FOP - small change to loading + attention asthmatics

[Mickeymouseisking]

Just back from the most amazing 3 week vacation at WDW. I thought this information would possibly be helpful to others.

I have allergic asthma and one of the things I'm sensitive to is cold air blowing in my face. In FOP there's air blown in your face both to enhance the feeling of flight and to help fight motion sickness. For me, this blast of air really took my breath away and I had to lean back to get away from it so that I could breathe. As a very thin person, I was able to maintain a distance between myself and the chest pad when the back harness came up, and that way I had a lot of wiggle room, which allowed me the ability to lean back away from the blast of air.

Last week, when going on the ride for what was supposed to be my fourth and last time for the trip, there was a change in the loading procedure. The CM in the room now goes up to each guest after the back harness comes up and pushes each guest up against the chest pad, making sure there's absolutely no space. When the CM approached me I said I can't breathe in that position because of the wind, but she made it clear that was the only way to ride and I didn't want to waste everyone's time so I quickly said I couldn't ride and then waited for my family outside of the room.

I asked the CM there why the change. He told me that a week before that a very thin guy got freaked out during the ride and pushed himself out of his seat!! He did it so quickly that they only cought it when he was already standing with both of his feet on the chair! They immediately stopped the ride, and thankfully he wasn't hurt. Because of that incident, they came out with a new rule that guests must be completely up against the chest pad and that a CM has to check each person individually.

So no more FOP for me...just wanted to share that since I thought it was interesting and also I haven't seen anyone mention the air blowing as possibly disturbing for asthmatics, so just wanted to add that information.

 

[Robo]

Thanks!
What would it do for you if you wore a surgical mask during the ride.

I see many guests wearing those masks due to various "airborne germ" concerns.

 

[Cinderella94]

Wow. My mom is not going to like this either. She's very thin and had space between herself and the chest pad - I imagine for some it won't be comfortable to be at such an angle.

 

[lynn_s]

Odd. Just back and rode it 5 times on 4 days (8/23-27), and don't recall them doing anything to the back restraint....they just walked by & said "kick your legs". (to make sure leg restraint is in place) and adjusted those if needed. which day did you ride? (I rode W late, Thu AM, Sat eve twice, Sun mid-am).Sat eve a thin kid net to me had lots of space between him & chest pad (we sat there a long time, then ended up having to move to another room so I was chatting with that family for a bit).

Very different CM interpretation of procedures? or perhaps you rode last after I did and I missed the change?

 

[loves to dive]

Hmmm, hope that doesn't last. Leaning against the chest pad hits right at the wrong place on my sternum and causes my reflux to act up. Last time I rode it I just stretched my arms out when the back restraint was coming up so I wasn't against when it set. Not my favorite ride to start with and I won't be riding it without my son but he loved it so if he's with me,I'd ride it again.

 

[marcyleecorgan]

Just back from the most amazing 3 week vacation at WDW. I thought this information would possibly be helpful to others.

I have allergic asthma and one of the things I'm sensitive to is cold air blowing in my face. In FOP there's air blown in your face both to enhance the feeling of flight and to help fight motion sickness. For me, this blast of air really took my breath away and I had to lean back to get away from it so that I could breathe. As a very thin person, I was able to maintain a distance between myself and the chest pad when the back harness came up, and that way I had a lot of wiggle room, which allowed me the ability to lean back away from the blast of air.

Oh thank you very much for sharing this! I have outgrown most of my asthma symptoms but this is still an odd trigger for me. Good to know I might need to use my inhaler after the ride.

 

[anomamatt]

I rode it twice on 8/27 and they didn't do this. And my wife said they didn't do it for her either. So unless this change happened this week, YMMV.

 

[elaine amj]

I rode several times over the last 2 weeks. First time the CM pushed hard. After that no one else did. Must be a CM-specific thing?

 

[Amanda999]

My experience matches OP's. On August 16 and 20 the CM only checked our legs. On Monday 8/28 the CM also made sure no room between chest and pad.

 

[DOOM1001]

I've been on it four times,I rode it twice right after it opened and two other times more recently,the last time being Tuesday night.The first two times I rode it when it opened were the only times anybody made sure I moved up in the seat,the last time I rode it this week I don't remember any CM even checking us.So I don't think its a new rule,just one that doesn't seem to get enforced consistently.

