Any Problems with Height Checks?

[goofy4tink]

Height is a measurement used to determine suitability for the safety restraints. If a child isn't tall enough, he/she will not be kept safe within the attraction. Half an inch is probably not going to cause an accident but you can just never tell where some will stop before trying to fudge the height.

 

[tzolkin]

With a child that close to the height requirement I would not tell the child that they can ride the 40" attractions. At each attraction I would say, "Let's see if you're tall enough for this one today". You really don't want to have a kid all psyched up that they'll be able to ride something and then be turned away when he gets there.

My youngest made it on some of the 40" rides this trip, but was turned away three times. He never rode Test Track. Twice he was told that he was tall enough outside, but when we got to the stick inside they couldn't decide if he was tall enough and had to call someone else over who decided he was too short after several minutes of trying to push their hand between his head and the stick. It was very embarrassing and disappointing. One day he rode Soarin, but the next morning he was too short. He rode BTMRR at least 15 times.

 

[RMulieri]

With a child that close to the height requirement I would not tell the child that they can ride the 40" attractions. At each attraction I would say, "Let's see if you're tall enough for this one today". You really don't want to have a kid all psyched up that they'll be able to ride something and then be turned away when he gets there.

My youngest made it on some of the 40" rides this trip, but was turned away three times. He never rode Test Track. Twice he was told that he was tall enough outside, but when we got to the stick inside they couldn't decide if he was tall enough and had to call someone else over who decided he was too short after several minutes of trying to push their hand between his head and the stick. It was very embarrassing and disappointing. One day he rode Soarin, but the next morning he was too short. He rode BTMRR at least 15 times.

I agree. Nothing used to tick me off more as a themepark employee to hear the parents whine " I promised them they could ride!" Why would you ever promise something like that.It isn't something in your control that you can absolutely deliver.Besides, the height requirement, what if the ride was closed, or broke down?Never promise something like that.

 

[princessmom29]

WSeexperienced the difference in measuring sticks at star tours. Outside DD was plenty tall enough, like a 1/2" over, but inside there was a huge debate about it. She ended up getting on the ride, but I had to insistat they take another look. The first time she was measured I was not standing there with her to tell her to put her feet together and stand up straight. When she did she was just barely tall enough.

 

[wmharley]

With a child that close to the height requirement I would not tell the child that they can ride the 40" attractions. At each attraction I would say, "Let's see if you're tall enough for this one today". You really don't want to have a kid all psyched up that they'll be able to ride something and then be turned away when he gets there.

My youngest made it on some of the 40" rides this trip, but was turned away three times. He never rode Test Track. Twice he was told that he was tall enough outside, but when we got to the stick inside they couldn't decide if he was tall enough and had to call someone else over who decided he was too short after several minutes of trying to push their hand between his head and the stick. It was very embarrassing and disappointing. One day he rode Soarin, but the next morning he was too short. He rode BTMRR at least 15 times.

good idea... My daughter goes along with comments like that when I tell her. she was able to get on BTM at 4, but she didn't want to until our next trip 7 months later. She loved goofy's ride too much. That gave her extra time to grow and easily cleared it.

I always measured her barefoot at night so if she hit 40" at home (with laser levels and all the measuring tools i've got) then she would hit 40" easily at Disney...

 

[Colleen27]

Am I the only one who wishes that they could check height at one official spot for the park and then not have to go through all of it 2x per ride? Give some sort of bracelet or something? My son was 41" but is generally shy with strangers, didn't like having to walk somewhere with them, have them touch his feet etc...

I'd love to see it just for consistency's sake. I remember the days when my older two were borderline for one ride or another, and more than once they measured fine at the queue entrance only to be too short on the loading platform. What a waste of time! But there's so much difference from place to place and CM to CM that it is bound to happen.

 

[Colleen27]

My youngest is 3 1/2 and measures almost 39" flat-footed, but can easily measure 40" depending on which shoes she is wearing and how her hair is fixed. Has anyone ever had problems where they had to remove shoes from a child to be measured? Does anyone know what the guidelines are when measuring?

I'd prepare him not to ride. Measurement at Disney isn't the same as measurement at home, and they will err on the side of caution every time. DD was 41" according to her check up a month before our first family trip, but at Disney she didn't always measure tall enough for 40" rides. At a couple, she measured tall enough at the start of the queue but too short at the loading platform, which was REALLY disappointing for her and quite frustrating for us having wasted that much time just to be unable to ride.

 

[WDSearcher]

While I agree that one shouldn't wear big shoes or try to stand on tippy toes, I really think that being 1/8 of a cm too short doesn't put a child in danger. Amusement parks are not going to risk injury, and I'm sure pad many, many inches onto their requirements. I've never heard of a child getting injured because they were a fraction shorter than the posted height requirement.

And it's not likely that they would be. But the requirement has to be set somewhere. If it's 48", then it's 48". If a CM lets a child through who is "a fraction shorter than the posted height requirement", then what about the child who is just a fraction short of that? Then you're saying, "Well ... gee ... as long as you're kind of in this range, you'll be okay." But again, where do you stop? You have to have something people can measure, and 48" is a whole lot easier than "48 inches, give or take a fraction or so."

It's like trying to get grandma to write down her recipe where everything is based on "a handful" of this or "a couple of pinches" of that and "cooking until it's done." It's frustrating!

Besides, think of it in other kid terms. When you tell your child that curfew is at 10pm, do you mean 10pm, or do you mean "10pm or just a little after"? If your child showed up at 10:10pm, does he get yelled at, or is that acceptable? And if it IS acceptable, then what happens when he shows up at 10:15? Because, really ... it's only 5 min later than what was already acceptable. So then it pushes to 10:20 and 10:30. At some point, you have to stay "This is the standard. Stick to it."

 

[bdiddy]

Our 4.5 yr old daughter was exactly 40" with shoes on last year and she only got measured one time at Dinosaur and they let her through. She road Test Track, Soarin, Splash Mountain and Thunder Mountain with no issues at all.