Infant on lap for Toy Story ride at Studios?

[Koz]

We will have a 5 month old with us in December and there's no way that she'll be brought on that ride. There's certain forces that a 5 month old body should not be subjected to, including the "whipping around" of an amusement park ride, irrespective of how you're holding her.

Ask yourself the following- will the baby know/care if they miss out on this ride?

 

[DizBelle]

Okay, that gives me a better idea. I just couldn't picture what other types of rides would apply. Thanks.


Inconsistency among cast members can be so frustrating! I guess if I decide I'm not comfortable with the baby on my lap I'll ask for a baby swap pass and ask again as necessary!


What are your reason(s) for this? I'm not trying to debate, really just hoping to better understand.

The question was: Why would I never put a child in between an adult and the lap bar? The lap bars are not designed to be used this way. Suppose you are sitting on the ride with a child on your lap and the bar over both you and the child. There is some technical glitch that causes the ride to jerk. You are thrust forward into the lap bar. The child is caught between you and the lap bar and could get injured... Pretty significantly injured depending on the force of the jerk. It just doesn't seem worth it to me.

The same goes for seat belts in cars. They are designed to restrain one person. Never put a seat belt around more than one person.

 

[DizBelle]

Fwiw, that's what CMs always instructed us to do with lap kids. What other option is there?

For the majority of rides with lap bars and no height limit - the rides are slow moving, don't jerk around, etc. And the bar is never all that close to me. It's not like there 4 inches on space between me and the bar and a baby is smooshed in there. I can't imagine what other option there would be - it wouldn't be possible to hold a baby on your lap, over the lap bar.

Of course you have another option.... Don't ride.

The lap bars are there for a reason. One of which is to restrain the rider in case the movement of the vehicle necessitates it (either by design or mechanical fault). Something between the rider and the lap bar would be subject to breakage if the vehicle movement is forceful enough. That breakage could be your childs legs or spleen.

 

[dmband]

Rides are designed in a way or a reason
There are risks in every situation
If a cm says lap riding is fine then the risk of injury is low
If. They say no lap riding the risk is higher
They are not going to let you lap ride it they feel the bar is a high risk just like they will not let you ride on the seat if they feel the bar is a risk in the way of it will not protect you

 

[ghtx]

C'mon, they're just babies, for pete's sake. It's not like they're crystal vases. Let 'em ride.

 

[DizBelle]

C'mon, they're just babies, for pete's sake. It's not like they're crystal vases. Let 'em ride.

Your kid, your choice. Me? I wouldn't do it.

 

[brockash]

It isn't incorrect.

It's what our experience was.

Others have had a different (and probably more recent) experience.

That's why we all post.

From 2008:
http://www.tampabay.com/news/business/tourism/article505462.ece


It looks like things have changed since we had a lap rider aged kid (our youngest will be 6 in September). Now, in reviewing some of the other dis threads on the subject, it looks like that rule changed some time in 2009.

http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=32979965&postcount=3

Maybe it depended on the CM's back then, because in Sept. of 2008 I rode multiple times with my then 1 year old on my lap with no issues, and in Sept. 2009 did the same thing with her at 2, so I can't imagine that riding with a lap baby was banned back then, but maybe you encountered a CM with a strong and different opinion than the ones we did. Either way, as far as the OP is concerned, riding with a lap baby currently shouldn't be an issue.

 

[Koz]

Maybe it depended on the CM's back then, because in Sept. of 2008 I rode multiple times with my then 1 year old on my lap with no issues, and in Sept. 2009 did the same thing with her at 2, so I can't imagine that riding with a lap baby was banned back then, but maybe you encountered a CM with a strong and different opinion than the ones we did. Either way, as far as the OP is concerned, riding with a lap baby currently shouldn't be an issue.

One would certainly make an argument that a 1 or 2 year old's body is much better suited to being on any kind of a motion-ride as opposed to a 5 month old.

 

[pilferk]

Maybe it depended on the CM's back then, because in Sept. of 2008 I rode multiple times with my then 1 year old on my lap with no issues, and in Sept. 2009 did the same thing with her at 2, so I can't imagine that riding with a lap baby was banned back then, but maybe you encountered a CM with a strong and different opinion than the ones we did.

Again, I can only tell you what our experience was.

The article from May of '08 (which I did not write) said "banned". That seems like it came directly from Disney, rather than from the authors experience or POV. If you read the disboards thread the post I linked to is in..you'll see others who were also told "no lap riding" in '08....and at some point it changed. The most narrow window the thread seems to indicate is "sometime in 2009".

It's at least as likely you got "kind" CMs as it is I got a "strict" ones on our trip in late Sept '08. Right? All you can really report is your experience, really..not the type of CM, reasoning..whatever. Maybe there was some inkling that the policy was going to change, soon around that time. Or maybe not. I don't know.

All I know is what we were told and what I can find documented. It looks pretty apparent that at one time it wasn't allowed, and then it was (as it seems to be, now).

 

[North of Mouse]

We will have a 5 month old with us in December and there's no way that she'll be brought on that ride. There's certain forces that a 5 month old body should not be subjected to, including the "whipping around" of an amusement park ride, irrespective of how you're holding her.

Ask yourself the following- will the baby know/care if they miss out on this ride?

