Day 1 update:
Today was pretty outstanding. Weather was fantastic and the wait times were very short. But here’s a breakdown as promised:
I’m 5’ 10.5” tall
I weighed in around 246lbs today
Waist 44” (I measured where my pants wrap around me under my belly)
Belly 50” (I measured around the biggest part of my stomach)
Chest 46”
Forbidden Journey - This was our first ride and my first mental hurdle as last year I was asked to step off. My hands got sweaty as we approached the test seat before the ride. They didn’t even ask me to try it! I fit pretty easily in the outside seat, no problem. Stress reduced a bit.
Hagrid - Tight fit on the bike, but no issues. They did ask me to try the test seat as we approached the onboarding but I got the green light. I did not try the sidecar. Fun ride! Stress reduced again.
Spiderman - Zero issues. My son loves this ride. In years past the lap bar that comes down would squeeze my midsection pretty good, but no issues today
Dr Doom - I was not able to ride this at all last year. I tried to, but I wasn’t aware that they changed the seat restraints (I believe it used to have belts like Hulk). They asked me to get off when I couldn’t pull the restraint down far enough and my 10 year old daughter rode it alone. I was not happy with myself. This year, different story. Rode it with my now 11 year old daughter and 7 year old son. Love this ride and I love that it’s back on the docket!
Hulk - I asked for the bigger modified seat and had plenty of room. Not sure if I would have fit the regular seat, but this one was ez pz. This is a rough ride in my opinion, but wow what a blast this one is!
At this point I was feeling pretty good, but we hadn’t gone over to Universal Studios yet... The Hogwarts Express was down so we walked over. It was time to face the Nemesis that is RRR...
Rip Ride Rockit - I’ve always been too big for this ride. My 10yr old daughter wanted me to ride it with her last year and I couldn’t because I was too big. I felt awful but my wife took one for the team and went with her. So I was obviously nervous walking up to the test seats today. I didn’t want to let her down again. There were people sitting down on the curb right next to the test seats having an afternoon snack. I gave the “Row 3” test seat a go. It was Red until I gave it a little extra squeeze and then I saw Green! I had to try. Once we got onto the ride I pulled the restraint around me. It clicked into place but I was pretty skeptical that they’d let the restraint be at that angle (seemed a bit “open”), but they gave us the thumbs up and I listened to the best part of Free Bird for the next 2minutes. I made it! A bit of a rough ride and this ride definitely puts the “family jewels” in a danger zone with those seats, but I was able to get through it. Stress nearly eliminated.
Gringotts - I knew to ask for the back row. This was probably the closest ride for me to not making it on i think. But I made it!
Minions - Disappointing that they removed the 3D aspect of the ride, but it’s another one that my little guys likes. Again this one used to squeeze my belly terribly, but this time was ez pz. The bar did not touch me at all until we started moving.
Simpsons - I usually feel awful on this ride because the bar will only come so far down with my belly in the way but today was much better. Bar came all the way down. I had to “suck it in” a bit to allow that to happen, but it worked and I felt great.
We accomplished quite a bit today. I was very excited to share this story with all of my info. The people who have provided this kind of information in previous posts helped me out tremendously. I’m hoping some of this info will do the same for others and maybe put a few minds at ease. Hit me up with any questions, I’ll be here for the next week.
