Rides with height limits

[hbridge]

My 2 1/2 year old DC is 40" tall. We are planning a trip to Disney world soon and my husband thinks that this will enable us to go on most rides as a family. I think he's nuts, just because our DC meets the height limit, I'm still not sure they are appropriate. Anyway, those of you with experience with WDW, which height limit rides are appropriate for young children and which 40" limit rides should we definitely avoid. Splash mountain is the only ride that I think would be great for my DC and the reason I am so excited that we meet the 40" requirement.

Thanks so much.

[jeminaal]

I can't help you with WDW, since we're on the West Coast and do Disneyland instead, but I bet if you post your question on
"DisBoards.com", you'll get more responses. They have a forum specifically for families visiting the Disney parks:

http://www.disboards.com/forumdisplay.php?f=23

My now five-year old DD meets the height requirements for many rides, but because she's a bit cautious about roller coasters and dips, we've not yet taken her on Splash Mountain, the Matterhorn (at Disneyland) or rides similar to this. She's not yet been to the Haunted Mansion or Snow White's Scary Adventures (even though she's a big fan of Snow White) because I know she'll be scared of those rides. She did do Pirates of the Caribbean once, but told us that she was a little scared of it and we haven't taken her on it since. She LOVES the "Soarin' Over California" ride at California Adventure, though (called "Soarin'" at Epcot).

So, as far as which rides to do and which rides to avoid, it really depends upon how your DC will handle fast rides and/or scary rides.

Have a great time at WDW with your little one!




Jeanette
(formerly known as jeanmick, member since Feb 2003)

DD Born Christmas Eve
DS Born Valentine's Day

[gisele]

I think you will be more limited to what rides your DC is NOT afraid of. Even if DC meets the height limit, a lot of the Disney rides can be too scary for a 2 1/2 year old.

I think at that age I'd still be careful with some of the faster rides (like roller coaster ones) because even though your child is tall, many of the rides are quite jerky and can really pull on the neck. His bones are not as developed. Use your best judgement here on what is appropriate.

Mom to Nicholas 4/28/03
Baby #2 EDD 12/19/06

[momtoB]

My ds was 35" just before his 2nd birthday which enabled us to take him on the Barnstormer roller coaster in Toon Town. It's a very short (less than 1min) ride & since it's a metal coaster it's not too jerky but I still felt nervous taking my little guy on it. He seemed to enjoy it however after one time we decided that he could wait a while to ride again. It was just a little too "jerky". We go to WDW & DL frequently so we really don't worry about missing out on much - we'll just catch it the next time! After that trip I was looking on disneyworld.com and on the page for the Barnstormer I was surprised to see under the "tips" section that they actually have an age requirement of 3yrs to ride that ride! Of course when we went no one even asked us so it probably depends on the discretion of the CM's if they will allow younger kids to ride or not. They would have to ask of course because it's not like parents are going to walk up and say "Is it ok if my 2-yr old rides this?" lol

There was a thread a week or so ago on the "Disney for Families" board (www.disboards.com) where someone was trying to get ideas on how to make their child look 1" taller and a few people pointed out that the boat ride in the Norway pavilion at Epcot had a sign posted outside with an age requirement (I think also three). Now we've been to WDW 4x so far with ds and he's been on that ride multiple times and I don't remember seeing any such sign but it does say on the height limits page on allearsnet.com that there's a minimum age also, which sort of backs that up. Again, it probably depends on the CM's running the attraction if they try to enforce that though.

I think you have to do what is in the best interest of your child. I believe the height requirements are set to help keep children who are too young off of rides as well as being set for safety however because some kids are just tall for their age that might give some parents a false sense of security that it's ok to take their kids on a ride just because they meet the requirement.

Stitch's Great Escape is a good example of this. It has a 40" requirement and some 4yr olds might still think it's too scary. This is an attraction that doesn't have any moving parts, other than the shoulder restraint that lowers over your head (which could also freak some kids out) but there are some "special effects", darkness, and a scary story line that will frighten little ones who are not even close to being able to differentiate fantasy from reality.

Well I didn't mean to write a novel, lol. I hope this helps. You might try picking up a good planning book like the Unofficial Guide to WDW or the Passporter (passporter.com) because they also address which rides might be "too much" for little kids.

hth!
Cheryl
ds-4/03

[hbridge]

Thanks for the information, I have been thinking this same thing. Unfortunately for our upcoming trip my husband thinks if our DC meets the height requirements the ride is appropriate. Since my DC meets the requirements for most rides I may ask about/research age requirements so I have something to bring up to keep my not quite three year old off of Space Mountain!

