3-yr old's too short BTMRR - what do we do instead?

[WooPigScientist]

My 3-yr old daughter is quite tall for her age, and she's been on the 40" line for some time now. But I just don't think she's gonna make it in time for our trip on Jan 2. I've made 60-day FP for the 4 of us (me, DH, DS (5), and DD) and at the time I made the same FPs for all 4, thinking she might be tall enough (she's measuring 39.5ish at home in the tennis shoes she will wear much of the trip). So close.

We only have three rides with the 40" restriction - BTMRR and 2 days on TT. During Test Track, I'm planning for she and I to hang out around the new Glidden exhibit or do an attraction with a shortish line (Figment, the Mexico boat, Nemo, etc).

Any advice for BTMRR? She loves princesses, so I considered scheduling a FP for Cinderella and Rapunzel (her #1 and #2 faves). But it looks like quite a hike over there - aren't they in the building next to Winnie the Pooh. And we have meals at Akershus and 1900 Park Fare, so already meeting Cinderella and a chance of meeting Rapunzel. Plus, she won't know she's missing them if we don't. And I'm not sure she would really, truly care if she did know - she's a pretty easygoing, whatever, kind of kid.

Our tentative touring plan keeps us in Adventureland after BTMRR, and we already have 7DMT for that day, so I can't sub it in. What would you do? Hike to the princesses and back or do a ride nearby? Or something else - I'm open to those unsung gems you guys often come up with! Fun photo op spots would be fun too - she likes taking silly pictures! I even considered taking her to Tom Sawyer's island, having hubby and son come over and meet us, and taking our son back to do our rider swap pass (although he will probably want to explore the island first). We will be there around 9:30-10 am, so I'm hoping lines will still be on the shorter side.

 

[WooPigScientist]

Okay, just read my own post. I sound like a crazy overplanner. Sorry. I'm really not, but my goal is to have a plan in place so we are not wasting time (and my kids attention spans) deciding what to do next. I fully expect that plan will disintegrate before we even get in the park. And I don't want to leave DD just hanging around while hubby and son go on a fun ride.

I will not be that parent screaming "We are supposed to be at Haunted Mansion in 2 minutes! Hurry up people!" whilst running people over with our stroller. I promise.

 

[wilkeliza]

You could play the pirates game in adventureland why your husband and son ride. The sign up isn't too far away from BTMRR. It is just past Pecos Bills.

Also there is a small play area by solash moutain. You could just let her olay over there for a little bit. Not sure what the suggested age for it is though. It is simialr to a mall play area.

Final suggestion and my personal favorite just ride the rail road loop of it is running. I honestly don't remember how long it's refurb is for but often when I wait for someone to ride something close to the railroad I hope on and ride it back to my starting point.

 

[ofcabbagesandkings]

If she likes Woody and Jessie they meet right near the base of the ride. There is also as PP mentioned a little play area right there that is good for kids that age and younger. The bathroom there is also good for an extra potty pitstop which all 3 year olds need! The ride isn't that long so if you do any combo of those three things and your DH and DS have FPs they will be off in a jiff and you guys can continue in Adventureland. As an aside, I took my tall-enough 3 year old on BTMRR and even though he was OK on 7DMT it freaked him out and he actually tried to get out. I think he was small enough to wriggle past the lap bar too, DH had to pin him down! Maybe your DD is more of a daredevil but I don't think it hurts to wait until she is bigger.

 

[nherbert]

I would second the play area, it is super close its part of the pathway from BTTMR and splash mountain, and as previous poster said close to toilet and also the woody, Jess meet area. My then 5 year old enjoyed that play area for a while so a 3 year old would love it.

 

[Shanti]

Do you already have a FP for Enchanted Tales with Belle? If not, I recommend that.

I also recommend The Barnstormer as a good younger kid's rollercoaster. My son has moved on to all the mountains (and Everest, and Summit Plummet, etc.), but he still thinks the Barnstormer is fun.

 

[Happyinwonerland]

I was also going to suggest the splash play area. I don't think walking to another area of the park will be worth it. BTMRR won't take up that much time. You could also stand on the bridge at splash and watch the boats come down, or walk along the wood path by the river, looking for birds or sticks or flowers, or whatever. What time is your FP for? DH and DD usually watch the parade while I do splash and BTMRR, we try to time them together.

