40 Inches Here We Come!

[Alderbrook]

Last year when we went to Disney my son, even with shoes on, didn't make the 40 inches needed to ride a lot of the "big" rides (he was 38.5 inches last September with shoes). He was 3.5 years then. I kept praying he would be 40 inches by this September when we're booked to go again. I measured him a few months ago while I was at the Dr's office one day to see how big he was & with running shoes on he was 39.5 inches. Since then I've been looking for shoes with a bit of a larger sole. While in at Zellers I noticed a pair of Toy Story running shoes that looked like the inside sole was fairly high up. So I bought them & measured him as soon as we got home. Sure enough he's just shy of 40 inches, like maybe an 1/8 of an inch. 5 more months of growing until we go, I think he'll make it! I put a piece of tape on our fridge at 40 inches so I know if I can't see the tape past his head, we've made the cutoff!

I felt bad for him because kids his age were getting on the big rides because of their height, even though some of them were younger than him, but my son is small for his age. We didn't even tell him last year there was a Star Wars ride so we didn't disappoint him, but since we've been kids in his preschool have gone & talked about the Star Wars ride. Now he just wants to ride Star Wars. Last year instead of getting to go on the ride, we spent our time in the store letting him make a light saber instead but this time, I think he's actually going to get on the ride!!

He's quite the thrill seeker so he will probably want to go on the other rides he will be allowed to, but if he gets on Star Wars he will be the happiest kid around!

Everyone pray for 40 inches by September 18th for us!!

 

[gilsan]

We have the same issue but my daughter is 4.5. She is over 39 inches now without shoes, we picked her up some princess sandals and with those on she is just over 40 inches. I don't know if it will be enough, but we are out of growing time since we leave in 11 days. We will just hope for the best.

I do agree that is is kind of hard to hear about 2 and 3 year olds that can go on rides like ToT but my 4.5 may be too small.I don't even want to take her on anything scary just Soarin', Splash Mountain, and Star Tours. I don't want to get her (or mine) hopes up so we will check but I am not promising her that we will get on any of those rides.

I am sure your son will be tall enough by September if he is already 39.5 inches.

 

[Alderbrook]

We have the same issue but my daughter is 4.5. She is over 39 inches now without shoes, we picked her up some princess sandals and with those on she is just over 40 inches. I don't know if it will be enough, but we are out of growing time since we leave in 11 days. We will just hope for the best.

I do agree that is is kind of hard to hear about 2 and 3 year olds that can go on rides like ToT but my 4.5 may be too small.I don't even want to take her on anything scary just Soarin', Splash Mountain, and Star Tours. I don't want to get her (or mine) hopes up so we will check but I am not promising her that we will get on any of those rides.

I am sure your son will be tall enough by September if he is already 39.5 inches.

Hope she makes it. I found I got more height out of running shoes than I did out of sandles so maybe take her running shoes with you & switch into them before any rides? I thought of also maybe putting a Dr Scholes pad in his running shoes as well if he is just shy of 40 inches still in September.

My son is almost 40 inches with the shoes on so he's probably 39 without.

I agree, I don't want to take him on anything scary either. All we care about is Star Wars for him. He would probably go on Big Thunder Railroad too, but he doesn't even know about it so if it doesn't happen, he won't be disappointed.

Good luck for your trip!

 

[Kat&Dom]

I sure hope your son hits 40 inches by September - I found it so hard when my son was 38 inches and I tried to avoid the areas of the rides that he could not do. When he did see a ride that he was too short for - he would get so insistant that he was a big boy - look mom - I'm big. I felt so bad for him.

I will bet that your son will grow over the summer. My son has actually grown 2 inches since August. He is now 42 inches but only 38.5 pounds. My boy is tall and thin. Most of his friends outweigh him by 10-15 pounds. He eats a lot but is so active that he burns it off.

Good idea on the toy story shoes even if your son does hit 40 inches because there were some rides that the measuring was not spot on. So if he is 40 inches and has shoes that put him at 41 inches, he should not have any problems. We got turned away at a ride where the CM was able to fit a piece of paper between his head the bottom of the measuring stand - some CM's are very picky so better to have your son be over then just shy of. My son was wearing Crocs so he had no height boost from them and he was 40 inches but the measuring stand was slightly off but not worth arguing over.

Good luck - I hope your son grows so that he can do all the rides that he wants to.

 

[gilsan]

Hope she makes it. I found I got more height out of running shoes than I did out of sandles so maybe take her running shoes with you & switch into them before any rides? I thought of also maybe putting a Dr Scholes pad in his running shoes as well if he is just shy of 40 inches still in September.

My son is almost 40 inches with the shoes on so he's probably 39 without.

I agree, I don't want to take him on anything scary either. All we care about is Star Wars for him. He would probably go on Big Thunder Railroad too, but he doesn't even know about it so if it doesn't happen, he won't be disappointed.

