How consistent are height checks?

[Lyndria]

one went to the extreme of making him breathe in and out for a couple minutes, pushed down on his hair, called for backup and everything

Seriously? That's really annoying. I would have been ticked if the CM was doing that to my son.

 

[letsgoagainsoon]

Seriously? That's really annoying. I would have been ticked if the CM was doing that to my son.

Yep, I was getting very agitated. For only being 2.5 he was a great sport about too!

 

[katytrott]

I had been hoping this last few weeks that DS2 is going through a growth spurt. Thing is we measure kids in cms in the UK, and a few weeks a go, he was 102cm. I checked all ears and they said the 1st level height restrictions (eg. BTMR, Test track etc) was 40"/103cms. Reading this thread inspired me to check him again (he's now approx 102.5cm), but I noticed on the tape measure that 40" is actually UNDER 102, so I'm really hopeful we'll be ok. I then looked on WDW website and noticed they actually say 40"/102cm, not the 103cm that all ears say, so it's giving me even more hope!

Just wondering, if a piece of paper makes all the difference, do you think that some of their bars are measured to cms and some inchs? Maybe if kids were measured before leaving and were just 40", maybe thats why the weren't quite making the 102cm. Just a thought.............

Other thing to mention, DH is a physiotherapist and I asked him about the whole spine shortening thing. He explained that while that does happen when older, it def. wouldn't happen with young kids as their cartilage is denser.

 

[katytrott]

Just measured my son again with new shoes - 103cm, so hoping we'll be ok

 

[kaytieeldr]

see my post on the 1st page. the floor is sloped.

The poster was blaming the slope of the ground beneath the measurement stick making the measurements inconsistent (which IS something Disney could fix).

Any slope is likely in response to (the result of) parents who will go to any length to increase their child's height to get them on the attraction:

We found the same thing. My daughter easily cleared Space Mountain, barely squeezed in at Big Thunder and could not make Splash Mountain even though they were all supposedl 40 inches. I went to Town Hall to complain but they did not seem to care. My daughter was about an inch short at Splash Mountain, we went and got her cowboy boots, stuck some napkins in the heels and she made it on day 2.

 

[burnsoc]

I've often thought of bringing my own tape measure to measure Disney's measurements. We've run the gamut of CM's from those who barely check to those who also push down on hair. We've gone on rides and then been denied at the same ride later on.

 

[maxiesmom]

I've often thought of bringing my own tape measure to measure Disney's measurements. We've run the gamut of CM's from those who barely check to those who also push down on hair. We've gone on rides and then been denied at the same ride later on.

It won't matter. The only measurement they go by is one with their own device.

I totally understand the frustration. However, getting mad (not that you said you would) or hauling out a measuring tape is not going to help. All it does is stress out your child even more, and it certainly won't get your child on the ride. If your child is very close to the correct height you have to decide if you want to chance getting on or not. And you need to be able to accept the No with grace, if that is the answer you get, even if you don't feel it is the correct answer.

 

[jlovesee]

Who ever made a comment about breathing in and out, this isn't that odd. Breathing in does make a difference in height, not much but if its a grey area (like 1/8 an inch) it CAN make a difference. So for those with kids close in height, make sure they breath in when they are getting measured.

Height checking is NOT an exact science, some may say 40" is 40" but not really. If they just sealed the concrete under the height sign, if its 8AM as opposed to 5PM (someone mentioned that we are taller in the morning which is true), if humidity has caused the height sign to be slightly warped...

Then there is the issue of where a kids head needs to be. I have seen everything it seems, well placed pony tails, sticky hair (gelled hair), baseball caps, etc. WE WILL TAKE THE HATS OFF. WE WILL SMOOTH HAIR DOWN. Hair does not account for height. We need to know where the head actually is. If I touch your sons precious hair don't go running for a manager. And yes sometimes we need a second opinion.

Some may say 1/8 an inch won't hurt my child, and really it won't. There is not that much difference between 39 3/4" and 40". However, if you let someone ride who is 39 3/4" how about someone who is 39 5/8" Where do you draw the line? That's primarily why its taken so seriously.

Last for the person who mentioned running out and buying cowboy boots and stuffing with newspaper. Sometimes that will fly and sometimes it wont. Just be aware. It depends on who is doing the height checks and how observant they are. For me, I would usually notice it. Here (at my local park) we will require the kid to take their shoes off and measure in their parents shoes. (with regular heels), same thing with healys. However, there is nothing wrong with a pair of sketchers.... Usually the rule is anything over a 1 inch heel is re-measured without shoes. Under that though... So if your kid is close DON'T WEAR FLIP FLOPS.

BTW I did not work at Disney, however I spent 7 seasons working at a large local park here, and did more height checks, and was screamed at by more parents rolleyes1) then I care to remember.

Remember, please be nice to the ride operators, they are controlling that 10 ton train you are riding in...


Jennifer

 

[missmary]

We were there in mid September with my just-turning-3-year-old. She was exactly 40" barefoot at the doctor's right before we left and I was excited. At MK, she rode BTMR and Splash 6-7 times with no problems at all. At DHS she rode ToT twice and loved it and Star Tours 3 times. At AK she rode Dinosaur and loved it. At Epcot she rode Soarin' and loved it.

