Height req's

[Mugglemama]

Darn! I was thinking Grizzly was 40". I'm pretty sure it used to be, because my oldest son was finally able to ride it just after after his 4th birthday (2002), and I'm almost certain he was not 42" tall at that time, even with shoes on.

I wouldn't put heels on my kid or anything to make them meet the height requirement, but if they measure up with regular shoes on (my son wears his crocs almost every other day, why not on vacation too?), I don't see how it can be interpreted as jeopardizing their safety.

 

[TahoeMom]

As other posters have mentioned, it really depends on the CM at the time. When my son was in the 39.5" range, we had him wear a hat, sometimes it worked and other times the CM made him take it off. My husband told my son it was a magic hat and my son now wants to wear it every time we go - and he has been well over the height limit for all the rides for a couple of years now!

Anyway, shoes can definitely make a difference - I would get so frustrated when I saw them let little girls that barely made the cut but had shoes with a bit of a heel but my son would miss it by millimeters in his flat tennis shoes.

It is good to plan ahead but also have a talk ahead of time with your child so they don't get too terribly disappointed if they don't make it. We had one trip where my son would make the cut for Splash Mountain one day and then not the next and then he would again after that.

 

[abby]

practice with the child standing tall, I know my dd tends to bend a bit when someone else is measuring her, so practice, practice, practice. feet together, heels back stand tall

 

[bumbershoot]

For anyone with a child a bit under, get them measured anyway. They CM will very likely give you a handy little card that says, basically "we're sorry you weren't tall enough today, but come back when you are tall enough and you'll be able to ride quickly".

We got one of those for Star Tours when that second CM slipped the piece of paper above my son's head, and when we brought it back, we took it to the CM at the start of the line, and he pointed us to a set of doors. We went in the doors, up the stairs and got RIGHT to the front of the line. I mean seriously front of the line.

Because DS insisted on being measured twice for Grizzly in May, we got two of those cards, and we look forward to finding out where they send us when they come back.

So if you have a borderline kiddo, get 'em measured "just to see", and you might get one of those cards.

Oh, and they give them back when you use them...they fill in the date, and it will be a wonderful addition to a scrapbook, whenever I get around to doing one.

 

[jory29]

I wonder why Disneyland doesn't measure kids with their shoes off?

Let's say in a scenario, that one child, wearing shoes with 1.5 inch 'heels' because Mom or Dad hopes their child can be tall enough for a certain ride, has now added 1.5" to their height. They walk past the CM to load for the ride, and either the CM measures child and gives the o.k., or the child walks past the CM, noticed, and the CM lets the child ride because the CM figures they are tall enough. (In my experience, CMs won't do that, as they check anyone even remotely near the height.) Now, God forbid, if something bad were to happen on the ride to that child, what if the parents decided to try to 'go after' Disney, stating said child wasn't tall enough? Let's say that the parents state that the child was not tall enough, and should have been held back from riding. Now - another twist to the scenario what if DL asks the parents which shoes the child was wearing? What if the parents decide to lie, and pull out a pair of very flat soled running shoes to show Disney. It's a bad scenario for the child, but a very bad scenario for DL as well!

So my question is, does anyone know why DL doesn't measure children without shoes on? [Maybe they should be doing so for everyone's protection.] Is it because with the height added to the shoes, the child is then legally tall enough for the ride, [say to touch the bottom of the cart of the ride to be able to provide enough resistance for themselves while in the ride?]

 

[irishjules]

Just got back from Florida and my son rode Primeval Whirl after being measured at the start of the line and the end. We rode 3x and then came back 2 hours later and they would not let him on - they measured at 3 stations and at 1 he was okay and at 2 they could put a card (paper sized) in between his head and the measuring stick. BOY was he upset! And I don't blame him after having ridden 3 x earlier.

BTW 48" height requirement and some cast members were sticklers. Which is fine by me since it is their job, but....

 

[Disney Dreams]

So my question is, does anyone know why DL doesn't measure children without shoes on? [Maybe they should be doing so for everyone's protection.] Is it because with the height added to the shoes, the child is then legally tall enough for the ride, [say to touch the bottom of the cart of the ride to be able to provide enough resistance for themselves while in the ride?]

They figure that kids are wearing shoes at the park. When they measure someone, therefore, the shoes are considered as part of the height. The "required height" accounts for that.

