Single Mom with Single Rider Line Question

[YO's Mom]

I am taking my two daughters to WDW. The oldest is going to want to ride everything. The youngest, well, we are crossing our fingers that she will be 40" tall by Nov. Since I obvioulsy can leave DD2 alone and ride with DD1, she will probably use the single rider line when possible. I had assumed that DD2 and I could wait in line with her, but now I am hearing that if DD2 is too short for the ride, we cannot even stand in the line. So, are our only options that DD1 stands in lines alone or doesn't ride the ride? She really doesn't want to have to wait in line by herself.

Thanks.

 

[crissy1974]

We also ran into that the past few years. Our first year our DD was only 2. She was not able to get into line for Tower of Terror for the rider swap, but was able to get in line for Test Track for the rider swap. The other ride that she was not allowed in line for was Big Thunder Mountain. They wouldn't let her past the bottom part. They had a guy down there w/ a stick and he said no. We told him we were doing rider swap and he still said no. However, I had a friend that said her DD was able to stand in line w/ them. It might just depend on the CM.

 

[WDSearcher]

It very much depends on the CM, but the answer is almost always "no". There have been just enough instances of Guests trying to sneak too short kids past the measuring stick in this way that Disney is now aware of the "method." Parents tell the front CM that they want to stand in line with the taller kid, and then when the parent and kids get to the ride, the parent makes a scene and does the whole, "But they let us in at the entrance! How dare you make me stand in line for an hour and then not let us on the ride!" They complain long enough and loud enough that the CM gets a manager who hands over some complimentary FPs for other rides or whatever. So ... it's unfortunately become a fairly common scam.

You probably won't have any problems with the rides that the smaller child is very obviously too short for, but it'll be the ones where she's close that will be the problem.

 

[tobikaye]

If your younger daughter is too short still, maybe you should get your older daughter fast passes to those rides. There are only three rides that have single rider lines and sometimes, those lines can still be long. I once waited in the single rider line for RnR for over five minutes without the line moving and at the point I was standing, it probably would have been at least 20 minutes still on only then if at least 1-2 people got on in each train.

 

[WantToGoNow]

Just curious, but how tall is your dd - I'm having a hard time picturing a 5.5 year old that is less than 40"? My dd was 5 on our last trip and was tall enough for the 48" rides - but she's 7 now and is 54". But to answer your question, from my experience when mine were under 40", they would not let us all walk through the cue and then exit at the end. You may have to have a talk with your dd8 about either not riding or only doing those with fastpasses.

 

[princesscharming]

My DD is 5.5. She is just over 40 inches. And she is in the 50th percentile on the charts.

 

[DIS_MERI]

My DD is 5.5. She is just over 40 inches. And she is in the 50th percentile on the charts.

For a 5.5yo on the CDC chart 50th percentile is almost 44 inches. For my 4.5yo that is just above 40 inches, it says 25th percentile.


http://www.cdc.gov/growthcharts/data/set1clinical/cj41l022.pdf

 

[doconeill]

One chart I've seen dates back to 2000, but a 40" 5yo girl would be only the 10th percentile. But that does mean 1 in 10 5yo girls would be less than 40".

50th percentile for 5yo would be a little over 42".

I don't think the boys chart varies much at that age either.

Heh...DIS_MERI posted the chart while my DD distracted me

 

[mom2rtk]

LOL!

Only here on the DIS would people actually argue with the OP about how tall their child is and whether it's "normal"!

 

[YodaGirl]

My niece was very short, too. It happens.

I was under the impression that children had to be 7 to ride alone, so your 8 yr old should be okay. However, as always, there may be an issue with some CMs.

I would also suggest getting FPs like another poster suggested.

 

[YodaGirl]

LOL!

Only here on the DIS would people actually argue with the OP about how tall their child is and whether it's "normal"!

I was actually just thinking that. What's the deal with some of these threads lately?

 

[DIS_MERI]

LOL!

Only here on the DIS would people actually argue with the OP about how tall their child is and whether it's "normal"!

It was actually educational for me, lol. I thought my youngest was like me (I never made it onto the charts for height), but she's actually normal! At least for height

 

[doconeill]

I was more curious than anything else, as I have had generally tall daughters. That and I have lots and lots of useless trivia knowledge, but they won't let me on Jeopardy.

