Theme park 'super sizes' its coaster seats for overweight riders

By Laura Bly, USA TODAY

Updated 8h 1m ago

• Comments 17
• 
  

• 
• 
• 

Responding to an increase in its customers' girth, a popular British theme park is accommodating overweight riders with two larger seats on its Nemesis Inferno rollercoaster.

CAPTION

By Craig T. Mathew, Mathew Imaging

"The reality is we are super sizing - that's a fact we're embracing," Thorpe Park's Mike Vallis told the Daily Mail. "Why shouldn't people be comfortable when they are enjoying a day out with their friends or family?"
The Surrey park - in the news earlier for white-knuckle experiences of the paranormal variety - plans to roll out the bigger seats on other rides as well.
Of course, the U.K. isn't the only place where theme park guests "of size" have had a tough time squeezing into too-tight quarters.
Here in the Home of the Big Mac, "I don't think it's as much an issue of changing seats on old rides as it is designing new rides to accommodate people of larger size," says Robert Niles of ThemeParkInsider.com. "Every new coaster I've seen in the past several years either has special seats or rows for larger riders, or extension options so that the restraints can hold larger riders. "
"Lack of accommodation for larger riders is another factor that parks consider when deciding which rides to close," adds Niles. "A ride that can't handle (them) comfortably would have to be very popular to be worth renovating. Otherwise, that lack of accommodation becomes another excuse for the park to junk that ride and invest instead in building something new."
That said, some "pudgy muggles" trying to board the signature attraction at Universal Studios' Wizarding World of Harry Potter theme park in Orlando have been turned away because of their size. "Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey" uses restraints to keep riders in their seats, and they aren't large enough to accommodate heavier guests.
"The very blunt truth is that for overweight patrons, it makes sense to review the park's guidelines and ride restrictions before buying tickets," notes The Fat Girl's Guide to Amusement Parks.

Readers, weigh in: Have you ever been turned away from a ride because you were too big to fit?