Girl With No Hands Barred From SeaWorld, Universal Orlando Rides

[avengador1]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/0 ... d%3D132643

Katie Champagne, of Michigan, was visiting Central Orlando with her family when she was removed from SeaWorld's Kraken coaster Thursday, the Orlando Sentinel reports.

Champagne was given the same reasons when she was barred from Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey at Universal Studios' Islands of Adventure in December. The family's tickets were refunded afterward.

Read the rest of the article at the link.

[DonutGoddess]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/0 ... d%3D132643


Read the rest of the article at the link.

Sounds like they did it for her own protection. I see nothing wrong with that.

[avengador1]

I can attest that the Harry Potter ride does not require hands to ride, the article also stated that she had been allowed to ride the Kraken earlier. I just feel bad for her not being able to enjoy the rides and having her vacation soured because of this.

[NemoRanger]

Its sad but if its for the girls safety then that is just what it is. My understanding that is a safety measure put in place by the manufacturer of the ride. They don't put safety measures in place for no reason. I remember something about a guy with no legs getting killed because the safety measure was ignored and he slipped out of a coaster.

Yes, she technically could have rode on forbidden journey and chances are that there would have been no issue. When I ride it I often keep my hands out in front and rarely hold on. However, there is always that WHAT IF. What if the restraints came up when the cab was leaning forward. There is always some weird possibilities. I am sure she has a better chance of winning the lottery or getting struck by lighting but the builder and park need to protect themselves where they can.

[Big Wallaby]

Rule is that you have to have one hand that can grip the handles. I hate that the parks have to say no, but there isn't any way around from the operator side. If she could get prosthetic hands that can hold on, then she might be able to go.

I have watched people turned away for stuff like this. It never gets easier. There was one time at a ride that I noticed a girl/lady riding in no way came up to the 40" requirement, because of a medical condition. After I saw them getting off a train after it came into the station, I called a manager over. Apparently, they had been coming repeatedly and had not been stopped. Can you imagine the press we could have received that day? And that's on a ride where sometimes they bring water bottles up from the vehicle storage to the station by putting them in the last car. I've watched a train get dispatched with two water bottles, no restraints activated, and they came back okay. But when it's a human life, you can't mess around with that, even when you know that you know that you know that you know they would be safe.

And it never gets easier.

[avengador1]

I wonder if they will be adding this warning to the rest of the ride warning signs they alreay have. If it is a policy they should make the public more aware of it, that way there will be no surprises and less disappointment.

[Big Wallaby]

One thing Universal provides is a Guest Assistance Guide, talking about the restrictions of all the rides and experiences, as well as what each experience includes regarding physical forces and environmental effects. They don't exactly hide it. But, the problem is if people don't know where to look or whom to ask.

[TiggerHappy]

I wonder if they will be adding this warning to the rest of the ride warning signs they alreay have. If it is a policy they should make the public more aware of it, that way there will be no surprises and less disappointment.

At this rate, every ride would have to have an essay's worth of warnings decorating the queues to compensate for this.

[shilohmm]

, the article also stated that she had been allowed to ride the Kraken earlier.

They may have tightened the rules since that quadraplegic guy got killed (last year?). I can't remember if he wasn't supposed to be riding in the first place or not according to the rules of the time, or if the makers have changed official policies since then, but either way I bet more employees are now up to speed on what to do when dealing with people who're missing limbs.

Totally don't blame the parks -- safety needs to come first. And I agree that some safety rules that apply to a particular sub-group aren't always posted. Most people I know who have unusual needs (blind, in a wheel chair, or even just unusually sensitive to motion simulator rides) take the responsibility to track down the info ahead of time. Dead easy to do for the big Orlando parks now there's the Internet; can be considerably tougher with some smaller, local amusement parks.

[Amphigorey]

I do blame the parks. I'm having real difficulty seeing how a lack of hands would cause a danger for her on any coaster. She still has some ability to grasp and manipulate things (you can see her briefly doing it in the video).

No arms I can see being a problem because a shoulder restraint might not function properly, but that wasn't this woman's problem.