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hooberry
08-12-2008, 12:50 PM
:( I know this has been asked before but does the ponytail on top the head help- my daughter is short for her age and from my measurements will be 1 inch short for spash mountain, I know she would love it! last year she barely squeezed by for goofy's barnstormer just because I tilted up her hat at the measure stick:blush:

offwego
08-12-2008, 12:54 PM
No the pony tail won't normally be included in the height mearsurement. Sorry it look's like you may just have to plan another trip!

kdsjjb
08-12-2008, 12:55 PM
ooh, ooh!
Here we go again... :beat:

Disney Doll
08-12-2008, 01:02 PM
I would imagine that their is some chance for variability based on the CM working, but in general I would think that they are probably trained not to be fooled by ponytails. I know it can be disappointing, but it is for safety's sake. There's always next time! Hope you and your daughter have a wonderful vacation!

bkfree
08-12-2008, 01:13 PM
CM are all well schooled in all types of Height Espionage.
High hair, pony tails, thick soled shoes and the toe stretch when being measured.

To beat a dead horse here-

The height restrictions have to do with the safety mechanisms of the ride. The bars and safety straps etc. are designed for a minimum height. Body length- not how high the pony tail
is.
I am sure that you would not want your daughter to be injured because she was too small for the ride.
It is not about fearlessness or the thrillseekers or the maturity of your child. It is black and white. How Tall they are.

Imagineer1981
08-12-2008, 04:10 PM
ooh, ooh!
Here we go again... :beat:

LOL...yep

The ponytail won't help...and the worse thing parents did is when they tried to lift them up like we CM's were stupid....:mad:

Lizzie
08-12-2008, 06:31 PM
Doesn't Intercot have a section with the height restrictions. Trying to find it. Thanks

CleveRocks
08-12-2008, 08:38 PM
During our most recent trip, our daughter was 4 years old and small for her age at 39.25 inches.

FASTPASSes in hand, we tried sauntering past the CM at Splash Mountain's FP return entrance. We got a few feet past her but she called out to us and asked to measure our daughter, and of course she came up short. Of course, our daughter was devastated. To make matters worse, our son was 6.5 and plenty tall to ride, and there's no way we were going to tell him HE wasn't allowed to ride.

Thinking very quickly (as we all temporarily exited from the FP return entrance), my wife turned to our daughter and told her, "It's not that you're too short ... we can't ride because Mommy's too fat, and I need you to keep me company while your father and brother ride." To understand the humor here thus far, you have to know that my wife is far from "too fat." ;)

This seemed to satisfy my daughter.

Fast-forward several days later, the first morning that we wake up at home after returning from The World. Our daughter bounds into our bed and wakes us up very very early, and she's obviously thrilled. In a very excited manner, she proclaims to us that she grew taller in her sleep and can now ride Splash Mountain. My wife gives her a big hug and says she can't wait to ride it with her some day. My daughter, as sincerely and as kindly as she can, puts her hand on my wife's shoulder, and pats my wife's shoulder as she says, "No, Mommy, you still can't ride Splash Mountain ... you're still too fat."

Almost 2 years later, it's still my favorite Disney-related story.

Melanie
08-12-2008, 08:39 PM
Doesn't Intercot have a section with the height restrictions. Trying to find it. Thanks

Attraction & Height Restrictions by Park (http://www.intercot.com/infocentral/park/rideheight.asp)

CaptainJessicaSparrow
08-13-2008, 12:55 AM
*digs a trench and dons battle gear*

Please do not be the parent who tries to sneak their children on the rides, or break the rules. I'm sorry, but this is blatantly trying to cheat the systems that Disney has for the safety of all the Guests.

If she is an inch short, she is an inch short. There is nothing you can nor should you do to try to change that.

Unless you want to tie her limbs to a table and try to stretch her body like they did in medieval times. No? I didn't think so.

Looks like that Jungle Cruise sense of humor is following me home.