Sadly, trying to skirt around the height requirements (as badly as a kid wants to ride a particular ride) with various tactics mentioned here (or pressuring a CM) only jeopardizes a kids' safety. It also teaches kids how to cheat, even if it's "just a little bit."

 

[Mugglemama]

They figure that kids are wearing shoes at the park. When they measure someone, therefore, the shoes are considered as part of the height. The "required height" accounts for that.

Sadly, trying to skirt around the height requirements (as badly as a kid wants to ride a particular ride) with various tactics mentioned here (or pressuring a CM) only jeopardizes a kids' safety. It also teaches kids how to cheat, even if it's "just a little bit."

Various "Tactics"?? Having your child wear shoes that they wear on a regular basis anyway or teaching them to stand up straight are "tactics"??? It seems more than just a little out of line for you to insinuate that parents here (myself included) are teaching their children to cheat, Disney Dreams. I take offense to your comments, as I would never teach my children to cheat!

Nobody said they were telling their kid to tip toe, spike their hair or wear platforms! You should take a step back and consider your comments more thoughtfully before posting them.

 

[bumbershoot]

Various "Tactics"?? Having your child wear shoes that they wear on a regular basis anyway or teaching them to stand up straight are "tactics"??? It seems more than just a little out of line for you to insinuate that parents here (myself included) are teaching their children to cheat, Disney Dreams. I take offense to your comments, as I would never teach my children to cheat!

Nobody said they were telling their kid to tip toe, spike their hair or wear platforms! You should take a step back and consider your comments more thoughtfully before posting them.

Actually people DID mention puffing up hair and wearing much taller shoes than normal.

 

[Mugglemama]

Actually people DID mention puffing up hair and wearing much taller shoes than normal.

Fair enough, I see that now, and I'm not here to argue. I still think what she said was out of line and offensive.

 

[JaneJetson]

It's a messageboard. Things are commonly misinturpreted because we're only reading things rather than hearing them. I wouldn't take things so personally. I don't think anyone was referring to you at all.

 

[noga]

There is a margine on the req's. Theoretically, it's probably safe for somebody 38" to ride a ride that has a 40" req.
I would never preasure CM to let us go. I didn't do it last time we were there and I wouldn't do it next time.
But like I said on some rides it doesn't make a whole lot sense (Soaring over CA - the only reason there is a 40" req on that ride is because it goes off the ground extra amount of feet - this was told to us by Disneyland).

Anyway, I just wanted to know if she was 1/4 or 1/2 an inch shorter if we had any chance of her getting on rides.
We always tell her that there is a chance that she may not be able to ride and other than putting shoes on her (that she would wear anyway) we are not going to do anything..

 

[Disney Dreams]

...Sadly, trying to skirt around the height requirements (as badly as a kid wants to ride a particular ride) with various tactics mentioned here (or pressuring a CM) only jeopardizes a kids' safety. It also teaches kids how to cheat, even if it's "just a little bit."

Various "Tactics"?? Having your child wear shoes that they wear on a regular basis anyway or teaching them to stand up straight are "tactics"??? It seems more than just a little out of line for you to insinuate that parents here (myself included) are teaching their children to cheat, Disney Dreams. I take offense to your comments, as I would never teach my children to cheat!

Nobody said they were telling their kid to tip toe, spike their hair or wear platforms! You should take a step back and consider your comments more thoughtfully before posting them.

Actually people DID mention puffing up hair and wearing much taller shoes than normal.

Fair enough, I see that now, and I'm not here to argue. I still think what she said was out of line and offensive.

Mugglemama, I really am not sure why you think my points were out of line or why you found them offensive.

First, nothing was directed towards anyone in particular, including you. Second, to answer your question, no, having a child wear shoes that they normally wear or teaching them to stand up straight are not tactics. Third, you say that no one said they "were telling their kid to tip toe, spike their hair or wear platforms!"

This is ExACTLY what people were saying. There were suggestions of larger sole shoes, hats, hair styles, etc.... I view those as "tactics" and they were precisely what I was referring to in my post. Why is that out of line or offensive?

Again, nothing was directed towards anyone specifically. Rules are there for a reason. All I was saying is the height rules are there for a child's safety. IMO, finding a way around the minimum when a child isn't quite tall enough, is a cheating tactic that kids learn.

My point was (and still is) that when parents teach their kid to say they are 2 (when in reality they are 3) so they can get into Disneyland for free, or when parents do things specifically to make a child measure taller than usual, I personally believe this is teaching children how to cheat. Wouldn't you agree?

