[Question] Official Height Measurement

[Dec2009Mama]

[ShelbyH]

Re: Official Height Measurement

I think a wristband would be a great idea. They don't have it at DLR but you should write to guest services suggesting it. It would save everyone a lot of trouble.

[Garthilk]

Re: Official Height Measurement

Part of the thrill at least as a parant is the excitement in the eyes of the kiddos as they get teh nod that they're finally tall enough. I remember when they were tall enough for the first Matterhorn, or Big Thunder Mountain, and Space Mountain. Wristband or not you still have to deal with the dissapointment of explaining that maybe next year they can go on X ride.

[ShelbyH]

Re: Official Height Measurement

I agree that you still have to deal with the disappointment, but it beats getting their hopes up every time, especially since there are variables that for a child who's just on the edge, they could have already ridden the ride and be denied the next time. It's just easier to say, "Look honey, that's a yellow wristband ride so unfortunately you can't go on it" than to go up each time and try it with variations in results.

[Malcon10t]

Re: Official Height Measurement

Disney tried this back in 2001/2002 time frame. Sadly parents would slip the wristband off child 1 who was tall enough and put it on child 2 who was just a hair too short... As someone who wears these wristbands all the time, I can attest to the fact that unless they are very snug (as in almost uncomfortable) they can be removed pretty easily.

Measuring the little ones only last a couple years. I understand the complaints, my nephew was 4 years 3 mos before he was tall enough to ride the 40" rides. We would measure him each trip and it became his rite of passage. His first 40" ride? BTMRR. We took a TON of pictures because it did feel like it took him forever to get there.

[ShelbyH]

Re: Official Height Measurement

Really? Those people are stupid. I'd much rather buy an ice cream bar for my crying, devastated too-short child than have him slip under a safety belt. Sheesh.

[Dec2009Mama]

Re: Official Height Measurement

Hubby and I were there for the AP holder Fantasmic event and there was NO WAY we were able to get our wristband off without destroying them.

I agree with the excitement in their eyes when they are finally tall enough to ride the bigger thrill rides like BTR or SM but my guy is only two years old and doesn't have that type of reaction yet. At least today he didn’t have reaction except when we had to take him away from a ride they said he was too short for ~ he just cried and sometimes screamed. And sometimes those were rides he had been on earlier!

My solution was more geared toward the rides that have a requirement of 36" or under for the younger kids that get measured at every check point. I have seen the CM at the beginning of the line let a child thru but then at another point the child is measured again and denied.

I am all for safety it just saves a bit of heartache for those of us with younger children.

[Malcon10t]

Re: Official Height Measurement

Hubby and I were there for the AP holder Fantasmic event and there was NO WAY we were able to get our wristband off without destroying them.

Really? I slipped mine off while we had dinner, then put it back on when we came downstairs to see Fantasmic! Same with the Preview bands, and the APEE bands. Not a big deal, we've been wearing these bands for about 10 years on weekends, and once you figure out how to do it, its actually pretty easy. I have to wear the same one for 3 days, and I learned to slip it off for showers.

[techskip]

Re: Official Height Measurement

Disney did try it. Part of the issue was parents swapping bands. We caught a few that were cut/taped or stretched and discolored. It was annoying but that's life and the child was then measured. The other part of the issue was that the "official height checker" wasn't always accurate. I'm not talking "off by a hair" I'm talking off by 2 or 3 inches. Now the kid has the band, we can clearly see the kid isn't tall enough, and we are required to turn said kid away. Parents are understandably upset. The kid, who was "checked" before and told they could ride now gets the bad news. All around debacle.

If a kid is close then the measure is a coin flip. One CM could say pass, another could say no go. I've always told parents to wait until the kid is a 1/2in above the mark. That way there is no disappointment, there is no "maybe", you remove the "if".

[greeeneyes17]

Re: Official Height Measurement

I think parents should

1. Look up all the height requirements online and make sure they're up to date (not difficult)
2. Get their child measured by a doctor, and do it yourself to make sure you get around the same reading
3. Let the child know which rides he/she will be able to enjoy on this vacation, and which rides he will have to wait until next trip for
4. MOST IMPORTANTLY: let the child know which rides he is just on the border of being tall enough for, and that they may not let him ride.