 

[soniam]

First time I rode, I was all the way up against the chest pad. Big mistake. The back pad came in real hard, so hard that I couldn't breathe deeply without my rib cage hurting. Luckily, it was first thing in the morning, and I hadn't eaten yet. Otherwise, my theme park acid reflux and hiatal hernia could have left a mess. The 2nd and 3rd times I rode it, I made sure to expand my chest cavity and abdomen by breathing in and holding it, arching my back, and pushing just a bit back from the chest pad. It left me enough room to breathe but not enough to slip out. I hope they don't keep pushing the pad hard against everyone. They should also warn women to be sure and sit up tall; otherwise, there could be some real uncomfortable smashing in the chest area.

 

[disneyholic family]

i rode it with the OP (makes sense, she's my daughter)...
on that last ride, which if memory serves was on Wednesday August 23, the CM checked each person, pushing really hard...
i tried to keep back but she pushed hard, to make sure i was up against the chest pad...

i hadn't noticed the air blowing the first time i rode, but that time, there was definitely a lot of air blowing in my face (not a problem for me as i don't have asthma)...

while i was riding, i tried to see if i could pull my head back to avoid the air, but the CM had pushed me against the pad so hard, there was no way for me to arch back far enough to avoid it....

i also suggested to OP the possibility of trying a surgical mask to keep the force of the air down.

since that was our last day at AK on this (amazing 3 week) visit to WDW, we'll have to wait for next time to see if a mask helps..

i find it really interesting to hear that people riding it after us, didn't experience this loading method...

.

 

[DekrRini]

i rode it with the OP (makes sense, she's my daughter)...
on that last ride, which if memory serves was on Wednesday August 23, the CM checked each person, pushing really hard...
i tried to keep back but she pushed hard, to make sure i was up against the chest pad...

i hadn't noticed the air blowing the first time i rode, but that time, there was definitely a lot of air blowing in my face (not a problem for me as i don't have asthma)...

while i was riding, i tried to see if i could pull my head back to avoid the air, but the CM had pushed me against the pad so hard, there was no way for me to arch back far enough to avoid it....

i also suggested to OP the possibility of trying a surgical mask to keep the force of the air down.

since that was our last day at AK on this (amazing 3 week) visit to WDW, we'll have to wait for next time to see if a mask helps..

i find it really interesting to hear that people riding it after us, didn't experience this loading method...

.

Maybe there were enough complaints about the constraints being too tight that they loosened up on procedure. And it might be possible that the CM who was enforcing the new rule was one of the CMs involved in the man getting out of his seat during the ride. If I'd been that CM, I'd probably be more inclined to be less lenient in enforcing the safety rules.

 

[AngiTN]

Odd. Just back and rode it 5 times on 4 days (8/23-27), and don't recall them doing anything to the back restraint....they just walked by & said "kick your legs". (to make sure leg restraint is in place) and adjusted those if needed. which day did you ride? (I rode W late, Thu AM, Sat eve twice, Sun mid-am).Sat eve a thin kid net to me had lots of space between him & chest pad (we sat there a long time, then ended up having to move to another room so I was chatting with that family for a bit).

Very different CM interpretation of procedures? or perhaps you rode last after I did and I missed the change?

I think it is a different in CM interpretation of procedures. We were there the same dates, well, through 8/29 actually, and no one did that when we rode either.
I did have 1 CM do a different load procedure, which is why I think some CM just do things different. This CM came and made very guest swing their legs back against the leg restraints. Asked each guest to kick back, so to speak. No one else in our other 4 rides did that.

 

[disneyholic family]

Maybe there were enough complaints about the constraints being too tight that they loosened up on procedure. And it might be possible that the CM who was enforcing the new rule was one of the CMs involved in the man getting out of his seat during the ride. If I'd been that CM, I'd probably be more inclined to be less lenient in enforcing the safety rules.

that's for sure...
another CM said the man was standing on the ride - that is, they didn't notice him getting out of his seat, but only noticed him when he was standing on it...
they of course, immediately stopped the ride - from where he was it's a 60 foot drop to the floor....a fall from that height wouldn't end well..
so yes, had i been a CM involved in that incident, i'm sure it would have freaked me out completely...

