Universal seems to have anticipated this issue, stationing staff “wizards” and test-seats along the line and at the entrance to Forbidden Journey. Riders test their ability to fit in the seats, as well as the restraint (which must click three times to be deemed safe and for the potential rider to be allowed into the attraction).

Harry Potter fan Jeff Guillaume, who was turned away from the ride, has a good collection of follow-up posts and commentary here.

A lot of the debate I’ve seen is focused on safety, and rightly so. Many rides at many parks around the world use a single-bar restraint system (“lap bars”) for a row of people. One larger passenger will cause the bar to lock much higher than the waists/legs/laps of the smaller guests, presenting a safety and comfort issue.

But that is not the case on single passenger restraint systems, which most modern rides, including Forbidden Journey, employ. These are the over-the-shoulder harnesses or lap bars that lock in place differently for each passenger.

It’s strange to me, because I’ve never had any issues with any of the rides at Disneyland, and they have a whole range of restraint systems, all of which I can fit in with no problem. And I’ve been to Disneyland dozens of times, as well as Disney World in Florida and Eurodisney. I can’t think of a single time my weight was an issue in terms of me enjoying the rides.

I am a huge (HA HA GET IT) Harry Potter fan, and I have been dying to go to the new theme park. But there are only three rides in the theme park, and only one of them is the “signature” ride of the whole park. If the main attraction won’t accommodate fat people, and I might be turned away while I’m waiting in line… why would I want to spend all that money on a vacation that would end in embarrassment and shame and disappointment? I can stay home and be disappointed just the same. And I am.

While I notice that, at first glance, a few of the overweight characters are stereotypically written as “bumbling” or “jovial,” on the whole the overweight good guys blend seamlessly into the good-guy group.

This reminds me of me, asking (a while back) is Harry Potter anti-fat? (I don’t know why I was anti the Fat Lady portrait, though. I’ll have to read it again to see if there really are Fat Lady jokes, as I guess I thought there were.)

And then, all of that notwithstanding, does Harry Potter have other problems? (Spoilers for Deathly Hallows behind the cut.)

Deathly Hallows also goes far beyond the previous books’ discomforting treatment of gender and into disturbing territory. Fleur is described as staring at Bill ‘slavishly’. When Ron feels uncomfortable about clutching the now-married Tonks in a non-sexual manner, it’s her husband that he glances at, not the woman herself. It’s automatically accepted that, only a few weeks into her pregnancy, Tonks will stay home with her mother rather than go to work. Finally, while it’s obviously very, very cool that Mrs. Weasley can wipe the floor with Bellatrix Lestrange, may I ask why the only role that the Order of the Phoenix could find for a woman with such mad dueling skills involved cooking and cleaning?

I did notice the Fleur-cooking-for-Bill thing, and it made me a little uncomfortable. Maybe if Hermione becomes head of the Wizangamot, I’ll feel better. But I guess the takeaway here is that I have more feelings about women’s roles in the books than about fat people. And also, the book is mostly totally awesome.

That last link is via Ceej.