you think I'm fat???

[BirdMom]

This didn't happen to me - Jorge was the lucky guy, but it was so funny I
have to share it with everyone.

He was at the turnstyle for the Swiss Family Treehouse when this very
large woman came up to the attraction. To be polite, he opened the gate
next to the turnstyle (which was wider than the bars and structure of the
turnstyle). She glared at him and hissed "you think I'm fat?! I can get
through that turnstyle just like anyone else!" and proceeded to enter it
when, you guessed it, she got wedged in there because she was too
damn big.

She started shrieking and tried to twist her torso from side to side, but
she actually picked the thing up around her and it wasn't sliding down her
bulk. Jorge managed to keep a straight face, picked up the phone and
dialed arcade mechanics. Very calmly he said that he needed someone
to come out to treehouse, there was a guest stuck in the turnstyle. The
guy on the other end said "what???" dropped the phone and yelled "hey,
there's some fatso stuck at treehouse" and all the guys in there started
laughing. After dealing with AM, Jorge called the location 101, and of
course Ops 1 thinks it's hysterical. In the meantime, this woman is still
screaming and twisting trying to get out and a small crowd is gathering to
watch the scene unfold.

It only takes one mechanic to fix a turnstyle, but about 4 of them showed
up to watch. Ops 1 and our west side duty supervisor had to show up
too. The mechanic who actually worked on the device basically took out
one tool, made a quick motion with his hand and *pop* she was out. As
she oooooffed her way inside the turnstyle another mechanic with a
gravel voice said "hey, you forgot to bring the butter!" She turned and
gave him the evil eye then stood waiting in front of the gate that Jorge
had tried to open for her in the first place. Without saying a word, he
opened the gate again and she stomped off, never to enter the
Treehouse at all. :lol:

[Lhezzza]

Reminds me of the time I was working in strollers.... a VERY LARGE guest asked for a wheelchair rental.

No problem.... rented the chair to her, noting her "size" I brought her the BIG A$$ WHEELCHAIR! (I thought I was being helpful!!!)

She look at me in shock, "I'm not that fat!"

I apoligized and brought her the normal chair..... she had to wedge "herself" in to the chair..... they rolled away.....

20 mins later a lead from Toontown called and asked if could help "rescue" a guest who was trapped in a wheelchar!

Laughing I wheeled the BIG A$$ chair all the way to Toontown!

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

[Zazu]

We had such a "turnstile challenge" just today. A guest who obviously wasn't going to make it through was glaring at the turnstile with a look that would have set it afire if she were a superhero.

"Come this way, I'll let you in," said the helpful cast member.

"No way! This is discrimination! I shouldn't have to go some other way!" she stormed.

The bad news: she did manage to squeeze herself through the turnstile, after much puffing and grunting.

The good news: she didn't damage the turnstile in the process.

[Weeble]

One of the most distressing things to do in attractions was to determine if a guest was pregnant so they could ride. This happened to me most often on BTM and it was usually a lot of hemming and hawing about who was going to ask the guest if they were pregnant. I had my fair share of "NO, I'M NOT PREGNANT, DO I LOOK IT???"

I was always surprised by the number of visibly pregnant guests who would insist on riding the roller coaster even after being informed that they could KILL THEIR BABY IF THERE WAS AN E-STOP! :shock:

[CujoSR]

I was always surprised by the number of visibly pregnant guests who would insist on riding the roller coaster even after being informed that they could KILL THEIR BABY IF THERE WAS AN E-STOP! :shock: Wanna hear about someone really stupid? A close friend of mine who has been hiding her pregnancy for about 7 months now. (she made it all the way to labor without anyone guessing.) She decided to go to DCA with the family and get on all the rides including "Screamin'" and "Grizzly." She did fake illness before going on "Maliboomer" though. Thank God the baby came out health and unhurt. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.

[Excalibur]

ROFLMAO that first one was the greatest story I have ever heard,
someone should write a book or make a tv mini series about that lol like
when they make movies about kids who fall down wells and holes and
get stuck between walls lol man that would be great, I want to play one
of the AM guys lol.

[Freak]

I've been stuck inside GRR with people that are fat. Its so
uncomfortable. Yet if you say anything they'll get all over you. I swear,
either make those GRR boats bigger or put less fat people in them.
Funniest thing I've ever seen is my friend being squished between two fat
people on a boat on Grizzly. It took him a a few good squeezes to get
inbetween and just seeing him try to get out was hilarious!

