I have been reading posts on this but many are dated. Do they still have the wrist band system? My daughter is right at 40" on the nose, that is with her tennis shoes on. I am concerned there will be a lot of tears if she is told she can't get on a 40" ride and her brother who is 45" can. I hate to deny my son BTM, Splash, Star Tours, Jumpin Jellyfish, Soarin' or TOT to avoid conflict with my daughter. Does anyone have any suggestions how I can avoid any agony in a situation like this? Thanks!

They aren't doing the wristband system anymore, and each attraction with a height restriction has its own measuring stick. Apparently not all are equal nor are they equal at all times.

I'm going to annoy the CM that swears I'm wrong but oh well- Watch out for Jumpin Jellyfish. Their measuring stick has historically been off. My very good friend's daughter was tall enough to satisfy the measuring sticks at every other 40" restriction ride at Disneyland, but not JJ. Well, my friend just happened to have a measuring tape in her purse so she measured the stick. It was, indeed, taller than 40" (I want to say it was 41" but I forget now.)

When my friend showed the CM's that her daughter was 40", they still wouldn't let her on the ride because the stick said she wasn't tall enough. I don't know if that stick has ever been replaced. I've had CMs SWEAR that they personally checked the stick and it was the right height, but then after those reports, I've heard that 40" kids were still being turned away.

Now, I'm one of those "Err on the side of caution" moms, but the JJ issue bugs me.

Adrienne

I am surprised that ToT does not have a higher height restriction

If your daughter is 40' you should not have a problem. But she has to be 40' That does not mean 39'. There is no gray area in the height requirements.

AVP at JJ was it a stick or a sign? We tossed the sticks at Tours like 5 years ago because they a very inaccurate. The only way to measure a child properly is to have a height sign on the wall with their back against the wall feet all the way back and together. I am sorry you had this experience and I hope they have fixed this problem. Shoot if a guest had a tape measure I would measure the sign to see if it was accurate. Ours are checked regularly.

The wrist band were a great Ideal until Guest started taking them off the older child that was tall enough and putting them on a child that was too small. We were getting kids that were 5 inches too short being held through the line and when they sat down in the ride we knew the were to small and we had to pull the out of the seat to measure them. Not only was the guest mad that we pulled them out of the seat but they were angry we caught them in a lie. So gone with the wrist bands:-(

I'm going in October, and my son will be a whomping 4 months old. Anybody taken their kids to Disneyland when they were that young? Is Haunted Mansion and Pirates okay for them? Or should we just stick to the Fantasyland rides? Thanks for the help.

I'm going in October, and my son will be a whomping 4 months old. Anybody taken their kids to Disneyland when they were that young? Is Haunted Mansion and Pirates okay for them? Or should we just stick to the Fantasyland rides? Thanks for the help.

I took my son to WDW at 6 months. It was easy. Mainly because he would sleep in the stroller. He went on HM and POC without any problem. He didn't even cry at the character meals. I think when they are that young many things don't scare them.

The wrist band were a great Ideal until Guest started taking them off the older child that was tall enough and putting them on a child that was too small. We were getting kids that were 5 inches too short being held through the line and when they sat down in the ride we knew the were to small and we had to pull the out of the seat to measure them. Not only was the guest mad that we pulled them out of the seat but they were angry we caught them in a lie. So gone with the wrist bands :(

People were switching wristbands on their kids, and lying about it when they got caught red-heighted? To paraphrase Claude Rains, "I'm Shocked! Shocked, I say!" :eek:

(Jeez, talk about stoopid. :rolleyes: Lie about something that can't be double-checked at a simple glance. Lie about your age (or your child's age), if you're not telling a bald-faced whopper that one's hard to prove. About your weight, well, you can fudge that one a little bit either way too. But height? That's too easy to verify...)

Megan: a 6' Carpenter's steel tape measure is small enough to toss in a pocket or purse, and can eliminate any questions. If your child gets stopped and you know you are right don't make a big scene, but quietly ask to talk to a Lead or Manager. That's the only way a badly made measuring device is going to get fixed, or a CM retrained on proper policies.

:fez: --<< Bruce >>--

We solved the problem of height restrictions with our granddaughter by explaining how those restrictions are there so she doesn't get hurt on her trip to see Mickey. But then again, she's an only child and had two more than willing grandparents to take her on things while her mother and stepfather were on the attractions. She got to ride Triceratops Spin and go into the Boneyard and they didn't (I got to do both - do you know how high those rope bridges are in the Boneyard?!).

Just realized that the Primevil Whirl, which looks like a harmless carnival ride has a restriction of 48 inches. Your oldest could shead some tears with that one. The reason for the higher restrictions is, well, based on what kind of restriction you wear on the attraction. The ones with the over the shoulder harness seem to have the higher restrictions.

The kids will get measured at the entrance to the attraction and also before they get on the ride. We always cautioned the little one that she might be too small. In this lawsuit environment of today, it pays to err on the side of caution.

AVP at JJ was it a stick or a sign? We tossed the sticks at Tours like 5 years ago because they a very inaccurate. The only way to measure a child properly is to have a height sign on the wall with their back against the wall feet all the way back and together. I am sorry you had this experience and I hope they have fixed this problem. Shoot if a guest had a tape measure I would measure the sign to see if it was accurate. Ours are checked regularly.

Wrong Adrienne ;) It's me, Adrienne K :D (We get that all the time...)

It was a stick. And yes, it was really inaccurate. I had a CM e-mail me and say he personally checked the stick and it was accurate, but like I said, my friend used her tape measure and it wasn't and over and over again, people reported that their 41" children were allowed to ride many other 40"+ rides but were denied at JJ. I'm glad that Star Tours abandoned the hockey sticks for this reason!

