You tell a parent that their kid is too short to ride, they get all mad and have a hissy fit? lol Well that happened to me and my manager today lol. I knew the kid was too short to ride for the simple fact that he was carrying the kid. Well when he came up to us we were like can we measure him. So we did and he was like 3-4 inches too short. WELL...... this guy got so mad. He was like

Guy- "you guys just let 2 other kids on that was the same height! I saw you!, I saw You"

Us- "No we didn't"

Guy- Yes you did, (pointing) that kid and that kid

Us- those kids are tall enough

Guy walks away down the exit ramp then, just to prove this guy wrong, my manager got the kid that the guy says was too short and we measure him. He was tall enough to ride. I was so mad the guy walked away cause i wanted to prove him wrong.

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Kennywood Team Member 2004 Kiddieland
2005 Racer/Jack Rabbit Crew
2006 Racer/Skycoaster/Paddle Boats Crew
2007 Thunderbolt/Turtle/Gold Rusher Crew

I see way too many parents complaining that their kid is too short to ride. Can't they just follow the rules?

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I would just settle for a day where a parent does not complain. We gat about mad parents a day if not an hour on Top Gun.

They think since their kids is only 1-3 inched too short they think we can let that slide and put them on.

Some parents even said they would return later with bigger shoes for their kids or would go stuff paper in the kids shoes.

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2009 Carolina Cobra Crew
Go Panthers! 4-6: Week 12 @ New York Jets

#6 North Carolina Tarheels 4-1

HAHA. Don't they have like a marker at the beginning of the line to see if the person can ride or not? If they are too short, doesn't that give them a hint that they can't ride? Dumb people.

Unfortunately, most people that measure their child on the height signs will throw their hand up their on the top of their childs head and measure from the top of their hand. This of course adds about a half an inch to the childs height. At SFKK all ride ops are trained specifically to use a straight edge and stand at eye level (among other tips) to get as accurate a height check as possible!

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"...and please don't rock the Gondulas!"

The marker at the entrance is causeing 99% of the problem. The height marker at the entrance to Top Gun is a few inches off and despite telling this to upper management they still do nothing.

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2009 Carolina Cobra Crew
Go Panthers! 4-6: Week 12 @ New York Jets

#6 North Carolina Tarheels 4-1

lmao "I saw you!, I saw You" omg lol but yea... OMG lol let me tell you what happened yesterday. I measured this kid she was to short the dad was like" SHE IS TALL ENOUGH, I said no sir she is not. He said I want to speak to your supervisor. I grabed my supervisor even he measured her and she was still to short. so the DAD hop out of line pissed like 5 mins he camed back and she had a band that she was required to have I'm like"OMG" You know what!

I hate it when somebody comes up to ride the ride with their kid, and it is around 11am, and they say they rode it twice earlier, while you know they didn't for you have been at height check since opening and havent seen them. Height check is definitely the worst part of being a ride attendant.

At Frontier City, we have something more decisive than a simple height marker; we have overhead rotating bar preset on the required height on every ride entrance that is used to clearly mark the min/max height. If, on a minimum height requisite, the bar easily passes over the child's head, the child is then decisively too short to ride. Surely we're not the only park to have these devices.

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ThrillNetwork Lead Moderator (Originally known as Hurricane)

It's time to play some DEFENSE!

that happened to my twin brother in third grade, it was pretty dumb becasue he had ridden kumba and montu all day being just tall enough and so we go back to montu and they let me on being an inch taller, and intsead of having his back to the measuring thing he put his forehead to it and ended up being too short, so we ride it, get off, go back and he gets measured the other way this time and they let him on - my parents didnt care but they should have noticed taht the first time

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Dirty Tramp

hurricane, we have those things too, but people still argue to get on. It's annoying.

The other thing I hate is the electromagnetic gates at talon. Since they don't open by themselves, the people have to open them, and when someone gets distracted and forgets to open them, the gates are already closed and then they say, "well the gate was never opened" and they get all mad.

we have them at KW, the bar must stop. If it goes over thier head then they are too short.

