Personal ride height limits.....

QUESTION: How do other height limit challenged parents deal with this delima?

As coaster addiction is most likely genetic, does anyone else have young children bitten by the coaster bug? Since riding the Flying Unicorn at IOA, my 5 year old daughter is flat out nuts about riding. While at BGT 2 months ago, she cried upon learning the height restrictions would not get her on Gwazi or Python. (she's 44", the limit is 48") On our third attempt (after multiple Scorpion spins), the Ballet tip toe method worked for Gwazi and Python. Her elation soon turned to dispair (and tears) after consecutive attempts to re-ride failed. We are going to SFNE and Lake Compounce in 2 weeks. Any suggestions? J.V.

Yes. As the parent of a 6 year old who is 47 1/2 inches and can't wait to get on the big coasters, my advice is:

Wait! She'll grow up soon enough, and putting her at risk by ignoring those limits is, in my mind, just plain stupid. You never should have put her on a coaster that she was 4" to short to ride, and those ops should never have allowed her on. She isn't tall enough to properly fit the restraints, nor is her muscle build developed enough to completely and properly allow her to ride a larger, more intense coaster in complete safety.

Value your child and their development and let them grow into it, just as the rest of us have. You'll all be better off for it. Ride the rides that she's able to, and teach her respect for safety guidelines and rules by making her obey them.

Remember, you teach her to violate park rules because of what you want to do, then you are also teaching her to violate your rules because she wants to do something else.

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Sometimes it's up. Sometimes it's down.
But with God, life is one thrill ride that you'll never regret being on.

You probably don't want to hear my suggestion: If they're not tall enough they shouldn't ride. Period.

My 10-year old daughter is developing "the bug" and is always worried about not being tall enough (she's a little short for her age). I absolutely will not let her ride if she's not tall enough.

I hate it when I see parents trying everything they can think of (thick soled shoes, puffed up hair, tip-toes, etc.) to get their child on a ride when they are obviously not tall enough.

I believe the limits are set for a reason and no child should be endangered just so they can get on a ride.

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Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former." - Albert Einstein

My nine 1/2 year old was 1/2 inch too short for Chang and stand-up at SFKK. She was heart-broken. So the next trip we made we bought some taller flip flop sandles and she was able to ride. I didn't really think it was cheating being just a 1/2 an inch.

For any of you cheating parents, if your child had been hurt (or God forbid, worse) on the rides they were too short to be on in the first place, whose responsibility is that? Yours, or the parks?

*** This post was edited by MP on 6/19/2002. ***

I have a niece that is the same height as Sir Willow's daughter, just a half inch too short for most rides. It seems like she has been that height for a LONG time. I am waiting for her to hit 48" before I take her to SFMM. It would be safer to wait, so that's what we're doing.

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Nothing... NOTHING... can prepare you for... the Fourth Dimension!

My daughter is 4 and she's tall for her age (46 inches currently) - she's been on many big rides including Tower Of Terror and Journey to Atlantis. Her track record currently includes 15 coasters, mostly kiddie. She too is itching for those 2 extra inches to get into some "bigger rides".

I would never, ever use any "cheat" to make her big enough to get on any ride. Height requirements are there for one reason and one reason only - Safety! As much as I understand that amusement parks are one of the safest forms of entertainment out there, you still have to use common sense. I just have to shake my head when I see parents stuffing shoes or taking a small child on ride they're clearly not ready for.

In my daughter's case, she'll probably hit that 48 inch mark next summer - even then I'll probably tell her "no go" on some of the big coasters. Sorry, but even if all requirements are met, I'm not sticking a 5 year old on something like Magnum or Steel Force, she's just not ready for it. Obviously decisions like this are up to the parent to weigh the situation, but cheating the height requirements is just asking for trouble.

I have to agree with the others here, sticking a 44 inch child on a ride with a 48 inch requirement is just aking for trouble. Use common sense so we don't have any more injuries stories to read about on the front page here at Coasterbuzz.

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www.coasterimage.com
Dorney Park visits in 2002: 11

Dek and Sir, I would agree to disagree with you. First off, I raise my kids with 3 times the discipline most parents have forgotten about. Yes we are "violating" park rules, however I fear no long term behavior repercussions.

Second, I will not "cheat" her on any ride I have not gone on first. She waits for me to get off to let her know if she can ride. IMO, the retraints on Pheonix at BGT were way too big for her, even though she met the height limit. Sorry, NO RIDE!

For me, it comes down to the indivudal rides characteristics (lenght/inversions/restraint type,etc...) that determine if she has a chance of ME getting her on.

On a lighter note, I will always exploit the rides she CAN get on, however I'm sure there are those out ther that know the excitement of getting on those "forbidden" rides. J.V.

I have a little sister that was an inch or two below 48", and she had to wait. Now she is really excited about riding Chaos at IB this summer and being able to ride rides without having to have a parent ride with. Now it'll just be even more fun for her, so I suggest waiting. Make sure you know the height restrictions before going, and just warn her in advance that she may not be tall enough. I suggest Monkeyspank's method.

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HuKeD oNN fonickS dusinT wOrK"[;.

