3/4 inch, are you Kidding me!!!

[Mandychelle79]

Hi All,

I am super late to the game but we are taking 4 kiddos 3 and under to WDW this Spring. My height restrictions are much shorter and we are worried about smaller rides but I am hoping that you might know the answer to this. Doe they measure the kiddos at each ride or is there a place that they measure them and then someone to say what they can and can't ride?

TIA,
April

Measure at each ride. Yes you can be tall enough to ride one ride with a height restriction but not tall enough to ride another one with the same restriction .

There really arent that many rides that they wont be able to go on though.

 

[okeydokey]

Yes, you have seen it, but I still dont think that they are really allowed to do that. Just like they cant force you to scan your finger for the ticket.

Besides if I was worried about my dd having to take their shoes off to be measured because too high of a sole- id make sure they were in jeans that day long enough to cover the shoes.....

Sure they are allowed to do that. If you object then you can just skip that ride.

 

[U2_rocks!]

The CMs do look at a child's footwear when they measure them. If it looks to the CM like the shoes are worn for the sole purpose of giving that child extra height, they can ask for the shoes to be removed and then measure.

Yes, I am quite aware of this. But "worn for the sole purpose of giving a child extra height" is a pretty subjective judgement. I'm not advocating anything one way or the other - just saying that:

1. the rule may be a safety-based one, but it's not as black and white a safety issue as some may have you believe (it's a hard and fast Disney rule, yes, but safety will not be immediately compromised if a child is a half inch shorter)

2. rule or no rule, kids get away with it all the time by carefully choosing their footwear. If you want to try that, do so at your own risk.

I'm a rule follower, but even I can see that there is plenty of wiggle room here.

 

[npmommie]

Apparently you, and others in your camp, missed the earlier post that pointed out that a ride could not possibly be completely safe for someone who is 44" tall yet not be safe for someone 43 1/2 " tall. That simply defies logic. Also................if you want to get technical...........it could be argued that what's really important is the length of someone's torso, not the length of their legs. Some people have very long legs but a shorter torsos. Others have long torsos but short legs. But they don't measure the length of their torso do they? Bottom line is it's a guideline...............not a hard and fast safety measure.

but where does it end? so if by your logic the 44" ride is safe for 43 1/2" you could argue that if its safe for 43 1/2" why not for 43", so where does it stop?
not trying to argue, you can do as you wish, but I feel like the height rule is in place for a reason.
no way would I try to make my kid taller for a ride like rockin roller coaster, my youngest just made it by a hair, I actually had the CM measure twice to be sure LOL

 

[taymorel]

Fortunately, I don't have to deal with that since my son is kind of scared of rides, so he won't be asking to go on the scary rides. My issue will be getting him on ANY rides.

Wish you luck--maybe wearing some tennis shoes will help, since they tend to have thick soles.

 

[pacrosby]

but where does it end? so if by your logic the 44" ride is safe for 43 1/2" you could argue that if its safe for 43 1/2" why not for 43", so where does it stop?
not trying to argue, you can do as you wish, but I feel like the height rule is in place for a reason.
no way would I try to make my kid taller for a ride like rockin roller coaster, my youngest just made it by a hair, I actually had the CM measure twice to be sure LOL

You use common sense Obviously you can't just keep saying what's one more half inch. At some point it DOES become unsafe. The initial guideline remains the 44".............within a couple of inches is most probably perfectly safe. Their lawyers would never allow them to cut it close to the real number.

I will say though I don't have this problem so I'm not trying to justify my own actions. If I had a child who was a half or three-quarters of an inch too short I'd probably feel more than comfortable putting them in a shoe with a one inch heel if we had one (certainly easy to find these days, their in full style). Over that I,personally, probably wouldn't bother.

My real point was only to put to rest this argument that one is putting their child in serious harm's way by fudging their height alittle bit. The notion that an inch or so can mean the difference between safe and unsafe, especially given all the other variables related to body size (i.e. torso length and weight) is just plain silly. I just hate when people start to use nonsensical arguments to back-up their point of view. If you don't think it's right to 'break a rule' fine. Say so. Everyone's entitled to their opinion (including those who think breaking the rule is indeed ok). Just please stop with the silly arguments (not talking to 'anyone' in particular, just to everyone in general).