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Kennywood Team Member 2004 Kiddieland
2005 Racer/Jack Rabbit Crew
2006 Racer/Skycoaster/Paddle Boats Crew
2007 Thunderbolt/Turtle/Gold Rusher Crew

we had those back in 96... they were awesome

I'm growing to hate the Volcano(Enterprise) @ Kennywood for one reason and one reason only.

Huss changed the minimum ride height from 46" to 54"

That's an 8" swing! And what's worse is that the park's website still has it as 46".

Know how many complaints I get per shift about "but they rode it last year!"

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phantompenguin

They don't have them anymore? What happened and why did they take them out?

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ThrillNetwork Lead Moderator (Originally known as Hurricane)

It's time to play some DEFENSE!

yeah i know what you mean. Just tell them, don't hate the messenger. Your just doing your job. I wonder why Huss changed it. Maybe kids were getting hurt or something on it. I hate when other team memebers don't do their jobs and not measure kids. Then when i measure them, and they are too short, their mom or dad says "They were just on it" Sometimes i think parents just say that to see if you will let them on. I just tell them, someone wasn't doing their job and i am, Your kid is too short to ride. They get all mad and storm off. That cracks me up. Or you get the parents that try to rush their kid pass you lol. People crack me up.

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Kennywood Team Member 2004 Kiddieland
2005 Racer/Jack Rabbit Crew
2006 Racer/Skycoaster/Paddle Boats Crew
2007 Thunderbolt/Turtle/Gold Rusher Crew

BGW has the overhead markers, and if the bar passes too easily, people are not allowed to ride. Originally they just had each marker on the ground, standing straight up by itself, but they soon found the ground level was getting in the way, so now each height marker has its own special platform to measure kids on. No, I don't work there, but regardless of my age, I should be.

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Sesame Street characters at Busch Gardens Europe!?
Take THAT Magic Kingdom!

When I worked at CP and Michigan's Adventure, if they seemed a shade off or a shade over the min height requirement with the height bar I suggested they go get officially measured. It sort of helps diffuse the situation a bit, and that way, I'm not exactly saying that the can't ride... but just telling them to get a 2nd opinion. When they are officially measured, they get the wristband indicating their min height requirement. When they have the wristband, I still "measure" them with the "candy cane", but I don't have to make a judgement call or take it a step further by using the height bar.

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ThrillNetwork Webmaster/Systems Administrator -- My Official Fansite -- Get Firefox!
Everytime I ride a coaster, it valleys. I've never been on a stalled coaster or had one roll back (except Wicked Twister and what was Superman: Ultimate Escape, which does that by design).

If a kid is too short and the parent argues, I say: "If you go to the Skytower, and get a (Blue/Purple/Green/Red/Orange) wristband, come back and I will let the child ride." We had one guest that insisted that my height stick was wrong, but one of the ops check it, and it was right. I think all guest should be required to get a wristband at the skytower, it would make my job easier.

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2005-2006 Season: Carowinds Rides - Hurler/Drop Zone
2007 Season: Emerald Pointe Grounds - Sweep/Breaker

thats not always a good thing.Cause sometimes kids would have a stamp on their hand from the height station saying they are 46inches and when i measure them, they are an inch too short. I think the people at the height station feels bad for some kids and just give them the stamp if they are close. Then that makes us look bad if one kid has a stamp and one kid doesn't and you let the kid on with the stamp knowing they are too short and the other kid can't get on. Sometimes if kids have stamps saying they are one height and they really aren't i tell them they can't ride. My supervisor said i can do that and if the parent has a problem, then take the parent to the supervisor.

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Kennywood Team Member 2004 Kiddieland
2005 Racer/Jack Rabbit Crew
2006 Racer/Skycoaster/Paddle Boats Crew
2007 Thunderbolt/Turtle/Gold Rusher Crew

If they have a wristband, we are told not to check them. The wristband is like a signiture, we don't question it unless they are very short. I am still getting used to our "tricks" for checking height without the the stick.

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2005-2006 Season: Carowinds Rides - Hurler/Drop Zone
2007 Season: Emerald Pointe Grounds - Sweep/Breaker

^Just carry a tape measure in case the guest insists your height stick is wrong. I know it sounds cheesy, but you can easily prove to them that the height stick is the length it is, I think it will be them that is embarassed.

