Attraction height and age restrictions

[DVCOwner]

Have to tell a little story about height restrictions. I got a call from my granddaughter about two months before we took our annual trip to Walt Disney World. She was so excited that I could not even understand what she was saying. After having her show down and repeat what she wanted to tell me it was that she was now 40 inches tall. Getting to that height is a right of passage in my family.

 

[NYwdwfan]

The waitress at CRT told my 7 year old that since it's her birthday she could ride Dumbo by herself. She's pretty mature - for a 7 year old - and knows not to do anything "stupid" on a ride - but I was not planning on letting her ride anything herself! Guess where our first stop was after dinner? She did fine - I was TERRIFIED of her being all the way up "unsupervised" - but she did fine.

 

[ggauthier82]

My then 5yo's first ride on our last trip was Dinosaur and it scared the bejeesus out of him and he was scared of everything else for the rest of the trip. He will be 7 this time around and I hope he will be braver than last time!!

 

[mhaftman7]

I've found that with kids, it's best just to let them go on what they are comfortable with. For as much as I'd like to go on the Tower of Terror or something similar, I know that I will most likely end up on PotC and the JC for most of the day at MK.

 

[gnuts0306]

Our daughter just turned 4 during her first trip in march 2009. We did alot of research on height requiremtents. She is very tall for her age, so she didnt miss out on much, however, there were things we didnt let her go on because although her height allowed her, we felt her age didnt.

Last year she was 5 when we went in February, and since she did so well on things like TOT when she was 4, we let her go on Expedition Everest. It happened to be raining, so the water felt like needles hitting your face, so she did not want to go on again.

This year when we go in October she will be 6. She is now tall enough for Rock n Roller Coaster, which she is extremely excited about. I told her she could only go on RRC if she was brave enough to go on EE.

So, in short, (or 3 paragraphs LOL) I agree with those that say let them go on what is comfortable for them. While our daughter is brave when it comes to the coasters, she is still telling me she WILL NOT go on Dinosaur again this year LOL. Happy Travels All!!!

 

[erinshaneb]

Our daughter just turned 4 during her first trip in march 2009. We did alot of research on height requiremtents. She is very tall for her age, so she didnt miss out on much, however, there were things we didnt let her go on because although her height allowed her, we felt her age didnt.

Last year she was 5 when we went in February, and since she did so well on things like TOT when she was 4, we let her go on Expedition Everest. It happened to be raining, so the water felt like needles hitting your face, so she did not want to go on again.

This year when we go in October she will be 6. She is now tall enough for Rock n Roller Coaster, which she is extremely excited about. I told her she could only go on RRC if she was brave enough to go on EE.

So, in short, (or 3 paragraphs LOL) I agree with those that say let them go on what is comfortable for them. While our daughter is brave when it comes to the coasters, she is still telling me she WILL NOT go on Dinosaur again this year LOL. Happy Travels All!!!

You never know what will get them..My daughter was 4 and went on Pirates and loved it..She was terrified in Snow White, Peter Pan and Bug's Life..she even ran from teh Easter Bunny (then again, a giant rabbit??..lol
)

 

[pennylane]

I agree. I am going in a couple of days and some rides might be tough for them.

 

[Sari8970]

And I have the complete opposite problems. My 4 year old is extremely short for his age. He's only 36 1/2 inches. This means he isn't even tall enough to ride their version of a flume ride and now that Toon Town isn't open he doesn't have any "roller coasters" to ride. We went to a place in Pennsylvania called Dutch Wonderland and it is made for kids 10 and under. He loved the "little" roller coaster, but isn't tall enough to ride the "big" roller coaster and everyone else I know who has gone with kids his age had their kids on it (I think it was 42", but could be wrong and it may be 38" or 40" - I didn't really check since he didn't make the height requirement) and they had a blast. He is OLD enough to ride it with an adult if he were tall enough. He has the ability to know not to try and get out, stand up, etc unlike my 2 year old who would probably try to jump ship. It's kind of sad for him because he would love some of the rides (with us), but is just too short. With that said, I wouldn't put him on either roller coaster without us (if under 42" - again, I think it was 42" you needed to ride with an adult or someone tall enough to qualify where my 2 year old didn't make the 36" requirement so he couldn't ride it alone).

This also brings me to my issue about the amount that they charge for a child to get in based on their age. My 2 year old is only 3 inches shorter than his brother, yet I don't have to pay for him to enter the park because of his age. They can ride the same exact rides! My 4 year old can't do rides that other 4 year olds can so how does it make sense that I have to pay so much for him?

OK, I know I went off course here. Sorry about that!

 

[gccgrad1996]

THANK YOU everyone..my dd went to the doc on Monday is she 41" tall..so there isn't much she can't ride..it will just be a matter of "reining" in hubby..lol..I am gonna let her take the lead and tell me what she is comfortable with..i am just a little concerned she will want to get on something, hubby will take her and it will scare the bejeesus out of her and she will be scared the rest of the trip..

