My kids are tiny. My 5yo is currently 39.5 inches tall without shoes, right at 40 inches with socks and shoes. Any thoughts about how likely she is to squeak by according to the height charts on rides? Just hoping to prepare her if she’s not likely to get to ride.
I know they are there for the safety of the kids. And height goes both ways… DS that is 6’7" was asked his height by a CM at SM. The CM, looking up at him, paused, waited… “emmm, I think you’ll be ok”. DS refuses to ride on SM ever again. He’s been questioned about his height at several rides at Universal too.
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Oh definitely! We won’t be doing anything to try to cheat on height. I’m just trying to gauge how likely she is to pass so I can help set her expectations 
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That’s sooo tricky. How much is her heart set on certain rides? I’ve seen CMs check heights very carefully and then I’ve also watched parents ‘sneak’ their kids around. You sound like a good mom Can you show her a ruler and how close she is??? Will she understand that it could go either way… maybe?
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I didn’t mean to suggest you’d do anything sneaky… sorry. You’ve got this measured to the nearest half inch after all… you are obviously looking out for her best interest. 
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When my kids were little we used the growth chart we had been marking their height on, and a list of ride height requirements.
We had each kid figure out where they were on the chart, then find the heights for each ride. They had fun and we were setting their expectations early!
If they were close we had lots of conversations about how sometimes people can measure a little differently, and they may not be able to ride, etc.
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In our experience it’s very much CM dependent. 
Sister’s grandkid was maybe 5 and close to Space Mtn height. Just tall enough by our tape measure. First MK day we all walked past the CM and into SM. CM looked right at the kid and said nothing.
Couple days later we’re at Space Mtn again. Different CM said let’s check your height. Very sad, disappointed and frustrated when CM said you’re too short.
By like half an inch.
eta: we’d had the you might not be tall enough discussion. Didn’t know we needed a discussion about different CMs doing things differently.
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This perfectly describes my DD4 when we went in May, and she was able to ride all the 40-inch rides. I don’t want to say “it’ll be fine!” cause obviously your child could be shorter than mine was by a hair, but I think there’s a decent chance they’ll make it through.
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This would make it worse for a kid, especially if they already got to ride once and were looking fwd to another go.
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This was my son but with 42" so only a couple rides (MS Orange being his big one) and he made it through almost every time but was turned away once. So I would definitely have the conversation that it’s possible that they might not get on. If nothing else she will be pleasantly surprised if she does. He’s almost 6 now and still has issues with standing up tall, so maybe practice that?
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Remember, humans tend to compress a little throughout the day. If she’s close, ride those rides in the mornings.
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I’m in the same boat - all my kids are in the 0th - 5th percentile for height and weight. Assume they will be checked, and may be checked before entering the queue and I believe on some rides again before riding. It is for their own safety.
On our first trip, we packed a second set of socks for my daughter because she was right on the mark when we checked at home. The thing that made the biggest difference for us though - practice standing up straight. My kids had a tendency of wanting to duck under the bar, which didn’t help their cause.
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Or bad posture. At Six Flags they checked DD on a ride we’d ridden often. Her posture wasn’t just bad, she was slumping. We were kicked out of the line.
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Slumping is a thing. Tall ppl sometimes try to hide their height. My DS did until he joined the Army and they wouldn’t have any of it, “Stand up straight, solider!!!” the first time we saw him after he joined I was astounded.
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When DD was just tall enough for FOP, they measured her multiple times in line. Each time they warned her that there would be another measurement before she could get on, and if at any point she didn’t measure tall enough she couldn’t ride. Just another situation to prepare the kiddos for. (We were lucky enough that she was tall enough by every measuring device, so she got to ride.)
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By the way, it’s nice to hear from other parents with tiny children! My DD4 is the largest of my four kids relative to her age group. She is like 30th percentile. My other DDs are like 10th percentile and my poor DS9 has been <1 percentile most of his life, and recently we were thrilled to see him break the 1st percentile!
My wife and I are both short (I’m 5’8", she’s 5’3") so we’re mentally preparing our kids to be short as well. It can be tough as a child, but I’ve learned that being short as an adult has its benefits. 
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Average male height in USA is 5’9" so you are good. Giants are not the norm, but they really come in handy when needing things off the top shelf
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DD was below/off the height percentile chart. So, small for her age and everyone has always thought she was younger by a year. Now she’s on growth hormones and still short but on the chart.
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DS has a friend who is about 3-4 full inches shorter than anyone in his class. His parents are both right around 5 feet tall. He is really bothered by it, but the poor kid doesn’t stand a chance. DS is in the 49th percentile for height but 19th for weight. At 13 years old, he just passed my 5 feet! (DH is 6’4" so I am not surprised) I always fell below both height and weight charts throughout childhood, so I completely get it - my pediatrician kept his own chart for me below the official growth chart.
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My son is 12 and a half and already 5’8”!
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