Glasses on Coasters

I wear prescription glasses, with clip on sunglasses. I was wondering if I would buy a strap, to strap them to my head, would they fly off on Millenium Force or Top Thrill? I don't think it will be a problem on the slower coasters, but those two I worry about.

I have never taken my glasses off on either coaster and I have never lost them or even had them come close. For the record I do not use a strap for them. The only coasters I have ever even bothered taking them off for are flying coasters.

The best way to secure your glasses on any ride is to get your optician to fit them properly. I've been wearing glasses since about 1983 and have only had them come off on a ride three times--

1) A heavy pair of horned-rims slipped off my nose on Lift #1 on the Boomerang at Kentucky Kingdom. They did NOT come off of my ears, just off my nose.

2) The ear pads on Iron Wolf grabbed my glasses by the temples and they jammed in the shoulder bar when the bar opened.

3) The park-demanded neck cord went over my head during a reverse launch on Superman: Ultimate Escape and caught under my chin, ripping the frames from my head. I caught them before they cleared my nose.

From my experience, I do not recommend the use of any kind of strap or cord, particularly any cord that interferes with the fit of the temples (i.e. "Croakies" style that fit over the ear pieces). If you're going to attach a cord, use one that attaches with a loop around the temple and therefore does not adversely affect the fit of the earpieces, which is critical.

Of course, this all assumes your glasses fit like mine. Mine have extra-long earpieces that actually bend slightly past 90° and literally hold the frames in tension between the earpieces and the nose pads. It takes an intentional act (lifting from the back) or some severe violence to get them off; coasters won't do it, although one of those waterpark dumping buckets might.

That said, *I* know that my glasses won't come off, but Cedar Point does not. For that reason, they require the use of some kind of neck cord or strap on the following rides:

Power Tower
Wicked Twister
Top Thrill Dragster
Maverick

I don't remember off-hand if maXair and Skyhawk are on that list or not. I think maXair is but Skyhawk is not, but don't quote me on that.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

I wear my sunglasses on the coasters and I still have them.

Thanks for the replies. The cord I have, is the kind with a loop that fits by my temples. I have a thing on the back of them that I can tighten to keep them secure. I just bought these glasses last week and am going to cedar point on Monday, and don't wanna really shell out 160 bucks for new ones. I also do not want to take them off and on, that tends to make me feel nauseous by the middle of the afternoon. I guess I will try this and see how it goes

Don't make the cord too tight; that will give you a headache. 8-)

So long as your glasses fit well, you should be fine.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

Didn't you get into a shouting match with the ride ops on Dragster several years ago Dave? I bring it up only because sometimes you have to deal with annoying situations just because you wear glasses. I switched from contacts a few years ago, and I really noticed how ride ops can be "annoying" about glasses. I always assume this is because of other idiots who lose stuff and then complain to the crew.

B&M_Fan said:
would they fly off on Millenium Force or Top Thrill?

99er said:
I have never taken my glasses off on either coaster... For the record I do not use a strap for them.

So are you sneaking them in your pocket to the launch on Top Thrill Dragster before putting them on? Because park policy requires you to wear a strap on Top Thrill Dragster.

RideMan said:
I don't remember off-hand if maXair and Skyhawk are on that list or not. I think maXair is but Skyhawk is not, but don't quote me on that.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

I know you said don't quote you. But, I think this is the exception to the rule. maXair and Skyhawk both require a strap. It wouldn't surprise me if Shoot the Rapids does too. I suspect that any new coaster or thrill ride installation will require a glasses strap from here on out.

I seem to recall that Maxair used to require a strap, but they are no longer doing so this year. I'm not sure about Skyhawk.

http://www.cedarpoint.com/public/park/rides/loose_articles.cfm

"Glasses must be secured with an athletic strap on Maverick, maXair, Power Tower, Skyhawk, Top Thrill Dragster and Wicked Twister."

I always have straps on my glasses, and never had any problems getting on any ride as long as I have them on.

The only time I had a problem at any park, was on xlerater(sp) at knotts berry farm. For some reason you can't wear your glasses on this ride....even with a strap. I did have some words with the ride crew after I got off of the ride, because of the way they told me about it. They were very rude about it. I don't understand why you can't wear them on this ride, but you can on dragster and kingda ka...or any other launched coaster.

So, when I first saw the title of this topic, I was thinking you were talking about restaurants requiring people to put their glasses on coasters while eating.

What ever you do, do not put your glasses in your shirt on TTD or MF! My glasses flew out of my shirt on MF a week or so ago.

Jason Hammond said:
So are you sneaking them in your pocket to the launch on Top Thrill Dragster before putting them on? Because park policy requires you to wear a strap on Top Thrill Dragster.

Nope, I do not sneak anything on coasters and I never put my glasses in my pocket in fear that they might break.I am a bigger guy so once I sit down, you can't get into my pockets. The few times I have rode Dragster (mind you most were when it was not open to the public), I was never asked to remove my glasses. They launched us with me wearing them. And now that you quoted the parks policy, I have also worn them on Wicked Twister without being asked to remove them.

The only time I have ever been asked to remove them (that I can recall) was this past November when I rode Pony Express at Knott's. I actually thought the girl was joking and didn't remove them at first. She had to ask me again because I couldn't believe it since two years before I rode Xcelerator with my glasses.

crazy horse said:
I always have straps on my glasses, and never had any problems getting on any ride as long as I have them on.

The only time I had a problem at any park, was on xlerater(sp) at knotts berry farm. For some reason you can't wear your glasses on this ride....even with a strap. I don't understand why you can't wear them on this ride, but you can on dragster and kingda ka...or any other launched coaster.

I came across the same during my recent visit to Knotts to, straps or not I couldnt wear my glasses on Silver Bullet or Xcelerator. We (the ride ops and I) got into the discussion on Coasterbuzz with my trip report back then. No glasses makes no senseto me because:

1: I wore my glasses on X2 without a strap and didnt even come close to losing them-if you're not going to lose them on that ride, come on!!
2: I cant count how many rides Ive had on Raptor and several other rides and havent lost them.
3: I am blind as Hell without my glasses on so I cant enjoy the ride cause I cant see! :(

The Knotts ride ops seem to believe since the rule of no glasses has been in place since the ride(s) was built the rules were never changed.
I stopped wearing contacts cause they are a pita for me but when I get back to Cali I will be wearing them when I go to Knotts..it would be nice to be able to see! :)

Jo
Lifetime Raptor flights: 2031 :)

^You can't even wear them on Silver Bullet? How recent was your trip because I wore mine this past November, unless this is a new rule at the park.

99er said:
^You can't even wear them on Silver Bullet? How recent was your trip because I wore mine this past November, unless this is a new rule at the park.

December and then again in May! No glasses for me! :(

Jo
Lifetime Raptor flights: 2031 :)

They must just be really bad with enforcing the rule then because it was only November when I was there. I guess it could have been a new(er) rule made after my visit.

Yea, I wore my glasses(with straps) on silver bullet.

I have not been back to the park since pony express opend, but the only ride I had an issue with was xcelerator.

Chuck Wagon: No shouting matches at CP. Formal complaints filed at Knott's and Martin's F'ing Island, though.

My observation is that at Cedar Point the eyeglass rope rule is in place on all rides that either do or could frequently go backwards at high speed. Shoot the Rapids soesn't do anything at high speed, so no rule there. Millennium Force doesn't go backwards, so no rule there.

I've been lucky at Knott's, where I've had to use a cord, but the only coasters there I haven't ridden are Xcelerator and Pony Express. I've heard that they've subsequently become nasty about "every coaster except Jaguar" which means I am in no rush to go back.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.