Height restriction issues

[tarheelblues]

We had the exact same issue on our last trip with my at the time DS4 except he was at the 44" mark (I know, really tall kid. DS 2.5 has already hit 40"). When we were going to mission: space, the CM on the outside measured him and told him to take a deep breath in and sure enough head hit the rail. She then coached him to remember to do so when he got to the front of the line as well. He remembered and it got him by for every single ride.

 

[shepd]

Because then parent that switched then band argues with the cm who noticed that the child who should be too small to ride has on a band hat says he can. Then the line slows down as the parent insists that his child ride because he has the band. Managers are called. Child is remeasured and sure enough is too small. So the parent now yells that the person measuring up front said the child was the right height! And how could they do this to poor Johnny after sitting in line for an hour! Head will roll!

Or the worst case the cm doesn't notice Johnny is too small. Johnny goes on ride and is severely injured because he was too small for the harness. Now parent sues Disney for allowing the too small child to ride and the poor child is injured.


Oh the older, bigger child would have a band because after he takes it off to switch with his brother he goes back to get another. Easy.

Stamps also won't work because those are easy to transfer with a little wet paper towel or tongue to moisten and then re stamp it into the smaller child's hand. This method is popular in college towns where they stamp the hand of those over 21 at bars

Since Disney uses fingerprints (sorry, biometric data) just put the fingerprint scanners at every ride. Unless parents are going to perform surgery to get that to work. If the fingerprint scanner detects matching fingerprints within the family (due to the resolution being used) request one of the matching guests use a different finger.

Done.

 

[Gracie09]

Since Disney uses fingerprints (sorry, biometric data) just put the fingerprint scanners at every ride. Unless parents are going to perform surgery to get that to work. If the fingerprint scanner detects matching fingerprints within the family (due to the resolution being used) request one of the matching guests use a different finger.

Done.

Why would they go to the cost of doing that when they have a system in place that allows them to measure guests to insure their safety? Also what happens when the technology doesn't work? We have all been help up because the reader didn't work or we used the wrong finger or it was Tuesday and the moon was full. And currently children under ten aren't scanned upon entry. Partially because children can't really sit still long enough for their finger to be scanned.

 

[BuzzinDownToDisney]

Good luck on a growth spurt OP. we're in the same boat. DS is 37.2 and we go in 51 days. Of course he has seen the commercial for the 7DMT a hundred times and really wants to go on it.

 

[thedonduck]

Go in the AM for any ride that is close. Also teach them to "reach" with their head/neck to hit the post. I watch many kids go up to get measured and kind of slink under the bar. Practice at home having them try to hit the bar with the top of their head without lifting their feet.

 

[shepd]

Why would they go to the cost of doing that when they have a system in place that allows them to measure guests to insure their safety? Also what happens when the technology doesn't work? We have all been help up because the reader didn't work or we used the wrong finger or it was Tuesday and the moon was full. And currently children under ten aren't scanned upon entry. Partially because children can't really sit still long enough for their finger to be scanned.

Customer satisfaction and increased passenger throughput on the rides.

No reason to get rid of the measuring devices, though. They'll be handy not only for when things break, but also for when a parent figure out how to cheat.

 

[reneaterry]

I need my youngest to grow 2.5" before the beginning of December to ride the 44" rides. Don't think it'll happen and we'll being going back so she really isn't going to miss out but it would be nice.

At six flags, we had youngest get a premeasured band and the employees still measured her at the gates. Despite having the band they had final say on whether she could ride. If they didn't feel comfortable letting her ride they didn't have to. We were fine with it but commented about it being an issue for others who will argue about having a band and the employee still not letting their darling ride.

 

[cobright]

is there something we can do to convince to CM that she was on other 40 inches rides if it so?

Add a Dr. Scholl heal pad to the inside of her shoes, then she'll measure 40+ inches. She'll be fine. as long as you are not trying to boost her more than a quarter inch, there's no reason a CM would have her remove her shoes. Removing shoes is a ridiculous notion anyway because if they require her to be 40" without shoes then they would be saying that every kid who just made it with their shoes on should have been prevented. Patting down big hair I could see, but I've never even heard of a CM demanding a kid take of their shoes.

As for the safety issue. There is no mechanical system with safety related process user height requirements that are critical at the 0.1" resolution. You get on an elevator and it says 2000lb limit and you have 10 average americans on there and a piano, do you worry? You shouldn't.

 

[ses1230]

Since Disney uses fingerprints (sorry, biometric data) just put the fingerprint scanners at every ride. Unless parents are going to perform surgery to get that to work. If the fingerprint scanner detects matching fingerprints within the family (due to the resolution being used) request one of the matching guests use a different finger.

Done.

Kids don't do the finger scan at park entry, so their data isn't even in the system.

 

[maxiesmom]

Add a Dr. Scholl heal pad to the inside of her shoes, then she'll measure 40+ inches. She'll be fine. as long as you are not trying to boost her more than a quarter inch, there's no reason a CM would have her remove her shoes. Removing shoes is a ridiculous notion anyway because if they require her to be 40" without shoes then they would be saying that every kid who just made it with their shoes on should have been prevented. Patting down big hair I could see, but I've never even heard of a CM demanding a kid take of their shoes.

I agree the OP doesn't have anything to worry about, but I have also seen kids made to take their shoes off to be measured. So it is not a ridiculous notion. If it looks like the parent has stuffed their child's shoes (read once about a parent who put ice cream bars in their shoes) or if the shoes have an abnormally high platform (think heelies) then yes, they will ask the shoes be removed.

