Ride operators at theme park.

[itsgettingweird]

So went to a theme park today with ds and his friends.

It was a lovely day and very quiet compared to usual visits this time of year.

I don't do lots of rides - I'm happy to bag sit!

But use a few and tend to do my favourite 2-3 times.

The last time we went on this ride today the operator was checking the seat belts. This is usual. Then didn't even look or communicate with me but pushed the overhead barrier down so hard I couldn't get a proper breath in and it's left one of my nipples very sore (bruised?)

Ds and I were both waving to get the attention of attendants but they didn't notice and by the time I got to the end I was really dizzy from struggling to breathe and the pain in my breast (I'm not exactly huge!)

As I got off the ride I went more dizzy so sat down on the step. Ds explained to the man about the breathing and his advice?

"If you need first aid there's a centre at x point" (over 300m away from where I was sat unable to stand up.

I did retort if I was well enough to stand up I wouldn't need to walk to first aid.

I reported to park management team wandering around but he said he can't do anything. To which I said - well he could report it but I'll be emailing because both situations were unacceptable and I know it's not the norm as I visit a lot and use that ride a lot.

I guess not really AIBU because I'm not - but I guess am I being unreasonable to think that's bad training re sending people almost passed out alone to walk to first aid?

If you’re medically trained as you state then you know it’s not physically possible to close the restraints enough to restrict lung expansion without also breaking ribs in the process. So any perceived inability to breathe was just that perceived, likely as you were panicked due to how forcefully it was pushed down.

It does sound like you overreacted a little although despite multiple people saying the same thing you are not willing to accept this. You are correct that they should have handled it better afterwards. They are not qualified to decide who is being dramatic and who is in serious trouble so assistance should have been called. The fact you managed to go for coffee 5 minutes later suggests no harm done and you were fine.

@PolkadotsAndMoonbeams yes but the clicks are at certain levels, so it’s likely the OP was between two and rather than leave it slightly looser they went for the tight option.

often ride hosts are 18-21 and are on minimum wage. They are there to do a job and are against time limits and pressure. Worrying about someone feeling a bit bruised really isn’t in their agenda. I don’t think the host did anything abnormal or wrong. If the bar was too tight, they shouldn’t ride it

Doesn’t matter if it was a panic attack or any type of physical injury —- the staff have a duty of care towards visitors. They are not medically trained and therefore cannot assess whether you were well enough to walk to the First Aid Station and should have summoned assistance for you. Very poor customer care. If they are this rubbish with a minor injury what the hell would they be like with a heart attack, a serious injury or a missing child situation?

Ex ride operator here.

So from what I'm reading and thinking on rides I've worked on and ridden. The only reason operators would say to a rider a restraint needed another notch is on larger riders where there haven't been sufficient clicks to be properly locked.

So sounds like your restraint needed the hard shove to get it closed enough to be safe for you to ride.

Some I've worked on you can only get that last click with quite a forceful shove. But this shouldn't have been done without a warning for you. It's that balance of discreet and helping you get to ride.

I'm guessing Vampire ride based on your description of the station/exit stairs/gates and also the OTH but being for children. The trains really aren't the best on there for comfort.

I had a barrier shoved extremely hard into me that took me by surprise and then with it being so tight I couldn't actually get a breath in properly.

God, that sounds awful OP. So sorry you had to deal with that.

Thing is, they probably employed people without giving them proper training....

The result of Covid, Brexshit and all and the Tories going AWOL since months

@NRogers my six year old had ridden Vampire several times before his incident so nothing to do with safety in his case.

I had an asthma attack on a ride at Thorpe Park, the attendant came over to help me raise the harness and radioed to first aid immediately. They told me to stay sat on the ride and closed it while first aid saw to me and while we waited for outside help. Another attendant got my daughter a drink and distracted her and stayed with her. We were given fast pass tickets for another day. I'm sorry not everyone is so well looked after.

First rule of good customer service is to ask the customer what they want.

In that situation what did you want, op? I ask that genuinely as it's not clear from the thread - did you want them to radio a first aider? Did you want the ride operator to stop the ride?

What do you want now? An apology? An investigation? What is it you need from the theme park and from this thread?

This. With bells on.

I think I'd much rather the safety bar/ harness be too tight and uncomfortable, than too loose and fly out of a ride

posters I think felt like she was being over dramatic.

