In the hopes of helping other plus-sized people navigate theme parks and travel more broadly, people like Stephanie Lanciani and Jason Vaughn are recording and sharing their own DIY testing experiences.
When plan a trip to Walt Disney World in 2022 , Stephanie Lanciani could n’t wait to try out what was then one of the theme park ’s New rides : Avatar Flight of Passage . Her only concern was size : Lanciani is positive - size of it , and the ride involve sitting on a vehicle that looks like a motorbike , so it ’s a crocked fit — especially for those with larger bust , calves , or thighs .
But when Lanciani essay to chance any info on whether or not , at her size and dimension , she would be able-bodied to fit on the drive , she come up empty . Disneyonly lists restrictions for height , not weight , for its ride , and the piffling she could feel online on the topic did n’t of necessity help either . After all , “ plus - sized ” is a very mantle term . Some plus - sized the great unwashed are bigger than Lanciani , and others are smaller , which means that even if one plus - sized soul was comfortable on the drive , another might not be .
And so , she determine not to chance it and skip Avatar Flight of Passage altogether on herDisney trip . She did vow to herself , however , not to keep missing out on such experience , which is why she and four other plus - sized Friend createdPlus Size Park Hoppers , a group of ride and experience testers who apportion depicted object online in the Hope of helping other plus - sized the great unwashed pilot thechallenges of travel .
In one of their first viral videos , the women , who Lanciani says range in sizing from 2X to 5X , examine out TRON Lightcycle Run , a coaster in the Magic Kingdom that feature a bike - similar seat that ’s not unlike from Avatar Flight of Passage ’s . When you range the minibike , you press your human knee and calf into a pad and pull out the handlebars forward . If the metal barroom restraint ca n’t reach a 90 - degree slant to lock decent , you ca n’t mount . But as the Plus Size Park Hoppers show in their video , those who can not ride the motorbike have the option of ride in a chariot - corresponding seat in which you simply posture and draw out down a simplicity across your lap covering . Even better , the restraint is a slide - and - lock streak , meaning it does n’t need to turn over a particular position to lock .
Jason Vaughn , the 40 - year - old behindFat Tested Travel , has a like level to Lanciani and the Plus Size Park Hoppers . Because of his sizing , he expend most of his aliveness afraid to try theme - park rides , particularly roller coasters . For year , he told himself that he ’d visit a place like Walt Disney World when he lost weight unit . “ It ’s like , ‘ Well , when I lose the weightiness , I ’ll start living life , ’ ” he tells me . But he found that the precise opposite ended up being true : All he was doing was invest his aliveness on interruption .
That attitude is n’t rare for plus - sized the great unwashed , which is something that both Vaughn and Lanciani often discover from their viewer . On the daylight I spoke with Lanciani , she had received a message from a longsighted - meter viewer , who tell Lanciani that her video had encouraged her to go on a Disney World head trip with her child for their Make - A - Wish , even if she was apprehensive about her size . In the end , she had an experience of a lifetime .
" All the musical theme parks want to be the adult and best , but they ’re not making them as approachable as they could . ”
The more fundamental problem as Vaughn and Lanciani see it is that we ’re not needfully moving in the correct guidance when it descend to availableness at theme ballpark . “ What most places are build up are roller coaster , ” Vaughn says . “ You ’re not seeing a mountain of slow rides any longer . All the theme parks desire to be the bad and good , but they ’re not making them as approachable as they could . ” ( The same go away for zephyr travel , with its depressed seat width and less legroom not only affect plus - sized people but people with avariety of disabilities . )
For Lanciani at least , part of the result is just talk up . “ People will ask me , ‘ How do you get over the anxiety of asking for a seatbelt extender [ on a plane ] ? ’ ” she says . “ And I ’ll tell them , ‘ It ’s just about base hit . It ’s nothing to be ashamed of . ’ But if you asked me a year ago , before Plus Size Park Hoppers , I would ’ve said , ‘ I do n’t know , I ’m so embarrassed , too . ’ ”
So maybe as much as anything else , the videos have helped Lanciani find space for her voice .