 

[teach22180]

I know a 6 year old boy who just barely makes the 40 inches. It happens. People come in different heights.

 

[stitch34]

They may not let the 8 year old ride by herself. I know one time my girls aged 7 and 9 at the time, went to ride the Teacups together by themselves and were told NO.

 

[YO's Mom]

Just curious, but how tall is your dd - I'm having a hard time picturing a 5.5 year old that is less than 40"? My dd was 5 on our last trip and was tall enough for the 48" rides - but she's 7 now and is 54".

My daughter will be 6 in August and I just measured her last night. She is now 39" tall! We are excited about that. She also weighs a whopping 26.5 pounds. Yeah, she is tiny. Most people mistake her for being 2 or 3 - until they hear her talk. She's never been any where near "the chart" (below "less than 3%").

My 8 year old is 52" tall, so she will be able to ride pretty much anything.

I'm just worried about the 8 year old being lonely/bored/nervous while standing in long lines all alone. I was trying to think of a way to avoid that.

 

[TDC Nala]

I don't know if you want to let your 8 year old go in the single riders line by herself. I am pretty sure that in the singles line you can't stand with her. The only rides at WDW with single riders lines are Test Track, Rock'n Roller Coaster and Expedition Everest. At Everest you could probably see her in the line but I don't think they'd let you get in line and stand with her. At the other two, you will not be able to see the line from outside the ride.

 

[DonaldTDuck]

Just curious, but how tall is your dd - I'm having a hard time picturing a 5.5 year old that is less than 40"? My dd was 5 on our last trip and was tall enough for the 48" rides - but she's 7 now and is 54".

My daughter will be 6 in August and I just measured her last night. She is now 39" tall! We are excited about that. She also weighs a whopping 26.5 pounds. Yeah, she is tiny. Most people mistake her for being 2 or 3 - until they hear her talk. She's never been any where near "the chart" (below "less than 3%").

My 8 year old is 52" tall, so she will be able to ride pretty much anything.

I'm just worried about the 8 year old being lonely/bored/nervous while standing in long lines all alone. I was trying to think of a way to avoid that.

This is one way you can use fastpass. Those rides tend to have the longest lines anyway. And since there are 3 of you, you could each get a fastpass for a different ride and let her use them. For example, Splash and BTMRR are adjacent. Get one for each, then come back when the second window opens and she can ride both. Same at DHS with ToT and RnRC and Epcot with Soarin' and TT.

 

[WantToGoNow]

LOL!

Only here on the DIS would people actually argue with the OP about how tall their child is and whether it's "normal"!

I wasn't arguing, I was curious. I guess I just grow giants and I'm only 5'1" tall. I know at my dd's 7th birthday party back in December several kids from her class came to her party and she was way taller than all of them (including the boy) by a lot. My ds9 is 4'9" now and my oldest dd(adult now) passed me up at age 10 - she's 5'11". Why couldn't I have little petite children - it would seem like they were little longer anyway.

 

[SmallWorld71]

I'm just worried about the 8 year old being lonely/bored/nervous while standing in long lines all alone. I was trying to think of a way to avoid that. [/QUOTE]

I would say that your best bet is to get a fast pass for her. Remember that you can use your park pass and your other daughter's to get FP's as well, so you could easily get FP's for 3 rides and only tie up your FP window for a short time instead of continually using her card. (Does that make sense?)

I would check the exits first so that you know exactly where you will meet up and then let her know what to do in case she doesn't see you right away. You would need to do this even if you were all able to wait in line.

Also, keep in mind that some of the rides have pre-shows which make the ride a lot longer than it really is (Tower of Terror, Test Track etc...). So, unlike a ride like Everest or BTMRR, your DD could be away from you for quite some time. Which is fine, but if you forget that, you might be panicking at the exit wondering where she is.

I've never had any problems with my kids riding without an adult at that age, but I've only done it a few times: DS12 rode Rock 'n' Roller Coaster alone at age 9, DD8 rode the Barnstormer at age 7, and the boys drove the Speedway alone when they were tall enough.

If all else fails and your DD really wants to ride the rides with you, you could gather FP's for them and then have younger DD go to a kids' club for a few hours while you and older DD ride those rides.