Going on a ride for 3/4/5/6 minutes and having restricted breathing I would expect the ride operator would notice this

You won’t fly out.
you can also tighten them further

As the mother of a teen who’s done this exact job, you’d all be shocked and horrified a. How much responsibility these places give to kids doing a summer job for minimal pay and b. How utterly arseholian the British public are in theme parks. It’s a heady mix I can yell you!

not casting aspersions on anyone here but the kids running this ride are doing their best, under pressure, applying rules they don’t make, to a general public that are, on the whole, a nightmare to deal with.

Over the head restraints are still designed to restrain at the lap rather than the chest. If the pressure is on the chest this suggests you were too large for the ride and correlates with shoving it down to get the ride to go. Especially if we are talking talking about vampire ride which is roomy in the chest department for an adult.

Either that or the bar was tight to your stomach but its not going to restrict your breathing.

I don’t think you are overreacting OP. This is such poor care! I’d be upset!

He should have been kinder considering he hurt you.

If the OP has been hit hard enough to be bruised, then being winded makes more sense then a panic attack. Horrible feeling

I know MN is full of people with poor mental resilience who are anxious at everything and panic at the drop of a hat, but this insistance that OP must have been having a panic attack is bizarre.

Finding it hard to breath because your breathing is physically restricted from pressure on your lungs is different from finding it hard to breath because you’re panicking. Your airway works when it’s pressure on your lungs, you just have nowhere to pull the air into. When you panic you either have difficulty using your diaphragm properly (often hyperventilating) or your airway constricts. It feels different. It is different.

OP has a bruise from having the restraint pushed down too hard, so it probably locked in place with her lungs constricted so she couldn’t then fill them properly. It would be similar to having someone kneel on your back or chest. You don’t need to panic for that to mean you can’t breath properly. Dizziness is a normal consequence of a lack of oxygen from not being able to breath properly. Again, panicking not implicated. And recovering from the lack of oxygen by sitting and breathing for a while and then being able to get up (and go for a cup of coffee) also not a sign that it was a panic attack but totally congruent with having had her breathing restricted for several minutes by a metal bar pushed too tightly against her chest.

A first alder’s job absolutely is to check over someone like op, who was suffering from the ill effects of a minor injury.The operator absolutely should have radio’d over.

As a woman with a hidden disability, many of these comments make very uncomfortable reading.

OP said she goes on this ride all the time. I’m sure she would have noticed before if she was too large for the seats.

I can’t believe OP is being given such a hard time. The operator slammed the restraint down unusually hard, without looking, hard enough to hurt her and leave a bruise. Her son was shocked and asked if she was OK, so this was obviously not normal. It was so tight it restricted her breathing. She tried to draw their attention but nobody responded. She was uncomfortable for the whole ride. Do people really think all that is OK? OP knows what’s normal for this ride and knows that this was not normal. She knows what a panic attack feels like and this wasn’t one.

@NumberTheory I agree.

The attempt to try and insinuate the OP must be too fat for the ride (and so she should shut up) is really nasty.

Apart from the fact it isn’t the only way those over shoulder bars could restrict your breathing - it is absolutely the operator’s job to identify people who are too large for the ride. It would be atrocious if they were unable to do.

Then email the Theme Park rather than bleating on here. You do sound overly dramatic, most people would just get on with it. I also have never been on a ride where the restraints are that snug! I wish they were!!

It sounds like the employee had the measure of you with your performative "bum shuffle" and attention seeking. Do complain though, it'll give customer services a laugh.

But I do want them to make sure staff are trained properly and to take sue care and attention when pushing down barriers and if they have a member of public complaining of dizziness to deal with it properly and with sue care and attention.

This would be a good reason to contact them, to highlight that it wasn't a good experience for you, that it was just as well you are medically trained, but your concern is for others who may not be able to cope the way you did.

Safety is very important at these theme parks, and they 'process' so many hundreds (or even thousands?) of people there is a risk they become complacent and a serious incident occurs. Also it's worth mentioning that regular training is crucial, I bet there's a big turnover of casual seasonal workers and they're paid a pittance

if it wasn't for people like you thinking about the way they deal with people on the rides in different situations, many more serious safety incidents would occur. By members of the public taking the trouble to formalise concerns, you're keeping them on their toes and stopping them getting complacent.

There you go - in amongst all the dickish comments on here, is an actual situation of the same thing happening and the fact it was highly likely to be a procedural failing and a culture of rushing to get the barrier down and couldn't care less complacent attitude.

Cue more dickish comments and piling on to say "how dare you attack low paid workers". On something like this I bet you anything those workers are here today, gone tomorrow, paid minimum wage so not that bothered other than the bare minimum, have to process so many people that they are forced to rush the safety procedures and from time to time, like your case and the OPs, they come unstuck.