended. Also bought a pack of 4 slim-fast drinks and a bunch of balance bars. And now that we're out of chips and cookies I'm not buying any when we go to the store. Trying to drink about 70 ounces of water a day like your supposed to as well. For exercises I try to jog/walk around the block and mostly doing Wii Fit and PS Move (gladiator fighting on Sports really beats the crap out of you!) but only managed to do one session this week. I need to focus more on my thighs though than my belly but either way lost weight is good lol.

[chokeslamcena]

Austin, Just out of curiousity, do Diamondback and Shambhala have the exact same restraints? From a quick Google search of both, they look like identical trains (albeit in a different colour scheme). I openly admit to not being as knowledgeable about roller coasters as ye guys would be on here.

If so, if you can ride at 280lbs, then I should hopefully be okay at 238-240. There's a test seat outside the Shambhala queue, but I'm told that it's not very accurate and that some people state they fit fine in the test seat, but not in the actual seats on the train (not sure how accurate that information is, but sure...). I really want to ride Shambhala, but it's really become the bane of my existence this past few weeks.

Congrats on trying to keep the weight loss going, by the way. A hectic schedule can be a nuisance for this kind of stuff, but so can the opposite. I'm a photographer, and weight loss is easy when I'm out and about doing my bits and pieces, but when it comes to Post-processing and I have a lot of time sitting at a PC, it can be all too easy to start reaching for the biscuits and buns (even if 'reaching' means going to the shop to buy them to 'stretch the legs'!). It's hard to find a good lifestyle balance on this kind of thing.

One thing I will say though, for me personally, is that I find weight lifting to be a great thing to do. Deadlifts and squats really tire me out, but I think they've also been extremely effective in helping to tone up my body a bit. I know you can't spot-reduce fat (ie; you can't 'target' where you want to lose fat) but I do think that the deadlifting has made my ass and thighs little less bloated looking, so I'd be a huge advocate of that.

I also find that doing grocery shopping online helps (unsure of whether or not USA stores do it, but in Ireland, Tesco, a large supermarket chain, allow you to shop on their website, and the food is delivered to your house). It helps me avoid the impulse purchases of bag of doughnuts or other such stuff that I tend to pick up when wandering around a store. The smell of the bakery section can make me buy all sorts of crap I never wanted in the first place. It also gives calorie counts for most foods and such.

I wear a 40" too, although I've lost some weight recently. I've never been denied a B&M hyper, even the more narrow one on Intimidator I've ridden 247 times.

I think the reason that parks don't put measurements, is that it will vary by person who will fit. Hopefully they will have a test seat there for you, then you can check before waiting in line.

Would I be right in saying that Intimidator has the over the shoulder restraints, rather than the ones featured on Shambhala/Diamondback? Would this mean that your thigh size is (theoretically) not as important and that this would be more based on belly/chest size?

[Wes]

http://wesconnell.bodybyvi.com/

Austin you may want to check out Body by Vi too. You can lose without exercise, of course that adds a lot to it too.

My first month I lost 4 lbs, 6, then 4, then 5. I've never lost that much so quickly.

[Josh B]

As far as I can tell, Diamondback has the exact same seats, but that doesn't mean much. The Carowinds Intimidator (the one bgwfreak refers to) does not have OTSRs. It's Intimidator at Kings Dominion that has the OTSRs.

As far as if you'll fit or not, it's hard to say. The reason they don't have a size chart is because if you'll fit or not varies greatly from person to person. It could even come down to how "squishy" your thighs are. Hope it works out for ya, but if it doesn't, I hope you can use it as motivation to knock off that extra poundage and be able to ride next time!

[Wes]

I've been on Diamondback and Intimidator's seats are more narrow even though it has the new style train. Something made B&M make the seats more narrow just for that one.

[chokeslamcena]

Just back from my stay in Salou (and Port Aventura visit).

I'm happy to be able to say that I did manage to get into the seats/restraints on Shambhala. I fit into the test seat, and when I got onto the actual ride itself, I pulled the restraint towards me and it jammed/locked. However, despite this, one of the ride operators gave me an extra push to lock the restraint down further on me. He did it quickly and with enough pressure/effort that it only took a second or two, so there was no real sense of embarrassment or anything (which I'm sure there could've been with a less competent ride op).

So hat's off to them for that (and that particular guy who was working the seats at the time).

Also seen one of the other ride operators swing into action when a guy fainted in line for Furius Baco. Fairly swift on his feet and had the guy beside the train, sitting on the ground drinking water within about 20 seconds of being alerted to it, so good on them for that, too.

Port Aventura seems a pretty well run park, but I have noticed that there's no security presence at all? I don't recall seeing any security or police in/around the park area at all. Seems a bit odd (to me, personally).

[Addison699]

Swimming burns lots of calories, anywhere from 500-650 hourly based on how successfully you diving and how assured you are (the more body fat you have, the more you circulation and the less vitamin intake it takes to swim).
Very early and exclusive research on diving and vitamin costs exposed that diving, regardless of the action, burnt off off about 89% of the vitamin intake consumed during running and 97% of the vitamin intake consumed during cycling for the same period of time.

[Austin]

I finally got back into working out lol. I've maintained my weight mostly this past 6 months but now its time to get back into shape! Eating a low-fat yogurt cup everyday as a replacement snack plus keeping me full and its healthy, fiber one bars if I have them and generally cutting the snacks late at night. To go with that I went to the store and got two 10lb weights to start getting my arms slightly more in shape (just over a week using them and I can really tell a difference lol), I'm also playing volleyball which I try and go 100% so it pretty much kills me but I love it, and I'm walking when I can around the block and when I can't I borrow a stairstepper. I previously set my goal to lose 100lbs by next year but that would be kind of unhealthy so if I can get to 200/210 I'd be happy lol. That would be on the high side of what someone of my height should weigh (6ft 2) but its a hell of a lot better than 270.

[Wes]

Good luck Austin! I know the struggle for sure.

I want to lose another 20 before our trip to Canada the end of May. I've got to get serious the next 2 months, but I already have been trying to.

Been doing Body by Vi meal replacement shakes for breakfast/lunch most days, healthy snacks and then I'm doing 2 days of crossfit workouts at church (think P90x on crack), cycling or running 1 or 2 days a week and 1 day of disc golf for at least 18 holes, usually 36.