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IdahoMike
03-01-2006, 09:51 AM
I was reading in an old Fodor's Disneyland book about Goofy's Magic Measure, where your child can be measured one time, and get a wristband that shows which rides they can go on depending on their height, rather than getting measured every single time. The book says each park has one spot to do this. Do these still exist, and where are they located?

thanks,
Mike

hlbtimes2
03-01-2006, 09:53 AM
They no longer offer it. Children are checked at each ride.

ktrm
03-01-2006, 10:58 AM
Too bad. That would have been so much more convenient because you know once and for all whether your child meets the requirement especially if your child is soooooo close. My child measured 39-1/2" with shoes in the beginning of February. Hopefully she will grow 1/2" before our trip in March. She really want s to ride splash mountain.

Malcon10t
03-01-2006, 11:21 AM
Too bad. That would have been so much more convenient because you know once and for all whether your child meets the requirement especially if your child is soooooo close. My child measured 39-1/2" with shoes in the beginning of February. Hopefully she will grow 1/2" before our trip in March. She really want s to ride splash mountain.Yeah, it was too bad parents would take wristbands off child 1 and place them on child 2 who was 1/2 inch too short. Just make sure she stands straight and tall for the measurement. A lot of kids don't, and then don't make the ride. Posture can often be the cause of losing the 1/4-1/2 inch needed to ride.

luvmyfamily
03-01-2006, 01:19 PM
Is there a site where all of the height requirements are listed, by inches, not just by ride?

Malcon10t
03-01-2006, 01:25 PM
Is there a site where all of the height requirements are listed, by inches, not just by ride?Try http://disneyland.disney.go.com/disneyland/en_US/help/gsDetail?name=HeightRequirementsGSDetailPage
From this site:
Disneyland® park
35" (89 cm) or taller
Gadget's Go Coaster
Matterhorn Bobsleds

40" (102 cm) or taller
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
Space Mountain
Splash Mountain
Star Tours, presented by Energizer

46" (117 cm) or taller
Indiana Jones™ Adventure

52" (132 cm) or taller
Autopia, presented by Chevron (to drive)

No taller than 52"
Goofy's Bounce House

Disney's California Adventure® park
40" (102 cm) or taller
Jumpin' Jellyfish
Soarin' Over California
The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror™

42" (106 cm) or taller
Grizzly River Run
Mulholland Madness
Redwood Creek Challenge Trail Featuring "The Magic of Brother Bear" show
Tuck and Roll's Drive'Em Buggies

48" (122 cm) or taller
California Screamin'
Orange Stinger

luvmyfamily
03-01-2006, 01:28 PM
Fabulous! Thank you - this portion of the post will go promptly on my fridge!

luvmyfamily
03-01-2006, 01:30 PM
I have to say - I am surprised to see that Matterhorn is 35 inches - my 20mo. old is 2 inches shy of 35!

vegasmommytoDL
03-01-2006, 01:40 PM
Although, I might point out that not all "measurement sticks" are created equal. Such as Jumpin' Jellyfish, the 40" mark is higher than 40". By now they HAVE to know its wrong, but they have not fixed it to my knowledge. Just try to find shoes with a slightly higher sole! I have found that they will let my daughter pass on most rides when she was just “barely” at the mark.

hlbtimes2
03-01-2006, 02:39 PM
I have to say - I am surprised to see that Matterhorn is 35 inches - my 20mo. old is 2 inches shy of 35!

When we went in Dec 03 our 22 month old was tall enough for it! We didnt take him on- he was way to young. He'll be 4 next week. He claims it is the scariest ride in the park. He just can't stand that monster! He would rather ride space mountain. As a side note, my 7 year old says Mr. Toads wild ride is scarier. Aparently a trip to hell is worse the hurling thru space or facing the monster in the matterhorn. :D

DangerMouse
03-01-2006, 03:06 PM
My son was able to ride Screamin this past Sunday. He measured fine. But they said he was too short on Tuesday (2 days later). Go figure! It was less than 1/16th of an inch, and I just couldn't make the CM budge. The CM kept asking me over and over again if he was wearing different shoes. I said no, these are the same shoes. He said, are you SURE? So, I said, "Are you telling me I should change his shoes to meet height requirement? (basically giving me permission to cheat), he said, hey whatever works. So I proceded to put a paper towel in each of my kid's shoes and he met the height requirement. :rolleyes: Flame away, if you must.