I know what you are saying. My son is 14 months and is 33 inches, almost tall enough to ride Barnstormer, but I don't feel even if he were to grow two more inches before we go I would let him ride at that age. My middle daughter was able to ride Soarin and Test Track (40 inches) at 2. Now, she is my dare devil and had no problem riding either and absolutely loved both. She was actually in tears in 2009 when she was an inch too short to ride Tower of Terror. Now my older daughter who is also tall, she was 5'2" at 10, is not my thrill rider, and I would have never put her on these rides at that age.
My hubby sounds a little like yours. He bribed her to try Everest, Rockin Rollercoaster, and Space Mountain once, she was 9 and 10 at the time she tried these. She will never ride either again.
I totally agree, just because my kids were tall enough to ride doesn't mean they should. I have two and each are completely different.

 

[bethymouse]

Wow, I totally disagree. Now I've never been to Disney with young kids....other than when I was a kid, but my cousins for example who are 4 and 6 go to Holiday World in IN. frequently and they ride a lot of the rides themselves. My aunt and uncle don't like anything that spins in circles so the kids ride them by themselves. Now they'd never let them ride a "big" ride or roller coaster or anything alone, but rides that are similar to Dumbo, Tea Cups, Magic Carpets, etc. are ones they do by themselves all the time. They will be going to Disney for the first time this Oct. and don't know if they'd let them ride alone or not, but they won't have to worry about it since I'm going along and love riding everything with them.

My boys @ age 7 were allowed to ride Triceratop Spin by themselves.

 

[lykalagahit]

Just went to use this link and it just takes you back to the homepage now.

 

[LizC]

I have never taken children to WDW, but have been often. I am bringing my 15 mo. old twins in October. If there are no posted age or height requirements for a ride, can I assume it is safe for my husband and I to bring them with us? For example, it seems Malestrom has no height requirement but I know there is that dip at the end. Is it safe to bring my kids on that?

 

[wdwmagic]

I have never taken children to WDW, but have been often. I am bringing my 15 mo. old twins in October. If there are no posted age or height requirements for a ride, can I assume it is safe for my husband and I to bring them with us? For example, it seems Malestrom has no height requirement but I know there is that dip at the end. Is it safe to bring my kids on that?

Yes all attractions are safe for kids of any height who meet the height requirement. If there is no height requirement, you are good to go.

 

[mickeysbrother]

I gotta say, you have to be pretty far from intelligent to even consider letting your 6 year old ride ANYTHING by themselves. If any common sense is used whatsoever, Steve's "no height requirement" comment is correct.

Technically my 6 year old rode space mountain by herself. On her 6th b day. It was her first roller coaster ever. Im such a cool dad flying to Disney for 1 day. lol.... Anyways back on track. Ya on space mountain you are sitting by yourself so technically she rode it by her self.

 

[LizC]

Yes all attractions are safe for kids of any height who meet the height requirement. If there is no height requirement, you are good to go.

Thanks!

 

[cba]

I think I know all the WDW roller coaster height restrictions, so here they are:
B.T.M.R.-40 in.
The Great Goofini-38 in.
Space Mountain-44 in.
RnRc-48 in.
Expedition Everest-44 in.
Primeval Whirl-48 in.
If I missed any coasters or got any height restrictions wrong or want to give me a review, please tell me below.
If I got any wrong o

 

[cba]

My bad, the Great Goofini is 35 inches, not 38 inches.

 

[foxfamily238]

It could be different with every child as some are more adventurous than others. For example, our daughter was 4 when we took her to Disney for the first time and her favorite ride was TOT. We had some people let us know that Stitch might be too scary for her but when we took her on it, she asked what the scary part was supposed to be. Lol. We didn't and wouldn't let her ride anything by herself though.

We also knew some people who had a daughter who was a few years older than ours who wouldn't go on most of the rides because they were too scary for her and didn't like Splash because of the drop. So, it is best to consider your child's sense of fear, etc in addition to the height requirements.

 

[jkl2000]

I have never taken children to WDW, but have been often. I am bringing my 15 mo. old twins in October. If there are no posted age or height requirements for a ride, can I assume it is safe for my husband and I to bring them with us? For example, it seems Malestrom has no height requirement but I know there is that dip at the end. Is it safe to bring my kids on that?

We took our son to WDW when he was about that age - we took him on lots of rides (as long as they weren't coasters) and didn't have to worry about him being scared because he was really too young to know what anything was. We took him on Maelstrom, PoC, JC, HM, and he'd just point at everything and say "da?" meaning "what's that?" Ok, he may have been confused but he wasn't scared.

The best thing was that he slept really late every morning because the room was so dark and cool! Yeah, I know it was WDW and we shouldn't have slept in, but at that age, sleeping late was "magical!"

Oh, his favorite thing at WDW? One of the "jumping water" fountains in Epcot.

 

[hsisthebest]

We have taken our infants on the slow/dark rides, as long as they can lap sit. To add to the list I would also include Kilimanjaro Safaris, TTA/People mover (especially good for napping), Great Movie ride (cover ears and eyes as needed), Backlot tour, Universe of Energy, Living with the land, any/all 3D shows (Bugs and Honey/EO can be scary), Magic Carpets, Pooh, Seas With Nemo, Spaceship Earth, Under the Sea, Carousel of Progress.

*Always with adults of course!