Height bands

I have a son that is 52” exactly. My question is can I have him measured once at a gate and recieve a wrist band saying is is 52” or will i have to get him measured at every 52” ride?

Even with the wrist band he will still be measured at every ride and could still be denied entrance to a ride due to slight variances in the measuring devices. You can thank parents who have gotten a taller kid measured and then moved the wrist bands to their shorter siblings to try and sneek them onto rides they are too short for to thank for this.

I would still recommend getting measured and getting the band. The idea behind the system is that you can get measured once and not have to always get measured. Even if your son ends up getting measured at some rides, there is a good chance the band will prevent getting measured on ALL rides.

Getting the band may also be worthwhile if he is, in fact, exactly 52”. If the measuring stick at the ride says “maybe,” the band may make the difference in the final judgement call.

—Dave Althoff, Jr.

We were just there on Thursday, my daughter is exactly 48" so we went and got her the band at the Museum in Frontier Town. While they did still measure her on a few rides even with the band on, it was quicker than before we got the band where they just kept checking and rechecking to make sure on every ride. I would still get it, it only takes an extra minute and will likely save you time at some of the rides.

You can try bringing the on-ride photo from the last time he rode.

Front Seat Rider said:
You can try bringing the on-ride photo from the last time he rode.

Bringing the photo wouldn't make a difference. The ride hosts are still responsible for measuring every child. Even with a wrist band. A child can be denied entry if they aren't tall enough, whether or not they rode earlier. Don't swap out your child's shoes/socks if you get officially measured and received a wrist band. Small things like that can be the reason they were meeting that rides requirement or not. The bar must completely stop at their head and not swing across in order to ride.

^ Duck, my dude! I have a feeling something went flying by right over your head :D

F1rePhant0m said:
^ Duck, my dude! I have a feeling something went flying by right over your head :D

After seeing the posts on Facebook of parents stuffing their child's shoes (which is a horrendous idea because the height requirements are there for safety of the guests), I wouldn't doubt someone that saw the post would try it. People are idiots these days. There's a reason why they raised SV's height requirement.

I used to work at the park. My last two years I worked in admissions and there were some mornings where I had to stand outside of guess services and measure children. (I always hated that job!). One morning, a parent was stuffing his daughter's shoe in a distance, but right in front of me. Too bad she was still too short to get the height band that she wanted.

Steel Vengance wasn't unsafe for someone who was 48". It may have been too intense and I'm pretty sure that is what made CP change the height. They are using height as a defacto age requirement. But RMC says that the ride is safe at 48", and probably less. Many of CP's (and really CF as a chain) height requirements are higher than their peers. Mine ride is 48" at CP but 42" at SFoG, same manufacturer, built a year or two apart. I can't believe that it is that much more intense of a ride.

Also, Iron Dragon was raised to 48" 20 years after being installed, this one still boggles me as it was always a great stepping stone roller coaster. Height Requirements that we experience are solely based on the park operator, usually with a generous bump from the manufacture's recommendation.

The irony is that when Iron Dragon's height requirement was changed, the park stated it was done for "consistency across the Cedar Fair parks".

Twisted Timbers opened this year at Kings Dominion with a height requirement of 48" and has the same trains as Steel Vengeance.