Test Seat WARNING!!

I just spent the day at Cedar Point with Dave Bowers, who is just a little bit bigger than me.

After riding Millennium Force, we headed over to Dragster, where the line extended down the midway to the ride exit. Not wanting to waste time standing in line only to be rejected at the platform, Dave tried out the test seat.

No way in you-know-where could he possibly get the seat belt to fit. So we bailed out and 'did' the rest of the park. Near the end of the evening, we were watching the ride launch, and Dave noticed something important. The seat belt routing on the ride was not the same as the seat belt routing on the test seat! On the test seat, on the buckle side, the belt came up and poked through the large opening between the seat side rail and the armrest. On the ride, the buckle end of the belt comes up through the small opening between the side of the seat and the seat side rail, the flat rail behind the armrest.

On a hunch, we visited the test seat again and through a little tugging and persuading, re-routed the belt through the same opening being used on the ride. Dave then sat down in the seat, and fastened the belt easily.

Pity it was so late in the day and the line was so long. Just be careful to make sure that the belt routing on the test seat is the same as the belt routing on the ride. No sense in abandoning the ride because Mean Mr. Test Seat says you're too big, when in fact you fit just fine and the test seat is wrong!

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

Is the seat wrong or were you just too oblivious to realize that re-routing it may give you some more slack? ;)

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Near the end of the evening, we were watching the ride launch, and Dave noticed something important. The seat belt routing on the ride was not the same as the seat belt routing on the test seat! On the test seat, on the buckle side, the belt came up and poked through the large opening between the seat side rail and the armrest. On the ride, the buckle end of the belt comes up through the small opening between the side of the seat and the seat side rail, the flat rail behind the armrest

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One person couldn't possibly change every belt on Dragster's trains without someone noticing, but one test seat is easy.

The test seat isn't wrong, it was the moron who tampered with the test seat that is wrong.

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Eddy the retard is awesome.

Unfortunately you don't always realize what a difference something insignificant like the routing of seat belt can have. It could have been an accident, or someone might have played with it. It's a shame that it happened, but it is something that doesn't stick out unless you really look. Hopefully it never happens in the future, but like RideMan said, be sure to check the next time you hop into a test seat.

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Trogdor!
http://www.homestarrunner.com/trogdor.html

they say that the TTD seats are smaller than MF, but I fit a lot better on TTD than MF. So I don't know what the deal is with that

Junior: In particular, someone unfamiliar with the ride (like Dave, for instance) would not have any way of knowing if the seat belt routing on the test seat is wrong! Also, I wonder how it got changed...it took a significant amount of effort on my part to get it set back to match the trains. The difference between going inboard of a 1/4" steel plate and going outboard of that same plate is worth about 3" of strap.

--Dave Althoff, Jr

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cedarpointfreak said:
they say that the TTD seats are smaller than MF, but I fit a lot better on TTD than MF. So I don't know what the deal is with that

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Yeah, When I rode MF I had trouble with getting the belt buckled. But when I rode TTD I had no trouble at all.

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:) C :) E :) D :) A :) R :) :) P :) O :) ! :) N :) T :)

Dave, too bad you didn't stay to ride. We got in line again at around 7:40 and the line was only about 40min.

To me, the seats on TTD feel bigger than MF. Maybe they are deaper, but they seem roomy and very comfortable. So, if anyone has been on MF, I wouldn't even worry about trying the test seat, you will fit for sure.

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I'd rather be in my boat with a drink on the rocks,
than in the drink with a boat on the rocks.

Even though they tell you that if you can't buckle yourself in that you can't ride it and the test seat won't snap you in but you are so close, go ahead and go for it. Because those girls on the platform will get on their knees trying to squeeze you into that seat. They will spend minutes on a rider trying to get them snapped in. I have yet to see somebody get rejected.

There were some large people, some very tall, my friend was 6'5 and he got in. I saw a man as tall and much larger and they got him in. :-D the worst that could happen is they give up.

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Life has it's ups and downs, might as well make it on a coaster!

On the subject of Seat belts, has anyone else noticed that the Red Train on Millenium Force has tighter seatbelts than the seatbelts on the other two trains? or is it just me?

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TTD: 6 (Rollbacks seen: 24)
MF: 20
WT: 9

The seats on MF are a little differant then the Dragster. First, the Dreagster seats are deeper (more room). Second, they are contoured to the human body(added comfort). Finally, They have headrests(may or may not be more comfortable). I personally found the Dragster head rest annopying because the way part of it "stuck" out and kinda hurt

The headrest mold on Dragster doesn't match the contour of the seat mold...the headrest is designed to fit a slightly narrower seat.

I wonder if Xcelerator has narrower seats than Dragster.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

The last few times I've been on Dragster I've noticed that when I put my hands up going over the top hat my arms have a tendency to fly back and get stuck around the outside of the headrest, which is mildly uncomfortable and annoying. Has anyone else experienced this?

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Millennium Force Laps-120
**Vertigo Launches-21**
Dragster Launches-8

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Pete said:
... To me, the seats on TTD feel bigger than MF. Maybe they are deaper, but they seem roomy and very comfortable. ...

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I agree with you Pete that they are larger, however leg room seems to be far less on Dragster vs. MF. I am 6'5" and am comfortable in MF but not so much in Dragster.

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Eric Morrison (Coast)
Drag Races: 9
*** This post was edited by Etrain 9/14/2003 12:40:32 AM ***

Well, I rode both rides yesterday (TTD & MF) and I made sure to take note how the belts are routed. The TTD seat belts are routed just as how RideMan fixed the test seat to, however the way the test seat was before he corrected it is exactly how the seat belts are routed for MF. Maybe whoever routed the seatbelt on the TTD test seat did not know the difference or was also a MF worker. I wonder how many other workers know that virtually the same seat has 2 different seat belt routings on 2 different rides. When we got on our train when we rode MF 2 folks had to leave the ride because they couldn't fasten the belt and I felt very bad for them knowing that they probably could have fit just fine if the belts were routed the way they were on TTD.

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cyberdman
*** This post was edited by cyberdman 9/14/2003 10:34:12 AM ***