How accurate are CM's measuring sticks?

[PurpleKomodo]

The. Put the fingerprint readers from the front gates at the rides. I agree, we have the technology to make that a pretty fool proof system. Any system can be abused. I feel like the best for the most should be the option.

 

[rotlex]

My point is that there are better methods, and bands that cannot be "swapped out".

Most parks we visit, outside of Disney, do this with a non removable band. Not sure why Disney does not.

In regards to the OP. I think any parks measuring sticks are "accurate". The problem we used to run into, and anyone I would assume, is that the child isn't standing upright, has different shoes, etc. etc. Common issues at any park. Again, having a spot near the entrance to the park where the child can be officially measured makes a lot of sense.

The most frustrating thing I see for kids at one of our local parks is getting measured twice for a ride. Once at the entrance, then again right before they get on. I've seen kids be measured fine in one spot, and told they can't ride by the ride OP after waiting 30-60 minutes etc. Happened to a kid in front of me at a waterpark yesterday. I told the OP they measured him down at the entrance and let him through. After a brief discussion, they let him ride. That type of thing is VERY frustrating for anyone. And again, as someone above said, a half inch is NOT going to make a difference safety wise.

 

[Dan Murphy]

I feel like the best for the most should be the option.

That may be okay for many things at WDW, like park entry, fastpasses, line jumping, whatever. However, when it comes to safety, here of children experiencing possibly injury or worse, there can be no margins of error for what works for most.

 

[Goofy_Disney_Dad]

I wonder how many kids walk around like this at the parks...



Yes, that was a joke.

 

[kamik86]

My point is that there are better methods, and bands that cannot be "swapped out".

You mean like the ones they use for the halloween party? Yeah they can be. I have yet to have a disney CM put one on me well enough that I couldn't just take it off. Even if they did however many people are VERY good at taking them off. Stamps can be transferred as well espeically if someone plans ahead to do so.

For something like party entrance yes there may be a few people that decide they will let someone else use their band to go to the party for the rest of the night after they leave after the first parade but since there is no chance disney will get sued because someone did this (the person who snuck in this way is no more likely to be injured then the guests that paid) its not a huge problem.

However if a CM isn't paying great attention so doesn't notice the kid that just passed with a blue "I'm over 40 inches" band is really closer to 35 inches... that kid is more likely to get hurt and if they are the parents would sue and even if Disney ended up winning because the parent should never have brought that kid on and lied to get the kid on there would still be alot of people that felt disney was in the wrong that they didn't do enough and that they aren't safe. It would definitely hurt them much more then a guest that didn't pay for the half party he attended.

 

[dancin Disney style]

OP...I think that your child will most likely grow enough in the next 2 months to give you that extra half inch or more. Don't worry too much about it. It's one of those things that is out of your control. If your child is refused at a ride or two...well, that's a learning opportunity.

 

[tobikaye]

What methods are other parks using that are not easy to swap? We were at Kings Island yesterday and got my cousin's kids measured. They put on paper bands that I had to tear off not long after as they were too tight. Still, if someone took the time, they could have easily taken one off and put back on a different child and you would never know.

I really think it would be a good idea to have a measuring system that would allow a kid to be measured once each day so they would not have to be measured again. Bands are out as there are too many ways to take them off and switch or many kids do not like them so would have to be measured each time.

Stamps that cannot be recreated? Maybe a bar code system that is placed on the kid's hand?

I thought maybe a picture system where the kid gets a card that has there name and height entered, but then there are many siblings that look so alike that they could swap cards. I know a couple of brothers that were 2 years apart, but only an inch in height difference that everyone thought they were twins.

 

[Rivermonster]

Thank you for all the helpful replies. I think I will keep our FPes scheduled as they are, as I think it would just be too stressful to micromanage them into what my daughter may or may not be able to ride and who would give up one of their FPes in order to ride another attraction with her.

 

[BuckeyeBama]

You mean like the ones they use for the halloween party?

No - there are better ones than that which you can purchase at a party store. They have a portion that tears easily when pulled or stretched. It is obvious when they have been "swapped" if examined at all.