Like I said, I don't mess around when it comes to safety! If my child's too small, I don't put lifts in his shoes or hats on his head! But I think they need to make sure that their measuring devices are accurate - if they were too short, that would be a problem too!

Adrienne

What happened to the 54" and 8 years old or you can't ride requirement?

This thread is interesting because, as of last week, they still use wristbands on at least some rides at WDW.

What happened to the 54" and 8 years old or you can't ride requirement?

The rule is 54" and 8-years-old or you can't ride any ride alone. This is separate from rides with height minimums. If a ride minimum is 40" that means under 40" can't ride at all, between 40" and 54" can't ride alone.

Adrienne

The rule is 54" and 8-years-old or you can't ride any ride alone. This is separate from rides with height minimums. If a ride minimum is 40" that means under 40" can't ride at all, between 40" and 54" can't ride alone.

Adrienne

The Disneyland update today (http://www.mouseplanet.com/parkupdates/dlr/dlr040518.htm) indicates that the minimum age is 7 years old.

That's what I get for not reading my e-mail last night ;) Thanks, cstephens.

Adrienne

I'm going in October, and my son will be a whomping 4 months old. Anybody taken their kids to Disneyland when they were that young? Is Haunted Mansion and Pirates okay for them? Or should we just stick to the Fantasyland rides? Thanks for the help.

My youngest girl started at DLR at 5 weeks old (I know others who go younger).
I took her on everything I could while holding her as a baby. She was fine...no traumas...so far that I know of ...she is 13 now. :D

In the May 3 Update, we provided incorrect requirements for children riding attractions alone. A cast member sent in this correction about the new policy.

“To ride alone you must be at least 7 years old. This is verified of course by simply asking the Guest how old they are. If you're under 7, you must be accompanied by a 'responsible party,' that's at least 16 years old or 54 inches tall. Most of the rides have more specific requirements that require the responsible party to be in the same row, or perhaps same vehicle as the child. This can create issues if there aren't enough responsible parties to share a row/vehicle with each child. In that case they'd have to do the standard child switch procedure.”

So that's what's in the update. My follow-up question is: What is the "standard child switch procedure?" (I have a 7 yo and this could very well apply to me).

The child-switch is for when you have a child who's too short to ride and one who's tall enough - two adults & kids get in line for the ride and when you get to the ride, one adult & the 'tall enough' child get on while the other adult & child go to wait (ask CM for designated 'switching site') until the first adult & child are finished with the ride. Then the second adult gets to ride with the 'tall enough' child while the first adult hangs out with the 'too short' child.

Did I say that right?? I haven't actually done this yet but am preparing for our trip next week because my almost-4yo is at 39.9" with her chunkiest sandals so we're expecting to be turned away from some rides. Although I'm thinking I might just send her off with the grandparents so she's not too bummed waiting for her brother (a whopping 43") to get off all the wild stuff...

I realize the post is referring to one child so I think you can do the same thing (one adult rides with the child while other one waits to switch)...? Someone jump in & make sense of it all :confused:

my wife and I and our 2 1/2 yr old son and 4 mo. old daughter just got back from Disneyland (may 8-12) and found that either doing fastpass on rides was quicker than child switch- or using the single-rider line on splash or indy or soarin was much quicker than anything else. the other would wait with the kids near the exit while one of us would ride- then switch - also our 4 mo old fell asleep on pirates-our 2 1/2 y.o. loved pirates and driving on autopia -but was scared on roger rabbit's.

The child-switch is for when you have a child who's too short to ride and one who's tall enough - two adults & kids get in line for the ride and when you get to the ride, one adult & the 'tall enough' child get on while the other adult & child go to wait (ask CM for designated 'switching site') until the first adult & child are finished with the ride. Then the second adult gets to ride with the 'tall enough' child while the first adult hangs out with the 'too short' child.

Did I say that right??

Almost...

Two adults and children approach the ride line (queue) together but they do not stand in line together. This part is important. One adult gets a rider switch and the other adult and people riding the ride get in line together. The adult who is watching the children does not get in line. That group can wait by the exit, go on another ride and meet the group again later, etc. When the first group comes off the ride, the second group uses the rider switch pass to ride the attraction.

The difference is that if you have a single adult with children, there will be a time when a child/children is/are left unsupervised for a significant amount of time either in line or by the ride exit.

Adrienne

The wrist band were a great Ideal until Guest started taking them off the older child that was tall enough and putting them on a child that was too small. We were getting kids that were 5 inches too short being held through the line and when they sat down in the ride we knew the were to small and we had to pull the out of the seat to measure them. Not only was the guest mad that we pulled them out of the seat but they were angry we caught them in a lie(

That was a shocker for me...I guess most parents do not realize that this is a safety issue that the height requirements are meant to keep kids safe...I would never do this sort of thing... :eek:

Just to let everyone know the outcome of my trip. My daughter ended up being about an inch or 2 short for all 40" rides. That suprised me. They must be making up for platform tennis shoes. She did get on Splash Mountain but that scared her to death. So we decided that we weren't going to do anymore of those type of rides with her. We hardly did child swap. My husband and I traded off doing rides with my son. The only ride he did twice was soarin'. On Indy we found it best to do single rider because none of our children were tall enough to get on. We were both able to walk right on and skip the 30 minute wait. It was a huge time saver.

The funny thing about our trip was my daughter liked some rides I thought she wouldn't like HM and Pirates. Of course she loved fantasyland the best.

Hope this helps everyone.

The funny thing about our trip was my daughter liked some rides I thought she wouldn't like HM and Pirates. Of course she loved fantasyland the best.

This gives me hope! My daughter is only a month older than your daughter, maybe I can take her on Pirates. I do not think my husband would let me take her on the Haunted Mansion :( I know he will think it will freak her out! :eek: :D