Millennium Force test seat vs. the trains

I recently visited Cedar Point and I was very nervous to ride Millennium Force because in cedar points mind I would be considered
exceptional size because I weigh 255lbs and have a 38in waist. I tried the test seat and it was a very tight sqeeze and I had to pull on the belt kinda hard to get it to buckle and once I did get it to buckle
the ride attendent gave me a couple pointers on how to get the required one inch slack she said, place both hands on the loop and move it back and forth and pull to get the slack and I got the one inch slack with no problem.
Once I got to the actual ride train (the yellow train) I sat in my seat and I thought what was very weird that I had no prolblem buckling the belt on the actual ride and also I had no problem getting the one inch slack.
In my conclusion if you are borderline and struggle getting the seat belt fastened and getting the one inch slack and if you do pass the test chair barely you will have no problem getting onto the actual ride trains because I believe that they make the
test seat alittle smaller to make sure that you fit but in the actual ride trains the belts are alittle longer so you won't have any trouble. The ride attendents are very nice in assisting you at the test chair and they are happy to give you any pointers you may need.

wow.....thats great, thanks for sharing......

In mid-May the the ride attendent said the test seat is a little different from the seats on the trains. I found this very odd. Why would Intamin build a seat that doesn't have the same deminsions? This was before they shorten the seatbelts.

Does the rider have to be able to buckle the belt themselves or are the ride ops allowed to assist with the actual buckling?

I ask because my Mom and I are meeting up at the Point on Sunday and two years ago when we made the trip she had trouble making the belt latch (awkward angle?) even though she had some slack in the belt itself. At that time the ride ops helped her both times we rode, but the second time they kind of indicated that she should have to buckle it herself. Mom is overweight (and I'm praying she doesn't have problems with belt length this weekend!) but based on comments here on people's sizes I think she'll make it (but we are definitely hitting up that test seat!).

In response to gomez I think that Intamin would make the seatbelt on the test seat shorter to make sure that you'll fit in the actual trains on the ride but I do think that its odd to that the test seat seatbelts are alittle shorter than the trains.

In response to missa the rider does have to buckle their own belt but if you are having difficulty the ride ops will guide you to the buckle and give you some advice on how to get the required one inch slack. I think your mom might have alittle trouble buckling the belt my suggestion is, once you enter the queue line if the ride op asks you to try the test seat say you already have and they will say ok. I say this because Im a over weight person to and I could barely get it buckled at the test chair and I had to pull on the belt kinda hard to get it to buckle. The seatbelt on the actual trains are alittle longer than the test seat. Also make sure that when your mom goes on the actual train the seatbelt isn't twisted up because that will shorten the belt alittle. If your mom doesn't feel like trying the test seat you guys are allowed to enter the ride from the exit and try the ride trains. I got this information from the cedarpoint.com website that you can enter the ride via the exit to see if the restraints work correctly. I hope this helps you guys out on your trip.

Thanks for the info! Hopefully all will work out as she really loved MF when we went two years ago. She's 53 and still loves roller coasters :) Who'd have thought that I'd be the one that takes a non-drowsy dramamine before hitting the park and she'd be the one that can ride mostly anything - although neither of us can do the spin-n-pukes very well anymore - getting older is hell!

Missa,,we just went last week,,and even though my wife had plenty of slack,she had trouble buckling also,,,she is quite large breasted and had trouble "seeing over them". There must be art to it,,but after a few rides,she got it figured out.

I have always appreciated fine art.

MrScott

I too noticed the same thing Coaster25 said in the first message. I thought it was just my imagine after drinking a large pepsi, and burping, but he is correct.

Just my opinion, The test seat is exposed alot more to the sun/elements. Wouldn't it make sense for it to have slight shrinkage? The ride itself my have belts that are "stretched" due to the amount of use and stuff. Just a though...nothing proves it right or wrong really.

Ever think they made the test seat a little more restrictive on purpose? If someone has to struggle for 10 minutes at the test seat to fit the riding requirements, then they will have to struggle yet again for 10 minutes on the platform, thus causing them to miss interval.

Instead, they make the test seat belt a little shorter, and people who just barely make it on the test seat go up and fit in quite easily.

Makes sense to me at least.

You know what really makes sense? Dieting...

Well, Mom was about an inch and a half short on the test seat on Saturday night, and the line was 2 hours long. So we plan on trying for the train with early entry Sunday morning with her not having a sweatshirt on and with a much shorter line.

Once we got into the station, I pointed out the routing of the belt around the seat bar and told her to tuck it under the bar to give her an extra inch. With the help of a (wonderful) ride op, she just *barely* makes it :). She made a point to tell the ride op that he completely made her day at CP :). So we got our ride and l am hoping that this was an incentive for her to lose some weight. I don't ever expect her to be "skinny", but it would be good to see her lose some weight and be healthier overall.

Thanks for the tips and thanks Jeff for this website which has been a major part of my once a year trip planning for the last several years.

Melissa