Good luck for your trip!

The sandals have a good inch of sole, but they don't appear to be that high. I just measured her again and she is 39 1/4 so with the shoes she is 40 1/4. I would be happier if she was measuring 40.5 to 41 but we will see how it goes.

I am still looking for some sneakers that I won't have to fight her to put on and I may add an insole to push her over the edge. Since she is just on the border so it could go either way depending how they measure.I will report back how it goes.

 

[Alderbrook]

My son is only 30.5 lbs, he has been for 2 years, he just turned 4 on Friday. He grows taller slowly but has a hard time keeping weight on because he's so active & has his dad's metabolism. He's just like his dad. He was 4'11 until grade 9 & then shot up to 5'10 over his high school years which is what he is now & my husband has a hard time still keeping weight on & he's 34 years old. My son sure doesn't have genetics going for him because there is no one tall on my side at all.

Gilsan, definately let me know how your trip goes in terms of height Tell her to practise "standing tall" & hopefully she runs into the height bars instead of under them

 

[TLPL]

From your tread title I thought this is about waist size at first. LOL

 

[Kat&Dom]

From your tread title I thought this is about waist size at first. LOL

 

[Alderbrook]

LOL, I didn't even think about that.

I measured my son on his bedroom wall tonight because he turned 4 on Friday & we've been measuring him there since he was 1 & marking his growth on his wall. He's just shy of 39.5' without his shoes on so he must have had a growth spurt since I measured him at the Dr's a few months ago because he was 39.5 at the Dr's with his shoes on so we're almost there!

I think it's true that kids grow more over the summer than any other time of year & no one knows exactly why. Hope it stays true for my son!

 

[squirrel]

I hope Star Tours is open for your trip. I heard that they are planning on redoing it sometime soon.

I've also heard that hitting the big rides in the morning is best as we are taller in the morning.

 

[Alderbrook]

I hope Star Tours is open for your trip. I heard that they are planning on redoing it sometime soon.

I've also heard that hitting the big rides in the morning is best as we are taller in the morning.

I know, I heard they are going to redo it, but from checking the website regarding closures in September, it's not listed so hopefully it stays that way! It's listed as sometime in October it will be closed. We're there Sept 18-26.

 

[normmo]

We just returned in March and before we went I found some shoes at Sears (on clearance to boot - no pun intended) with an incredibly big heel that put DS 3 well past 40 inches. It was well worth the five dollar investment since he loved BTMRR, TT and Splash. Have a great trip!
Mo

 

[katouel]

Since the birth of my daughter, I wait for it 40 ". It is sad to miss the majority of the attractions because of the size. My daughter will celebrate her 8th birthday with one 40 " confirmed.

 

[Pirate Dad]

In 2006 my younger DD was way short of the 40" mark. She really wanted to do Soarin'. So in 2007 we figured she'd make it... not to be! She was crushed (but hey it's Disney World so she got over it quickly).

Then in 2008 she cleared the line! She was soooooo thrilled! (We took a pic of her standing in front of the Soarin' height check). She loved it! It was worth the wait (and we did the ride half a dozen times on that trip).

We are heading back this year and she is now 46". She will be able to ride all the 44" rides.

Now if she could only grow 2" in the next two weeks...

 

[DisneyFairytale]

Getting on my knees as we speak

 

[gilsan]

We arrived home late Sunday and I wanted to post about our luck with the 40inch height restriction.

DD is just over 39 inches in bare feet and I bought her some sandals that had a one inch heel. She had no trouble getting on any 40inch ride. She more than met the height requirement. We didn't have to encourage her to stand up because she easily made it. No one looked at her feet or questioned her shoes, and she wasn't checked at every ride. I think she would have made it her crocs. The height boards also seemed to be consistent.

 

[Kat&Dom]

We just got back on Sunday from Disney and my son at 42 inches was only checked for height at Big Thunder. He was totally fine because the height restriction is 40 inches. I did see other kids that were getting measured tended to hunch their shoulders to try to fit under the height sign so it would be a good idea to explain to your child ahead of time that you want to stand tall and be bigger then the measuring sign - not fit under it.

Have a great trip.

 

[Alderbrook]

We arrived home late Sunday and I wanted to post about our luck with the 40inch height restriction.

DD is just over 39 inches in bare feet and I bought her some sandals that had a one inch heel. She had no trouble getting on any 40inch ride. She more than met the height requirement. We didn't have to encourage her to stand up because she easily made it. No one looked at her feet or questioned her shoes, and she wasn't checked at every ride. I think she would have made it her crocs. The height boards also seemed to be consistent.

Good to know! We have a marker on our fridge at the 40' mark so my son knows how tall he has to be. He is just over 39' without shoes & just 40' with shoes on, so we have 4.5 months left before we go so still have some growing time. If he's questionable we're going to put some insoles in his shoes to give him the extra height, although he won't need much I don't think, if he even does.