My almost 2 year old was 34+ inches on out last trip. I carried him into line at A2S. The CM asked me to put him down and had him stand by the stick. He was way above the 32" minimum and was able to ride, but there is a real life example backing up your theory that it’s more likely for a CM to check if a child is being carried.
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I think the question is answered quite well, so I’ve got a slightly off topic question. Why does Soarin’ have a 40" height requirement? It’s a seat with a seatbelt. I can’t understand how a 40" child is safe but a 36" child would not be. The is a strap to go between the legs for anyone below the yellow line on the seats.
Any thoughts?
Also, don’t put food in your child’s shoes to try to make them taller. I think I read something about ice cream sandwiches somewhere 
Edited to correct required height for Soarin’ to 40". Thanks!
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This was our experience with AS2 and our DS2. He was an inch or so above the requirement and that was the only height requirement ride we did with him so it didn’t occur to me that I shouldn’t carry him through the line. They measured him at the entrance and I carried him for speed. Before getting on our assigned dot, I had to set him down and let him walk.
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My bad. But same question. Seems like it could have been made a little shorter and wouldn’t change anything safety- wise
It seems everyone is in agreement that it’s going to be a game time decision! I appreciate the stories and have heard similar experiences of getting on one ride but not another so I’ll be prepared for that even if frustrated. I wish they would measure them once and give them a wristband! Then we would know for the whole day.
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Maybe they could slip out of the top of the seatbelt easily because they don’t weigh that much at less than 40 inches?
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Now that’s a pro-active, high-tech solution! I just folded over a pair of socks and stuck them in the shoes under his heels.
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I’m thinking it probably has to do with weight rather than height. You could imagine an infant slipping through even with the strap. So there must be a point on the spectrum between infant and child where they determined there is a risk, and tried to solve for the height that matched that most often matches that weight, within an acceptable confidence level. Probably could have been 38” though!
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I agree about Soarin.
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I think setting height requirements for rides can be tricky for manufacturers and operators. Sometimes, it really is all about the height. But sometimes they are more concerned with maturity of the rider, and so a height is chosen that best encapsulates what age a rider might be in terms of maturity.
You could strictly by age, as some rides do…but the problem is, age isn’t really enforceable the same way height can be.
So, I can’t answer specifically with Soarin’…but I suspect that 40 inches was chosen as a cut-off moreso for matureness than for height specifically…but also because IF a child panics, by that height, the chances they might manage to wiggle/worm their way free become next to impossible.
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Might be the best answer to a height question I’ve seen.
We have a similar issue with our 8 year old reaching 54" for the giga coaster in our local park, that was solved by wearing a pair of shoes she has with a wheel in the heel 
I think you can try something similar if in doubt.
I agree with safety first. The small gap she needed to cover, wouldn’t make any difference in her safety, when I see her and my 10 years old son sitting in the rollercoasters, they both look the same height, and visually you can see they both have the needed requirement, no to fall off the ride during operation.
That was over the summer, I think for our upcoming universal/bush gardens/sea world trip, she should be fine without those shoes. We are not concerned about our one day at HS because nothing there is 54".
I’ve always been very careful with the minimums because many years ago I spent an entire ride desperately trying to hold my boyfriend’s kid brother in a ride so he didn’t spin out.
It was a Scrambler (yes, like the one where a kid was flung out this summer and died) at a local carnival. They tell you to put the light people on one side so they don’t get squished by a heavier person. This kid was 9, but really skinny and the bar to keep us on the ride was very generous. I was being flung to the edge and he was stuck to me, but too light to keep himself from sliding. I held on to his arms as best I could, but he was halfway under that bar before anyone decided to notice and stop the ride.
So I’ve seen what could happen. I know Disney is several grades better than the local carnival in terms of safety, but part of that are their height requirements. No one wants their magical day to end in a hospital ER.
In my opinion, your potential half inch probably isn’t going to make or break her safety, but you, as the parent are the only one to judge (after the CM, of course). If she gets on TT, make sure she is safely strapped in, so there’s no chance she’ll slip.
Also, I agree with the previous poster that mentioned sometimes the height requirements aren’t just about safety, but maturity of most kids that height. They don’t want a child to get scared and try to climb out of a harness to get to mom or dad.
Good luck, OP. And maybe she’ll have a little growth spurt before your trip.
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This just reminded me of something I’ve posted before. My DS6 (at the time ) was 49" tall on our last trip, but we found that the restraints on Space didn’t really go low enough for him. If anyone has skinny kids, they should definitely take a close look at how the restraints fit.
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That is tall. My daughter is at the other end of the spectrum. She will be 5.5 our next trip and it’s going to be close as to whether she makes 40" or not. She and I will be bummed if she can’t do Soarin’ at 5.5.
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Thats a solid idea!
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Thank you! If maturity is the question we have no problem… She is a feisty, fearless 4-going-on-14 year old!
But then they might get blisters on the heels and be miserable.
Twice on SDD, we had an issue where scrawny DS10 was so nervous about being strapped in tightly enough that he actually pulled it too far into his stomach below his ribcage. There is absolutely no fat on him whatsoever. I had to flag down the CMs to release the bar and reset it because he literally couldn’t breathe and sent him into a panic. And he did this twice! I now talk to him before each ride to remind him to make it snug, but not to the point of not allowing him to breathe! He’s plenty tall enough for everything but the weight is definitely a problem at times.
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