[momtoB]

Space Mtn has a 44" height requirement so unless your dc has a huge growth spurt hopefully you won't have to worry about that one for a little while at least!

And look at it this way, if he misses a few rides now, then that's just something special to look forward to for future trips.

FYI: from http://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/height.cfm

Height req 40" & over:

Disney World Height Requirements

Height Requirements Calculator

Park Attraction Height
Requirement
MGM Studios Rock 'n' Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith 48"
Animal Kingdom Dinosaur 40"
Blizzard Beach Summit Plummet 48"
MGM Studios The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror 40"
Animal Kingdom Primeval Whirl 48"
Blizzard Beach Downhill Double Dipper 48"
DisneyQuest Mighty Ducks Pinball Slam 48"
Epcot Body Wars 40"
Magic Kingdom Tomorrowland Indy Speedway 52"
MGM Studios Star Tours 40"
Typhoon Lagoon Bay Slide 52"
DisneyQuest Buzz Lightyear's AstroBlaster 51"
DisneyQuest Cyberspace Mountain 51"
Epcot Test Track 40"
Magic Kingdom Space Mountain 44"
Typhoon Lagoon Humunga Kowabunga 48"
Magic Kingdom Splash Mountain 40"
Magic Kingdom Big Thunder Mountain Railroad 40"

[xmasbabycomin]

Hey,
Seems like my son was about the same height/age when we went.
We thought he'd be tall enough for Splash Mntn. since
according to the doc he was 40", but they
wouldn't let him on. I think they go buy the little
hand on the sign, which is give or take 40"
(DH tried-I wasn't sure aboutit). I've heard
stories of people putting their DD
in platforms and big bows! If you think he can handle
it, you can always try again when someone else is manning
the gates!

I do remember:
Rides we enjoyed: Barnstormer, Kali River Rapids,
Pirates, tea cups, Safari, Dumbo, flying rockets (name
escapes me...tomorrowland), Buzz, Peter Pan

Which rides were you thinking of specifically?

AFter a lot of research we decided not to even try
Caleb with Bugs Life, Test Track or Thunder Mntn.
We tried the Muppet 3-D but he did NOT like that.

We had a BLAST! Don't listen to the people who tell
you they're too young to enjoy it at that age.

[hbridge]

One ride that I was wondering about was the River Rapid Ride in Animal Kingdom. Also, Test Track in Epcot. My DH thinks that just because she is tall enough it's okay. I will be very scared if he tries to put her on Test Track...

After riding Thunder Mountain RR in the rain about 6 years ago I don't know if I will even go on that one again! I'm sure we will be discussing her riding that one while we're standing in line!

Of course my father took us on the Haunted Mansion when I was three and we were still screaming half and hour later so I have some experience with going on rides before a child is ready. My DH, not so much!

Thanks you for all of your responses!

[writermama]

We took my DD to WDW when she was about 1 year and when she was 18 months. We started slowly with rides, but by the end of the trip, she was loving every ride we took her on, including the haunted mansion. She was under 40 inches, so we didn't attempt any of the thrills, just dark rides and boats.

When she was 2 1/2 we took her to Disneyland. Since she was such a ride pro, he didn't think about it and took her on Roger Rabbit's Toontown Spin for her first ride on our first day. Big mistake. He had forgotten that it was noisy, dark, intense, and featured explosions(think Mr. Toad meets teacups with evil weasels). DD cried for a half hour after that.

For the rest of the trip she refused to go on any rides. Even the carousel. It was a real bummer for DH because he wanted to ride the rides with his little girl like he had before, but because of that trauma, she wanted none of it. We finally got her on small world toward the end of the trip, but even that was under protest.

Since then she has also refused all fair rides and we've only just got her back on a carousel.

My point is just that there's something very tricky about this age, old enough to see more than just shiny and colorful but not old enough to understand it's just pretend. They are easy to traumatize, and it can really ruin the trip. You might want to share this cautionary tale with your DH if you think it might help.

ETA: D'oh! I just saw the date of the OP. I hope you HAD a great trip. I'm used to the traffic on the baby boards.