Height requirements...borderline cases

So, my family and I will be at the park on Monday and Tuesday of next week. My 8 year old is right under 54 inches (less than half an inch). I know this would only be a problem with Raptor and Mantis, but I want him to have the option of riding anything he wants to. Can anyone (maybe a current or former employee) tell me how borderline cases are handled?

I hate to sound like I'm cheating the system but I am hoping a new pair of sneakers and maybe insole inserts (The Dr. Scholl's method) might help.....

You can go to guest services and have him measured in the morning and get a wrist band so that he will not have to be measured everytime he gets on a ride. Ride ops still can and have stopped kids with wrist bands to measure them, worst case they wont let them ride. I have seen kids asked to take of their shoes and have been checked for inserts, paper towels etc. You could use inserts or just check for a thicker shoe if you wanted to go that way, get the wrist band and then take them out....

That I know doesn't answer the borderline part of the question but I wasnt aware of the wrist band at the time it would have been helpful with my son so I thought I would chime in.

Wow....I can't imagine an employee checking a kids shoes. I've never seen it. The only time I could see that happening is if someone was turned away and then came back 30 minutes later having magically grown an inch....

I'm almost 30 now, but I can still remember passing that 48" Magnum requirement for the first time when I was 7. Quite a feeling... except the friend I went with was only 47". I was stuck riding Iron Dragon , Wildcat, and Disaster Transport all day.

My younger daughter just went through this for the 48" rides. We went to guest services (by Kiddie Kingdom) and had her "officially" measured (with new shoes which helped) and she was just barely able to get the red wristband. But....everytime we went through 48" and over ride lines she was consistently checked with the striped pole measuring stick and sometimes even with the metal platform measuring thing (where they bonk it into your head), sorry don't know what's its called. It seemed even though she was a little under the stick and metal thing sometimes, the official wristband "overrode" the ride operators sticks,etc. Now we didn't go crazy with this by putting her on Millenium Force and Magnum but...she was finally able to go on Cedar Downs, Blue Streak, and Mine Ride for the first time. Hope this helps you.

Is your kid just under 54 with or without shoes?

The measurement is with shoes. So, if they are just under without, they are likely fine while wearing a normal tennis shoe.

Last measurement he was just under in shoes. Today at his yearly checkup he was 135cm in bare feet, which comes to 53.1496 inches (why doctors use cm's I will never know). I will measure in his shoes tonight, but hoping a new pair of Reezigs (they seem to have higher soles) might do the trick.

Just to repeat, and its printed directly in the mapguide, that employees can ask your child to remove their shoes if there is any question about manipulation of height in borderline cases...there's a reason there are height requirements....

Remember, the height requirements are for safety. Keep your children safe.

I understand that. And I would never do anything to put him in harm's way. I just wondered if he was extremely close...say within a quarter of an inch if there was any leeway. If he can't, he can't and its only 2 rides. I just know he will be disappointed if he comes so close.

They don't give any leeway -- if there is any doubt, they are instructed to say no.

You're not putting him in "harm's way" if he is borderline. Nothing magical is going to happen that threatens the life of a person if they are 1/10th of an inch below the magic measurement. Cheating the system and being dangerous would be trying to add a couple inches to a kid's height or trying to sneak them on.

I've never in my life witnessed a Cedar Point employee checking someone's shoes. We bumped up our 5 year old by about an quarter of an inch with some insoles last season, as she was "on the border", and that took care of that. :)

Then again, we're riding Lolly Swings and Woodstock Express.

I recommend the wrist-band option; typically when that is flashed it's the end of the story.

I know, take PointGuru with you. He can calmly explain how even a potato could ride Raptor with no danger of being flung out to its demise.

It's posts like Kevin's that require a like button.

If you choose to pad his shoes to get around the 54 inch rule do it without his knowledge. There is not a big jump between him not having to follow Cedar Point's rules because he doesn't like them and him not having to follow your rules because he doesn't like them.

I know I have seen on this site where employes have talked about things they have found in kids shoes, one even said he found Hamburgers from Johnny Rockets in some kids shoes. They said that are trained to look at kids heels and if they are sticking too far out of their shoes to check them.

During Ride Op training, there's an entire section dedicated to the crap that parents stick in kids shoes. They had an entire 10 foot buffet table littered with crap that parents had stuck in their kids shoes to get them to meet the height requirement.

I have asked a child to remove their shoes before on Wicked Twister... and then had the father try to slip me $20 to get the kid to ride. I asked him if that's what he valued his daughter's life at.

I bought my daughter a new pair of "high Heel sneakers" at payless. She is 53.75" in regular shoes. I took her into Guest Services to get a strap. They made her take one of her shoes off. Not sure why just one, but they did that at Guest Services. She didn't get to ride Raptor yet this year. I'm not too worried, she will grow into it before the season is over. There is enough for her to ride and it gives her something to look forward to.

Maybe somebody could explain this to me, but why does it matter about he extra inches on rides like Raptor,Wicked Twister, Maverick, and other rides with over the shoulder harnesses. I do not see anyway that it is possible to escape them, so the height requirement must be for something else, but what?

OK, I wasn't even going to comment on this thread but Kevinj is dying to know my take on this subject. Yes, borderline height requirements come down to bad management and poor customer relations again.

Last summer I was with a friend whose daughter was 45 1/2 inches barefoot. With regular tennis shoes we took her to park operations to get measured for a 46 inch wristband so she could ride Iron Dragon and DT. When they measured her park operations checked the inside of her shoes. With the shoes on she passed the metal stick with about a 1/4 to a 1/2 inch bonk on the head and she got the wristband. Every single time there was a new ride op with the measuring stick they checked her even though she had the wristband. Later, we went to Thunder Canyon. Her mother changed her shoes and put on crocs so her tennis shoes didn't get wet. Sure enough, the ride op measured her again and she was no more than a 1/4 inch too short and the ride op refused to let her ride.

I only pray that no one is actually going to try and say that the thickness of someone's shoes makes even the slightest difference in the safety of a rider on Thunder Canyon or any other ride for that matter. Anyone who tries to imply that a parent doesn't care about their child's safety should be ashamed of themselves. To suggest that a ride op or the park cares more about a child's safety than a parent is only slightly more insulting than it is ludicrous. The strict height restrictions are enforced for only one reason. That is management is to lazy to get involved with every borderline height case in the park everyday and they can't trust minimum wage, teenage workers who barely know English, to make a judgment call. Yes, height restrictions are related to safety; but, the thickness of someone's shoes has absolutely nothing to do with it. Management just sets a hard line on the height restriction because they have to draw a line in the sand somewhere.

My advice, do whatever you can to enjoy your time in the park. Don't let bad management, poor customer relations or some punk ride op on an imaginary power trip ruin your stay. Follow the rules of the park and make your own decisions when necessary.

Thanks Kevin, you done woke him up.