[SRT_GB]

The worst part is that these people that are supposedly "morbidly obese"
can be considered as "permanently disabled" and are covered under the
ADA. Makes me cringe when these fat people come to us on busy days
after we've run out of ECVs and they say something like, "I'm disabled, I
need one." The old ECVs had a weight limit of 350 pounds and these
people who weighed somewhere near 500 always wondered why their
batteries would go out so fast.

I agree that being fat/obese is a health problem and it needs to be fixed.
But I don't think that should be a permanent disability. Too many people
take advantage of the system. Ok i'm moralizing. Time to stop now.

[mahaihai]

At least i can understand why that is considered a disability worthy of an SAP (special assistance pass), but why in the world do things like a broken arm, depression, and an ingrown toenail classify? GRK or Tourbunny care to comment? :?

[BirdMom]

but why in the world do things like a broken arm,
depression, and an ingrown toenail classify?

I don't know what pest...I mean guest...relations has to say about the
subject, but ingrown toenails can be quite painful. After working on my
feet for about 20 years, plus one tumble into the Storybook canal (not
my fault - stupid foriegn guest...grrrrrrrrr) I've had nothing but trouble
with my left foot. I don't particularly care to have surgery, because then
you walk around with one of those stupid sandal things on your foot for a
month (not to mention having something yanked out that doesn't seem
as if it should be yanked out). I just keep my toenails clipped extremely
short and when it feels like the thing is hurting again, I trim them again.
Otherwise, I think I'd want a cane or if it got really bad (which with a bit
of care, they don't) a wheelie...

Broken arms? Depression? I dunno - I was always tempted to tell
people who complained about the lines in July and August to come when
the place wasn't so hot and crowded (of course, the ones who let you get
away with that would start whining about rides being closed for rehab...)

[BirdMom]

The worst part is that these people that are
supposedly "morbidly obese" can be considered as "permanently
disabled" and are covered under the ADA.

Anybody remember "the fat sisters?" A couple of lardo annual
passholders... They wanted to be backdoored on everything because
they said they were too fat to fit through the turnstyles... They wouldn't
even ask sometimes, they would just open gates or drop ropes. I
remember Terry F (little Japanese C.M. - older guy with a funny voice)
telling them "now you stop that nonsense - you know you fit through
the turnstyle!" I remember one hot summer day when one of them
tried whispering in my ear that they needed to go through the backdoor
because they were too fat to fit through the Mansion turnstyle and she
ended up not only spitting, but slobbering all over my shoulder
(eeeeeewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!!!!!!!!!!!!!!). Unfortunately, I quit
before Indy was officially open. We couldn't wait to see how they were
going to behave with wheelie-accessable queues.

I think the worst stunt they tried to pull was at Splash. When their log
came back into the station Stacy S, one of our area supervisors
happenned to be in the unload side of the station. Anyway, the really big
one made this big show of asking for a wheelchair before getting out of
the log and in the meantime, everyone on the crew knew them (including
Stacy) and was telling them to shake a leg so we could get the next
group in. I can't remember which cm told her that there was nothing
wrong with her and she needed to exit immediately (of course, the rest
of the guests were mortified that the crew was picking on this poor fat
woman). Fat chick made this big show of getting out of the log and
pretending to be deathly ill, then she faked a faint on the unload dock
(ever hear and feel 300 pounds of blubber slapping on that
dock???) :shock: Anyway, Stacy went walking up to her and said very
calmly "there's nothing wrong with you, get up." Then she announced to
the guests who were all standing and sitting there with their jaws open
that "we know this girl and she's perfectly fine." Fat chick had no choice
but to open her eyes as her face was turning beet red and stomp out the
exit after being completely humiliated infront of all the crew and guests.
Took about a month for them to come back after that one. But
thank goodness for a supervisor like Stacy - need more of those to deal
with some of those idiot ap's.

:hammer:

[BB Blueyes]

I was working at the Hatmosphere when it happened, supposedly. A
friend of mine came by laughing that Rosanne couldn't get into the
Skyway bucket. Not sure if he meant at all or if it took her a long time.
Does anybody remember that? It was around 1993? 94? I was
bummed that I missed it. I never found out if it was true.

[BirdMom]

I was working at the Hatmosphere when it happened, supposedly. A friend of mine came by laughing that Rosanne couldn't get into the Skyway bucket.


Oh gosh, I was there in the early 80's and remember seeing what looked
like the parting of the red sea up on the monorail platform for Dolly
Parton. What was really funny was that while she was on, the ride went
101. We were joking for weeks that her *excess* build threw the train
off balance!

