Parenting Tiktokers The Kelly Family have been heavily criticised after sharing a “hack” aimed at helping their son evade the height restrictions to get onto Disney theme park rollercoasters.
The family, who have 1.2 million followers on the social media platform, tend to offer followers parenting tips and advice, but a recent post badly backfired.
In a video, the family introduces their three-year-old “thrill-seeking” son, Kannon.
“He loves rides, he’s just not tall enough for the big ones,” says his father Ty.
Viewers then watch as Kannon’s parents fashion a pair of extra-thick platform soles to the bottom of their son’s shoes in an attempt to help him reach the 101cm minimum height requirement.
Kannon is then seen wearing the shoes as Ty declares their creation “the ultimate theme park hack”.
Responses to the video, which has been viewed almost half a million times, were less enthusiastic, however.
“Just like a canon, he will be yeeted out of his seat,” read one reply, while another quipped: “We took matters into our own hands and risked his life for the sake of him not hearing the word ‘no’”.
Others were keen to emphasise the reason behind the height restrictions, namely, “so that kids don’t die”.
Disney’s official guidelines remind visitors that some attractions have height restrictions for safety purposes, with most specifying a minimum height of at least 81 to 137cm.
For “thrill rides”, such as rollercoasters, however, this increases to 101cm.
Following the backlash, Ty has made two videos claiming that the original video was a joke
“I love my kids and would never, ever, ever put my kids in actual danger,” he stated, adding that he “would never condone any other parent trying to put their child on a ride they’re not tall enough [for] or something that’s not safe for them”.
He added that viewers only saw Kannon wearing the shoe, not going on any rides, and that the child is in fact tall enough already to meet the height restrictions.
In a second video addressing the controversial clip, he said he would not take down the video: “I would have removed that video already if I thought it was wrong,” he said.
The full six-minute YouTube video, which appears to show the family evading height restrictions while at Disney, 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.”
The Independent has contacted Disney for comment.