 

[Mugglemama]

What I would agree with, is that it didn't appear to me as though anyone here was asking you to step in and be their moral compass.

 

[DangerMouse]

And now back to the original topic . . . I posted this on another thread about Screamin, but I thought it would also be approrpriate to post my experience here:

I took my ds to DLR for his 6th birthday for a special mommy and me trip. He was just tall enough to ride Screamin for the first time and before he would even let us go into DL, he said he wanted to go straight to Screamin and ride it first! He loved it straight away and we rode it another 2 times that day. The same trip he refused to ride Indy because he said it was too scary (he had ridden it on a previous trip). He also won't do ToT because the theming is too scary (he doesn't mind the drop at all).

Side Note: The next day we went to ride Screamin again, and the CM at the loading area said he was too short. They slipped a piece of paper between his head and the bar and wouldn't let him ride. When I explained that he had ridden 3 times the day before, they asked if he had different shoes on. I said nope, same shoes. So I asked if he had shoes that made him touch the bar, would you let him on? And the CM said, yes. So I took my ds to the bathroom, and slid a piece of paper towel in his shoes. We went straight back to the same CM, measured again, and got right on. I was a bit frustrated, but at the same time thankful that the CM basically told me how to jump through the hoops in order to get back on the ride.

 

[aliceindisneyland]

It must depend on the Cast Member. We were just at DL last week and 2 little ones who were shorter than my 42" 4 yr old (he was playing with them while we stood in line) got right on with no problems. I believe the height req. for Indy is 46". 4"-plus seems like quite a gap in the req. Told DS it looked like he could get on Indy if he wanted to, but he opted for Tarzan's Treehouse instead.

 

[XTinabell]

And now back to the original topic . . . I posted this on another thread about Screamin, but I thought it would also be approrpriate to post my experience here:

I took my ds to DLR for his 6th birthday for a special mommy and me trip. He was just tall enough to ride Screamin for the first time and before he would even let us go into DL, he said he wanted to go straight to Screamin and ride it first! He loved it straight away and we rode it another 2 times that day. The same trip he refused to ride Indy because he said it was too scary (he had ridden it on a previous trip). He also won't do ToT because the theming is too scary (he doesn't mind the drop at all).

Side Note: The next day we went to ride Screamin again, and the CM at the loading area said he was too short. They slipped a piece of paper between his head and the bar and wouldn't let him ride. When I explained that he had ridden 3 times the day before, they asked if he had different shoes on. I said nope, same shoes. So I asked if he had shoes that made him touch the bar, would you let him on? And the CM said, yes. So I took my ds to the bathroom, and slid a piece of paper towel in his shoes. We went straight back to the same CM, measured again, and got right on. I was a bit frustrated, but at the same time thankful that the CM basically told me how to jump through the hoops in order to get back on the ride.

Hmm, this does concern me to a degree. I was a child that wore high heels to be tall enough to ride a rollercoaster and it was one of the worst things I've done. Because once sitting down in the ride I was still too small, the ride flung me around and bounced me off the over shoulder harness and when the ride went upside down I was flung foward and couldn't lift my head up resulting in serious neck injury.

While I understand the rides we're talking about are not the roller coaster I was on, it still concerns me when children use taller shoes to get on. Again, I do realize we're talking about making up a half inch and that probably wouldn't be a big deal but I do want to advise caution.

 

[DangerMouse]

Hmm, this does concern me to a degree. I was a child that wore high heels to be tall enough to ride a rollercoaster and it was one of the worst things I've done. Because once sitting down in the ride I was still too small, the ride flung me around and bounced me off the over shoulder harness and when the ride went upside down I was flung foward and couldn't lift my head up resulting in serious neck injury.

While I understand the rides we're talking about are not the roller coaster I was on, it still concerns me when children use taller shoes to get on. Again, I do realize we're talking about making up a half inch and that probably wouldn't be a big deal but I do want to advise caution.

Well, actually, in my son's case, we're talking about less than 1/16th of an inch, and he had alread proven the day prior that he was tall enough for the ride.

I have also used an extra pair of socks on my dd to get her on GRR. She was wearing crocs with no socks, and was not tall enough. We put a pair of my socks on her and put her crocs back on, and she was tall enough. Again, we're talking about less than a 1/4 inch here just to get her head to touch the bar.

These little tricks, I see no problem with since I have actually been advised by CM's (in a very indirect way) to do it.