Why You Should Check Your Child’s Height at Dollywood

• Lindsay Bell

If you know me and my family, you know we ALL love Dollywood! From small to tall, visiting with kids is part of the Dollywood experience for us! Because I often have little kids in tow, I like to plan out much of our trip up front so that we can maximize our fun in the park! So, what’s one of the first things we make sure to do when we get to the park? We head to the Centralized Measuring station! Centralized Measuring is near the entrance, between the main gate turnstiles and Preferred Parking turnstiles. If you are standing inside the park facing the Dollywood Emporium, the station is on the right.

Do I know how tall my kids are? I can probably guess within an inch or so! Getting a child measured at Centralized Measuring isn’t just about confirming their exact height, it allows parents to plan appropriately for the day. Note: If your children are 52 inches and taller, they do not need to be measured because they are tall enough to ride everything! At Centralized Measuring, your child’s height will be measured with the most precise equipment in the park, and your child will be given a color-coded wristband to display their current height. Each wristband color corresponds to a particular height required to safely enjoy rides in the park. For example, if your child is between 42 and 48 inches tall, he/she will receive an orange band. This indicates your child can ride all “orange” rides and lower.

So, why measure if I firmly know my child’s height and it isn’t close to any of the minimum height requirements? For one, hosts can easily identify if an approaching child is tall enough for a ride. This greatly speeds up entering rides, as you don’t have to step aside, be measured against each attraction’s height bar, and then proceed.

More importantly, you can plan your trip in the park with great ease in the Dollywood app! After your child is measured, you can pull up all rides in the park and then filter the attractions by height! When in the park (and with location settings permitting), open the Dollywood app to sort rides and attractions based on your current location. Select Rides, and then look up and to the left of the “sort” feature to see “filter.” Here, you can filter the results to only show rides your little ones can board! This is super helpful in making sure you’re able to hit rides that are nearby that everyone in your party can enjoy!

Without applying a filter, all rides will show up! Use the following steps to populate the rides in the app your entire party can enjoy:

1. Click “rides” when opening up the Dollywood app.
2. Click “filter” in the top left of the screen.
3. Drag the bar to display your desired height range.
4. Click “done” in the top right of the screen. Now you’ll only see rides your child can ride!
5. You can now sort the rides and attractions you filtered in order from distance closest to you, shortest wait time or just alphabetically!

Want to spend the day off your phone? The hosts working at Centralized Measuring also provide a paper copy of all rides with height requirements, location and more pertinent information. The bulletin is neatly color-coded and organized from tallest height requirements to lowest; you can easily see how many rides your child qualifies to enjoy!

For our family, every trip to Dollywood is an opportunity to make a forever memory with our young children. Naturally, we want these special days to run as smoothly as possible. If you have the same goals, make sure to stop at Centralized Measuring. You’ll have a chance to plan out your day and maximize your fun in the park!