I understand it's a safety issue, but my son was tall enough one day and then too short two days later? :confused:

JDBlair
03-01-2006, 03:25 PM
I have to say - I am surprised to see that Matterhorn is 35 inches - my 20mo. old is 2 inches shy of 35!
My 2 year old is just about 36 inches so if she hits their 35 measurement at the ride, she may just get to ride her very first roller coaster!!!

derraj25
03-01-2006, 04:18 PM
52" (132 cm) or taller
Autopia, presented by Chevron (to drive)

It is 52" to ride alone. My 5 year old daughters are 43" tall and they can drive with me or my wife in the car.

TTFN92
03-01-2006, 08:30 PM
I really wish they did the wrist bands. It is possible for them to use wristbands that you can't get on and off. I have a DS who is 4 that HATES to stand under those signs and it is so hard to get him to stand up straight by them. There are some CMs who are so aggravating when it comes to measuring. I have noticed it the most on Soarin'. DS had been riding it for 3 days and then one CM took a couple of minutes measuring him, which is way too long. Finally another one came and told him he was fine because he could tell that he wasn't standing up straight and was really tall enough. I have found that they have a way of lowering their neck because they don't want to bonk their head. And I know that is because they have bonked it before. One measurement for the day should be enough. I also don't like how they measure at the beginning and then before they get on the ride. To me that is saying that the first measurement was a waste of time or they don't trust the guy who did it. It is horrible to tell a child he can ride something and have them wait in line, sometimes for a very long time, and then get ready to get on and tell him he can't. My sis had this happen to her son on Indy and he had already ridden it the other days of their trip. They were furious! I also agree that they aren't all accurate. I remember at one point, the sign in front of BTMRR had a dip in the cement so the kids that could ride other 40" rides couldn't ride that one.

A wristband is definitely needed.

cfrith
03-02-2006, 06:51 AM
One measurement for the day should be enough. I also don't like how they measure at the beginning and then before they get on the ride. To me that is saying that the first measurement was a waste of time or they don't trust the guy who did it. It is horrible to tell a child he can ride something and have them wait in line, sometimes for a very long time, and then get ready to get on and tell him he can't.
A wristband is definitely needed.

I completely agree...that is so annoying and frustrating for the kids.

doodlebug
03-02-2006, 07:33 AM
I was so amazed when my dd could ride the Matterhorn at such a young age and height too... And still now how she can go on Space, Splash and TOT but can't go on Indy???? She can't wait to hit the 48" so she can go on Screamin

junglemom
03-02-2006, 07:44 AM
I was so amazed when my dd could ride the Matterhorn at such a young age and height too... And still now how she can go on Space, Splash and TOT but can't go on Indy???? She can't wait to hit the 48" so she can go on Screamin

My 6 yr. old just hit the 48" mark! What a great vacation we had, she was so proud to do the coaster with her big brother. That vacation was great, 3 of my kids hit new height requirements, my 5 yr. old hit 46"(Indiana Jones-she called it Junie B. Jones) and my 3 hit 40"(all the Mt's at DL). With him hitting 40" we hardly had to separate!

Pirate Princess
03-02-2006, 06:00 PM
I forgot Indy was only 46"!!!! My DS 4 is going for his 5 bday in May... he just may make it! I haven't been on Indy for about 10 years. I completely forget the ride. It's going to be like a brand new ride to me. Soooooo excited! :D

Burnt Toast
03-02-2006, 06:14 PM
I completely agree...that is so annoying and frustrating for the kids.

It's also annoying when parents with kids who have been already denied being snuck into the lines at other accessible points to try to bypass the height checks. A lot of these parents think that CMs just arbitrarily assign a height to deny kids because they want to be mean, when in reality it's all based on the safe operation of the attraction that's also cleared and enforced by DOSH and the safety of their child.

There have been plenty of times where I've measured a child at the entrance, told the parents that it's not safe for the child to go on the attraction and offer them a child switch pass, get screamed at by the parents, get bumped to merge, and see the same parents come towards me with the same child (this time trying to sneak the child behind them so I don't see him/her). So I measure them again, see that the child was still too short, tell them that I was sorry and that they can use that child switch pass that I gave them earlier, get screamed at because now they've waited an hour in line, even get another Cast Member to measure the child as well, and now we both get screamed at some more. This has happened on many occasions.

That's one of the main reasons why there's height checks at the entrance to the attraction, at the Fastpass merge point, and at the end of the lines. They have to cover all bases in case children are snuck in line... I believe it's also a DOSH thing.

Unfortunately Goofy's Magic Measure, while a great system on paper, didn't really work in the real world. It needed constant calibration. Constant... like every hour or so because the calibration would go suddenly get all wonky all of a sudden. Of course, not just everyone could calibrate the thing either.

Also a very expensive system, from what I understand.