 

[tarak]

My 3-yr old daughter is quite tall for her age, and she's been on the 40" line for some time now. But I just don't think she's gonna make it in time for our trip on Jan 2. I've made 60-day FP for the 4 of us (me, DH, DS (5), and DD) and at the time I made the same FPs for all 4, thinking she might be tall enough (she's measuring 39.5ish at home in the tennis shoes she will wear much of the trip). So close.

We only have three rides with the 40" restriction - BTMRR and 2 days on TT. During Test Track, I'm planning for she and I to hang out around the new Glidden exhibit or do an attraction with a shortish line (Figment, the Mexico boat, Nemo, etc).

Any advice for BTMRR? She loves princesses, so I considered scheduling a FP for Cinderella and Rapunzel (her #1 and #2 faves). But it looks like quite a hike over there - aren't they in the building next to Winnie the Pooh. And we have meals at Akershus and 1900 Park Fare, so already meeting Cinderella and a chance of meeting Rapunzel. Plus, she won't know she's missing them if we don't. And I'm not sure she would really, truly care if she did know - she's a pretty easygoing, whatever, kind of kid.

Our tentative touring plan keeps us in Adventureland after BTMRR, and we already have 7DMT for that day, so I can't sub it in. What would you do? Hike to the princesses and back or do a ride nearby? Or something else - I'm open to those unsung gems you guys often come up with! Fun photo op spots would be fun too - she likes taking silly pictures! I even considered taking her to Tom Sawyer's island, having hubby and son come over and meet us, and taking our son back to do our rider swap pass (although he will probably want to explore the island first). We will be there around 9:30-10 am, so I'm hoping lines will still be on the shorter side.

If they have fast passes, you won't be hanging out too long waiting. But at that age, I would consider watching the Country Bear Jamboree or taking the raft over to Tom Sawyer's island. The Swiss Family Treehouse is fun (I think - my older kids complain about the stairs on that one), or Aladdin's carpets. I haven't done the pirate adventure game yet (it's on our list), but my kids love doing Sorcerer's of the Magic Kingdom. You could work on the game that takes place in Adventureland.

 

[msmama]

What everybody else said about waiting at BTMRR, BUT - on your Epcot day, all the rides you mentioned (with the exception of maybe Mexico) are WAY farther of a walk from TT than the princesses are from BTMRR!!

If you go in the exit of Test Track there are cars and stuff to play around and you can take photos and stuff. It's what we do if we have to wait for someone to ride TT (My son is tall enough, just doesn't like fast rides).

And if you have FP+ don't expect the wait to be super long!

 

[DavidNYC]

Keep measuring - if she get's a little closer a new pair of shoes might do it!!!!! But I second most the recommendations. Play area or Woody/Jesse right next door at Splash, relatively short trek to Pirates/Jungle Cruise/Pirate Tutorial/Flying Carpets/Country Bear Jamboree.

Other option is don't make the trek over there. Plan spending time in Fantasyland before and make the rest of them walk over while you wait around there - then you'll have absolutely no problem finding things to do right near by!

 

[Accident]

There is a lot of little things right in that corner and within eye sight of the ride. Maybe a nice her only snack/ice cream at one of the carts? If the ride wait time is longer, it takes about 30 minutes to circle the entire park on the train and the train station is right there. You can let her look and point out rides she might want to do later.

 

[Kathryn777]

Follow the advice of everyone else on here. Do not wander far from either test track or btmrr, the stress of trying to meet back up and not stop at stuff you see is soooo not worth it.

We did btmrr/splash at the same time using child swap. We still hung out there. One time we waited for Jessie/woody but that line can be loooong. We usually just play In the tiny playground, get a Mickey bar (ice cream) and watch either splash or
Btmrr

At test track we hung out in the exit area, and then he got a little bored so we went to the mission space exit area, if has an a/c playground/ tunnel thing. Don't go into the countries separate , in my opinion, and it is really far even to figment/nemo . It is much more relaxed to stay where you are, and I'm a hardcore tour-er

 

[HM]

Is she just under 40" without shoes?
Once you put her tennis shoes on, she should then hit the mark, correct?

 

[tlmadden73]

So you already HAVE Fast Passes for the entire family for BTMRR and Test Track? Trying to fit something else in while your son and husband skip the line will be more trouble than its worth in my opinion. Take a break .. explore nearby .. go shopping .. hit the restroom or just schedule a Fast Pass for something your daughter and you want to do for some other time later in the day. You don't have to do something at the exact same time as your BTMRR fast pass.

Also, she may be tall enough by the time January comes around .. or may measure perfectly by THEIR measurements. It just depends on the shoes I guess and if she hits a growth spurt.

