Height requirements-Very tall 2 year old

[JacobEvanMom]

My son just turned 2 last week, and is very tall for his age... 38", which is more like the height of a 4 year old. He meets the height requirement for some rides, but I am unsure if he can handle the ride because of his age. Specifically, Kali River Rapids. Thoughts? Thanks!

 

[mesaboy2]

My son just turned 2 last week, and is very tall for his age... 38", which is more like the height of a 4 year old. He meets the height requirement for some rides, but I am unsure if he can handle the ride because of his age. Specifically, Kali River Rapids. Thoughts? Thanks!

That's not a question any of us can answer for you. If he's tall enough, he can handle it from a physical perspective. I can suggest looking at ride descriptions and YouTube videos to see if you think he can handle it otherwise. Plenty of young kids handle all rides well, plenty others don't.

 

[jennylyn_b]

Ask yourself this... Will he be okay sitting in his own seat with a big bar around him without you being able to hold him? Will he be okay with a large quantity if water dumping on him suddenly?
These are huge factors to this ride. You won't be able to cuddle him and tell him its ok until the ride is over. To a traumatized toddler that's an eternity.

 

[JacobEvanMom]

Thank you! I have never been on this ride, so this response is very helpful!

 

[peachydreamyxx]

My son is also very tall. He was 40.5" on a trip we took a month before his third bday. He went on BTMRR and loved it. He did not want to do splash mountain so we didnt press it- he did try it on our last trip at 3.5 and hated it however. I didnt let him try ToT as I knew that would have scared him and he would have been done with rides. He loved Kali river rapids, they have a special seat for the smaller kids and call them the "captain", it was not rough at all. He loved it! Same with dinosaur- loved it! Star tours is also a favorite of his as its very mild.

Basically you know yor child best. I knew what he could/couldn't handle. Whatever you do, don't let others force you. My MIl tried to tell me that DS would be fine on ToT because she put her son on at 4 and he loved it. DS wasn't even 3 yet, and he's still yet to ride ToT.

 

[jeepwilly]

If I recall correctly, Kali River Rapids is a unique ride. 38" is the minimum height but it's a little more complicated then that. Most of the rafts have a single modified seat to accommodate children that are between 38" and 42", I believe it has an extra head bar to keep the child in place. All of the other seats on the raft require a person 42" or taller.

I agree with the others, it's up to you to decide whether he can handle a water raft ride sitting by himself. I'm sure by the time you get there and ride a few other rides with him, you'll be able to make the appropriate decision.

 

[darkwing818]

Ask yourself this... Will he be okay sitting in his own seat with a big bar around him without you being able to hold him? Will he be okay with a large quantity if water dumping on him suddenly?
These are huge factors to this ride. You won't be able to cuddle him and tell him its ok until the ride is over. To a traumatized toddler that's an eternity.

This is the thought process we always used. Could our DDs handle a ride alone (regardless of age) w/o Mom or Dad? Always has put things in proper perspective, for us anyway.

 

[sb682]

My son is also tall for his age and was over 40" when he was 3. He could've ridden BTMRR and Splash on our first trip but we didn't think he was mentally ready. He did Splash a few weeks ago (he's almost 4 now) and even though he was holding onto us the entire time, he loved it and asked to ride again. He was dying to ride ToT but we decided to hold off on it for now. It's a tough call and it all depends on your kid's level of bravery and fear. Do ride-throughs on YouTube and watch the ride cars go by a few times before you get in line or get FPs. Offer him several opportunities in the queue to change his mind. We asked our boy about half a dozen times if he was SURE he wanted to ride Splash, reassuring him that it was OK to change his mind. He started to get a little exasperated with us asking, but we wanted to give him the chance to get out before it was too late. And if he starts to waver, don't make him go. We talked him into going on HM on our first trip and he was very unsure about it. He ended up being pretty freaked out (dumb teenagers fake screaming in front of us didn't help) and didn't enjoy it.

 

[delmar411]

My son just turned 2 last week, and is very tall for his age... 38", which is more like the height of a 4 year old. He meets the height requirement for some rides, but I am unsure if he can handle the ride because of his age. Specifically, Kali River Rapids. Thoughts? Thanks!

My middle 2 were over 40" at age 2. They rode everything they were tall enough for and loved them all. And Kali is barely more than a gentle floating raft. It's not a thrill ride by any stretch of the imagination.

Eta- after reading the other responses I'm unclear if they've ever been on Kali? They seat you 2 by 2 so the toddler will have mom or dad right up against them with nothing stopping them from being held tight if desired. You only wear a simple lap belt on this ride.

Eta- here is a link to a site that shows the child bar on Kali, it's just something for them to be able to hold onto.
http://www.400milestodisneyland.com/2012/10/kali-river-rapids-at-wdw-38-fun.html

 

[revdon64]

This is a question only you can truly answer. In May of 2012 we took our kids to Dutch Wonderland in Lancaster, Pa. for a day. DS was 2 and has always been tall for his age. We thought it would be fun to go on the sky ride across the park. He rode with me and DD with DW. Unfortunately, a minute or two into the ride and he was bored and wanted off. Did I mention that the ride doesn't have seatbelts, just a lap bar that doesn't prevent a smaller person from easily standing up? I spent the next six to eight minutes of the ride completely freaked out trying to hold onto him without holding him so tight that he would fight me to get free. The most excruciating minutes of my parental life.
Bottom line, don't trust height requirements alone. Be discerning about what your kids can and cannot handle. Only you know what's best for your kids.

