height for rides

[marinejjh]

my son is right at the 40" mark, will they measure him when we get to the park and give him a band so he doesn't have to be measures at every ride

 

[aaarcher86]

No. They measure at each ride.

 

[Lynne M]

And sometimes twice at each ride, if he looks borderline.

It's probably a good idea to let him know ahead of the trip that he might not get on all the 40" rides. It's better than dealing with a disappointed, upset kid at the park.

A couple of tips that have been known to help in this situation:

Make sure he knows that he needs to stand as straight and tall as he can - that the point is to have his head touch the measuring stick. Some kids instinctively duck under the stick.

It's said that we're at our tallest in the morning. Some people swear that the kids get on more rides if they hit all the height-requirement rides early in the day.

 

[Raenstoirm]

They will probably measure him twice at each ride since he is so close to the mark. They will measure before he gets in line and then once before he gets in the actual ride vehicle.

 

[Cappy81]

DD was right at 40" on our last trip. Some rides she was measured once, some twice and some not at all.

 

[graceesmom]

When my daughter was right at 40" she was measured every time, for every ride that had a height requirement. Some CMs were more serious about it than others. On 1 ride at Soarin, they got 3 CM's over to make sure. This was after we had ridden twice earlier in the trip so perhaps all that walking really does make us shrink a little.

 

[mesaboy2]

my son is right at the 40" mark, will they measure him when we get to the park and give him a band so he doesn't have to be measures at every ride

Everyone close is measured twice at every ride. Bands are prone to shenanigans.

 

[arwood82]

DD was right at 40" on our last trip. Some rides she was measured once, some twice and some not at all.

We ran into this on our last trip also.

 

[erinchris01]

My son measured 40" at the doctor the day before he left. He was measured several times but they all said he was too short. One time at Tot, he passed at the first stick (he was flat footed ) but was 3" too short right before the ride. The sticks are not all the same height. Luckily my son dealt with it well. Just prepare to be turned away .

 

[chartle]

My son measured 40" at the doctor the day before he left. He was measured several times but they all said he was too short. One time at Tot, he passed at the first stick (he was flat footed ) but was 3" too short right before the ride. The sticks are not all the same height. Luckily my son dealt with it well. Just prepare to be turned away .

While the sticks may be slightly off I don't think its anywhere near 3".

So either you had a very bad CM at the first stick or your son didn't stand up straight at the second.

 

[erinchris01]

No he stood up straight both times. He was right at the top on the first stick (my husband watched his feet) and there was a huge gap above his head on the second. The one that was 3" off was on a hill and so I think that made the difference. The same thing happened at animal kingdom. We also went in the morning when you are supposed to be taller. The sticks varied in sizes. They are not all 40".

 

[aubriee]

My son measured 40" at the doctor the day before he left. He was measured several times but they all said he was too short. One time at Tot, he passed at the first stick (he was flat footed ) but was 3" too short right before the ride. The sticks are not all the same height. Luckily my son dealt with it well. Just prepare to be turned away .

I don't now if it was 3" off or not. It seems like it was a little closer for us, but the same thing happened to us last Feb (2012) when we took our 3 1/2 y/o grandson down there. I called my son the night before we left and had him measure my GS in his bare feet. He marked a 40" spot on the wall, then had my GS stand up straight and put a ruler flat on his head and he marked that. My GS was just a tad over the 40" mark, so we knew most of the rides would be very close and that he'd probably be measured at all of them. My D-I-L walked in while my son was measuring him, picked up the phone, and told me it shouldn't be a problem as he'd measured 40 1/2" the week before at the pediatrician's. I told her I just wanted to make sure. Our first night there was at MK (when they were having EMH). He rode Splash Mountain twice with no problem (again this was late at night when you are supposed to be shorter). Big Thunder Mountain was down, so we went over to Tomorrow Land, where he was told he was too short. We didn't want to argue in front of him, but did quietly tell the CM that he had just gotten off Splash Mountain and he could see how wet we were, so knew we were telling the truth. He said the other CM must not have measured him correctly and sure enough he was apparently right, as my GS was measured too short at every 40" ride we tried the rest of the week (including a repeat visit to Splash Mountain that he had ridden just two nights before). He was really trying though, standing as straight as he could and trying to bump his head against the stick. He definitely was not ducking down to avoid that stick, like I've seen some kids do. He was really trying to stretch to hit it. After the third night, we made our nightly call home, so my GS could talk his parents, and during the phone call he mentioned that he was too short for some of the rides. My D-I-L got me on the phone to ask why and when I told her he was measuring just a tad under the 40" minimum, she said that did not make sense, because she took him to the pediatrician just a week before we left and he measured like 40 1/2" then, plus my son had measured him not just once, but twice to make sure he was accurate the night before we left. We had warned him on the flight down though that he might not be quite tall enough according to Disney's measurements and if he didn't it wouldn't be a big deal as there were lots more there for him to enjoy, so thankfully he was prepared for it to go either way and handled it well. It became a game to him, running up to every measuring thingy, just to see if he might be tall enough.

 

[LaurenT]

I don't now if it was 3" off or not. It seems like it was a little closer for us, but the same thing happened to us last Feb (2012) when we took our 3 1/2 y/o grandson down there. I called my son the night before we left and had him measure my GS in his bare feet. He marked a 40" spot on the wall, then had my GS stand up straight and put a ruler flat on his head and he marked that. My GS was just a tad over the 40" mark, so we knew most of the rides would be very close and that he'd probably be measured at all of them. My D-I-L walked in while my son was measuring him, picked up the phone, and told me it shouldn't be a problem as he'd measured 40 1/2" the week before at the pediatrician's. I told her I just wanted to make sure. Our first night there was at MK (when they were having EMH). He rode Splash Mountain twice with no problem (again this was late at night when you are supposed to be shorter). Big Thunder Mountain was down, so we went over to Tomorrow Land, where he was told he was too short. We didn't want to argue in front of him, but did quietly tell the CM that he had just gotten off Splash Mountain and he could see how wet we were, so knew we were telling the truth. He said the other CM must not have measured him correctly and sure enough he was apparently right, as my GS was measured too short at every 40" ride we tried the rest of the week (including a repeat visit to Splash Mountain that he had ridden just two nights before). He was really trying though, standing as straight as he could and trying to bump his head against the stick. He definitely was not ducking down to avoid that stick, like I've seen some kids do. He was really trying to stretch to hit it. After the third night, we made our nightly call home, so my GS could talk his parents, and during the phone call he mentioned that he was too short for some of the rides. My D-I-L got me on the phone to ask why and when I told her he was measuring just a tad under the 40" minimum, she said that did not make sense, because she took him to the pediatrician just a week before we left and he measured like 40 1/2" then, plus my son had measured him not just once, but twice to make sure he was accurate the night before we left. We had warned him on the flight down though that he might not be quite tall enough according to Disney's measurements and if he didn't it wouldn't be a big deal as there were lots more there for him to enjoy, so thankfully he was prepared for it to go either way and handled it well. It became a game to him, running up to every measuring thingy, just to see if he might be tall enough.

The exact opposite happened to us....all during the times that DD was getting near different height limits (she's 52" now, so we're all set for WDW).
But, we'd measure her at home (using a tape measure and a level!) and at the doctor and we'd think she was just under - and then at Disney she'd be fine every time. Always a little taller than she needed to be. Weird....