 

[pacrosby]

The CMs do look at a child's footwear when they measure them. If it looks to the CM like the shoes are worn for the sole purpose of giving that child extra height, they can ask for the shoes to be removed and then measure.

And to those who think the height restrictions are a just a guideline, I say BULL PUCKEY! No where on Disney property, or on the maps does it say "Your child must be approximately this tall to ride". They give you a hard and fast number. No almosts or approximatelys about it.

They don't give a 'guideline' because that would be an impractical system. Where would they ever draw the line? There has to be a 'number' to keep things simple. But of course I know you know that (it'd be scary if you didn't)

And as far as people wearing shoes specifically to give a child extra height.....................I don't know how old you are but you must not have any little kids. An extra inch is not uncommon on many of today's styles.

As an aside, listening to all these folks here talk about how unsafe all these rides are for any child who is even a hair under the stated height requirement. It should be apparent by now that there are a good percentage of parents out there passing their 'too short' children as 'just right'. They've been doing it for decades. No one seems to be getting hurt do they? And you know it'd be ALL over the news if a child got hurt riding a ride they were "really too short" to ride on in the first place. What does that say? I'd say that pretty much speaks for itself.

 

[pacrosby]

But at what point is it no longer safe for a parent to guess on how much the margin was that a ride engineer used when he or she set the height recommendation for a ride? What if the kid is 1 inch too short, or 2 inches?

"It's only a 1/2 inch."
"It's only an inch."
"It's only two inches."
etc.

Where is the line between someone skimming by the rules and someone making an unsafe decision?

sorry I didn't just multi-quote...............I didn't find this until after I posted the above. But I suppose that this is the same question as the poster above so..............the answer remains the same.

Honestly, it's simply a matter of common sense. I really think that's pretty obvious. If that inch or so really mattered (in terms of safety) Disney would be MAKING every small child take off their shoes and measuring them barefoot. End of story. They aren't idiots. Of course they know that many little kids have some sort of heel on their shoes and yet more often than not they do not ask anyone to take off their shoes (and please don't anyone chime in to describe the 'one' time they saw it happen, the point is that it very rarely happens). Nevermind all the other reasons this argument defies logic (which people just seem to want to ignore). And honestly I'm not trying to be mean or argumentative here. I just don't understand all this; this whole debate seems so ludicrous to me. It's not like anyone is suggesting putting a 38-40" child in 4-6 inch high heels. Every post I can remember reading on this thread in favor of alittle 'lift' was referring to less than an inch! I know this is a 'hot topic' but it really ranks up there as one of the dumbest of the dumb hot topics LOL.

 

[npmommie]

You use common sense

.

Yes you use common sense, and don't fudge the height
Its not silly to respect the height requirements.

If you look I am sure you can find state safety agency reports for amusement park rides that tell about accidents. the height requirements are already on the LOW side. and I think fudging their height puts kids at risk.
jmo

 

[tttessa]

Hiya,

my problem isn't with the little extra lift/using thick soled shoes etc, sure the ride will be safe within an inch or two - probably more - I'm not going to take the risk anyhow... that is up to me ...

My problem is with the dishonesty. I'm not going to teach my kids it's ok to lie to anyone purely for personal gain.

(personally the "you look gorgeous in either dress darling" lie is fine )

Tessa

 

[maxiesmom]

)

And as far as people wearing shoes specifically to give a child extra height.....................I don't know how old you are but you must not have any little kids. An extra inch is not uncommon on many of today's styles.

As an aside, listening to all these folks here talk about how unsafe all these rides are for any child who is even a hair under the stated height requirement. It should be apparent by now that there are a good percentage of parents out there passing their 'too short' children as 'just right'. They've been doing it for decades. No one seems to be getting hurt do they? And you know it'd be ALL over the news if a child got hurt riding a ride they were "really too short" to ride on in the first place. What does that say? I'd say that pretty much speaks for itself.

I know that many, if not most shoes give a kids a bit of height. I have a problem with a company that advertises a shoe made just for that. I think it is disgusting for a company to make something just to get around a rule that is in place to keep children safe.

Also, no one here knows exactly where the cut of is for a little bit too short and way too short to ride a ride safely. The only thing any parent should do is to follow the height given. Anything else is reckless and the parent should be ashamed of themselves. No parent on here knows for certain what is safe and what is not. Trying to guess is not smart!