 

[JacobEvanMom]

Thank you everyone! I didn't want to just trust the height requirement considering his age. Seeing as I have never been on this ride, I figured it would be helpful to hear more about the actual ride experience. I have spent a significant amount of time in MK and Epcot, however I haven't spent much time in this park, and now with little ones we would like to expand our horizons. . Getting excited already for our next visit!

 

[chartle]

Thank you everyone! I didn't want to just trust the height requirement considering his age. Seeing as I have never been on this ride, I figured it would be helpful to hear more about the actual ride experience. I have spent a significant amount of time in MK and Epcot, however I haven't spent much time in this park, and now with little ones we would like to expand our horizons. . Getting excited already for our next visit!

For a ride of this type its one of the tamer ones.

There should be a ton of Youtube videos with on ride footage.

 

[FigmentFinder]

Thank you everyone! I didn't want to just trust the height requirement considering his age. Seeing as I have never been on this ride, I figured it would be helpful to hear more about the actual ride experience. I have spent a significant amount of time in MK and Epcot, however I haven't spent much time in this park, and now with little ones we would like to expand our horizons. . Getting excited already for our next visit!

My DD is 2.5 and just tall enough to ride. I doubt she would enjoy getting splashed, possibly drenched, over the head with a deluge of cold water. Sometimes you barely get sprinkled on that sort of ride and sometimes a tidal wave comes in.

We're going to pass and instead play with the elephant sprinklers at the end of the ride. (so we can soak my DH and DS hopefully)

 

[jennylyn_b]

My middle 2 were over 40" at age 2. They rode everything they were tall enough for and loved them all. And Kali is barely more than a gentle floating raft. It's not a thrill ride by any stretch of the imagination.

Eta- after reading the other responses I'm unclear if they've ever been on Kali? They seat you 2 by 2 so the toddler will have mom or dad right up against them with nothing stopping them from being held tight if desired. You only wear a simple lap belt on this ride.

Eta- here is a link to a site that shows the child bar on Kali, it's just something for them to be able to hold onto.
http://www.400milestodisneyland.com/2012/10/kali-river-rapids-at-wdw-38-fun.html

I've been on Kali more time than I can count. I absolutely know what I am talking about. I also have a toddler and know when they get scared all they want is to be held close and that cannot happen on this ride. They will have to stay in their seats. Plus some kids don't like getting hit with water especially large amounts and unknowingly and Kali is known for this. You don't think you are going to get soaked and then it turns suddenly and you get hit with a large amount of water. Fun for some and not so much for others.

 

[bek]

Last summer my grandson was 2 turning 3 in September and 39". We took him to Barnstormer first where he could see it and asked him if he wanted to try it. He could ride next to an adult and it is a very short ride. He loved it -- he definitely inherited my DIL's thrill rider genes!

Then we took him on Kali River Rapids. He thought it was very funny when I got the big wave over me. We were already drenched from TS Debbie, so I couldn't get any wetter. But the wave going over me was a bit of a surprise, so I can see some young kids really not liking that.

The funny thing is this summer when he's 3 going on 4, he did not like Pirates of the Caribbean. But it was the darkness with scary things he didn't like. At BOG, he wouldn't go into the West Wing and watch the portrait change with his mom and older siblings. He was tall enough to go with his older siblings to TOT. But just walking over and looking at it, he decided on his own not to go on it.

I think you can walk back and see the drop with the wave crashing over the raft without going on the ride. Maybe let him watch first.

 

[Princess Melody]

Totally depends on the kid. My 27 month old is tall for her age and LOVES any roller coaster she meets the height requirement for. She would probably love Kali (still 1 inch too short) & think the water splashing over her was funny (she has been on many family raft rides that do just that & always laughs). We frequently go with a 3 year old friend of hers though that is terrified of Barnstormer and won't go on kiddie water slides & raft rides so I highly doubt she'd like Kali. One thing I dislike about having a tall 2 year old is they are already too tall for some of the kiddie stuff like many slides at the water parks but luckily mine is a daredevil & prefers the bigger stuff. Her friend would be out of luck. At least Disney only has minimum heights for rides, not maximum.

 

[BigKid45]

I have to agree with others....you know your kid, we don't. My 4 year old was tall enough for every ride and embraced them all...TOT, BTMRR, SM, RRC etc. She laughed when her 7 yr old sister cried thru HM. She has loved all rides including roller coasters to this day. Again, it is up to you to know what your kid can handle. One caution, she was so skinny at that time that ridding with an adult on BTMRR the lap bar didn't come down far enough IMHO because of the adult in the same car so keeping her pinned down was a concern. I held on to her the whole trip because I worried she might slip, but she was secured the whole ride, even with my arm around her.