Stick nazi's!

[fretboardpyro]

Having spent the begining of the week at chessington and legoland i thought i'd post on a grumble and ask some opinions of you guys.

Righty, my boy measured in at 120cm (1m20) exactly, which should entitle the wee man to ride the bulk of the coasters at chessington. I know he measures at this as he has been measured by the schools health worker and hi rather anal dad....me.

So with this in mind i set off to chessington confident he could ride most rides. So arriving at CWOA we headed off to dragons fury, measured him on the entrance and sure enough he was tall enough.

1 hour later in the station some spotty oik straight outta krusy burger swung the stick over his head and just told us to go over the train and leave despite me giving him the dirtiest look ever! I understand these peole are there for the safety of all but they are also there to fulfill a job role correctly.

My first gripe is, instead of letting us queue for an hour before being a nazi why not get your stick, stand at the entrance and measure there? Secondly i'm pretty certain that their sticks are wrong. Whilst the metal form maybe 120 the plastic bung at the bottom adds about 7mm i reckon and i'm certain this is not accounted for.

This is not the end of the saga as we went to the monkey swing, got sticked and the girl made sure he was what i said and the stick hit his head. We then both enjoyed the monkey swing!

So am i being an arse or am i right to grumble?

my boy and me monkey swinging, my boy is the one with the blonde spikey hair

 

[Tomatron]

As frustrating as it is for a parent not to see their kid graduate to bigger and faster rides, the ride operator's discretion is final. In this day and age, the risk of them letting on someone who appears to be not tall enough far outweights an angry parent having a rant. Sad state of affairs in some respects, but that's down to the times we live in.

As far as I know, all the Merlin parks will measure your child at guest services and issue them with a wristband stating what height they are if they are borderline to be allowed onto height restricted attractions, so the next time you go, I'd recommend doing that to save you any unecessary grief in the future.

 

[fretboardpyro]

As far as I know, all the Merlin parks will measure your child at guest services and issue them with a wristband stating what height they are if they are borderline to be allowed onto height restricted attractions, so the next time you go, I'd recommend doing that to save you any unecessary grief in the future.

Sounds like a plan given we're merlin pass holders.

My Gripe is really with them letting you queue for an hour after checking at the ride entrance. Why not take your stick to the ride entrance, and do it there instead of doing it in a hurried manner in the ride station. A few of the ride teams were doing this. Saves a 6'1" animal wanting to tear your face off after enduring an hours worth of "is it my go yet daddy".

 

[Nemesis Inferno]

Unfortunately sometimes the budget for staff doesn't go quite far enough to have someone standing on the main entrance at all times...

I think I've only seen people at the main entrance a handful of times... And that was only in the height of summer...

Sometimes it really does depend on the person working as well... If it had been another person then they probs would've let you on...

It is quite difficult to judge as well sometimes, and it's quite likely the person was doing the measurement wrong... Just unfortunate it's happened to you really... Not sure on the difference between the new sticks (the ones without the bases) that the park has now though... Never had a chance to check myself...

But as Tom said, bust on down to Guest Services and get them to do it... If I had been measuring I would've suggested that to you if I was unsure regardless of if I had let you on or not...

 

[Ollie]

This happened with my younger brother being 1.3 and trying to get on Detonator. He was 1.3 when he had his shoes on but the stick they had at the ride was **** and kept brushing over his head.
This happened twice so the next day when we went to the park we went up and the same thing happened except this time my dad pulled out a tape measure he brought to the park and showed the guy that he was 1.3 and the parks 'so called' 1.3 stick they had was about 2 or 3 cm taller than it was supposed to be.
Needless to say we got him on the ride.

It was hilarious to see the staff members face when my dad randomly pulled out a measuring tape though. :lol:

Also Tom is right. You can go to guest services and get measured there and they'll give you a band to stop you from having to get remeasured every time. Not used it before but seen quite a few families with small children at Chessington with it.

 

[fretboardpyro]

my dad pulled out a tape measure he brought to the park and showed the guy that he was 1.3 and the parks 'so called' 1.3 stick they had was about 2 or 3 cm taller than it was supposed to be.
Needless to say we got him on the ride.

I very nearly went to the car and got my tape measure and my pipe cutter out for when i proved the stick to be wrong. however, i was quite happy with the thought in my minds eye of making the stick nazi pay for my boys dissapointment in horrible ways.

You get to a certain age where a day isn't a good one unless you've got something to rant about!