This past Friday, my daughter and I went to Six Flags Hurricane Harbor, a huge water park. Though it was fun, most rides have a minimum height requirement of 48 inches, about seven inches more than my taller than average three year old.

Of course, Quinn sought out the tallest most daring rides (ones that even made me think twice) and begged, “Mommy, please can we get on the huge slide?!” I tried to explain to her that she just was not tall enough, but this was not sitting well with her. How grateful I am that we went along with my sister and her kids who were able to have fun with Quinn in the Blue Lagoon wave pool and get her mind off of the other rides. Then, we went to Caribbean Cove which is also age appropriate for Quinn, but she insisted on going to the area with more slides: Discovery Bay.

Since this was our first time, I was not aware that there is a 42 inch minimum height requirement in this area, an inch more than my daughter’s height. As my nine year old niece climbed the rope ladder to get on the slide into the water, my little girl was bravely climbing right behind her. She got all the way to the top, maybe about six or seven feet up, and was just standing there not going down the slide. Then my niece yelled down, “The life guard said Quinn’s not tall enough!” I felt so bad as I looked at Quinn became to pout and cry out, “Why can’t I go down the slide? I want to go down the water slide, Mommy!”

I’m sure it was not comforting to her, but I reassured her that she will be tall enough next year to go down the slide. We then found a slide that was just right for her size, and she was content and went with the flow. I do, however, have a feeling that when she is tall enough for these rides, she’ll be eager to get on the 54 inch requirement rides. Next time, I’ll be sure to take a look at all of the height requirements beforehand so that I know exactly which rides are “height-appropriate” for my brave little girl.

All the best,

Tanya