(Maybe) the dumbest height restrictions and the most unfortunate park in the world

[WC90]

Hi, i'm a ungrammatical coaster fan from Italy and I wanted to show you maybe the most ridiculous restrictions.



Yes, 12 Year Old to run a coaster!
Have you ever seen a park with such stupid restrictions?
Here some examples from Mirabilandia:
Katun (an enhanced Raptor): 140 cm and 12 years
iSpeed (a less intense Maverick): 140 cm and 12 years
Drop towers: 135 cm and 12 years
A ducati arcade simulator: 140 cm and 12 years
Legends Of Dead Towns (it's a horror house): 12 years
Kiddy Monster (KIDDY!): 130 cm
Divertical: 130 cm and 8 years
Sierra Tonante (a defunct wooden coaster): 120 cm and 12 years. 12 YEARS to run a wooden coaster.

I've always seen whole groups of poor children being rejected by cast members even if they're tall enough, so we are not only talking about recommendations.
These restrictions are imposed by a local technical commission regulated by laws dating back to 1940, that is when Italy was a Monarchy ruled by Mussolini.
Maybe Mirabilandia cannot compete with european parks because it's in the wrong province with the most ridiculous commission.
Park management also had the courage to say that children and families don't ride coasters, when formally they cannot and Mirabilandia cannot tempt them.
So, coasters are only for teenagers and adults, and since mirabilandia's managers said that most of the visitors are families with children, they no longer invest in "extreme" coasters. That's why Mirabilandia now builds things like Divertical and Desmo Race.
Italy is one of the worst developed countries for coaster fans.

 

[TilenB]

Sierra Tonante (a defunct wooden coaster): 120 cm and 12 years. 12 YEARS to run a wooden coaster.

Aw, I remember this one. Having ridden Magic Mountain in Gardaland when I was 5, I was more than a little bummed to not be able to ride Sierra Tonante when I was 8. Even more so when I heard that they were tearing it down before I turned 12. iSpeed is probably a much better ride than Sierra Tonante ever was, but it would've been nice for my first woodie to be in a park I often visited as a kid rather than some place on the other side of the world that I only ever visited once (Gwazi at BGT).

Though I do wonder how would they really enforce these rules? I doubt they would ask for IDs, would they make the parents prove that they paid the full ticket for the kid? I mean, neither is as straightforward as just checking the kid's height and turn them down based on that...

 

[JammyH]

It always annoys me that we are still creating coasters with 1.95m maximum height restrictions. I wish as technology moved forwards we were able to make coasters more accommodating for larger and taller people.

 

[WC90]

Though I do wonder how would they really enforce these rules? I doubt they would ask for IDs, would they make the parents prove that they paid the full ticket for the kid? I mean, neither is as straightforward as just checking the kid's height and turn them down based on that...

They can't but they are trained to used other ways such as: "how old are you" "12" "when were you born?". Some guests does not care about age restrictions, but are few compared to the others.

Kids pay full ticket if are 140 cm even if they aren't 12 years old.

 

[The Undead Creature]

I think that is the first example I've seen of a specific age restriction without any other context applied to it.

I know of a few advisory age restrictions that are related to the theme and setting of a ride as opposed to the ride itself, for example a restriction may say something along the lines of "this attraction may be unsuitable for children under 12 years old" But this has nothing to do with the rides restraints.

Imposing a hard age limit on rides is extremely difficult to enforce as it requires the general public to be honest, something which they seriously lack.

It always annoys me that we are still creating coasters with 1.95m maximum height restrictions. I wish as technology moved forwards we were able to make coasters more accommodating for larger and taller people.

Thats the problem that ergonomics tries to solve but like anything, you can't please everyone. You would be suprised how many manufacturers have come up with new restraint systems to accommodate more people. That said though, the focus is almost always at the minimum height and waist restriction as far more people get turned away for being too short or too.......wide, than too tall.
You may notice a few of the newer train designs that either have no floor or seats that leave your legs dangling above it. Part of this design is to allow for those of us with longer legs to sit with the harness properly against our waist as oppsed to the top of the thigh. At least that's the theory, practice and theory rarely have a civilised conversation with each other.

 

[migo315]

The Van Helsings Factory coaster in Movie Park Germany also recommend 12 years.