I'd just like to remind everyone that the height requirements are there for everyone's safety. As a ride operator it makes me nervous to read that a child got on a ride when they were four inches too short. If something happened on the ride, there would have been a lot of explaining to do. Is it really worth the risk for a two minute ride?

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Monkeyspank said:

needless quotation removed -J

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Forgive me here, but I really don't think we agree. Not fearing long term repercussions of teaching a child to be sneaky, disobedient and disrespectful of park rules- especially ones put in for safety- is being just plain naive. As not just a parent but a teacher and a youth worker, trust me, this one will come back to bite you, and bite you hard, in the future. And you'll be wondering where on earth it came from.

Second, you think that you are a better evaluator of what is safe for your child on a coaster than the parks and manufacturers? Again, you're setting yourself up for a big problem here.

As an example, Jaguar at KBF is a tivoli coaster with a 48" height requirement. As silly as it is to not be a 42 in my mind, I'm not going to put my opinion over those that make a career of coaster safety, and I'm not going to put my child's safety on the line because I think I "know better". As tempted as I am to get tennis shoes with a bigger heel so she can ride it, I won't do that for her safety and to teach her that those rules are there for a purpose.

Yes, I will also refrain from allowing her to ride other coasters when she's tall enough to (like Ghostrider is a no-no for quite a while).

But you sir wanting to put your daughters life and limb on teh line for a little pleasure scare me. Sneaking her in 4 inches below the safety limit scares me. And I would respectfully ask that if you can't handle a few tears for her overall good to save all of us the problem of dealing with her injury or death and not take her to the parks.

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Sometimes it's up. Sometimes it's down.
But with God, life is one thrill ride that you'll never regret being on.

*** This post was edited by Jeff on 6/20/2002. ***

If you're 1 milimeter below 48 inches you are not going to be getting on Flashback or Thunderbolt at SFNE. and you can completely forget Mind Eraser, Batman, Cyclone, and Superman. We are super strict about the height requirements that are issued by the manufacturer of the ride as safety is the number one priority at amusement parks.

These hight limits are placed on the rides by the companys (B&M,arrow ect ect) not by the park. If its 48 then you have to be 48 or above. These are safety guidelines that are enforced at most all parks. Please consider that before trying the tricks. Also any good op will see right though them. Is it worth the risk?

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Part of a Flight Attendant's arrival announcement: "We'd like to thank you folks for flying with us today. And, the next time you get the insane urge to go blasting through the skies in a pressurized metal tube, we hope you'll think of us."

Yeah, at SFNE, I saw them make a kid press his hair down so they could measure him, and then they didn't let him on, after 1:30 of waiting! At BDK, they should out the measuring device outside the queueing area, not in the station.

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Why ride rough coasters when you can ride smooth ones?

My reasoning behind the taller shoes (1/2 inch...which is not much) was that she was able to ride SOB and everything else at PKI last summer but couldn't get on Chang this summer. She can ride T2 but not Batman?? If she hadn't already been riding this stuff I would not have done it. I posted about this subject before and I was told it was a B&M thing...that thier's is always 54".

Thanks Jon E and all other constructive replies. I will pre-warn my daughter of the strict standards at SFNE and stick to her limits. J.V.

Put on a few extra pair sof socks.

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staceyd said:

She can ride T2 but not Batman?? If she hadn't already been riding this stuff I would not have done it.

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The height requirements aren't there because of the ride, they're there because of the safety systems in use. You have to remember these rides are made by two totally different manufacturers and utilize two totally different restraint systems. Just because she meets the requirements of certain restraint systems, doesn't mean that other ones are safe. A ride like T2 may be every bit as intense (and maybe even more so) than a ride like Batman, but that isn't the point of height requirements. You felt she was ready for T2 and I'm sure she was, she's probably also ready for Batman then, however the restraints used on that ride may not safely hold her.

This thread just keeps scaring me more and more as stuff keeps getting added to it. Have we lost all sight of common sense? Opinion will change should something terrible ever happen...

...then again these people would probably end up trying to sue the park for not catching them blatanly throwing away all regards for safety and breaking the rules. Bah!

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www.coasterimage.com
Dorney Park visits in 2002: 11

*** This post was edited by Lord Gonchar on 6/20/2002. ***

I didn't even take my son to Cedar Point (our home park) until he was 48" tall. I didn't want to deal with the tears in not being able to ride certain rides. Back then, except for the Witches Wheel, he could ride everything, including Magnum.

Our problem came when Raptor opened with a 54" height restriction two years later. My son was less than a 1/4 in short. The bar brushed his hair, but not his "scalp" so he couldn't ride. My husband and I didn't ride Raptor that trip, but we did go back without our son a week later and rode specifically to see if "cheating" would in any way be a danger to our son. We decided it would not, and therefore I put an extra insole into his tennis shoes.

I agree 4" is way too much to cheat on. But I don't think 1/2 or 1/4" is unsafe providing parents (who know their children's limits and capabilites) have ridden first.

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I'd rather die living than live like I'm dead

Ok, none of the cheating parents answered my question. If your too short child gets hurt (or worse) on the ride that you disregarded the height rules, and therefore your child's safety, then what??? Who's fault is that? Yours, or the parks???