[Guest Relations King]

At least i can understand why that is considered a disability worthy of an SAP (special assistance pass), but why in the world do things like a broken arm, depression, and an ingrown toenail classify? GRK or Tourbunny care to comment? :?

Here's the deal with the SAP's:

1) We can not require documentation, and we are not allowed to ask for it.
2) We can not ask what their disability is.

3) We CAN offer alternatives to the pass (ie: wheelchairs)
4) We ARE required to issue a pass if they insist on one.
5) We CAN ask "What kind of assistance" do they need (ie: staris, shade, etc...)

I have the worst feeling in the world when healthy 18 year olds come into City Hall, requesting a pass, and I'm required to issue them one, even though they don't know what type of assistance they need.

It makes me feel bad for those who actually NEED the pass.

- GRK

[Morrigoon]

Yeah, it's pretty bad when you have them in your SAP queue, behind a
family whose kid is in a motorized chair (or other obviously permanent
device), and they start whining about how much longer is it going to be,
etc etc. Uh, sorry kids, I don't see any of you having much difficulty
standing there, why is it the family in front of you (who has to wait
longer, due to limited chair parking on the station) isn't pissing and
moaning about the wait? Oh yeah, because they actually have a
disability and understand that it takes time to accommodate everyone
with special needs!

[cheshire]

why can't city hall ask for some kind of doumentation when the disability is not obvious?When we went to Knotts they wanted a Dr note and ID. My 6 yr old had no ID so they wrote his description on the back of the card.

[darph nader]

The worst part is that these people that are supposedly "morbidly obese"
can be considered as "permanently disabled" and are covered under the
ADA. Makes me cringe when these fat people come to us on busy days
after we've run out of ECVs and they say something like, "I'm disabled, I
need one." The old ECVs had a weight limit of 350 pounds and these
people who weighed somewhere near 500 always wondered why their
batteries would go out so fast.

I agree that being fat/obese is a health problem and it needs to be fixed.
But I don't think that should be a permanent disability. Too many people
take advantage of the system. Ok i'm moralizing. Time to stop now.

Damn right! A guy i used to work with found out about this. SOO he really let himself go(he was pretty big to begin with). He let himself balloon to over 400lbs. Now he's retired and collecting disabilaty. On our dime. :eek:

[StasiaBelle]

One of the most distressing things to do in attractions was to determine if a guest was pregnant so they could ride. This happened to me most often on BTM and it was usually a lot of hemming and hawing about who was going to ask the guest if they were pregnant. I had my fair share of "NO, I'M NOT PREGNANT, DO I LOOK IT???"

I was always surprised by the number of visibly pregnant guests who would insist on riding the roller coaster even after being informed that they could KILL THEIR BABY IF THERE WAS AN E-STOP! :shock:

Sadly, it had been a long time for me since I worked at the park, but I am surprised that you are supposed to do that. I would have thought they would be afraid of offending people so they would just leave it up to the signs to warn them! I would hate to be the one to have to be asking though! :eek:

[felinefan]

Luckily, when I worked at Knott's, I never had a guest who got offended over our implying that they were too fat to ride. Actually, they were pretty realistic about their size, and very understanding. About the only time I had a "weight issue" come up, was when I was doing Woodstock's Airmail in Camp Snoopy, and I had this one fat 5 or 6 year old boy who couldn't get on the ride unit by himself. His parents asked if I could help him. I tried, but the kid was too heavy. I explained to the parents that I'm not allowed to lift more than 50 lbs., but I had to tell them that like 3 times before they caught on--that kid must've weighed close to 90 lbs! The weight limit on that ride is less than 600 lbs. for the "flight crew", and it holds 6 people max. I have had a few people think I implied that they weighed 600 lbs., but I was always able to avoid getting torn to pieces by quickly reiterating that the weight limit applied to the total number on board. Then there was this one very heavy lady, who was blessed with a sense of humor and an inventive mind. I was at the Grand Sierra Steamtrain in Camp Snoopy, and she couldn't get her foot high enough to make the 14" step into the car. Failing to get in like everyone else, she gamely tried sitting in the doorway of the car, with a mind to scooting in on her heinie. Didn't work, though--she just didn't have the leverage. But she was cool about it, got back in her wheelchair and let the rest of her party ride while she waited in the depot. I'd also had some large people manage to cram themselves into the cars at Charlie Brown Speedway, then ask what the weight limit is (350 lbs. total, but it was never enforced). I always told them if they can get in and out of the car okay, they can ride. I had a few very tall guys, plus a couple with leg prostheses get in and out, with little or no trouble. And at Calico Railroad, whenever I had to let someone in throught the HC gate, I'd smile and say "Here's the entrance for special people". They always got a kick out of that one.

