Incredicoaster Height Requirements

[LarsoftheJungle]

My son was 47.5 inches tall at his Dr appt a week ago. He has big curly hair, so looks taller if he just walks up to a size chart and no one actually holds his hair down. I'm already scared of rollercoasters, so not inclined to let him breeze on half an inch too short. He really wants to ride it, and I said I would just bite it and go with him. I only just learned that he isn't tall enough to ride - after he's watched the ride throughs and has his heart set on it. Ooops. I'm trying to strategize how to let him down. Are the CMs really strict - like do they touch kid's heads to see how tall they are?

 

[maleficent55]

Yes, they are strict, or rather....thorough. They are trained to look for things such as tall shoes and tall hair.

If he is truly not tall enough, it may be better to let him know now and offer other fun alternatives...like literally every single other ride in both parks vs getting there and having a big letdown on the spot.

 

[Bruno33]

That was with his shoes off? With shoes on, he should probably hit it if you go first thing.

 

[LarsoftheJungle]

Yes, they are strict, or rather....thorough. They are trained to look for things such as tall shoes and tall hair.

If he is truly not tall enough, it may be better to let him know now and offer other fun alternatives...like literally every single other ride in both parks vs getting there and having a big letdown on the spot.

Yeah I don't want to sneak him into an unsafe situation even if it were lax. He's a tricky kid though - it could turn me into the bad guy and "ruin" the whole trip if it's coming from me, whereas from a stranger he might be able to move on better. I'm still weighing the pro/con list of how/when to tell him. I think I will probably just tell him I just found out there's a height requirement and we'll have to check when we get there and leave it at that. Then when we get there check his height on all the other rides he does first so he can feel accomplished or whatever at being tall. DCA is our hopping park, so we'll be hitting up Disneyland first.

 

[starlite_]

You said you don't want to sneak him into an unsafe situation, then why are you asking if they are strict ? The rule is there for safety reasons. He is too short, end of story.

Just be a parent and be honest with your kid now so he doesn't get all hyped up for it when you already know he will be disappointed when he gets there. Tell him the truth, he isn't tall enough and for his own safety he cannot ride it yet. That doesn't make you the bad guy, it makes you a good parent and it's a good lesson on following the rules despite wanting something a lot.

 

[DizneyFamof4]

My son was 47.5 inches tall at his Dr appt a week ago. He has big curly hair, so looks taller if he just walks up to a size chart and no one actually holds his hair down. I'm already scared of rollercoasters, so not inclined to let him breeze on half an inch too short. He really wants to ride it, and I said I would just bite it and go with him. I only just learned that he isn't tall enough to ride - after he's watched the ride throughs and has his heart set on it. Ooops. I'm trying to strategize how to let him down. Are the CMs really strict - like do they touch kid's heads to see how tall they are?

Yes and yes they will flatten his hair to verify his height.

 

[VGCgroupie]

You can always try. My son tried to ride Avatar and was so disappointed when he was just a tad too short, the CM was so nice and gave us a front of the line pass for our next visit when he knew he would be tall enough.

 

[Wesley815]

....it could turn me into the bad guy and "ruin" the whole trip if it's coming from me, whereas from a stranger he might be able to move on better.

Please do not put Cast Member in position of bad guy. Speaking from my time as a CM there were many parents who played victim and would blame us for caring about their childs safety more than they did. Sounds crazy but true- happened nearly everyday.

Good parenting is being truthful and saying no at times and/or offering alternative things to do.

 

[VGCgroupie]

Please do not put Cast Member in position of bad guy. Speaking from my time as a CM there were many parents who played victim and would blame us for caring about their childs safety more than they did. Sounds crazy but true- happened nearly everyday.

Good parenting is being truthful and saying no. I can't believe I'm even having to say that, lol

We made sure to clarify with our son we could see how tall he was but if he wasn't tall enough he wasn't tall enough and that he would accept his fate. We all made a joke of how he needed to eat his greens if he wanted to grow that extra couple centimeters. The CM was super lighthearted about it too and was like I know next time you will have grown enough because you will eat your veggies.

 

[Wesley815]

We made sure to clarify with our son we could see how tall he was but if he wasn't tall enough he wasn't tall enough and that he would accept his fate. We all made a joke of how he needed to eat his greens if he wanted to grow that extra couple centimeters. The CM was super lighthearted about it too and was like I know next time you will have grown enough because you will eat your veggies.

Thank you!! Apologies if my first post came across a bit of a rant- your reply was a great way to handle situation as all about how to prepare children before even going to height check area.

I know tears may flow no matter what but is much easier if everyone is on the same page and lighthearted rather than cold no / bad guy label.

 

[disneychrista]

The top of his head, not his hair must at least touch the top of the measuring stick.

Looks like it is time to get ahead of it and let him know that he won't be able to ride.

 

[Kooks and Bay Bay]

I'm assuming he was measured with shoes OFF at the Dr?
They don't make you take your shoes off at Disney so as long as he is wearing proper footwear like he should be anyways aka SNEAKERS which generally add a solid inch he should be fine.
If he is wearing flat little flip flops he may be too short.

But also prepare him to potentially be disappointed and tell him that if the CM says he is too short then that's that. You can be sad but you can't act nasty the rest of the day because ultimately its for safety reasons not because they want to be mean.

 

[disneychrista]

I'm assuming he was measured with shoes OFF at the Dr?

I don't remember a time where the doctor ever had my kids take their shoes off for measuring or weighing.

 

[Kooks and Bay Bay]

I don't remember a time where the doctor ever had my kids take their shoes off for measuring or weighing.

That's odd.
Even as an adult particularly at my gyn they request that I take off my shoes and check my height and also anything that is not my immediate clothing so for example if I'm wearing a jacket.