 

[Zeebs]

Hiya,

my problem isn't with the little extra lift/using thick soled shoes etc, sure the ride will be safe within an inch or two - probably more - I'm not going to take the risk anyhow... that is up to me ...

My problem is with the dishonesty. I'm not going to teach my kids it's ok to lie to anyone purely for personal gain.

(personally the "you look gorgeous in either dress darling" lie is fine )

Tessa

I agree with you about adding things to shoes, not something we want to do but I also don't understand how if I grab my sons shoes and whack them on, then I notice that they are the shoes with the highest sole on them, NOW being a boy he is very unlikely to be wearing high heeled shoes, will that extra 1/2 inch of his more comfortable sneakers put him at risk over the sandles?

I agree with the poster who said, Disney would never cut the ride height limit so close to the wire and most posters are putting normal shoes on their children that aren't bought for adding 3 inches extra to their height.

My son has been asking to ride heigh limit rides since his trip to WDW when he was 2.5, I always make a point of taking him to the stick so he can see he isn't tall enough, he just accepts that stick and we move on.

Kirsten

 

[U2_rocks!]

With respect to the dishonesty ..... it is not dishonest to say to your child "let's choose the tallest shoes you've got in your closet and hope you'll be tall enough", since the rule isn't that you have to be X inches tall in bare feet. It is dishonest to say "let's stuff these lifts in your shoes to try to get you high enough" - the intent to deceive is clear to the child in that scenario. I don't think I could go the second route - I am generally too honest for that. But, if my child has a pair of sneakers with a lovely tall cushioned sole, I'm going to suggest they wear those instead of their much flatter sandals, and I'm not going to worry about their safety. But I'm way too cheap to go out and deliberately buy the very highest shoes I can find for the sole purpose of getting my child on a ride! If others want to take that risk (and spend that money) it's up to them, I don't care one bit. I personally think the child will be fine from a safety point of view - the problem will be whether the CM will be wise to it if the shoes look excessively tall and thwart their plans.

 

[pacrosby]

Yes you use common sense, and don't fudge the height
Its not silly to respect the height requirements.

If you look I am sure you can find state safety agency reports for amusement park rides that tell about accidents. the height requirements are already on the LOW side. and I think fudging their height puts kids at risk.
jmo

No it's not 'silly' to respect the height the requirement if that's what you so desire. It's just 'silly' to suggest that being a 'hair under' is going to mean a child could be sent sailing off into the sunset. Utterly impossible.

I'm happy to review those reports if you will provide the link. I'm willing to bet that they were referring to smaller parks and traveling carnival rides which sometimes are not brought up to current regulations. You show me that report for Disney's height requirement and I'll consider modifyiing my point of view. But since I know you won't be able to, I'll stand my ground

Bottom line is if you would feel silly fudging the height requirement, don't do it. But not everyone thinks like you do. And isn't that really the point here? Not everyone agrees with you (and others who share your point of view). You can repeat yourself as many times as you want, yell as loud as you want and it's not likely to make other's agree with you. The 'other side' isn't asking you to 'agree' with them, just to stop preaching. Is that so much too ask? [edited]

 

[pacrosby]

I know that many, if not most shoes give a kids a bit of height. I have a problem with a company that advertises a shoe made just for that. I think it is disgusting for a company to make something just to get around a rule that is in place to keep children safe.

Also, no one here knows exactly where the cut of is for a little bit too short and way too short to ride a ride safely. The only thing any parent should do is to follow the height given. Anything else is reckless and the parent should be ashamed of themselves. No parent on here knows for certain what is safe and what is not. Trying to guess is not smart!

I think the fact that people continue to ignore plain and simple facts is what gets me crazy. Many little kids ARE wearing shoes that provide an inch or more of extra height already................not in an attempt to 'fool' anyone.................and they get in no problem..................no one makes them take off their shoes.........................and are perfectly safe EVERY SINGLE TIME. Those are facts. Children are sitting on these rides NOT standing so actual height from 'bottoms of feet to top of head' is really not the determining factor in safety. That's a fact. Disney's lawyers are not dumb enough to allow them to say 44" is safe if 43" or even 42" is going to send that child flying into oblivion (and you don't need to be a rocket scientist to figure that out). That's a fact. Nobody has expressed support of fudging for more than an inch or so and the original poster was talking about 3/4" of an inch difference without shoes (again remember, most kids do wear shoes). That's a fact.

