Ride Strategy with 3 under 7

avalovesminnie · Aug 29, 2015

Specifically how does it work if one adult goes on Space mountain, or another 2 across ride with a height restriction, with 2 kids who are tall enough (age 3 and age 5)? Can all 3 ride or will they have one kid sit out? I've read varying things on here. We are a family of 5, 2 adults, 3 kids, 5, 3 and a one year old. The kids are very brave, over 42" and the 5 year old would be fine in next row up, but it's unclear if that is considering riding 'alone'. What other 2 across rides are there with a 42" height restrictions, so I should prepare accordingly. We will be utilizing rider switch as one adult will have to stay with the baby, but was hoping for rides where it's possible that the 2 big kids could get a second ride when we switch versus splitting them up. I also am considering lobbying other family to come with us, so this could be a moot point. Anyone with twins have experience with this? Or are most people more sane and don't let kids under 7 outnumber adults :tigger:

thanks!

mad hatter fan · Aug 30, 2015

I did not ever have 3 kids under 7 so I am unsure about Space Mountain, but I do know an average sized adult and both a 5 and 3 yr old can fit together on one seat on Big Thunder.

Malcon10t · Aug 30, 2015

We have been allowed to have the younger child riding sitting beside the adult, and the older 2 directly in front of the parent (Space, Big Thunder). The seating must be direct. For example, you would NOT be allowed to ride this way on Dumbo, Space Orbitor, Peter Pan, and a few more.

Lauren in NC · Aug 30, 2015

I also don't have that many little kids, but I've been seated as a single rider next to an older child on Space Mountain while the parent and younger child were behind us. I'm not sure if that's Disney policy, though, or was just the CM's discretion.

Splash is 40" and seats 1 per bench, as does Matterhorn (42"). Goofy's Sky School (42", in DCA) is another 2 across.

Malcon10t · Aug 30, 2015

Lauren in NC said:
I also don't have that many little kids, but I've been seated as a single rider next to an older child on Space Mountain while the parent and younger child were behind us. I'm not sure if that's Disney policy, though, or was just the CM's discretion.

They stopped single rider on Space Mountain due to the ride being dark and too close proximity.

I have 4 kids about those ages. Figuring out ride configurations was easier than when they were 17, 16, 14 and 13 and we were looking at licenses...

LisaT91403 · Aug 30, 2015

As others have said, the 5 year old can ride in front of you as long as you are in the same car. This would apply to things like Space, Gadget's, Big Thunder (although you could fit 3 across on this one), Goofy's Sky School, etc. But if you are in a different vehicle, it's a no-go.

avalovesminnie · Aug 30, 2015

Thanks! We will double check with a CM when we get our rider switch pass. I won't tell the kids anything so they don't flip out.

KalamityJane · Aug 31, 2015

We were there when my kids were 6, 4 and 2 in May. My 4yo was 42" plus. The 6yo is super tall and could have passed for 7 easily but we didn't want her to lie. We did a LOT of rider swap with the older 2, and it was frankly awesome. We rode so much due to rider swap. I know we rode Space with 1 adult, 2 kids, and in one of the pictures, I have the kids in front of me and I'm in the seat behind them. I think we did adult/4yo and 6yo in the next row in front too. It really wasn't a huge deal though I am looking forward to our next trip now that the oldest is 7!

agamble · Aug 31, 2015

So I asked about this several months ago and I was told that the older child would be allowed to ride alone in the seat infront of the adult on a ride like Space Mountain. So I think you'll be okay. Splash is fine as people sit one in front of the other. However, you can request the back if your 3 y/o wants to sit next to you. The last seat allows an adult to sit with a child. It's not required though, so if you want to throw your 3 year-old in the front seat and get a great photo you can.

Do you plan to ride the Mickey Swings (name?) at DCA? That ride might be the problem. The height to ride with an adult is 40". They sit in a tandem swing and ride attached to each other. The height to ride alone is 48". In that case they would not all be allowed to ride, unless your 5 year old is 48" tall. So you and Dad may have to take turns taking a kid on the ride tandem if they both want a ride.

The Fantasyland rides will allow you to ride 2 in one row/car and 3 in the another. So you should be good there too. Don't forget to use the rider-swap passes for the adults. It's nice for your big kids too as both kids can ride with Mom using FP and then both kids could ride with Dad using the swap pass. So basically they can ride Space Mountain (or other ride) two times with not too much waiting.