 

[LarsoftheJungle]

You said you don't want to sneak him into an unsafe situation, then why are you asking if they are strict ? The rule is there for safety reasons. He is too short, end of story.

Just be a parent and be honest with your kid now so he doesn't get all hyped up for it when you already know he will be disappointed when he gets there. Tell him the truth, he isn't tall enough and for his own safety he cannot ride it yet. That doesn't make you the bad guy, it makes you a good parent and it's a good lesson on following the rules despite wanting something a lot.

Please do not put Cast Member in position of bad guy. Speaking from my time as a CM there were many parents who played victim and would blame us for caring about their childs safety more than they did. Sounds crazy but true- happened nearly everyday.

Good parenting is being truthful and saying no at times and/or offering alternative things to do.

You do not know my kid or our situation. This child has developmental differences requiring careful planning for basically everything in our life. I AM being a parent here, collecting ALL the information about what will happen if we attempt to ride the ride so I can make the least traumatic plan for everyone: him, me, the CMs. You have no idea how much more of a “parent” I am doing this all on hard mode.

The above posters suggestion of how he lightheartedly approached it with his kid is exactly the kind of planning am doing. Parents strategize without being dishonest all the time.
I wanted to make sure, in advance, that they weren’t going to just waive him on if he’s too short. I think I made it pretty clear that I am not trying to put him in an unsafe situation - in fact you even quoted me saying so but just decided to twist it into something so you could jab at my parenting? Take your problems out on someone else, Man. I’m just trying to have a Disney day out here.

 

[Tinkaboo]

Yes, I recall your previous posts on both the DAS forum and here. As I recall, you got a lot of responses to your inquiries.

I think it’s best that to be truthful with your son, and let him know each big ride will measure him. If he gets measured and passes, well you are good to go. If not, prepare him that it could go either way and rules are rules…surely he knows that.

One of my pet peeves is parents that post on ways to “cheat” the system…thicker sole shoes, putting lifts in shoes, etc. People don't stop to think about the physical stress some rides put on a person, particularly roller coasters, ones that pull a lot of G force. Since you have Incredicoaster in your title, I assume that’s the one you are most focused on and it’s probably the worst of the bunch as far as physical intensity goes.

Be wise, be careful and enjoy your time together whatever you end up doing.

 

[Aladora]

You do not know my kid or our situation. This child has developmental differences requiring careful planning for basically everything in our life. I AM being a parent here, collecting ALL the information about what will happen if we attempt to ride the ride so I can make the least traumatic plan for everyone: him, me, the CMs. You have no idea how much more of a “parent” I am doing this all on hard mode.

The above posters suggestion of how he lightheartedly approached it with his kid is exactly the kind of planning am doing. Parents strategize without being dishonest all the time.
I wanted to make sure, in advance, that they weren’t going to just waive him on if he’s too short. I think I made it pretty clear that I am not trying to put him in an unsafe situation - in fact you even quoted me saying so but just decided to twist it into something so you could jab at my parenting? Take your problems out on someone else, Man. I’m just trying to have a Disney day out here.

I've got a son who is autistic and when he was younger I would talk to him far in advance of a trip to prep him for what to expect in a bunch of different scenarios. I remember when Disney changed from the GAC to the DAS, the first time I talked to him about the anticipated changes he looked at me and asked "Why does Disney HATE me?" (He was 8 at the time) But, by the time our next trip came around 6 months later, we had talked about it a number of times and he was prepared for the change.

Change is so hard for kids with developmental disabilities but in my 19 years as a parent, I have learned that preparation is the best way to success. I don't know how old your kid is but talk to them and explain what they can expect to happen. The more you can prepare them for different outcomes, the better chance you have of walking away with a child who is not super upset.

Someone once said this to me and I use it as a guiding philosophy when parenting a SN child:

We, as parents, have the responsibility to prepare our child for the road, not the road for the child.

More simply said, the world is not going to change for my child, no matter what challenges he has. I need to make sure he is able to function in this world to the best of his ability.

Good luck on your trip, I hope it is as amazingly wonderful as you hope for!

 

[Geemo]

Yeah I don't want to sneak him into an unsafe situation even if it were lax. He's a tricky kid though - it could turn me into the bad guy and "ruin" the whole trip if it's coming from me, whereas from a stranger he might be able to move on better. I'm still weighing the pro/con list of how/when to tell him. I think I will probably just tell him I just found out there's a height requirement and we'll have to check when we get there and leave it at that. Then when we get there check his height on all the other rides he does first so he can feel accomplished or whatever at being tall. DCA is our hopping park, so we'll be hitting up Disneyland first.

As you work on planning for the trip have him review the specific ride requirements with you.
This way he will learn the height requirements Disney has set for each ride.

There are No Bad Guys here. It is just what the rules happen to be. You can explain the safety behind their rules if you want to.

When is your trip? Maybe he will have a growth spurt to get the valuable .5'' to make it to 48"

 

[foolish_mortals]

Just a heads up if their height is close they'll likely be measured multiple times before getting on the ride and need to get the "ok" at each measurement.

Disneyland tries their best to keep the height indicator consistent but each one can be off a little. I've seen kids pass the first two and fail at the third by less than a centimeter. It's such a downer.

 

[Bossy22]

I was in this situation a few years back with my daughter with all the 42 (I think) it's been awhile, height rides. She measured 41.5 so we told her there was a height requirement so she probably would not be able to go on these rides but that we would do sooo much other fun stuff. Well we got to DL and I told her, remember, you won't be able to go on but we went up anyways and she was tall enough. They measured her everytime we went on the rides and everytime she squeeked by. She ended up getting more than she was expecting so it was an amazing trip!!! Prepare for the worst and if they are actually tall enough it is a huge win!