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Monday, January 30th, 2023

At Theme Parks, You Must Be This Tall—and This Thin—to Ride

Author:     Jacob Passy
Source:     The Wall Street Journal
Publication Date:     Jan. 28, 2023 | 8:00 am ET
 Link: At Theme Parks, You Must Be This Tall—and This Thin—to Ride
Stephan:  

Trends show up in interesting and odd places in a society, and here is an example of what I mean. The population of the United States is the most obese in the developed world. When one travels outside of the United States, the easiest way to identify who is an American is obesity.  Including all groups nationally, 41.9 percent of adults are obese. White adults are 41.4 percent obese. Black adults have the highest level of adult obesity at 49.9 percent. Hispanic adults have an obesity rate of 45.6 percent. Believe it or not obesity has become an issue for theme parks. It has gotten to the point that theme parks, as this article describes, are now restricting ridership on their rides on the basis of obesity. 

 

Mario Kart: Bowser’s Challenge is slated to open next month at Universal Studios Hollywood. Credit: Chris Delmas / AGP / Getty

The newest ride at Universal Studios Hollywood, Mario Kart: Bowser’s Challenge, takes visitors into the classic Nintendo game using augmented reality and animatronics. It also warns that they might not be allowed to ride if their waistline measures 40 inches or more.

The ride, one of several at the California park with that admonition, illustrates how navigating theme parks has grown tougher for plus-size visitors as parks balance accessibility with heightened safety requirements.

Universal Studios, SeaWorld and others are equipping rides with tighter restraints to ensure that small children and others can’t wriggle out from seats. The new seats can be a tight squeeze for some visitors, and riders have said that staff have declined to seat them on some rides because of their size. 

“Our first priority is always the safety of the guests and the employees,” says Jim Seay, president of the ride manufacturer Premier Rides, which has built roller coasters for the Six Flags, SeaWorld and Universal […]

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