Opinions on a tall baby!

[Mom2Ben02]

We are going to the WORLD mid-Jan, and I have a question! My son will be 15 months old, but he is pushing 40inches (yes, I am not lying!). We go to the Dr the 26th, so I will know height for sure then, but he was 37 inches at 12 mo. (And he is now also 33 pounds!).

My question is this: do I bring him on rides he is tall enough for, or keep him off because of age? My gut would be the latter - just curious of others thoughts!

Thanks!

 

[campingcorgi]

If he's tall enough and wants to, let him ride Splash Mountain and Goofy's Barnstormer. They would be the only taller rides he would probably be interested in. Try them once and if they don't 'fly' don't do them again.

 

[tjmw2727]

Even if he reaches the 40" he probably won't have the self control needed. Remember you can't hold him on your lap on these height restricted rides and you wouldn't want him to panic.

I personally would wait until at least age 3 for Splash, or BTMR and older for TOT (also 40"), regardless of height. I think my dd rode the barnstormer at 2 so that one may be an option.

TJ

 

[Barb D]

I have tall kids, too, although not as tall as yours! I did take my then-2yo on Barnstormer and she was fine with it. I'd really wait, though. 15mo is awfully young to do any kind of dropping, IMHO. Just babyswap!

 

[crisi]

I'd hold off as well. There is a maturity factor as well. Our kids are both tall enough for Splash at 4 and 5, and we ended up skipping it this year. There was plenty to do without it.

I'd hold off on Barnstormer as well, but I had a tentative child. It is still a lot of head shaking and drops for a child that isn't a year and a half yet.

Besides, if he starts on the big kids rides before he is two, what kind of thrills will he be looking for at 13?

 

[HappyMommy2]

Wow! Your little fellow IS tall! How fun.

I'd say to wait on the 40" rides till your baby is a bit older; however, you could do as we did with our 40" son on our last trip and try him out on Pirates of the Caribbean or something else with a small drop first and see how he does (our son, who was 3, loved POTC so we did Barnstormer, then BTMRR, Splash Mountain, etc. and he loved them all). My younger son (18 months at the time) was well under 40" but I don't think he
was mature enough at that age to ride the bigger rides anyway. Maybe Barnstormer (which is 38", I believe?), but that ride is kind of rough and I would have worried about his little one-year-old neck muscles.

I'm guessing this'll be a moot point for you anyway--it's unlikely a baby would grow 3 full inches between his 12-month and 15-month doctor visits (though with your little NBA player I guess it's possible!)

 

[Samandmom]

OH MY!! I thought my DD was tall. She is 11 months and is 29 1/2" tall. I would NOT take your son on the height requirment rides and NOT even Goofy's. He is way to young. Heck even I get scared on some of those rides.

 

[Jordan's MOM]

Wait. There are other physical condsiderations for a toddler. I would be concerned about shaken baby syndrom with such a young toddler. These rides are really rough and shake you around a lot. Toddlers do not have the neck and head control to handle that. There are so many other things that he will love!!


Jordan's mom

 

[stacy6552]

Meeting the height requirement does not mean its age appropriate!

Alien encounter haad a 40 inch requirement and it was way to scary for many older kids and young teens. Ive seen them crying on mom's sholder myself.

Theres a great book out there, which I dont know the name of, that also rates the scare factor in addition to hieght and quality.

 

[SueM in MN]

Originally posted by Jordan's MOM
Wait. There are other physical condsiderations for a toddler. I would be concerned about shaken baby syndrom with such a young toddler. These rides are really rough and shake you around a lot. Toddlers do not have the neck and head control to handle that. There are so many other things that he will love!!


Jordan's mom

Just what I was going to say.
Here's a
link to the wdwinfo height calculator Even though he's tall, he's still a baby and I can't think of any of the 40 requirement rides that would not be scary and rough fro a baby that young.

 

[Kimberle]

I would not take him on any rides w/ restrictions.

MHO, a child should be old enough to comprehend the ride & decide if he/she wants to ride.

My 4.5 yo dd sill did not ride any restricted rides. She was to afraid.

 

[Mom2Ben02]

I needed to be able to show DH that this was NOT just my opinion - he thinks it was my way of getting out of TOT!

Karen
(and her little NBA player!)

 

[Barb D]

Oh, no, no no! You can't get out of ToT that easily! Or maybe you don't want to tell your DH about babyswapping! (He rides with the big kids while you wait with Goliath, then you go through the fastpass line with a babyswap pass while he waits with Goliath. The big kids get to ride twice in a row.)

 

[deb305]

I suspect that despite his height, his neck control is still that of a baby toddler. I would not take him, you could risk injury especially on the thrill rides. Our 22 month old is 37 inches, and still needs me to sit with him on rides. Tried to take him on some small rides at our local Kings Island and he was way to scared.
When he turned one we were able to take him on ISASWAA, Peter Pan, Jungle Cruise, etc.

 

[Mom2Ben02]

Originally posted by Barb D
Oh, no, no no! You can't get out of ToT that easily! Or maybe you don't want to tell your DH about babyswapping!

Oh, YES YES YES I can! He can go on ToT first thing, and then I will "find out" about baby swapping in my guidebook.

All planned out!

Karem

 

[clutter]

I can relate, my dd was 33" at one. I like when they graph the height, and they're no where near the chart.

She was 37 months on our first disney trip, and around 42-43 inches tall. Since before her first birthday, I could not push her on a swing high enough or fast enough for her satisfaction. So BTMRR was a natural. However, we didn't do Splash until maybe 4 (mom hates getting wet...), or TOT until she was 5. It just doesn't seem safe for an 18 monther. Plus, I'd imagine you could scar them for life on some of those rides!!!!

 

[flynnmnstr]

At 22 months my DS was tall enough to ride the Barnstormer and he loved it. In fact we went on at least 15 times in a row one day. We are going again next month and he will be really close to 40 inches but I don't think he will be tall enough for the bigger rides. If he is, we will be definitely taking him on them. He loves speed and loves being scared. I know that may change in the future but for now it allows us to not have to do baby swap.

My suggestion is to start with the Barnstormer. If he handles that well than try the others. I wouldn't do ToT though. It just seems that it would be too scary. I would do Splash Mountain, BTMRR, and Test Track.