Water Parks with an Under-48" Thrill Seeker?

[Indecisive]

I was thinking about visiting a water park for the first time during our next trip to WDW (perhaps next April 2016). At that time, my younger son will likely be around 47" (given his trajectory on the growth chart). I have an older son who is already over 48". Reviewing the height restrictions for both BB and TL, it seems that all of the major slides have a height requirement of 48", and then there are kiddie areas that are only open to shorter/younger kids. It seems like such a bummer that all of their big slides require 48"? (In the main parks, they have designed many thrill rides for 40"+. About the only ride you need to be 48" for is RNR.) My younger son enjoys roller coasters and thrill rides and I feel like he will be very bummed if all he can do is play in the kiddie area. And I feel like my family would be torn all day between what my younger son can do and what the rest of us can do. Maybe I am answering my own question here about whether it would be worthwhile for my family to visit a water park next year (instead of waiting until the following year), but I guess I am wondering if I am missing something? Have other "mixed height" families enjoyed the water parks together? If so, how? Are there a good number of attractions geared toward the whole family without a height requirement? [BTW, I am not looking to "cheat" and fake the extra inch]. Thanks in advance!

 

[staceyeileen]

I think you've misread something or have been misinformed? The only rides at BB that have a height restriction of 48"are Slush Gusher, Summit Plummet, and Downhill Double Dipper. At TL it's Crush Gusher and Humonga Kowabunga.

Especially at BB there are a bunch of other slides that the whole family will enjoy that are definitely not "kiddie" rides:
Teamboat Springs - family raft ride. TONS of fun! In my family, this is everyone's favorite.
Runoff Rapids - consists of 3 separate tube slides
Snow Stormers - mat slide that you go down head first
Toboggan Racers - racing mat slide. who doesn't like to race their brother?
Ski Patrol area - don't count this area out. You don't mention how old your boys are but they'd both probably love this area, with the iceberg walk, zip line, etc.
And then of course there is the wave pool and the lazy river that everyone can enjoy as well.

 

[Indecisive]

Thank you, staceyeileen! I feel really silly about my ignorance, but thank you for setting me straight! I guess the problem is that I was looking at the height restrictions list on the "allears" website and, since it only lists rides *that have height restrictions*, I wasn't seeing all the other rides you mentioned. I guess I erroneously figured that any "good" ride would have SOME height restriction (for example, even Barnstromer requires 35"), so I believed that anything "good" would be on the allears list. Clearly, I was wrong. Thank you for your great list and I am glad to know that there is fun for the whole family at BB, even if kids are different heights! Thanks for your help.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

I think you've misread something or have been misinformed? The only rides at BB that have a height restriction of 48"are Slush Gusher, Summit Plummet, and Downhill Double Dipper. At TL it's Crush Gusher and Humonga Kowabunga.

Especially at BB there are a bunch of other slides that the whole family will enjoy that are definitely not "kiddie" rides:
Teamboat Springs - family raft ride. TONS of fun! In my family, this is everyone's favorite.
Runoff Rapids - consists of 3 separate tube slides
Snow Stormers - mat slide that you go down head first
Toboggan Racers - racing mat slide. who doesn't like to race their brother?
Ski Patrol area - don't count this area out. You don't mention how old your boys are but they'd both probably love this area, with the iceberg walk, zip line, etc.
And then of course there is the wave pool and the lazy river that everyone can enjoy as well.

^^^this, this precisely!

 

[staceyeileen]

Oh, I understand now. Yeah, it's kind of strange that the slides I mentioned don't have any height restriction at all but it's true. Check out YouTube and you can find videos of pretty much all o them to give you an idea of what they're like. TL has other slides as well of course - BB is just my personal favorite and I feel that it does have the edge when you're bringing kids.

 

[Kathryn777]

It is reAlly weird the way the height restrictions work at the water parks. We had less restrictions at blizzard beach, it felt like. The ski patrol area is a good starting point . I've never been to a water park without height restrictions. We took our 20 month old on the fAmily raft ride, it scared him... Which leads me to the point that you need to be careful, my 42" 4 yo rode a ton and ended up getting rescued by a lifeguard once... She was fine but freaked when her tube flipped on the slide. I kept her in a lifevest most of the day. You have to use your own judgement of what your kids can do