Height Requirements At Walt Disney World

Written By Kathryn Spoor

There are a lot of things to take into consideration when planning a Walt Disney World vacation, especially if you’ll be traveling with little ones. One of those things is the height requirement for select attractions at the Walt Disney World Resort.

For the safety of the children of all ages, Walt Disney World has height requirements for some of the attractions that you’ll find around the parks. While the list of attractions with these height requirements isn’t a long one, it’s important to keep them in mind so that expectations can be managed. Today, we’re going to go over the list of attractions with height requirements and talk about how tall your little ones need to be so that they can ride.

Magic Kingdom

When most people think about visiting Walt Disney World with little ones, they think of Magic Kingdom. Known as the park of fairy tales and magic, Magic Kingdom is a place some consider to be geared towards children. Of course, Magic Kingdom is much more than just that. There’s a little something for everyone at Magic Kingdom and, for the younger dreamers in our party, that means there are a few height requirements to be aware of.

The attractions at Magic Kingdom with height requirements include:

The attractions at Magic Kingdom without height requirements include:

EPCOT

When most people think about EPCOT nowadays, they think about eating and drinking around the world at one of the many festivals happening throughout the year. However, EPCOT has more to offer than just that. Little world travelers in our party have lots of opportunities to enjoy EPCOT too. In fact, of all the Walt Disney World theme parks, EPCOT has the shortest list of attractions with height requirements.

The attractions at EPCOT with height requirements include:

The attractions at EPCOT without height requirements include:

Hollywood Studios

While there’s no denying that Magic Kingdom is at the top of the list when visiting Walt Disney World with children, we think that Hollywood Studios is right up there too! In fact, Disney’s Hollywood Studios has a long list of offerings ideal for little ones. While there aren’t a lot of attractions, or rides, there are a lot of shows [including some featuring Disney Junior friends] that you shouldn’t miss.

The attractions at Hollywood Studios that have height requirements include:

The attractions at Hollywood Studios without height requirements include:

Animal Kingdom

Families looking for a real wild adventure shouldn’t miss out on an opportunity to visit Animal Kingdom when at the Walt Disney World Resort. Like other parks, there’s a little something for everyone at Animal Kingdom. Not only can you experience different cultures, similar to what you’ll find at EPCOT, but you can also learn quite a bit about those places and the animals that live there.

The attractions at Animal Kingdom with height requirements include:

The attractions at Animal Kingdom without height requirements include:

Water Parks

If you and your family are considering visiting one of the water parks at Walt Disney World, you’ll also have to consider that there are some height requirements to be aware of.

Blizzard Beach

The attractions at Blizzard Beach Water Park with height requirements include:

  • Chairlift – Guests must be 32 inches (82 centimeters) or taller

  • Downhill Double Dipper – Guests must be 48 inches (122 centimeters) or taller

  • Slush Gusher – Guests must be 48 inches (122 centimeters) or taller

  • Summit Plummet – Guests must be 48 inches (122 centimeters) or taller

  • Tike’s Peak – Guests must be 48 inches (122 centimeters) or shorter

The attractions at Blizzard Beach Water Park without height requirements include:

Typhoon Lagoon

The attractions at Typhoon Lagoon Water Park with height requirements include:

The attractions at Typhoon Lagoon Water Park without height requirements include:

 

How to prepare for a trip with someone who won’t meet height requirements?

First and foremost, if you’re planning a trip to Walt Disney World with someone who might not meet height requirements, it’s important to find out where they stand before you arrive at the Walt Disney World Resort. [Ok. . . pun somewhat intended there. . . ] While you can [and will] have your child’s height checked at the attractions themselves, we find that it’s a better situation for everyone to know the height of the little ones before investing in the time to stand in line.

The good news is that if you’ve materialized here today, you’re already on the right path. [YAY!] The next thing you should be considering is digging the measuring tape out of the drawer and seeing exactly how tall your little one is and comparing the height against the list above. Not only will this give you an idea of what attractions you can and can’t plan on riding, but it can also help you manage expectations for the trip and avoid hyping up an attraction that the child won’t be tall enough to ride. This is a great way to prevent disappointment and the meltdowns that sometimes come with it.

What should you do if someone isn’t tall enough to ride?

If someone in your party isn’t tall enough to ride an attraction, the first thing to keep in mind is that the height requirements at Walt Disney World are in place for a reason; safety. Look, we’re not going to pretend that there aren’t people all over the internet with “tips and tricks” as to how you can make your child seem a couple inches taller so that they can meet the height requirements for the “good rides” at Walt Disney World. These people are out there. That said, here at 2 Foolish Mortals we are of the unapologetic opinion that falsifying a child’s height so that they can ride an attraction is unsafe and not in the best interest of the child or other guest’s safety. That being the case, if someone isn’t tall enough to ride, what you should do is choose another experience as an alternative to the attraction in question.

Does everyone have to miss out on an attraction if someone doesn’t meet height requirements?

Just because someone in your party doesn’t meet height requirements doesn’t mean everyone has to skip out on riding that attraction. It doesn’t mean you have to spend your entire day standing in line either. Walt Disney World has a program in place for this very situation and it’s called Rider Switch or Rider Swap. In a nutshell, with “Rider Switch, one adult can wait with the non-rider (or riders) while the rest of the party enjoys the attraction. When the other adult returns, they can supervise the non-riding Guests, and the waiting adult can board the attraction without having to wait in the regular line again!”

This is a great service to take advantage of if you’re visiting Walt Disney World with a young child, someone in a wheelchair who is unable to transfer [for select attractions] or even someone who simply wouldn’t find certain types of rides enjoyable. The system is also fairly easy to understand and use. You can find out exactly how by visiting the Walt Disney World website HERE.

Of course, there are a few things to keep in mind. Not all attractions at Walt Disney World offer Rider Switch. The attractions that do offer Rider Switch include:

 

We hope that you’ve found this information useful in planning your next Walt Disney World vacation. As per usual, we’ll be sure to update if there are any changes in the future. Until then, we hope you have a fantastic day!

Kathryn Spoor
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