Then we got to Test Track... The man working there had her stand under the height measure thing and just as everywhere before she exactly hit the line. But, that wasn't good enough for him. He flattened her hair, not once, but three times. He had her step out and then back in and then back out and then back in. Had her put her feet together, then push them back, etc. Finally, he got the red credit card thing they use to track line times and had her stand under the stick while he tried to slide the credit card between her head and the stick. Even though the card kept getting stuck when it hit the middle of her head, he claimed that since he could get it in at all (from the side) that she she was too short. It was incredibly frustrating. My daughter was so sad because she felt like she had failed a test. And it ate up nearly 15 minutes of our day. I have no idea what that particular CM's problem was, but he was not impressed and kept acting like we were trying to game the system, which we weren't.

She was measured at least twice at every ride. She passed every measurement except for Test Track. I still don't understand why.

 

[brightspark]

Have been reading all these posts with interest... as the mother of a 'just about 40 inches' 3 year old! We've been measuring and re-measuring for the past couple of weeks and I'm still not sure how tall he is. Having read the posts though, the thing that I'm now convinced of, is that he'll never pass the 'test' because he simply won't cope with the pressure to stand there, being poked and prodded. That's really tough on a small child, and hats off to the kiddies who put up with it calmly.

Thankfully for us, he's accepted that the small rides are special for him, and are better than the big ones. Also most of the rides are pretty hidden away so he won't know what he's missing... but we'll have to keep him out of sight of Big Thunder as he is train mad.

He LOVES rollercoasters (having been on several of them at fairs) and it's sad that without Goofy's barnstormer, there isn't much in that line for those under 40 inches.

On the other hand, he loved Cinderella's carousel last time (at 18 months) and we went on it over and over again... yet when we got home to a local holiday park, we found that unless he was 40inches he wasn't allowed to ride their (tiny in comparison carousel ) even with a parent... (he so didn't understand that one). So in someways I think Disney is fairly lenient in their height restrictions...

 

[Claire&TheBoys]

Have been reading all these posts with interest... as the mother of a 'just about 40 inches' 3 year old! We've been measuring and re-measuring for the past couple of weeks and I'm still not sure how tall he is. Having read the posts though, the thing that I'm now convinced of, is that he'll never pass the 'test' because he simply won't cope with the pressure to stand there, being poked and prodded. That's really tough on a small child, and hats off to the kiddies who put up with it calmly.

Thankfully for us, he's accepted that the small rides are special for him, and are better than the big ones. Also most of the rides are pretty hidden away so he won't know what he's missing... but we'll have to keep him out of sight of Big Thunder as he is train mad.

He LOVES rollercoasters (having been on several of them at fairs) and it's sad that without Goofy's barnstormer, there isn't much in that line for those under 40 inches.

On the other hand, he loved Cinderella's carousel last time (at 18 months) and we went on it over and over again... yet when we got home to a local holiday park, we found that unless he was 40inches he wasn't allowed to ride their (tiny in comparison carousel ) even with a parent... (he so didn't understand that one). So in someways I think Disney is fairly lenient in their height restrictions...

The best thing to do is to practice with him. Make a height chart and hold a book or something hard at the 40" mark then have him try to stand under it and try to touch his head to it. I think a lot of kids shy away from the height sticks because they don't want to bump their heads, but that is the object in this case.

Also, remember that not every CM is going to push and poke and seems to try to get the child to "fail" the height check. We've been to WDW many times and have never had a CM do that to either of our kids. They simply walked over to the marker, stood under it and if their heads bumped, they rode, if not, they didn't.

We personally found the height-check process to be fast and easy and have never had a complaint.

 

[vinotinto]

Not consistent at all. My DD cleared the 40 inch height limit by half on inch the bar outside Star Tours, but when measured inside the ride, right before stepping in, she was about half an inch short. She was wearing good sneakers. Next day, she cleared Kali River Rapids (38 inch requirement) by more than 1 full inch, wearing only sandals (which do not provide the same height support as her sneakers). So, I'm pretty sure she was 40 inches in her sneakers the morning before. It helped us to know that it would be very inconsistent, and we had told her that if she was too short, we would do something else fun. She's also a very laid back kid.

I would assume that if they are at least a little more than the height limit without shoes that they will likely clear the bar heights, but if they are around that with shoes on, it seemed to me that some of the bars are set up to account for shoes.

 

[whodat1229]

I'm so bummed My daughter is 39.75 inches in her shoes, and we leave in 6 weeks! It wouldn't be a big deal, except that my nephew and our friends' daughter will be tall enough. Mine is the youngest/smallest, but old enough to realize that they are going but she is not. it's gonna stink. Seriously considering getting orthotics professionally made

 

[bibbidibobbidibecky]

I commented on this thread a while back before our trip. My daughter was measuring just over 40 inches barefoot. I'm happy to report we rode test track, tot, sm and btmr with no issues! She was measured each time and hit her head on every bar...consistently.

 

[SnipsNSnails]

I was so thankful not to have to deal with any of that this trip. My DS grew 5.5 in. in 8 months putting him at 45.5 without shoes so they didn't even stop him to measure on EE. In June when he was 43.75 I wasn't sure if we'd be OK, but another 1.75 in. in those last 3 months and he was golden.

However, last December we visited MK for the day while visiting my grandparents. He was just 40 in. barefoot. The only ride we did was BTMR and they measured him every time and he passed every time because he was cleary over with his tennis shoes on. If they are close, they will measure.