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^but then you get the stupid parents that say it's been rigged so their child can't ride. People are very stupid and I loved it when parents get mad and I refused to let their kid in, because they seriously argue like I'll feel sorry for them and endanger their kids life because they don't have anyone else to watch them.

At CP, we have Candy Canes (PVC pipe with the height color wrapped around it) and height stands at EVERY ride. Some rides don't have them at their entrance though, like some of the circulars, and that can cause problems. I loved when I was working Witch's Wheel (Huss Enterprise) and like phantompenguin said, they changed the height requirement in 2003 at CP, so I would always get the "But he rode last year!" and I would have to turn them away, fun times there. And the height stand AND candy cane are by controls, and since most of the time it's only one person running it, It makes for fun times when the queue is completely filled and you get a ton of kids you have to turn away even after making announcements EVERY ride cycle that "those under 54" will NOT be permitted to ride" (and I used a big emphasis on the no)

Dragster was always fun because you get the "But they rode every other ride in the park" (Which is not true if they're not tall enough for dragster) or "But they rode Millennium" (which has a 4" height difference not to mention VERY diferent seats that do make a big difference with those 4") good times there.

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If you work as a cashier at a grocery store or convenience store, and someone wishes to purchase tobacco or alcoholic products at your store, you know to always check their ID, regardless of how old they look, or whether they have purchased such products before.

That is exactly how it works when we check for height at a ride line. When anyone's height looks close enough to the limit, I will check their height period, even if they turn out to be tall enough. When anyone brings up that "They've rode it before" line on me and continues to talk to me about why I check every time, I simply refer to that perfect analogy I stated above. The ride operators have to see for themselves and get a visual confirmation if the height has been met, regardless if they have ridden before.

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ThrillNetwork Lead Moderator (Originally known as Hurricane)

It's time to play some DEFENSE!

at kno'tts we do but even then the parents yell and call us worthless humans my gm had to come over today and take care of a problem the later was going to the calico city hall to ask to speak to a big bosses he said" see you in five minutes"

^Care to edit that with punctuation and capital letters where need be? I could barely read that.

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You said to a guest "shut up and leave"?

I don't care for people like you. You shouldn't ever treat a customer like that. I think you're pretty lucky that she didn't complain about what you said to her. I have a family friend that works at a local grocery store, and he did close to the exact same thing as you did, (he said rude and ignorant things to a guest) and people like you should be fired. If I was a guest and an employee talked to me like that, I would most certainly do something about it.

I know this is oversaid, but the customer is always right, unless rules come in to view.

Didn't I say "The customer is always right, unless rules come into view"?

So I do respect the safety regulations and rules of a park, and I definitely wouldn't let a child ride thats too small, and I would not be fired.

If your supervisor thinks saying "shutup" to a guest is a good job, then I guess they don't know any better either.

You failed to mention in the previous post that you were arguing with the lady for 10 minutes. If it went past around 2 minutes, you should always call over other people before you start telling her to shutup and leave. It's just plain rude.

This is in reply to Tbakmtown2006 who deleted his posts, but were quoted before such...and yeah.

I've heard of people wearing higher than normal or platform shoes to be "tall enough" to ride something they are too short for. But I would think in this case the girl should have been allowed to remove her boots, remeasured, and if she was under the height restriction, allowed to ride. Wouldn't it be the same way if the girl was too short for the ride, but wore heels in such a way that she was tall enough?

I know policies differ park to park, but here is Cedar Point's thing:


I underlined the last few words as I think is the case in the post in question. Its not the retarded parent, but if you clearly saw that the height of the kid was that drastically changed, couldn't you have requested to measure her height in bare feet? And if she was still too tall, then that would have been that. Both her mom and her and you wouldn't have had to argue.

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we don't messure with their shoes off. Sometimes if they have sandles on they are too short and then they will just go and put some shoes on and they are tal enough. WE never ask to take their shoes off, that would take up too much time. We gotta keep the line moving. and if we did get to take their shoes off, half of the kids wouldn't be able to ride. cause most just make it.

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Kennywood Team Member 2004 Kiddieland
2005 Racer/Jack Rabbit Crew
2006 Racer/Skycoaster/Paddle Boats Crew
2007 Thunderbolt/Turtle/Gold Rusher Crew