Main Street Jim
08-13-2008, 09:16 AM
Our daughter was 4 years old and small for her age at 39.25 inches. FASTPASSes in hand, we tried sauntering past the CM at Splash Mountain's FP return entrance.Why would anyone think to do this? I mean, the height REQUIREMENT (yes, REQUIREMENT - NOT "height OPTION"...) is 40", so why even bother TRY "sneaking" in...?

There's always the Rider Switch/Parent Swap/Child Swap option at these attractions. It's a safety issue, as has been said, because of the design of the ride vehicles.

Fantasmic
08-13-2008, 09:23 AM
It's not worth it, at the very least, you'll get up to boarding and the CM will not let your daughter ride, then there will be tears.

At the very worst, well to put it frankly, she could be seriously injured because of being too short. (Not like she's gonna fall out, I don't think that could happen. I'm thinking smacking head against the seat in front after the big drop, as she's so little) That's why there are restrictions.

Belle1217
08-13-2008, 09:28 AM
Hooberry I can understand how you feel. When you have a child who is just under the height restrictions by a hair. I dont think you are trying to cheat Disney I just think you are trying to make your daughter happy. But yes they are strict about the height thing. Hope you have a wonderful time.:mickey:

CaptainJessicaSparrow
08-13-2008, 11:16 AM
No, it really is trying to beat the system. Along with tissues in the shoes, spiking hair, shoes with higher heels, holding them up.

They are rules for your safety. To make sure your child doesn't get hurt.

Just imagine what could happen. Not just on Splash, but on any ride at Disney where some parent found a way to get their child who is too short on the ride. Test Track, Mission Space, Thunder Mountain, Space Mountain, Everest....Just imagine the things that could happen to the ride in general and then imagine what the result would be for the parent of the child who got hurt. I've got a two words for you: MAJOR LAWSUIT. Why? Because the CM let the child go on the ride, not because the parents tricked the CM and got the child on by using such low methods.

I'm sorry, wait a couple of months and come back. It will give her something to look forward to. If you can't make it that often, come back in a few years when she can ride even more rides since she'll probably be at 44".

Flower
08-13-2008, 12:05 PM
They are well-trained to check height. I posted before that Brandon had been on Soarin several times - He was AT the 40' mark.

The last time we were planning on riding Soarin the CM had him stand at the measuring pole that has the cross piece coming out - she was trying to shove one of those thin-red credit card-type devices they use for measuring ride wait times between his head and the cross piece - he fortunately was tall enough that it did not go thru, but she was seriously going to turn him away for that thin amount of distance if the card did not stop.

Don't try to cheat it, it is for SAFETY reasons, not to make your trip miserable.

Disney Doll
08-13-2008, 01:34 PM
:giveup: Okay let's just assume that the OP has not read the numerous previous posts about this topic and that she is not purposefully trying to risk the safety of her child. Yes they are pretty strict and yes it is for safety. Let's not be so harsh about it. How does that old saying go- you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar?

disneylovinmom
08-13-2008, 02:13 PM
My daughter is also short for her age. She is 14 and still only 4/11. When we went when she was 9, she was just right to 48" tall and they wouldn't let her on Rockin Rollercoaster. She came right to the 48" mark, and one CM said yes and another said no. She didn't end up being allowed to ride, and boy was she was mad. I was ok with that because I always say "better safe than sorry. " Look at it this way, it's just another excuse for another disney trip when she grows more.

CleveRocks
08-13-2008, 03:03 PM
Why would anyone think to do this? I mean, the height REQUIREMENT (yes, REQUIREMENT - NOT "height OPTION"...) is 40", so why even bother TRY "sneaking" in...?

Well, first of all, we didn't put her on stilts or anything, and it's not like we put a fake beard on her to make her look older.

Yes, we measured her at home about a week before our trip. But what if WE had measured incorrectly? What if she actually WAS tall enough but we screwed up in measuring her? How dumb would that have been, for our stupid error to prevent her from going on rides that she was actually big enough to ride???

