In first part of this series I asked you what factors someone should consider if you are getting married on a coaster. I got some interesting responses and already a few suggestions on which coaster I would go after if I did get married on a coaster. Sadly I am not, but here are the following areas I am going to consider when picking out there ride.

• Capacity
• Restraint style
• Seating arrangement
• Station design and size
• Park location
• Overall coaster design to account for roughness, height, and inversions

  

We are going to take a look at the first three areas this week and the last three next week and come up with a list of rides what would fit the bill.

Capacity

The number of people that can fit onto a coaster train is a big deal. You figure that you have to get everyone in the wedding on the ride and then the “important” family members and such. While the older crowd might not be up for the ride, I think most people would be willing to take a spin. We all know that a typical B&M can seat 32 people, a Morgan can fit 36, wooden coasters go between 18-28, and most other coasters fall into the 24-28 range. The bridal party is at eight, plus the minister, both sets of parents, eight or so important family members, two ushers, and the future wife and myself. That comes out to a grand total of 25 people. So we immediately need to discount coasters that cannot hold that many people in them.

Restraint style

There are  bunch of different types of restrains out there but it really comes down to three basic types; over the shoulder restraints, lap bar, and buzz bar. I would think that we need to get rid of the OTSRs because that first kiss thing isn’t really possibly. I or my fiancee would need to have a super long neck to get that accomplished. A lap bar or buzz bar would be fine, as long as we were sitting next to each other I don’t see any problems with the restraint style there.

Seating Arrangement

How the train is setup for us to sit would be a major consideration as well. With all of the different train styles out there now, we have a lot of options. I think we can get rid of anything that spins, doesn’t have us sitting in a normal upright way, or anything were people are facing back to back. So we have the sitting part down. What about the design of the seats? Is it going to be a 2×2, 2×3, or a 4×1? The 4×1 gives us an option to have the minister and ourselves sitting together, while the others do not. It also makes for a shorter train so everyone can hear what is going on better and most of the 4×1’s now feature stadium seating. The 2×3 is generally found on only wooden coasters and doesn’t really account for enough seats, but some do. So it is a possibility. The typical 2×2 is the most common and provides close contact for everyone and allows the future wify and I to sit next to each other.

So there you have it. We knocked more than a few coasters off the list and set up a few other guidelines. Is there anything I missed when considering those three factors? Check back next week when we look at the last three factors.