But no one cares about the facts. They just want to argue don't they? Like I said....................the dumbest of dumb hot topics. Time to take my own advice and go do some laundry

 

[tjmw2727]

The OP asked if anyone else has been in her position, lots of us have an offered our perspective.

The fact is that Disney is very strict with the height restrictions, they will measure at each and every ride sometimes at the entrance and often again at boarding. If even so much as a credit card can slide between the measuring stick and the head the child will not be allowed to ride.

Instruct your child to stand tall when they are being measureed and the goal is to touch the stick, the natural tendancy is to shrink away.

Choose whatever wardrobe you want but the cm's will measure to the head, not the ponytail and will ask for hats & obviously high shoes to be removed. And yes I will say it again I have actually seen this, and not once, as I said 3x on 3 separate trips.

 

[U2_rocks!]

Instruct your child to stand tall when they are being measureed and the goal is to touch the stick, the natural tendancy is to shrink away.

That's a really good idea. Last trip none of my kids were close enough to a height requirement to try any "tricks", but this is a good one in case one of my DDs is really close at our next trip coming up. I would get a solid stick or pole and hold it horizontal at the required height (we have a measuring wall at home where the kids heights are periodically marked, as well as theme park requirements - I'll do it there) and get my DDs to practice standing tall under it and getting their head to touch it without going on tippy toes. It'll be like a game!

 

[npmommie]

Bottom line is if you would feel silly fudging the height requirement, don't do it. But not everyone thinks like you do. And isn't that really the point here? Not everyone agrees with you (and others who share your point of view). You can repeat yourself as many times as you want, yell as loud as you want and it's not likely to make other's agree with you. The 'other side' isn't asking you to 'agree' with them, just to stop preaching. Is that so much too ask? Don't you have some laundry to do or something

whow, Did someone get up on the wrong side of the bed??
I actually have only posted 3 times on this thread, 2 in response to you quoting me.
and how many posts do you have on this thread?
who is preaching?
don't think its me, I am busy doing laundry

 

[tjmw2727]

That's a really good idea. Last trip none of my kids were close enough to a height requirement to try any "tricks", but this is a good one in case one of my DDs is really close at our next trip coming up. I would get a solid stick or pole and hold it horizontal at the required height (we have a measuring wall at home where the kids heights are periodically marked, as well as theme park requirements - I'll do it there) and get my DDs to practice standing tall under it and getting their head to touch it without going on tippy toes. It'll be like a game!

The measuring sticks are like an upside down L and the CM will try and pass it over the childs head. The child wants to be tall enough to stop it but most kids feel like its going to "hit them" so they shrink. Let them know the CM isn't going to hit them with it and to stand straight and tall.

 

[Ava]

Has anyone ever noticed the changes in height requirements for some rides? I rode Space Mountain at age 4 with dad and was the right height ("I'm not a giant!") back in 1979, but now the height is changed? The ride seats are different sure, but how much has the ride really changed to warrant a height difference? just saying....btw...my DS (4yo)is huge (over 90% in height) and will be able to ride things his DS (3) (avg height)will be waiting years to get on...would I let her wear higher tennis shoes for a 1/2"...possibly, but I definitely would be wary of stuffing shoes to obtain a greater height for some of the wilder rides....ps. I'm a thrill junkie myself and can't wait for one or both of them to join me!

The old Space Mountain seats were bench seats, so you sat one behind the other with no bars or anything in between. I remember on our trip in 1988 my younger sister (3.5 years old at the time) was tall enough to ride with an adult sitting behind her holding onto her during the ride, but not tall enough to ride on her own. With the new seats where you are sitting alone restrained by a lap bar, each rider much be tall enough to fit the restraint properly on their own. I've noticed a lot of rides at various parks that used to have a shorter height requirement to ride with a "responsible rider" have done away with this option, even if they haven't changed the seating. These parks probably decided it was too much of a liability to allow an adult guest to be responsible for holding onto a small child during a ride.

I'm with the camp that says not to try to artificially increase your child's height for a ride. If they make the height with their normal shoes on, great; if not, the ride will still be there next time. (And even if it's not, I don't think anyone has ever suffered life long damage from never getting to ride a theme park ride.)