roller coaster queston

[mrhappybomb]

I was thinking to my self last night about the height requirement for roller coasters and thrill rides and came up with: How do they determine the minimum height requirement for such rides? do they go through some type of test with certain dummies to see whats safe and whats not? if any body know please tell me this is one of those questions that lingers in my mind and wont go away

[Kileli]

I have no idea, but I have a guess

The bigger the rides, the taller you haver to be. Also, the more intense, the more saftey is involved. Coaster designers can not make many diffrent sizes for shoulder restraints, so I guess if some one is 48 inches, or whatever, they would fit into the restraints safley. For less intense rides, like BTMRR, kids under what ever height are obviously smaller around the waist. So, if you get your dad to sit next to you, and there is only one bar, it would go to his waist, not yours. At a point where there are negative G's, you have all that room to fly up and out. Not a fun thing to think about. Back to the shoulder restraints, maybe your feet don't touch the ground. It would be dangerous on a coaster (apart from floorless or inverted) to have your feet dangling.

[mrhappybomb]

^ thats a good guess. that could be what they do for minimum height requirments

[Kileli]

Unless it is a new design of coaster, I am pretty sure they do not put dummies in, unless you mean the first real people to try it (haha) I do know that they put sandbags in the cars to simulate the weight of people.

[PeoplemoverMatt]

Height requirements having everything to do with how a coaster's designed to be ridden. Frankly, the big ones aren't designed for the sub 54" crowd. The seats, restraints, and elements of the coaster all work together in the design. The designer's not visualizing a young child being put through the forces of his scream machine, he's visualizing an adult. Ergo - a height requirement AND one that shouldn't be messed with by parents who can't bear to say 'maybe next time' to their eager youngster. They have their whole life ahead of them, why on earth would anyone play games with a height requirement out of fear of some tears over not being able to ride. You wouldn't put them on a dirt bike early, don't put them on a roller coaster early.

And, for the record, each new coaster DOES use dummies, specifically water dummies to simulate riders before the new coaster opens. Unfortunately, in Tatsu's case, they started leaking. Water dummies are great because of how easy the weight shifts and how accurately they simulate people, since people are 'large bags of mostly water'.

-- PMM

[mrhappybomb]

yea I see your point PMM it does make scenes to the designer to visualize adults not children riding there newest scream machine. ^^

But now some of the coaster that I enjoy today hurts to even sit in it compared to when I was first tall enough to ride one like canyon blaster at the Adventure dome me and my friend sat down and pulled the restraints down and noticed how much they pushed down on us as compared to a year ago it didn't.

[Kileli]

Originally Posted by PeoplemoverMatt

And, for the record, each new coaster DOES use dummies, specifically water dummies to simulate riders before the new coaster opens. Unfortunately, in Tatsu's case, they started leaking. -- PMM

Really? cool. Poor water dummies on Tatsu. What if they hit a tree branch?

"The dummie in the thrid car, second seat, is gone..."

[PeoplemoverMatt]

Originally Posted by mrhappybomb

But now some of the coaster that I enjoy today hurts to even sit in it compared to when I was first tall enough to ride one like canyon blaster at the Adventure dome me and my friend sat down and pulled the restraints down and noticed how much they pushed down on us as compared to a year ago it didn't.

That's the ravages of time, and quite likely, extremely poor maintenance for ya. Anything with moving parts will work best fresh out of the showroom and then decline over time. Vegas coasters are like bowling alley arcades. They look nice but always go downhill much faster than in a proper theme park.

-- PMM

[mrhappybomb]

thats true too but I thought it was because I was getting taller that it hurt so much now, but what I don't get is Inverter Chaos and Sling shot has the exact same hight requirement for it, all 3 being 48", and yet they don't try to crush my shoulders like Canyon Blaster. is it because there diffrent in rides ?

[uscfan7690]

Originally Posted by PeoplemoverMatt

Frankly, the big ones aren't designed for the sub 54" crowd.

What about X at your home park? Isn't that a 48" requirement?

[PeoplemoverMatt]

^ Yep sure is, and the difference between 48" and 54" is a whopping 6" in height...not a big difference to the designer. The butterfly restraints on X can fit someone as small as 48" safely, so no real reason to require the extra 6".

-- PMM

[candystandman]

i was just gonna say...
its the law......
but hey i guess that answer just wont cut it... wont it???