KalamityJane · Aug 31, 2015

Oh, one issue you may have is the Goofy coaster in Toon Town. We had to ride 1 adult, 2 kids at a time for some reason. It was weird. All 3 of mine were tall enough to ride, and they all wanted to, but it took 3 go arounds to ride it. It may have been 1 adult, 1 kid. I can't remember exactly other than it was kind of a pain.

agamble · Aug 31, 2015

KalamityJane said:
Oh, one issue you may have is the Goofy coaster in Toon Town. We had to ride 1 adult, 2 kids at a time for some reason. It was weird. All 3 of mine were tall enough to ride, and they all wanted to, but it took 3 go arounds to ride it. It may have been 1 adult, 1 kid. I can't remember exactly other than it was kind of a pain.

It's a Gadget's ride in Toon Town. The Goofy ride is at WDW. Gadget's coaster was the ride I specifically asked about because DS2 was finally tall enough to ride. I'm pregnant and wasn't sure I wanted to ride, so I asked if they would let DD5 ride in front of DH and DS, and I was told that would work. In the end I just rode the ride with them.

KalamityJane · Sep 1, 2015

agamble said:
It's a Gadget's ride in Toon Town. The Goofy ride is at WDW. Gadget's coaster was the ride I specifically asked about because DS2 was finally tall enough to ride. I'm pregnant and wasn't sure I wanted to ride, so I asked if they would let DD5 ride in front of DH and DS, and I was told that would work. In the end I just rode the ride with them.

You are right on the Gadget ride - my kids call it the Goofy coaster

Maybe we just got a random strict CM? I'm not sure. My then 6yo rode by herself in front of us for other rides, so I'm not sure why it wouldn't have worked out.

Whistlebee · Oct 13, 2015

At Goofy's Sky School my 4 year old was allowed to sit in the front row with her 7 year old sister (with me in the 2nd row) but she wasn't allowed to sit in the 2nd row with her sister. I had to be behind them (not in front of them).

jani3 · Oct 13, 2015

In Splash mountain, you can have an adult and a small child at the very last seat then have your 5yr old at the single seat in front of that.

Whistlebee · Oct 13, 2015

What about on Toy Story? I know that they will let 3 sit in a row but will they let one child (under 7) sit in their own row (in the same car) so that they can actually play the game? We will be going soon with 3 under 7. Thanks!

LisaT91403 · Oct 13, 2015

Whistlebee said:
What about on Toy Story? I know that they will let 3 sit in a row but will they let one child (under 7) sit in their own row (in the same car) so that they can actually play the game? We will be going soon with 3 under 7. Thanks!

No, they will not let someone under 7 sit without an adult on Toy Story. The key is whether or not the adult can "see" the child. That's why they have the adults sit behind the kids on rides. On TSMM, you cannot see the child because of the way the cars are designed...so it's a no-go.

Whistlebee · Oct 13, 2015

Ok, I was afraid of that with Toy Story! That is my favorite ride but it would take 3 separate trips to get all of us to ride (and shoot). So Toy Story and Symphony Swings are going to be difficult, what other rides will we have this same problem on? We will have 3 under 7. Thank you!!!

KalamityJane · Oct 13, 2015

Whistlebee said:
Ok, I was afraid of that with Toy Story! That is my favorite ride but it would take 3 separate trips to get all of us to ride (and shoot). So Toy Story and Symphony Swings are going to be difficult, what other rides will we have this same problem on? We will have 3 under 7. Thank you!!!

We rode Toy Story all the time. They let me take the younger 2 and hubs take my oldest. Worked out fine.

KalamityJane · Oct 13, 2015

Oh, on the shooting, only 2 people can shoot, so whomever had the youngest forfeited the right to shoot unless we wanted to deal with a screaming 2yo

You could always give the youngest a light gun or something for them to shoot.

CLR4321 · Oct 15, 2015

Malcon10t said:
They stopped single rider on Space Mountain due to the ride being dark and too close proximity.

I have 4 kids about those ages. Figuring out ride configurations was easier than when they were 17, 16, 14 and 13 and we were looking at licenses...

Where did you hear that? I just find it strange considering that Disney has other dark rides that have single rider lines set up (Rock n Rollercoaster for example) and routinely splits groups as needed to fill empty seats.

Ride Strategy with 3 under 7

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