I think it is a different in CM interpretation of procedures. We were there the same dates, well, through 8/29 actually, and no one did that when we rode either.
I did have 1 CM do a different load procedure, which is why I think some CM just do things different. This CM came and made very guest swing their legs back against the leg restraints. Asked each guest to kick back, so to speak. No one else in our other 4 rides did that.

on my first ride, the CM did that - told us to swing our legs back..
but not on any of my subsequent rides...

.

 

[sky13]

They were checking to make sure the back and leg restrains were tight on the 3 rides I did on 30 and 31/8. Not a huge fan of the very tight restrains as I hate the buzzing they do during the link. Though if someone managed to stand up on the ride I can see why they're enforcing it!

About the air/water blowing in face - rode it with a friend who says you can try to cover the front of the ride vehicle if you don't like it as that's where the air/water comes from...

 

[Beth Pagan]

Just back from the most amazing 3 week vacation at WDW. I thought this information would possibly be helpful to others.

I have allergic asthma and one of the things I'm sensitive to is cold air blowing in my face. In FOP there's air blown in your face both to enhance the feeling of flight and to help fight motion sickness. For me, this blast of air really took my breath away and I had to lean back to get away from it so that I could breathe. As a very thin person, I was able to maintain a distance between myself and the chest pad when the back harness came up, and that way I had a lot of wiggle room, which allowed me the ability to lean back away from the blast of air.

Last week, when going on the ride for what was supposed to be my fourth and last time for the trip, there was a change in the loading procedure. The CM in the room now goes up to each guest after the back harness comes up and pushes each guest up against the chest pad, making sure there's absolutely no space. When the CM approached me I said I can't breathe in that position because of the wind, but she made it clear that was the only way to ride and I didn't want to waste everyone's time so I quickly said I couldn't ride and then waited for my family outside of the room.

I asked the CM there why the change. He told me that a week before that a very thin guy got freaked out during the ride and pushed himself out of his seat!! He did it so quickly that they only cought it when he was already standing with both of his feet on the chair! They immediately stopped the ride, and thankfully he wasn't hurt. Because of that incident, they came out with a new rule that guests must be completely up against the chest pad and that a CM has to check each person individually.

So no more FOP for me...just wanted to share that since I thought it was interesting and also I haven't seen anyone mention the air blowing as possibly disturbing for asthmatics, so just wanted to add that information.

They follow this inconsistently. I went on Monday and they did have me sit forward very far but on Saturday, I could sit up. Sorry you had a bad experience

 

[SaraVee]

I haven't ridden it yet, and I'm curious if your arms are technically "free?" Bizarre reason I have for asking - I am somewhat prone to motion sickness, so when trying something with motion like this for the first time, I always stuff a plastic (Target-type) bag in my pocket in case I feel sick.

Would I be able to access the front pocket of my shorts while the ride is in motion?

 

[SaraVee]

that's for sure...
another CM said the man was standing on the ride - that is, they didn't notice him getting out of his seat, but only noticed him when he was standing on it...
they of course, immediately stopped the ride - from where he was it's a 60 foot drop to the floor....a fall from that height wouldn't end well..
so yes, had i been a CM involved in that incident, i'm sure it would have freaked me out completely...



on my first ride, the CM did that - told us to swing our legs back..
but not on any of my subsequent rides...

.

I haven't ridden yet; you mention a 60 foot drop to the floor. Does the individual ride vehicle you sit on raise up that high, or does the floor go up that high, like a platform? Just trying to get an idea of what the ride is like, thanks!

 

[AngiTN]

I haven't ridden it yet, and I'm curious if your arms are technically "free?" Bizarre reason I have for asking - I am somewhat prone to motion sickness, so when trying something with motion like this for the first time, I always stuff a plastic (Target-type) bag in my pocket in case I feel sick.

Would I be able to access the front pocket of my shorts while the ride is in motion?

yes, your arms are totally free
As for access to your shorts, not sure. Maybe? You are sitting as if you a bike and leaning forward slightly. So it depends on how your short pockets are positioned as to if you could reach them. There may be other places you could put it in case you need it if you couldn't reach yours in such a position. Maybe right inside your shirt collar?