How are the height restrictions measured?

[mbrittb00]

I have passed several e-mails back an forth with the WDW folks trying to get this question answered, but I keep getting the run around.

Anyway, what I am tring to find out is if the "sticks" they use to verify the height restrictions are exactly the height indicated, or if they add 1/4" or 1/2" to account for shoes. i.e. the height restriction for Test Track is 40". Does that mean that the top of my son's head needs to be 40" from the ground (reguardless if he is wearing shoes, sandels, etc), or is the bar actually 40 1/2" assuming that everyone will be wearing shoes that have a 1/2" sole on them.

This is an important question form me since one of my sons is approaching 40" and we want to make sure he will be able to ride all the 40" rides when we go back.

Thanks.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

We were there in February with friends whose DS4 was 40" tall. His head hit the top of the bar when they measured him on Soarin, and we thought he was good. However, they wouldn't let him ride, even though our group was picked as Soarin Family of the Day. I actually stayed outside with him and let his mother ride (since I'd ridden it in October), and there was another mother there with her DD who was about the same height and she was turned away also. She and I measured them ourselves and we thought they made it. I guess what I'm trying to say is that yes, we've found them to be pretty strict, however, it is the luck of the draw depending on who's doing the measuring.

 

[Fionasmommy]

They had a bar there, with a parallel piece on top that you had to be as tall as or taller. They measured DD5 for M:S and she walked right under it with several inches to spare. Oh well, next time!

 

[AJKMOM]

It looks like the sticks are the required height with a bar on the top. If your son is 40" without shoes, he should be OK.

 

[John VN]

With our 4yo DGS we had him stand up real straight so the top of his head hit the bottom of the horizontal bar that is 40" from the ground. They did not make him take his shoes off but he had to stand with shoes flat on the floor.

 

[Cor44432]

We are just back today, our 4 yr old is 41"-42" ish, so she was measured just
about every time. When the CM moved (swung) the bar, her head had to "stop"
it for her to be considered good to ride (or so we were told).

 

[mbrittb00]

I have passed several e-mails back an forth with the WDW folks trying to get this question answered, but I keep getting the run around.

Anyway, what I am tring to find out is if the "sticks" they use to verify the height restrictions are exactly the height indicated, or if they add 1/4" or 1/2" to account for shoes. i.e. the height restriction for Test Track is 40". Does that mean that the top of my son's head needs to be 40" from the ground (reguardless if he is wearing shoes, sandels, etc), or is the bar actually 40 1/2" assuming that everyone will be wearing shoes that have a 1/2" sole on them.

This is an important question form me since one of my sons is approaching 40" and we want to make sure he will be able to ride all the 40" rides when we go back.

Thanks.

Are you saying that his head hit the bar and they STILL would not let him ride? What's up with that? I'm not sure what I would have done.

Well, this is not encouraging me. We are considering going in Febuary of next year. He is currently 38 1/2" (w/ shoes), and at this current rate of growth, he would be right at 40 1/2" (w/ shoes, ~40" w/o shoes) when we go. Feburary may be the last chance we get to go for a few more years, so we really want to go, but REALLY don't want to if he isn't going to be able to ride anything new, especially Star Tours and Big Thunder Mountain since he got real upset he couldn't ride them last time.

Thanks.

 

[Candleshoe]

Different rides, different measuring sticks. i know on our first trip DD was JUST barely 40" when we I last measured her before we left. So I wasn't sure what would happen.

She did make it on all of the 40" rides (Soarin' wasn't open yet.) But there were some that were trickier than others to measure. The easiest for dd was the bar that has hanging chains down. The kid goes under it and if she jiggles the chain she's tall enough. The first one she measured on however was the regular stick-and-bar (like an upside down L). She kept ducking her head because she didn't want to hit it Took forever to measure her!

She *was* only 3 at the time, so I couldn't blame her.

 

[eeyoreiscool]

Some of the lines also have uneven surfaces they are measuring on so you might get the wrong measurement. We haven't actually measured the acutal distance of the sticks but as we get closer we might have to do it.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

I'm not sure what I would have done.

There's not much you can do! If they say no, it's no! How do you think we felt when, despite all the hoopla as Soarin Family of the Day (our group was chosen to ride by ourselves, first ride of the day), they wouldn't let our friend's son ride even though his head touched the top of the bar! It was a real disappointment and of course we pleaded, but there was nothing else we could do.

When our own son was around 4 1/2 and 40#, we were in the same predicament at Space Mountain. My DH took him on, but nobody measured him. The next day, I went to take him on, and they measured him and said no. I asked for a manager who was fairly rude about it. I told him he rode yesterday and he turned to my DS and asked him how he liked the loops on Space Mountain when he rode yesterday. My DS, who was a confused and embarrassed, said "good", and the manager then said to him, "sorry, there are no loops on Space Mountain, you couldn't have ridden yesterday"! Needless to say, I was he said that to him and gave him a piece of my mind as well (to not let us on is fine, but don't accuse us of lying and then humiliate my 4 yo son)! We just waited till the next year, but I still am aversed to SM!!

 

[MsLeFever]

I asked for a manager who was fairly rude about it. I told him he rode yesterday and he turned to my DS and asked him how he liked the loops on Space Mountain when he rode yesterday. My DS, who was a confused and embarrassed, said "good", and the manager then said to him, "sorry, there are no loops on Space Mountain, you couldn't have ridden yesterday"! Needless to say, I was he said that to him and gave him a piece of my mind as well (to not let us on is fine, but don't accuse us of lying and then humiliate my 4 yo son)! We just waited till the next year, but I still am aversed to SM!!

That stinks. I'm pretty sure my 4 year old would react the same way. Besides to us, "loops" might imply upside down loops but to kids it might mean just the back and forth loops!

hmmm...my 8 year old rode SM about 5 times our last trip when he was 6. I just asked HIM if he liked the loops and he said "yes."

 

[disneyfan6301]

When they measure your son, be sure to tell him to stand up very very straight. Also, tell him to look straight ahead. I have seen many kids who look down, and they don't measure up . Then, they don't take time to remeasure. Also, be sure you are not holding your child. My SIL and BIL went with us one year. Their little boy probably would not have been measured for TT if he would have walked. However, he was in a whiny/mad mood, and his daddy was carrying him. My DH tried to tell him that if he wanted to ride, he better get down, but neither my nephew nor my BIL would listen. . When we got to the measuring point, they made him get down, measured him, and he just missed the mark (although, I don't think he stood up tall-tall).

 

[mbrittb00]

Finally got a decent answer as follows.

"The child must be 40" tall while wearing normal footwear."

Not exactly the answer to my question, but it accomplished the same thing. Of course that brings up the question of what "normal footwear" is.

Thanks