Height of Child

[Maleficent Dragon]

Okay, so my 3 year old is 38.5 inches tall. There are many cool rides that are 40 inches as a minimum. Should I avoid trying to get on any of these due to safety and will they actually not let her on due to an inch difference?

As the height restrictions are there for safety reasons, they are not going to give her a pass on 1.5". Even if you get through the CM at the ride entry, you will most likely get stopped by the final entry point.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

I know it happens, but I hate it for the kiddos when it does.

I hate it, too.

I only knew that from reading here. We have been measuring repeatedly to see how close we were getting. I full expected her to be denied and she wasn't. But because if all I read here, I knew that she may fail the next measure and warned her.

She was still very upset, but got an extremely cool souvenir from Pirates since that was our next ride and they had a store.

 

[Kelly014]

I know it happens, but I hate it for the kiddos when it does.

That seems unfair. If they pass one I don't understand why they need to be measured a second time and potentially turned away. Now I'm a bit worried for DD. She is 5 and measures 44 inches with shoes. She would be so bummed if she got the go ahead and then was told she couldn't ride. I would also be frustrated if we waited in line for a while and were then turned away.

 

[mesaboy2]

That seems unfair. If they pass one I don't understand why they need to be measured a second time and potentially turned away. Now I'm a bit worried for DD. She is 5 and measures 44 inches with shoes. She would be so bummed if she got the go ahead and then was told she couldn't ride. I would also be frustrated if we waited in line for a while and were then turned away.

My thoughts are that the first one is to prevent people waiting in line for a while only to find out it was for nothing, and the second to prevent the parents that sneak kids past the first one, plus the literal line-jumpers.

 

[Kelly014]

My thoughts are that the first one is to prevent people waiting in line for a while only to find out it was for nothing, and the second to prevent the parents that sneak kids past the first one, plus the literal line-jumpers.

Ah, that makes a lot of sense. I hope DD can ride the ones at 44 inches but if she gets turned away it is what it is. Line jumping with your kid at disney world seems a bit ridiculous but I don't doubt there are people out there who would try to pull something like that.

 

[bumbershoot]

That seems unfair. If they pass one I don't understand why they need to be measured a second time and potentially turned away. Now I'm a bit worried for DD. She is 5 and measures 44 inches with shoes. She would be so bummed if she got the go ahead and then was told she couldn't ride. I would also be frustrated if we waited in line for a while and were then turned away.

Go in the morning. Make sure she has lots of rest, good food, and WATER. Practice standing straight and tall (not on the tiptoes! but stretching out from the spine) and WANTING to hit the measuring stick.

 

[jlwhitney]

It all depends on the forces and how they effect the rider. An intense ride that only pushes you into your seat will have a shorter requirement then a "Less intense" ride that pushes from side to side. It also has nothing to do with how high the ride goes unless there is a fear factor.

The only attraction that has an odd requirement is Stitch and its because its easier than an age requirement due to its scare factor.

Also has to do with the safety harnesses.

 

[pamkat1820]

This is a conversation we have with my soon to be 9 year old all the time. She wants to ride primeval whirl so bad. Our last trip she was just 48 inches. I knew it was going to come down to a judgment call on the CM. But in her 7 (at the time) yr old mind her doctor measured her at 48 inches is was fine. Of course the adult child (my husband ) agrees with the 7 yr old (he rides all the crazy rides with the kids &hand wants to ride it himself). Me, I understand safety first (plus my speed is dumbo) my daughter wants a letter from her doctor to bring to the ride stating they measure her well over 48 inches & let her on. She is a kid I except that from a kid. I have seen adults argue with the cm over height issues. It's a ride, rules are in place for a reason. Maybe I feel like that because I not a big ride person. I sit with the younger ones and ride things with them that are boring for eveyone else.

Our son is finally tall enough to ride soaring! I Think I might try it myself ( major chicken lol)

 

[AgletWDW]

My 4 year is small for her age (she actual just moved from the 1st to the 2nd percentile) and is currently 37 inches. It is a bummer that kids younger then her get to ride and we wouldn't be able to ride rides as a family. But it is what it is. Just means we have to plan another trip, so win win!! Lol

 

[LONES]

My youngest daughter is also very small for her age. She's 8 1/2 now, and just finally made it on the growth chart for the first time ever! She's at 2%! Anyway... when she was almost 5 we were at our state fair. I brought her up to one of those baby rides that that just looks like little motorcycles going around on a circle. The height requirement was 36", which is right about what she was. The operater turned her away. She didn't argue, but with the most confused voice ever she said, "But Mom, there are babies in diapers on that ride??!!!" It still makes me laugh!

We're lucky she's not a ride junkie! We laugh that she'll be able to drive before she'll be able to get on some of the rides at Disney!

 

[lizard1]

I've always heard they are very strict too, but what's so odd is that they never once checked my then 3.5 yr old when we went in June. He's tall for his age and was just barely over 40 inches with converse sneakers on when we went. I figured they would check his height, but he rode Soarin', Test Track, 7DMT, BTMRR, etc without them ever checking even once. This was over multiple days at these parks too! Maybe they were just slipping that week...lol

I find it odd when they check also. My daughter is tall enough to ride the 44 inch rides. One night after getting off of Space Mountain, they wanted to measure her to ride Stitch (I know, what was I thinking)! We had walk back through the queue which was oddly full just to let the guy measure her.

 

[disnut8]

That seems unfair. If they pass one I don't understand why they need to be measured a second time and potentially turned away. Now I'm a bit worried for DD. She is 5 and measures 44 inches with shoes. She would be so bummed if she got the go ahead and then was told she couldn't ride. I would also be frustrated if we waited in line for a while and were then turned away.

When our grandkids were "at that height", we told them about the two measurements. We said if they didn't pass the first one, that was great because then we'd all go and get some ice cream. And if they didn't pass the second one, that would be great because we'd all go and get some ice cream. And if they got to ride the attraction, that would be great because we'd all go and get some ice cream.

Any parent can substitute ice cream with something else but it worked for us and we had lots of high fives in the queues at each measuring point and after the ride.

It can be how parents present the measurements.