Comments on: Former Imagineer Criticizes Universal for ‘Inconsiderate’ Waistline Limit Design on Mario Kart: Bowser’s Challenge Vehicles

By: Tom

Tom — Sun, 12 Feb 2023 17:58:29 +0000

It’s not just waistline size issues at Universal, we just went for Christmas ’22 and I am a taller individual with broad shoulders and the Harry Potter ride I barely fit in the test seat because the pull down shoulder harness was hitting the top of my shoulders so much.

Really not tall person or upper body built oriented.

This copy paste of Japan rides is disheartining.

Really wanted to see Mario World, now I’m not so sure.

By: Tom Corless

Tom Corless — Sat, 11 Feb 2023 15:27:03 +0000

In reply to Trent. Someone hasn't been on Mario Kart lol

By: Stephen

Stephen — Sat, 11 Feb 2023 07:16:25 +0000

He nailed it! This is Universal been cheap by copy and pasting Japan specs even though the average American is much taller and wider. And I love the hypocrisy of Universal. So concerned about safety my ass! Last Dec., couldn’t get on Life of Pets, but went on Jurassic World. In my row was 3 fairly big adults and one relatively fairly small girl. Pulled the lap bar down, I and my friend were snug, the father was a little loose and the girl had probably 5 inches between her and the bar. That final drop is far more dangerous than anything in LoP or Mario.

By: Trent

Trent — Fri, 10 Feb 2023 06:48:27 +0000

Overweight riders lead to broken ride vehicles, very expensive ride vehicles, or slow boring ride vehicles. There is more to it than just “making the seats bigger”.

By: Tom Corless

Tom Corless — Wed, 08 Feb 2023 23:19:35 +0000

In reply to Mary. Mario Kart is a dark ride with no elevation changes.

By: Mary

Mary — Wed, 08 Feb 2023 16:36:05 +0000

Relating to Disney to Universal is not apples to apples. They are yes both theme parks, but Disney is very much aimed towards being much more family friendly meanwhile Universal aims for the thrills. Now, of course there are exceptions to Universals restrictions, but majority of the restrictions are there because of safety. And time and time again the inclusivity comes into play, but we must remember that when you start making seats larger to fit adults, you then also increase the height requirements eliminating the smaller younger guests.

Universal provides on Velocicoaster for example, 2 high speed launches (one out of the gate, and one to reach the top hat) which gets up to 70mph. 4 inversions, 155 foot tall top hat with a 80 degree drop.

Test track is the fastest ride at Disney World and does not hit 70mph, hitting only 65mph and does not hold that speed for very long with no inversions. Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster has inversions yes, but it is also a MUCH slower coaster and only reaches a height at it’s peak of 80 feet in comparison and does not hold the same harnesses.

People try time and time again to compare the two and there is just no comparison. Now, there are certainly rides that make zero reason for the restrictions. Like you mentioned secret life of pets. ET has seats that are not hip friendly to some and is another slow moving ride as just two examples.

But then again you have Disney who allows babies on certain Magic Kingdom rides that are slow moving with no restraints and it will only take one person not paying attention and that kid being injured before there is uproar with DW too.

By: Lisa

Lisa — Wed, 08 Feb 2023 15:10:17 +0000

If a Guest can’t fit, so be it! That is poor planning of the ride by whomever designed it and will cost money to retool – or they will lose ridership and revenue. Too bad! So sad! Might make the theme park mad!

By: Sara

Sara — Wed, 08 Feb 2023 03:11:26 +0000

Universal uses this guideline for most of its rides. Based on this, I would recommend not going if you are larger than the 40 inch guideline so its not just this ride. It would be wise to not spend the money to visit this park considering the cost is very expensive, if you are larger than the guideline.
Considering the intended audience for this ride, its just a poor decision overall.
Its also a slow moving dark ride so there is no need for this type of restriction.
The big problem here is if one family member wants to ride the others may not be able to join the person if they are too large. If I have a group of friends, and one is larger and they want to go, I would have to recommend another activity so they are not being left out on certain rides. This creates a very awkward situation. It creates an awkward situation if a group of friends is at the park and one who is a little bit bigger cannot ride. Being inclusive is important in this day and age. When a person gets to the ride entrance, its not possible to make a person lose enough weight to fit into the ride at that point, so we must design the ride so it at least fits the vast majority of people in a safe way with standard exceptions. If you are a very, very large person, you already know you won’t fit in the rides because you probably don’t fit in amusement rides at any park in this case, but if you are a little bigger than average, you won’t expect to not fit in the rides.

By: deb upright

deb upright — Wed, 08 Feb 2023 00:40:16 +0000

Size restrictions are a bad Public Relations issue. If it is going to limit the size of riders it’s going to decrease attendance. No one wants to be thrown off a ride for being too big.

By: Lou

Lou — Wed, 08 Feb 2023 00:04:25 +0000

I have never been considered even a little heavy my entire life and I have a 38″ waist(and no pot belly). A 40″ waist restriction is ridiculous! Apparently Universal just took the ride measurements as is from Japan and made no changes. I guess their customers should go on a starvation diet before visiting.