Child is a lot less likely to have a meltdown in the park when he can't ride something, because you have spared him the disappointment by telling him beforehand.

but what do I know, I'm not a parent.

[mousedaddy]

Re: Official Height Measurement

great idea greeneyes17 I am a parent planning our first Disneyland trip we made growth charts than I purposely made an inch taller like for a 36 inch ride I put the line at 37 inches may sound mean but it may prevent a red head green eyed melt down. (just in case you were wondering my kids are read head green eyes)

P.S. we musher them bear footed

[Disneytwins]

Re: Official Height Measurement

I always hated having a wrist band on... especially when it's plastic and it's hot outside.

[ohmyjustin]

Re: Official Height Measurement

If wristbands aren't possible, why not do hand stamps? If it works for re-admission, why wouldn't it be good for attractions?

[Malcon10t]

Re: Official Height Measurement

If wristbands aren't possible, why not do hand stamps? If it works for re-admission, why wouldn't it be good for attractions?

Handstamps get wet and smear. Child A passes the test, parent of child A dampens the hand, then smears the stamp on the hand of Child B, who isn't tall enough. Why do you think you have to have the ticket AND the handstamp?

[Dec2009Mama]

Re: Official Height Measurement

Well then a height pass and handstamp may work since they don't have a ticket anyways!

[CMinParadise]

Re: Official Height Measurement

Child is a lot less likely to have a meltdown in the park when he can't ride something, because you have spared him the disappointment by telling him beforehand.

It's funny.......when it comes to height checks, children are easy. I've checked a lot of children's heights (and subsequently turned away a lot of them), and I could count the number of children I've truly disappointed on one hand. Most are too young to even understand what's going on, or they understand but they just dont make a big scene. No, if anyone's going to be immature about it, it's usually the parents. They're the ones you have to watch out for. And wristbands won't cure the kind of stupidity that makes a parent care more about whether they get to ride than about whether their child lives or dies.

[Malina]

Re: Official Height Measurement

How about something like a GAC with a photo component? A parent brings their child to City Hall (or another area set up for this), the kid is measured, the kid is issued a photo ticket that is good for the duration of their trip. If the kid has an AP, it can be loaded onto the card.

The kid gets to the attraction, hands over her card, is scanned and the photo is checked against the kid standing there, and on she goes. Or not.

It would require a lot of technology and scanners at the entrance to each attraction, but it's the only thing I can think of that would be (mostly) cheat-proof.

I don't understand why parents would try so hard to cheat the system anyway. Yes, it's sad when your kid can't ride something. Maybe it's a good lesson that you can't have everything you want, and maybe instead of focusing on that, the parents should try to focus on all the rides the kid CAN do. I can't understand why a parent would risk their child's safety to keep them from being disappointed. It would be a lot more disappointing to the child if he ended up in a hospital bed.

[Autopia]

Re: Official Height Measurement

Well then a height pass and handstamp may work since they don't have a ticket anyways!

As has been said already, something like it was tried. Too many people cheated the system so rather than deal with correcting a few people, everyone loses the option.

I still think on of my favorite things I ever saw was a pair of sandals that security had confiscated. They were cheep wal-mart brand sandals for a little kid that had the sole cut in half, a 4" thick wood block put in the middle and screwed back together. The person even went so far as to stain the wood the same white color as the rubber. The ways people try and cheat the system...

And as some people have expirenced, the call to let a child on rests not at the entrance of the attraction, but at the loading area. If at that point it is deemed that the child is too short, they have final say so.

[Malcon10t]

Re: Official Height Measurement

nd as some people have expirenced, the call to let a child on rests not at the entrance of the attraction, but at the loading area. If at that point it is deemed that the child is too short, they have final say so.

All the technology/wristbands/stamps are useless if when the child reaches the front of the line to board, and he does not make the stick. The person who boards the group is the one who is responsible. They have the last say if a person can ride, whether it is because of height/weight/the way the equipment fits/etc... They are the one DOSH will be coming to if there is an accident.