[DLRFantasmic!Dan]

Yeah, I got lots of large guests when I used to work at Knotts at Supreme Scream. I tried to buckle them in with restraints, but it just wouldn't reach and had them leave. It was sad.

[FantasmicBumbleBee]

I remember when I used to work at Auto where we would have to really tug on those belts to get them on for persons who occupied more space horizontally. The Chevron cars used to have one leather strap with a few holes that would go on a hook on the side of the car closest to the CM in the pit. I remember one time I had to use my knee to pull the belt so that I could get the hook in the very last hole on the strap.

Also, when I worked at Inno back when we allowed guests to 'experience' the Segways we had problems with larger guests. The Segways have weight limits and therefore we had to really make sure the guests read the sign before they waited in line. Well I was working Segway 2 when our Segway greeter couldn't talk the guest out of not riding because of his weight, so she sent the guest my way and (lucky my I had the P series, the smallest and oldest series) I instructed the guests of the rules of the segway and had him stand on it. Then the face monitor on the segway started flashing unhappy signs and the guests asked what it meant and I said oh we have to recharge the unit soon (because I really didn't want to offend him). But it made me mad that he knew he shouldn't have been on the segway in the first place.

And having worked in RRCS (Cartoon Spin in Toontown), it was hard to get guests in and out of the ride fast enough because we didn't want it to e-stop so when we saw heavier guests we would cringe inside and try to push them in as fast as we could cause we knew they would take forever trying to push all of their body to get out. And being heavy was a problem on the classics, especially on Snow (a lot of zone intrusions if you know what I mean.)

[CBeilby]

Those of you here who've met me know I'm not exactly a small guy. There have been times that I've been turned away because I couldn't fit in the restraints. Honestly, the times it's happened the most was when I went to Paramount King's Dominion. Still, I'm not embarrassed by it, and having worked on the other side of the panel, I know that the cast members/crew members are just doing their jobs.

[felinefan]

Maybe they should put a sample ride unit in front of the queue, and if anyone thinks they may be too big to ride, they can check before getting in line.

[CBeilby]

Maybe they should put a sample ride unit in front of the queue, and if anyone thinks they may be too big to ride, they can check before getting in line.

That's what both Universal and Busch do.

[leftcoaster]

Maybe they should put a sample ride unit in front of the queue, and if anyone thinks they may be too big to ride, they can check before getting in line.

Oh, but God forbid that we "offend" anyone by saying or implying "if you can't fit into this seat, you cannot ride." :rolleyes: (Not rolling my eyes at you felinefan, but Disney management)

Instead, let's build a bigger seat to accomidate the fat assholes of the world.

[PirateJohn]

Maybe they should put a sample ride unit in front of the queue, and if anyone thinks they may be too big to ride, they can check before getting in line.If you've ever worked at a shoe store, you'll realize this doesn't work.

[Guest Relations King]

Those of you here who've met me know I'm not exactly a small guy. There have been times that I've been turned away because I couldn't fit in the restraints. Honestly, the times it's happened the most was when I went to Paramount King's Dominion. Still, I'm not embarrassed by it, and having worked on the other side of the panel, I know that the cast members/crew members are just doing their jobs.

I'm not exactly the smallest person either and I would rather be denied boarding on any attraction than than to be injured because I didn't fit into the restraints. I've put on a bit of weight since I left the park because instead of doing tours, I'm sitting in front of a computer all day long.

[Yeti Chaser]

Maybe they should put a sample ride unit in front of the queue, and if anyone thinks they may be too big to ride, they can check before getting in line.

We have a Sample car at Everest for guests with "different body shapes" to try out. Works well. Also changed where the lap restraints start to engage. We can now get more robust guests on the attraction. WE have received a lot of kudos from those guests, Many of them have said that this is one of the first time that they have been able to ride a coaster. :)

[Buggy]

Maybe they should put a sample ride unit in front of the queue, and if anyone thinks they may be too big to ride, they can check before getting in line.

Yeah, went to Cedar Point this past week and couldn't fit into the Millenium Force demo seat. Fit everywhere else though. Diet time for me.

Interestingly enough, I think they make their demo seats a touch smaller than the real seats.