height question

[mikewdw]

i know a lot of rides are 40 inches. i have a son who is 40 in exactly with shoes on. are the measuring stations in front of the ride queue lines exactly 40 in for those rides or is it slightly higher to take into consideration shoe height. his twin brother (fraterna)l is actually 3 inches taller and we are talking about what rides we can do. i cant tell him what he can and cant do. i dont want to get his hopes up and then he walk up to a ride and be turned down. i dont want to be unsafe in any way but just wondering if the ride says 40 in is it where they really need 38in for safety and then put 2 in for shoe height. hope this makes sense.
any info appreciated.
mikewdw

 

[loveofamouse]

In my exp, it's what they measure at the moment they've stepped in line. We have only ever once had m dd denied whenshe was over the height ad that was Goofy's coaster over in MK. She was 39in without shoes but somehow came in 3in BELOW the stick...no idea there lol...

Since then, we've seen it be height with shoes without any adjustmnts for shoes.

 

[Phonedave]

It is your height in whatever shoes you are wearing.

Some people will tell you they put napkins in their kids shoes, or buy extra think soled shoes. Thats your call. What you do with your children is up to you, I am not going to get into that.

I will say that on one trip, my youngest daughter was 44" - exactly, in her normal street shoes. That was maybe 4 to 5 months after EE opened. She got on every other 44" ride that she tried to get on. It really was if she stood up straight, with her feet flat, her head just touched the bar. They would not let her on EE. The CM said she was not tall enough. Maybe you could slide a piece of paper in there on top of her head, who knows. No big deal, she rode it next time she went. But it does seem to vary from ride to ride.


-dave

 

[loveofamouse]

Some people will tell you they put napkins in their kids shoes, or buy extra think soled shoes. Thats your call. What you do with your children is up to you, I am not going to get into that.

-dave

I, personally, dont agree to that unless the kid is much older i.e.a really short 13yr old. But usually, in those cases, the CMs will make an exception. I had a friend in High School who was too short for a few of US/IOA coaster but since she was 16, they let her ride. It's one thing to make sure your is wearing good walking shoes as opposed to flipflops which would add a tad of height, but doing stuff like that is a stretch, to me. Although I really don't see it adding much height lmao.

But, in the opposite case, I've seen park people go a bit too far. My son has special needs. One of them is it makes it really hard for him to stand. At SW, he had a bracelet tht was colored for his height but an employee still wanted us to stand him up at a ride to check his height. He didn't have his shoes or braces on(we just left water area) and couldn't stand but she declared him too short and wouldn't let him ride. I was livid, to say the least.

 

[heartodisney]

This will also be an issue with my DD next we visit, have a great trip!

 

[BrerFrog]

I, personally, dont agree to that unless the kid is much older i.e.a really short 13yr old. But usually, in those cases, the CMs will make an exception.

I am surprised to hear that since they shouldn't make any exceptions, that restriction is there for a very good reason, and it has nothing to do with age. :wave:

 

[Kamikaze]

I, personally, dont agree to that unless the kid is much older i.e.a really short 13yr old. But usually, in those cases, the CMs will make an exception. I had a friend in High School who was too short for a few of US/IOA coaster but since she was 16, they let her ride. It's one thing to make sure your is wearing good walking shoes as opposed to flipflops which would add a tad of height, but doing stuff like that is a stretch, to me. Although I really don't see it adding much height lmao.

But, in the opposite case, I've seen park people go a bit too far. My son has special needs. One of them is it makes it really hard for him to stand. At SW, he had a bracelet tht was colored for his height but an employee still wanted us to stand him up at a ride to check his height. He didn't have his shoes or braces on(we just left water area) and couldn't stand but she declared him too short and wouldn't let him ride. I was livid, to say the least.

The requirement is for safety. Not sure how being older would make you more 'safe' at a height then a younger person.

They shouldn't make exceptions.

 

[loveofamouse]

The requirement is for safety. Not sure how being older would make you more 'safe' at a height then a younger person.

They shouldn't make exceptions.

Because an adult body is physically stronger and more developed. That's also the same reason why a short adult doesn't have to use a carseat. Although it's not widely known, most rides also have an age limit just in case someone has a tall 3yr old. So yes, they do sometimes make exception for short adults who's bodies can physically handle the whiplash and sudden turns of some rides and can deny a too young child that just happens to be tall.

 

[Kamikaze]

Because an adult body is physically stronger and more developed. That's also the same reason why a short adult doesn't have to use a carseat. Although it's not widely known, most rides also have an age limit just in case someone has a tall 3yr old. So yes, they do sometimes make exception for short adults who's bodies can physically handle the whiplash and sudden turns of some rides and can deny a too young child that just happens to be tall.

No.

The restraints are made to hold in a body at a certain height. Weight, strength, etc don't matter. Height does.

Now, the restraints are made to work far below the restricted height. As in, if it says 40", the actual safety height is more toward 30 than 40. However, it has nothing to do with 'development'. You think you're somehow going to hold yourself in the ride as its going upside down or something? Not going to happen.

 

[loveofamouse]

No.

The restraints are made to hold in a body at a certain height. Weight, strength, etc don't matter. Height does.

Now, the restraints are made to work far below the restricted height. As in, if it says 40", the actual safety height is more toward 30 than 40. However, it has nothing to do with 'development'. You think you're somehow going to hold yourself in the ride as its going upside down or something? Not going to happen.

If that was the case, it wouldn't be a height requirement but a TORSO height requirement. Has nothing to do with holding yourself. It's likelihood of injury. Hence why height requirments are higher for rides that have inversions as opposed to ones that don't. If it had to do with restraints being able to hold a body type, there would be a torso height limit, torso width limit and your head must reach a certain height limit. And what about the really skinny people who, even with the restraint at the lowest setting, it's not firmly up against their bodies.



But regardless..... to answer OPs question, no, I believe the sticks are to measure where they are at the time they step up to the stick as they really couldn't fairly assume shoe height since all shoes have different thickness. Truly, many times, they don't measure every single child. They measure the ones they may have suspicions of being too short. BUT with that said, there may be cases where he can ride one ride but not another just because the height sticks can sometimes not be consistant.