Niles: With Arctic Rescue, SeaWorld stretches the definition of ‘family coaster’

What makes a roller coaster a "family" coaster?

That's been a divisive question for many theme park fans this summer, as parks promote new family coasters that might leave younger members of some families on the sidelines, unable or unwilling to ride.

SeaWorld San Diego last week debuted its new coaster for 2023, Arctic Rescue. The park is promoting this Intamin straddle coaster as a family attraction. With a track height of just 30 feet and a top speed of about 40 miles per hour, the track specs seem in line with that designation. Yet it's a delightful ride even for adults, filled with fun dips and turns that should not frighten any but the most skittish theme park fan.

So what's the problem? The height restriction. Riders must be at least 48 inches tall to board Arctic Rescue. If you’re not a parent, or it's been a while since you had kids that young, that's in the average height range for kids around 7 years old. For comparison, the minimum height to ride Disneyland's Space Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad is just 40 inches, around the average for a 4-year-old.

Arctic Rescue is faster than both of those coasters, but it's eight miles per hour slower than the new family coaster at Tennessee's Dollywood, Big Bear Mountain, which launches up to 48 miles per hour and tops out at more than double the height of Arctic Rescue, at 66 feet. It's clearly a bigger and more intense experience than Arctic Rescue.

Big Bear Mountain's height requirement? Just 39 inches.

Train and restraint design are perhaps the biggest factors in determining a ride's height restriction, along with the forces that a track will place upon a rider within those restraints. Arctic Rescue's snowmobile-like design requires a taller rider for its lap bar to perform effectively when compared with the more traditional bench seating on coasters such as Big Bear Mountain and Big Thunder. But that technical explanation provides little comfort to parents of early-elementary children who will end up disappointed that they cannot yet ride the "family" Arctic Rescue.

At least none of these coasters go upside down, which many fans long have assumed to be a part of the family coaster designation. But this year in England, Chessington World of Adventures is promoting its Jumanji-themed Mandrill Mayhem as a "family theme park ride" despite that Bolliger & Mabillard wing coaster having an inversion.

But even with that, Mandrill Mayhem's height restriction is still lower than Arctic Rescue's, at 1.2 meters or just over 47 inches. Still, many eligible 6- and 7-year-olds might not yet be ready for "upside down" coasters and balk when they first see that track.

Theme parks continue to use "family" when promoting rides because they believe it sells tickets. But as parks keep expanding the range that "family" covers, that word soon might mean nothing to the actual families who would like to know what they are getting when they buy those tickets.

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Robert Niles covers the themed entertainment industry as the editor of ThemeParkInsider.com.

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