less family friendly

I love the large coasters and thrill rides, however I am noticing a lack of things for families to do, with kids under 48" tall, but beyond very small. Like the 4-7 age. Am I the only one that misses the low line, relaxing rides like the pirate ride, the boat ride, Schwitcherbiein type?

It is brought up all the time. Forbidden Frontier this year was a great step to help fill that void. My teens even had a blast with it,

The announced “river excursion “ next year should help as well. Unfortunately a log flume seems to off the table.

Ocean motion, 2 antique cars, train, PADLEWheel coming soon, bumpers, Iron D & mine ride.. A new show coming ( Pirates would be too scary IMO) , Himalaya the beach ... we could use another log ride ( mild and wild course perhaps!).

I so wish that Iron Dragon and Mine Ride had height requirements lower than 48". My son is about 46", and very ready to ride those sorts of introductory coasters. He loves Woodstock Express, which I think is just as thrilling if not moreso than either of the coasters I mentioned.

I know those requirements are set by the manufacturer, but it seems they need some mid-level thrills for kids in this age/height bracket.

^ The manufacturer has a minimum height requirement, and then a recommended one. The individual park, or company, sets the final height requirement. Usually higher then the manufacturer's recommendation.

Look at other Arrow Mine Rides around the country, built at similar times, and you will see varying height requirements.

In my opinion, these are two rides that should be lowered to the 44"-46" level. There is a gap between what can be done with kids at that 4-7 age range. They have been doing the kiddie rides for so long at that point that there is no point, but havent quite reached the magical 48" mark where almost everything is open to them.

Iron Dragon was 46" when I was a kid. I remember ridding it before I was tall enough for the Mean Steak or the Gemini. I don't remember the Mine Ride being lower, but it may have been as well.

Mine Ride has been 48" for a long, long time. It may have been something else back in its early years.

Throughout the 90's and 00's, Disaster Transport and Iron Dragon were both 46". They were the "step-up" coasters before the majority of the others at the 48" requirement. Now it's Woodstock Express until a kid can ride Millennium Force...

Too bad Iron Dragon can’t be 46” height requirement. It’s a fun little coaster, but unless arrow dynamics recommends/requires it, it should be 46” It was when I worked it in 2011 and the kids that weren’t quite 48” yet, they still seemed to enjoy it because, it was their first non-kiddie coaster.

I’ve always wondered why Iron Dragon has such a high requirement. Ninja at SFMM is bit more forceful and has always been 42”.

The parks set the final height requirements. Cedar Fair is much more conservative in that regard than all other Park operators.

Don't get me going on the height change on Iron Dragon a few years ago. I and a few others here had kids that hit the 46" mark during that off season, and had the not so fun time explaining that they have to wait another year to ride the ride they've been excited to ride all off season.

Having Iron Dragon and MF the same height requirement is stupid. I still think it was changed simply to keep the queue line shorter after the luminosity stage swallowed up a bunch of Iron Dragons queue.

The park claimed the height change was done to stay consistent with similar rides at other parks in the chain. The Bat at KI has been 48 inches since forever, even before the name change, so CP upped ID to 48, even though The Bat is more intense than ID. My daughter had just hit 46 inches when they announced that change. She wasn't happy.

The Bat is way more intense than Iron Dragon took me a bit by surprise.