Malcon10t
03-02-2006, 06:20 PM
It's also annoying when parents with kids who have been already denied being sneak into the lines at other points to try to bypass the height checks.
I generally sit at the handicapped entrance to Indy, by the elevator, with teh dog, while I wait for the kids. On the last trip, I had the biggest laugh. Here comes this family with this little boy, who was a good 1 1/2-2 inches too short. Mom and dad are running interference, keeping themselves between him and the CM at the handicapped gate, where they also measure. But she spots him and asks him to come over to get measured. Sure enough, not tall enough. Kid, in typical kid fashion, says "Mom said I had to hide if I wanted to ride, guess I didn't hide good enough..." Why mom and dad would risk him for a ride, I don't get, but the kid was a riot.

Burnt Toast
03-02-2006, 06:32 PM
Kid, in typical kid fashion, says "Mom said I had to hide if I wanted to ride, guess I didn't hide good enough..." Why mom and dad would risk him for a ride, I don't get, but the kid was a riot.

HAHAHA... ROFL. Great story! 8:D

One time I had a Guest yell at me at Grizzly River Run so much and so loudly because her little girl was too short to go on the attraction that the little girl started to cry because her daddy was being mean to me. She started hitting his leg, screaming at him to stop yelling at me, and ultimately made him feel like a jerk.

Anyways, she was obviously smart enough at her age to realize that I wasn't telling her no to be mean, especially after I explained to her the reason why she couldn't go on the ride by getting down to her level so he wasn't staring up at me but we were both eye level.

He wound up apologizing to me after getting off the ride and thanked me for not letting his daughter on the ride... lets just say that Grizzly can be one bumpy ride and he realized why we had the height check in place. 8:D

cfrith
03-02-2006, 06:42 PM
It's also annoying when parents with kids who have been already denied being snuck into the lines at other accessible points to try to bypass the height checks. I never thought of them sneaking their kids in- wow!

JDBlair
03-02-2006, 06:44 PM
What saddens me here is the measurements are for safety, hello! As parents, the safety of our children is our top priority. If Disney has set safety guidelines and in their studying has determined that you have to be "yeah tall" to ride then we should thank them for thinking of our safety and not scream at them! It's the parents throwing their little temper tantrums and not the kids - the kid probably wants to go on Peter Pan or Dumbo!! Parents putting their own "wants" and "happiness" first! That just sickens me. And of course, these fit-throwing parents will be the first to "sue Disney for everything they have" the moment their child is hurt on these rides because they've ignored caution and warning to "sneak" their kids on to rides not deemed safe for them! I'm absolutely excited to go to DL this trip with my 2 year old daughter and enjoy things at her height level! She will be the "shortest" member in our group and I've excitedly volunteered to sit out while everyone rides Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, etc. Nothing thrills me more than seeing my children smile and hearing them giggle - and I expect a lot of that on anything she's able to ride! And if we get to the Bobsleds anticipating she can ride and they turn us away because she doesn't hit the mark on their stick, I'm going to thank the CM for thinking of my daughter's safety and go ride Dumbo - which she'll probably enjoy more any way!

derraj25
03-02-2006, 06:49 PM
I would rather a CM error on the side of caution. Last Christmas ('04), we flew down for a few days and decided to ride 'Screemin. My daughter who was exactly 48" tall just barely (and I do mean barely) was tall enough to ride.

Of the 9 (yes 9) times we rode, her height was verified all 9 times, and three times she would not have been allowed to ride had the CM who just measured her before leaving the station vouched for her and said he let her ride earlier.

If you ask me, the height restrictions are there for a reason...your child's safety. Don't fight them, thank them for looking out for your kids.

AMEN JD, AMEN!!!

--derraj

Burnt Toast
03-02-2006, 06:52 PM
JDBlair brings up a point.

I was waiting for my friends at the exit to Tower of Terror (I missed them going in, so I had to wait outside) and I saw this mother dragging her daughter out by the arm (she was probably 12 or 13) who was crying her eyes out. Well, the daughter didn't want to go on the ride because she was scared and her mother was just letting her have it.

The mom was dragging her around by the arm and was screaming at her saying that the girl was ruining her vacation and that she didn't pay all this money for the daughter not to go on the ride... and then started to repeatedly SMACK her daughter hard on the arms and shoulders.

I was so disgusted that I actually yelled out, "HEY!". I wanted to smack the woman upside the head myself, that's just no way to treat your child who is scared of something. She looked at me and then stopped... but I could tell that she was seething at her daughter and now also at me.

I've seen kids of all ages just kicking and screaming that they didn't want to ride something and the parents just dragging them on by their arms and/or hair and just screaming at them that the child was single-handedly ruining their vacation. It really just makes me sick and is just painful to watch.