Our boys are teens now, so this is not going to be a concern for us again until the grandkids come along. But this was a frustration for us 15 years ago, and it still exists today. At no other park that we have attended were our children turned away at a ride entrance after being allowed to ride earlier in the day or trip. WDW just spent $2B on this MDE stuff. There has to be a better solution which could leverage that technology.

 

[palmtreegirl]

If she's 40 inches barefoot, she should be fine! Plus I'm sure she'll grow again in 60 days.

 

[ml sumner]

We had the very same dilemia last year with our son who was 3. He measured a little over 39 inches in June, at his 3 yo check up and come September he was a little over the 40 inch mark and got to ride Splash, Soarin, Test Track and BTMRR. We did not talk up these rides with him just in case he didn't hit the height limit BUT I did give him a gummy vitamin everyday to keep him healthy. Didn't put him on TOT because I didn't think he was ready for that. He liked all of these rides except for Soarin. We went to Epcot twice and the second time he didn't want to get on the "kite ride" so we sat it out while the others rode. Now I will say on Test Track they meausred him twice just to be sure he hit the mark (they are strict on this). No getting around it and no stuffing shoes! Good luck and have fun!

 

[sleepymouse]

If the search option would be used more often, half the threads could be removed ;-)

I would agree with this if the search function actually functioned better. I use it often to no avail even though I am sure the information I want is somewhere on these boards.

 

[disnut8]

No - there are better ones than that which you can purchase at a party store. They have a portion that tears easily when pulled or stretched. It is obvious when they have been "swapped" if examined at all.

Our boys are teens now, so this is not going to be a concern for us again until the grandkids come along. But this was a frustration for us 15 years ago, and it still exists today. At no other park that we have attended were our children turned away at a ride entrance after being allowed to ride earlier in the day or trip. WDW just spent $2B on this MDE stuff. There has to be a better solution which could leverage that technology.

I think this subject could be debated for the next ten years and there's nothing we can do about it. There are parents who would complain that their children had to wear wristbands (anyone want to join on the MagicBand thing yet?) all day, some parents that would complain that the kids' information is in the MagicBands now but height changes, and there will be parents who will figure out how to put their older child's height on their younger child's MagicBand.

 

[campbell95]

Most rides do have a measuring stick outside of the line, so that you can check your child before waiting in the queue. That said. On our Easter trip, our daughter was able to ride Space Mountain, twice, but not Everest. Both have the same height requirement. Both were in the early morning. She varied between sneakers and crocs, so that might have made the difference. 60 days is a long time in terms of children and growth. In our case, she was on the border in April, but was easily able to ride everything last week. In your case I'd say to hope for the best and prepare for the worst. You'll probably be fine.

 

[tjug409]

Love the new magic bands!

 

[Alicenwonderment]

I worked at a water park in high school and college. I was in Guest Relations and we had a crutch to measure the height of anyone in question. The prices were done by height. One rate for under 4 feet and a higher rate for over the 4 feet mark. Once the measurements were taken we would tell the cashier how many over 4 feet and under. Once they paid they would take their receipt and give it to another person in the tunnel. The tunnel worker would stamp all the over 4 feet guests. At the beginning of the rides there was a person stationed at the bottom to be sure no under 4 feet kids were trying to get in line. The reason why it was 4 feet requirement is that the person would be able to touch the bottom of the water in case they got out of the tube. I have seen many sneaky parents trying to get their child over 4 feet. Some would even rub their stamp onto the child in front of us. That was always fun to handle. Bottom line is it is a safety issue and nothing should trump safety.

 

[Karin1984]

I would agree with this if the search function actually functioned better. I use it often to no avail even though I am sure the information I want is somewhere on these boards.

I think it's not the functionality. It's a machine, you put in a word or a phrase and the machine searches where this is on the boards. My best way to find is to search in 'titles only', looking within posts usually gives too many results.

To me there are mainly 3 things:
- members not giving clear titles to their threads. 'Oh no what have I done' is not a title that helps another member.
- the set up of the boards, the dis has several boards that could be combined. Example the difference between tips and strategies is not clear to all. A tip about how to use a Fp, can also be called a strategy
- the dis administrators not have time/energy/other option to keep the boards clean (referring to, combing and/or closing threads) and encourage members to use the search option. I understand that is a full time job on a board like this and of course you want the members to have the freedom to post they want to but in my opinion there must be a middle way to really use the boards as a source of information.