Safe ride height: Influencer parents have been told their dangerous Disney hack was a misstep. Photo / Screenshot
Safe ride height: Influencer parents have been told their dangerous Disney hack was a misstep. Photo / Screenshot
Parenting Tiktokers have been given a rough ride over a ‘hack’ to help their son get onto Disney theme park roller coasters.
The Kelly Family have garnered over 1.2 million followed on TikTok for their videos on parenting advice, but heir latest clip has been deemed a rare “misstep.”
The Kelly Fam recently published a video claiming to show how they sneak their “thrill-seeking” 3-year-old Kannon onto park attractions,he is too short to ride.
“He loves rides, he’s just not tall enough for the big ones,” says dad Ty.
Glueing extra-thick platforms to the bottom of their son’s shoes, the attempting to make him the required 40 inches (101 centimetres) minimum height.
In a full 6 minute feature shared to YouTube, titled “I made my TODDLER tall enough for THRILL RIDES at DISNEY”, Ty and wife Hayley show how they successfully got their young son onto two rides with this minimum ride requirement.
The TikTok has now been seen almost half a million times.
“We’ve possibly discovered the ultimate theme park hack,” he proudly declares.
Viewers of the clip were less thrilled with the stunt.
“Just like a canon, he will be yeeted out of his seat,” read one glib response to the video.
Generally the consensus was that the shoes were a “bad idea” and hubris to think that the rules didn’t apply to their children.
“I remember when my daughter wasn’t tall enough to ride things.. so we didn’t ride them.”
Many commentators were quick to point out that the rides’ “minimum safe height” was just that: a safety requirement.
Disney’s official guidelines outline the specific rules around each ride at their parks.
“For your safety, some attractions at Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure Park have height requirements,” reads the official park guides, with most specifying a height of at least 81 cm to 137 cm.
Influencer Ty Kelly said his 3-year-old's shoe hack was a 'stunt', and not to be imitated. Photo / Screenshot
40″ inches or 101 centimetres, is the minimum for most “thrill rides”, hence the Kellys’ video.
Most videos of the video stunt were horrified.
They accused the parents of making “shoes that help him fly off of roller coasters”. Even if it was intended as a joke, it was deemed poor judgement.
Others threatened to report the social media creators to Disney or “Child Protective Services” for encouraging other parents to possibly put their children in danger.
This week father Ty made a video in response to the negative press.
On Sunday he came out saying that the original video was a joke to provoke a response.
Kannon was “already tall enough” he claimed. Ty also claimed the Disney rides featured in the video - Slinky Dog Dash and Smuggler’s Run - were not on the park’s list of thrill rides with a minimum height requirement.
“I would never put my kids in actual danger. I would never condone any other parent putting their child on a ride they’re not tall enough [for] or something that’s not safe for them,” he said.
Yesterday, Ty Kelly updated his response saying he regretted how the video had been received.
“I would have removed that video already if I thought it was wrong.”
The YouTube video has since been updated with a Disclaimer, saying it was “not intended to be taken seriously” and that “Disney is GREAT at their jobs, and you will get caught.”