 

[NYDisneyKid]

May sound crazy but get gel inserts for her shoes. More comfortable for walking and may give her that .1 inch....

Ok, Then let the kid get injured and try suing Disney. When the hospital finds out exact height it will be the court saying "sorry,Disney is not responsible and you lose your case",

 

[jlwhitney]

People were switching bands so their smaller child would have the band of a larger child.

Umm..what about having CM put band on and keep it tight enough where it can't come off with out being tampered with (ie cut off). If it looks tampered with measure the kid.

But honestly, its probably not worth their time and would be a zoo in the morning getting all the kids measured.

 

[maxiesmom]

Umm..what about having CM put band on and keep it tight enough where it can't come off with out being tampered with (ie cut off). If it looks tampered with measure the kid.

But honestly, its probably not worth their time and would be a zoo in the morning getting all the kids measured.

So how would having to stop and inspect the bands speed anything up? Then the CM would have to make a judgement call on whether the band had been messed with or not. That would cause problems!

Not to mention, back in my younger days I knew many a person who had a wrist band put on for drinking reasons, who were able to get them off, no problem. It is not hard.

And then you would have the kids complaining about wearing the band. Kind of like people are complaining now about having to wear Magic Bands.

 

[mesaboy2]

Umm..what about having CM put band on and keep it tight enough where it can't come off with out being tampered with (ie cut off). If it looks tampered with measure the kid.

But honestly, its probably not worth their time and would be a zoo in the morning getting all the kids measured.

I believe Disney has attempted such a system in the past and opted against it. Sounds like a royal pain to police, when just standing a kid next to a stick is pretty simple if not precisely accurate.

 

[jco_direwolf]

Since Disney uses fingerprints (sorry, biometric data) just put the fingerprint scanners at every ride. Unless parents are going to perform surgery to get that to work. If the fingerprint scanner detects matching fingerprints within the family (due to the resolution being used) request one of the matching guests use a different finger. Done.

Disney doesn't use biometrics for children this system only works for short 10 yo

 

[NYDisneyKid]

I believe Disney has attempted such a system in the past and opted against it. Sounds like a royal pain to police, when just standing a kid next to a stick is pretty simple if not precisely accurate.

They are accurate. I was curious and brought a tape measure with me one day. Yep right to the inch.

 

[AndreaA]

They are accurate. I was curious and brought a tape measure with me one day. Yep right to the inch.

Which brings me back to my earlier point that any kid who is just touching the line is technically UNDER the required height if they weren't in shoes. Which must mean that just touching the bar - even if you aren't that tall shoeless - is "safe" according to Disney. Which means that a person should be able to go through even if they are under-height shoeless as long as their shoes get them up to that height. It all makes me think that there is considerable leeway in what the ride manufacturer actually tells Disney "safe" is and what Disney decides to tell the public. With good reason... I wouldn't really feel safe having my barely-40in-kid ride something with a 40in height minimum if I didn't assume that it was actually probably safe for a kid a bit shorter than that.

 

[ldymcbth]

Can you explain it to me? You could do it outside the main gate and get measured pre-RD then avoid disappointment as possible confrontations with CMs. They have this at Hershey an it was a huge help, plus we didn't waste time standing on lengthy queues only to be turned down.

This was during my pre-kid days, so I didn't have experience with it personally, but I have heard reports from people who DID use a centralized measuring system at Disney, and parents would swap out bands, etc.

Dollywood is not nearly as busy (or as much of a lawsuit-magnet, I would assume) as Disney, so they are able to implement it fairly easily. It's a tiny wait in the morning to get measured, as they write a ton of information on each child's band - shirt color, shoe type, shoe color, etc. But then, your kid knows absolutely which rides they can and cannot ride. That was AWESOME, honestly - my shorty 6 yo was able to know ahead of time instead of getting to the front of a line queue and have the person decide she's too short by the amount of a piece of paper (which happened at Disney).

I think it would be a ZOO at Disney, and then you'd also have people who would complain that their kids hate wristbands, what exception can you make for my kid, etc. There's a lot more whining at Disney than at Dollywood IMO! Haha!

I won't lie - I will be really thrilled when my youngest is finally 48" and we don't have to worry about ride height at WDW anymore!

 

[savannie]

My 3-year-old niece was 39 and a fraction of an inch on our last trip. She was allowed on BTMR, but not on Soarin'. She had on tennis shoes at BTMR, but sandals for Soarin'. We think that made the difference. They really did try to get her to 40 inches for us, but it just didn't work. They told her to stand up straight and tall, but mashed her ponytail down. They were all very nice about it, even when they had to say no.

 

[bumbershoot]

How does that help, the shorter child is still short. Unless you mean so the older child could ride twice, in which case the younger one just got hosed out of a FP

IN case you're hearing "band" and thinking "magic band", the poster meant a height-check band. If the CMs inside the gates are only looking at bands and aren't checking height, a smaller child could sneak a band on and just ride.

Hello all...The last time we went to Disney, we brought our nephew with us and was a hair under 40 inches...like 39.9 inches...Depending on the CM, he was able to go on some rides with height of 40 inches and some he was denied.

If there's a big important ride, and if she hits the height wearing normal shoes, go in the morning when she's rested and well hydrated. Make sure she knows to stand straight and tall (an earlier mention of taking a deep breath is a good one) and that the goal is to hit her head on the bar. Make sure she knows that a re-ride might not be possible after a bigger ride.