I took my son (who was measuring just shy of the requirement for SDMT) ... went to the line to check it out (we had Fast Passes) and sure enough .. his head hit the measurement bar and on he went. (I didn't quite have a plan of what we'd do if he couldn't make it .. probably just take him over to Winnie the Pooh).

For BTMRR, I would just hang out in the play area nearby, explore FrontierLand a bit ... or sometimes Woody and Jessie have a M&G nearby as well (by the restrooms near Splash Mountain queue). Plenty to see and do without walking halfway across the park.

 

[WooPigScientist]

What everybody else said about waiting at BTMRR, BUT - on your Epcot day, all the rides you mentioned (with the exception of maybe Mexico) are WAY farther of a walk from TT than the princesses are from BTMRR!!

Oh my, I didn't realize that! Epcot is the only park I'd not been to before, so I have no personal reference for size. I've been using EasyWDW's cheat sheet maps, but they're not to scale so it's been hard for me to keep a good grip on distance, size, etc. Even with that, they're still my favorite!

I completely forgot about the interactive area at TT exit. Great idea - she would love that!

 

[HopperFan]

Not too far from BTM (and actually you can just let them walk over to BTM while you go off to the side) is Aladdins Magic Carpet, Tiki Birds Show, Country Bear Jamboree and the Swiss Family Treehouse.

 

[WooPigScientist]

You could play the pirates game in adventureland why your husband and son ride. The sign up isn't too far away from BTMRR. It is just past Pecos Bills.

This sounds fun! My DD would probably lose interest quickly (she's still a bit flighty in the attention span dept), but my son would definitely like it. She would have more fun if we were all doing it as a family.

Is she just under 40" without shoes?
Once you put her tennis shoes on, she should then hit the mark, correct?

She is just under WITH her shoes. There is still a chance she might make it, so I'm still going to let them measure her (as others have mentioned). But it's not the end of the world if she doesn't (she won't know any different, certainly), and I'm going to have a back-up in case.

I took my son (who was measuring just shy of the requirement for SDMT) ... went to the line to check it out (we had Fast Passes) and sure enough .. his head hit the measurement bar and on he went. (I didn't quite have a plan of what we'd do if he couldn't make it .. probably just take him over to Winnie the Pooh).

My only experience with this so far has been at Silver Dollar City (a local theme park). I knew how tall my son should measure since he'd recently been to the doctor's office and I had also measured him at home - both were pretty much the same 42 - 42.5" He REALLY wanted to ride Thunderation - an old school wooden track coaster that's been there forever, which has a 42" requirement. Took him up to the entrance, confidently stuck him up to the measuring stick - came up a full inch short. So now I've developed this certainty that all the measuring devices are adjusted up


Thanks for all the advice everyone! I think we'll skip the princesses - it sounds like it's probably too much stress to enjoy. DD and I need to be at BTMRR when they get in line to get a rider swap pass - I want to ride it too! Now that I think about it, we might have to use a couple of the options because of the swap. And I wasn't sure how long hubs and son would take with a FP, but it sounds like not very long. I'm thinking Swiss Family Treehouse, Woody and Jessie, or having a snack are probably great options. Maybe Country Bears too (although I guess it would depend on when the next show starts?), or Magic Carpets if the line isn't long.

 

[msmama]

Oh my, I didn't realize that! Epcot is the only park I'd not been to before, so I have no personal reference for size. I've been using EasyWDW's cheat sheet maps, but they're not to scale so it's been hard for me to keep a good grip on distance, size, etc. Even with that, they're still my favorite!

I completely forgot about the interactive area at TT exit. Great idea - she would love that!

Epcot is BIG!! I don't mind cross crossing other parks (well, don't like it at AK) but try my hardest not to do it at Epcot. The statistic that I remember hearing is that MK can pretty much fit in the world showcase. (I have no idea if that is actually true but I remember hearing it).

Have fun!

 

[GBBTomorrow]

If it were me, I'd just call it down time and hang out and wait right by the ride at the little play area by Splash Mountain. It would be more trouble than it's worth to me to trek all over the place. A child that age will probably be grateful for some unstructured time. If you really want to "do" something, I agree with those who suggested the railroad.

 

[Mainemama]

I typically grab a snack in the area, and just chill and watch the river while we wait for family. It is a relatively short wait if you are sticking together (assuming you want to pick up a rider swap, so need to be there at line entity) after the other family members ride.