You'll also notice that we didn't do anything sneaky, such as bring her back when another CM was on-duty, in hopes that that CM wouldn't question her height. Once we knew that she was definitely too short, we respected the requirements. I agree that the height restrictions are there for HER safety. This was at the beginning of our trip (MK being the first park we went to) ... for the remainder of the trip, we knew that anything with a 40" height requirement was off-limits for her (for example, I took my son to Epcot early one morning to do Soarin', Test Track and Mission:Space early, and my wife and daughter joined us later, after we'd completed that stuff).

And I don't want to whip out my or my wife's curriculum vitae, but just trust me when I say that she and I are both nauseatingly familiar with the acute and chronic aftermath of physical and emotional trauma, due to our separate lines of work in health care.

To assume we were knowingly putting our daughter's safety in jeopardy is jumping to an incorrect conclusion.

Lizzie
08-13-2008, 03:49 PM
Anyone know the average height of a 5 year old. I am hoping my kids aren't too tall on our future trip to enjoy some of the kids stuff at the waterparks they were too small to do anything last time we went.

dnickels
08-13-2008, 03:58 PM
You'll also notice that we didn't do anything sneaky........

from your first post


......we tried sauntering past the CM at Splash Mountain's FP return entrance.

I'm guessing that was what gets the CMs blood pressure up a few notches.

KAT1811
08-13-2008, 04:07 PM
Hooberry I can understand how you feel. When you have a child who is just under the height restrictions by a hair. I dont think you are trying to cheat Disney I just think you are trying to make your daughter happy. But yes they are strict about the height thing. Hope you have a wonderful time.:mickey:

:ditto:
OP is not trying to "cheat" the system just asking an innocent question. No need to string her up. I'm sure putting a child in danger isn't on the to do list.


:giveup: Okay let's just assume that the OP has not read the numerous previous posts about this topic and that she is not purposefully trying to risk the safety of her child. Yes they are pretty strict and yes it is for safety. Let's not be so harsh about it. How does that old saying go- you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar?

Why everyone gets all fired up about this I'll never know. It is what it is and roasting yet another poster isn't going to change that.

To kindly answer the OPs question (not that it hasn't been already) the ponytail will not help. Fortunatly there are a ton of other things to do and you can avoid any potential meltdowns by staying out of the areas all together. It is quite easy (as you may know) to just simply walk by (without them coming into full view) Splash and Thunder Mountains, Soarin', Test Track, Mission Space, etc. Just tell DD they are close for renovation and keep moving that may spare her feelings some.

MuchLovedMama
08-13-2008, 05:11 PM
Anyone know the average height of a 5 year old.

Average is about 42-43". My son is 5 1/2 & he's 45.5".

Hope that helps.

wire0monkey
08-13-2008, 05:36 PM
I don't think a pony tail will work, but someone I know had good luck using shoes with taller than average soles. You have to look around to find something that works, but it can be done.

They used thick soled sandals to get an extra half-inch or so. The girl took over her sneakers and put on the wood sandals. They did the ride and then she changed back into her walking shoes.

The Disney employees had no complaint about the shoes that she was wearing. The world did not end. The girl did not get hurt.

Good luck.

Goes4FastPass
08-13-2008, 06:00 PM
Whew! You Guys! :eek2:

1. Have your child practice standing up a straight as possible.

2. Measure her CLOSE to when you leave wearing the reasonable shoes she'll be comforable touring the park in.

3. If those reasonable shoes give her a bit of boost - as many shows do - then we're not talking about a safety violation that will cause her head to fly off.

3. If she's too short then best to know it before you leave rather than having tears at the queue.

Finally,

4. Be careful what you wish for. We once stretched and practiced and got our gal to barely squeek through being exactly fairly no cheating tall enough at Splash Mountain. We cleared the height check then the child took a few steps and stopped. "Uh, uh, I think I'm scared." We were so busy trying to get this small kid through we didn't stop to wonder if she wanted to ride.

Melanie
08-13-2008, 08:33 PM
The original poster's question has been answered by WDW CMs, and there is no reason to further this discussion to include ways to cheat the system (which is against INTERCOT rules).