Agree completely, because I know how much it jerks me around and I'm expecting the movement (hard to tell which way you'll jerk, though). One pp remarked that "they're just babies" Wow, my mothering instinct would not allow it no matter how many CM's say it's ok. Also, contrary to what some have said, there is a danger with the lap bar, because I'm constantly thrown against it - that's why it's there - wouldn't want a baby between me and it - no way. When a baby is injured, then you can watch them sue

 

[DisneyBelle27]

Your kind, your choice. Me? I wouldn't do it.

Agree completely, because I know how much it jerks me around and I'm expecting the movement (hard to tell which way you'll jerk, though). One pp remarked that "they're just babies" Wow, my mothering instinct would not allow it no matter how many CM's say it's ok. Also, contrary to what some have said, there is a danger with the lap bar, because I'm constantly thrown against it - that's why it's there - wouldn't want a baby between me and it - no way. When a baby is injured, then you can watch them sue

I believe it's called sarcasm and wasn't meant to be taken seriously. Hence the at the end of their sentence.

 

[rachellm]

Of course you have another option.... Don't ride.

The lap bars are there for a reason. One of which is to restrain the rider in case the movement of the vehicle necessitates it (either by design or mechanical fault). Something between the rider and the lap bar would be subject to breakage if the vehicle movement is forceful enough. That breakage could be your childs legs or spleen.

Of course not riding is always an option

Just out of curiousity, do you feel the same way about all lap bar/no height rides (ie peter pan, hm, etc)

 

[rachellm]

Agree completely, because I know how much it jerks me around and I'm expecting the movement (hard to tell which way you'll jerk, though). One pp remarked that "they're just babies" Wow, my mothering instinct would not allow it no matter how many CM's say it's ok. Also, contrary to what some have said, there is a danger with the lap bar, because I'm constantly thrown against it - that's why it's there - wouldn't want a baby between me and it - no way. When a baby is injured, then you can watch them sue

I assume that in the 4+ years that the ride has been open, with countless lap children, that there have been no such injuries. I mean - we'd have heard right?

And if Disney assessed the risk, said it was fine, allowed/encouraged people to ride and when they did so AS DIRECTED, if someone was injured - than I see nothing wrong with suing.

 

[t_catt11]

For what it's worth, both of our last two trips (January 2010 and October 2011) have been with 4 month old babies. We rode TSM several times each trip, with the baby, with no issues whatsoever (aside from the holding parent not being able to aim/play as easily). Granted, my wife typically wore the baby in a wrap/carrier, but he also sat in the seat.

Disney would not let you on with a baby if there was an actual danger.

 

[christie_megansmom]

This was in 2009, but this is how we rode, with my husband next to us. She was 20 months old at the time.

 

[tripletsmama]

For what it's worth, both of our last two trips (January 2010 and October 2011) have been with 4 month old babies. We rode TSM several times each trip, with the baby, with no issues whatsoever (aside from the holding parent not being able to aim/play as easily). Granted, my wife typically wore the baby in a wrap/carrier, but he also sat in the seat.

Disney would not let you on with a baby if there was an actual danger.

Did the CMs allow your wife to leave the baby in the carrier on the ride?

 

[DizBelle]

This was in 2009, but this is how we rode, with my husband next to us. She was 20 months old at the time.

That looks like a really bad idea to me.

 

[North of Mouse]

I assume that in the 4+ years that the ride has been open, with countless lap children, that there have been no such injuries. I mean - we'd have heard right?

And if Disney assessed the risk, said it was fine, allowed/encouraged people to ride and when they did so AS DIRECTED, if someone was injured - than I see nothing wrong with suing.

Suing would not help your baby That's what parents are for (not Disney or anyone else) It is our responsibility, as parents, to access situations, and protect our children to the best of our ability. Call me super cautious, if you will, but when the infant has no idea what's going on, this is strictly for the benefit of the parent (adult) and I wouldn't do it, and I'll always cringe when I see it being done. I will decide what I "feel" is safe, not Disney, or what anyone else is doing. It's your (general you) choice to do whatever is allowed, it's my choice not to, and to cringe when I see others doing it.

 

[Albytaps]

OP - I'm pretty sure we've done it.

 

[Eliza'sMom]

Suing would not help your baby That's what parents are for (not Disney or anyone else) It is our responsibility, as parents, to access situations, and protect our children to the best of our ability. Call me super cautious, if you will, but when the infant has no idea what's going on, this is strictly for the benefit of the parent (adult) and I wouldn't do it, and I'll always cringe when I see it being done. I will decide what I "feel" is safe, not Disney, or what anyone else is doing. It's your (general you) choice to do whatever is allowed, it's my choice not to, and to cringe when I see others doing it.

DH and I had a long conversation about this in Disney World because the CM I asked about baby swap totally blew me off repeatedly and I really had to insist that I was not taking the baby (5 months old) on the ride. Obviously I completely agree it is your choice as a parent whether to take a baby on the ride. But what if you have no idea what the ride is like, ask a CM and they act, like the one I spoke with, like it's no problem at all to take a tiny baby? If you'd never been on the ride or read about it, you wouldn't even know to brace yourself and the baby for those turns. Truthfully, I'm surprised they've never had a baby injured on the ride and I'm surprised they don't take a more cautious approach with it. And, I am not a litigious person by any means, but if I asked a CM (in any park) about taking my baby on a ride, they told me it was perfectly safe for the baby to sit in my lap and then my baby was injured, you can bet I'd sue.