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Have Height Restrictions Increased in the Past Few Years?

alexr

alexr

Hyper Poster
Is it just me or have Height Restrictions on Rides increased in the past few years?

In the 90's I visited DLP and rode Big Thunder Mountain however the next year wasn't allowed to ride.

Is it due to the rise in Health and Safety that height restrictions have gone up on rides?
 
There still the same as they've always been here in the States.
 
I believe the companies set the height restrictions for their own coasters? In that case, I'm not sure why they would increase...
 
To be honest, I haven't noticed any difference. At all really. It's still like 1.2 1.3 and 1.4 for most 'Major Rides' at park's I've been to. I've not really saw higher then that?
 
They do change some times. Storm Force 10 at DMP used to have a 1M limit, but that is now 1.2M after a 1M tall child was hurt on the ride. They did a risk assessment and found the recommended manufacturers limit was wrong for the ride.

So they can change, but I don't know how often, exactly why and when it's happened in particular cases.

Saw is an odd one, the height limit on it (as a Eurofighter) is higher than it is on any others.
 
I've discussed this elsewhere and received a considerable backlash of doubt, but height restrictions are sometimes (as in they can be, not exclusively are) used to eliminate many younger people from getting on more psychogolically testing (or scarier, whatever you want to call it) rides. Saw is horror themed and they'd probably determined (whether rightly or wrongly) that there'd be a high number of youngsters freaking out/having panic attacks on the ride etc.

Age restrictions are almost impossible to actually enforce, but with greater height typically comes higher age and as you know, a height restriction can easily be enforced with a stick at the gate.

I know this doesn't necessarily explain height restrictions fluctuating during the ride's operational life, it was more a response to furie's mentioning of why Saw has a higher height restriction than other Eurofighters.
 
Agreed on the Saw front. I think it's simply a way of trying to stop younger people from getting on a ride which is an unsuitable presentation.
 
Ha ha, that was easy enough!

X:\ No Way Out is 1.4m as well, I'm sure that's to reduce the number of kids freaking out in the dark (when it runs in the dark that is), possibly to the point of it causing a safety incident or evacuation. There is of course the very sad incident on Blackpool's Space Invader to reinforce this view as well.
 
Disagree with X:\

It's been a 1.4 since it opened and Thorpe just wasn't that thoughtful pre-Tussauds days. I suspect it's something to do with potential forces on smaller frames going backwards* - or a concern about it anyway. Or maybe they thought the ride was actually forceful and thrilling :lol:


*Maxi-Minor_Furie is big for his age, and he doesn't yet have enough "muscle mass" to cope with the forces 1.2M rides throw at him. Normally he'd be around 6 or 7 before hitting this limit, not 4. Being able to hold yourself against the forces put on you is something I think is under-estimated by most rides, because we usually ride when we hit the correct height limit at roughly the right age. Like with Saw, a 1.4M limit suggests an age of around 9 years old upwards. At that point, you're not only secure enough to fit the ride safely, but also your body can deal with the forces. So while it's likely to be an age thing, I think it's more to do with forces (or potential forces) than panic or anything. Otherwise rides like Duel, Tomb Blaster, etc would all have very high height limits.
 
Yeah and I guess they use accompanied by an adult where possible. Wouldn't surprise me if they used height restrictions to try and trim the queues as well, but that's just the skeptic in me :lol:
 
Liseberg have increased the "riding alone" limit on Lisebergbanan sometime in the past few years, it were 110cm with Adult and 120cm alone before, but now it's 130cm alone. Could have something to do with the issues they had a few years back...
 
My viewpoint on Saw is that presumably the GP may find 1.4m restricted coasters 'intense' and it gives a sense of danger and insecurity because of this. All Colossus, Nemesis Inferno and Stealth hold 1.4m height restrictions. I actually believe Saw could get away with the usual 1.2m height restriction, it's just that Thorpe is being quite clever on that fact...

Saw is promoted to be the 'worlds scariest rollercoaster', this alone will keep most sensible kids away, it's just that if it was given a 1.2m height restriction the GP may think it's not as intense as the other coasters in the park, thus failing on it's own goal.

Either way we all know it fails on that one. :lol:
 
Rattlesnake at Chessington height limit increased due to the ride being more intense than they thought it would be or the fact it throws you around quite a bit.

I think it went from 1.2 - 1.4.
 
furie said:
Saw is an odd one, the height limit on it (as a Eurofighter) is higher than it is on any others.
Click to expand...
Forget minimum height, Saw should have a maximum height limit, because of the pain it causes to anyone who is errr, vertically talented
 
All ride manufacturers specify a range of height, weight and in some cases, chest size restrictions based on what the ride is designed for. Individual controllers (person or organisation responsible for a ride) can impose a stricter restrition as a result of their own risk assesments. Although restrictions can be changed to be more strict, they cannot be changed beyond the design specs.
 
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