How young is too young and height restrictions on rides?

[BellsFam]

Is there a place to find a height restriction chart for all rides in Disney?

How young is too young for some rides? How old until you took your kids on SM or Soarin', etc.?

DH and I are traveling alone with DD(5), she's a taller 5 but I'm wondering what rides she will be able to do, and not do...which means either single riders for mom then dad or skipping some favs all-together...

 

[mesaboy2]

Is there a place to find a height restriction chart for all rides in Disney?

How young is too young for some rides? How old until you took your kids on SM or Soarin', etc.?

DH and I are traveling alone with DD(5), she's a taller 5 but I'm wondering what rides she will be able to do, and not do...which means either single riders for mom then dad or skipping some favs all-together...

Height is the only thing that matters for physical safety. The rest is left up to you and depends on the child. See the dark blue bar above, locate "Planning", then "Height Requirements" for a calculator.

 

[GenevieveRaqs]

We took DS to WDW for the first time when he was 4. We're going back this summer, and he will have just turned 6.

At 4, he did the following rides with a height requirement:
Barnstormer (LOVED it)
Splash Mountain (screamed like crazy on the drop, but loved it!)
Soarin' (no big deal, not the least bit scary!)
BTMRR (some moments of fun, but a lot of this was just a little too intense for him at the time)

All of those have a 40" requirement, except Barnstormer which is 38".

We skipped Space Mountain (I think that one has a higher requirement) and Everest, which were both just too intense. And Tower of Terror is too intense for ME!

This time, DS has said he will try BTMRR again, and that will be our gauge. If he likes it, we'll try Everest and Space Mountain. If he doesn't, we'll stick with the tried-and-true. I suggest starting her out on some of the tame ones, like Barnstormer and Soarin', then moving up to see where her threshold is.

 

[minnie mum]

Here's a link to the page with height restriction info: http://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/height.htm

As for the question of how young is too young- really impossible to answer without knowing the child. Some are much more adventurous than others. I had one DD who wanted to go on everything at 5. The other one still won't go on some of them and she's in her 30s now(she gets that from me). All I can recommend is that you start with the mildest ones and work your way up. If your child is hesitant, wait for another visit when she's older and see if she is ready then.

 

[HookdonWDW]

I agree with the pps. DS road everything as soon as he reached the height requirements. He actually gave me a look of disgust the first time he road TOT, and asked, "That was it??? Why are all these people screaming?" On the other hand, dd was afraid of Star Tours at 9, and I think I scarred my dn for life when I took her on Snow White at 6, lol.

 

[puffkin]

Every kid is different.

We don't do You Tube videos or hyper analyze and discuss the rides with our kids. When they hit the height requirement they ride and make their own judgement on if they want to ride again. I've riden the rides enough to know the really scary/intense moments to help soften the blow a bit, but we aren't overly cautious. My DS8 is very tall. He was riding all the 40" rides at 2.5 and hit 48" for RnR just after his 5th birthday. Didn't phase him. Loves them all except Splash (doesn't like getting wet which is ironic since he is a competitive swimmer). He will humor us each trip with 1 ride on that.

My other DS will be 23 months on our next trip. He is trending even taller than my older DS and is really close to the 40" mark already. He is super tall. He is a bit more reserved than his brother so if he does hit the mark I may leave him off of some of the more intense 40" rides (ToT, Dinosaur) but I know anything with just speed he will love (BTMMR, Test Track). I don't find Soarin, Star Tours or Splash overly intense so I'd definitely let him on those too even at such a young age.

Only you know your kid best, but I always encourage parents not to stifle kids just because of our own fears or insecurities but to let them experience it for themselves and make a decision.

 

[staceyeileen]

At 3, my son rode Barnstormer again and again. At 4 and exactly 40", he rides BTMRR over and over and also enjoyed Soarin.

He is still too short for the 48" rides (SM, RnR, etc.) but I'm sure he'll ride those as soon as he's tall enough.

 

[mill4023]

Is there a place to find a height restriction chart for all rides in Disney?

How young is too young for some rides? How old until you took your kids on SM or Soarin', etc.?

DH and I are traveling alone with DD(5), she's a taller 5 but I'm wondering what rides she will be able to do, and not do...which means either single riders for mom then dad or skipping some favs all-together...

I didn't see anyone mention it, but you can use the child swap for rides that your DD isn't tall enough for. All 3 of you go to the queue together, then they give you a pass so after the first adult has ridden, the second adult can ride, usually through the FP line with the child swap pass.

 

[mom4graceandlogan]

Totally depends on the kid. My middle child, the dare devil, rode Everest, Space mountain at 5, the earliest she was tall enough. She and my son, did TOwer of terror, splash, BTMR, soarin, test track at 4 and loved it. We did them over and over. She did Rock n roll roller coaster as soon as she was tall enough but that was 8. Now I can't get my 13 year old on almost anything and never have so it depends on the kid. Now she is old enough to wait at the exit. We used to have to do baby swap for her as an 11 year old, while the four year old rode.

 

[Luv2PixieDust]

Just wanted to pass along a tip I read in a WDW planning book.

Start with smaller/tame rides first (Barnstormer for example). After the ride ask them "would you like to ride it again during our stay?". You don't want to ask them "did you like it?" since many kids will say "yes" to please their parents or not want to admit that it scared them. If they say they would like to ride it again then you know for certain they really liked it!

Hope this helps!

 

[denneg]

My son (5) has been on all height restricted rides except Space, because he knows he would have to sit alone. This is our first trip since he hit 48", and although I was reluctant to take him on RnR, he insisted and loves it. So it's up to you!

 

[Annadesu]

When I was 5, I went on everything and loved it... But some kids are scared of their own shadows. It really just depends on if your kid wants to do it, or not. Try showing them pictures of the ride on the internet. If they look excited about it, then they'll probably ride it. If they look worried, then let them decide once you get there.

The height restrictions are just for physical safety, not mental health.

 

[ateam79828592]

I would just suggest you start small and work up. Once they have a "bad" experience on a ride, sometime it turns kids off to all/most rides. So start with easy stuff...and work up to dark/scary/fast.

 

[lroger01]

You probably already have an idea if she'll like thrill rides or not. At the playground does she want to go higher and higher on the swing? And, ride on the tallest and craziest slide? When younger did she like to be swung around when held, or driven fast and crazy in the stroller?

These activities release adrenaline, just like thrill rides do. If she liked the adrenaline then, she'll like it at Disney. You do need to watch for too much adrenaline. If she gets off a ride and complains or seems shaky, with rubbery legs, then she got too much of it. Just let her sit a minute and it will go away. Then tell her that feeling only happens on the first ride or two while her body adjusts to a new experience.

If you have time before your trip, a visit to a local amusement park or county fair would help. It would also give you something to compare attractions to. For example "This ride is like the wild mouse coaster at the fair - only its inside and in the dark"

 

[Son of Gadsden]

Well, I'm not a parent, but I would say as long as they have the required height, they are safe.

Whether they'll talk to you or not for the next week or two for making them go on it, that's up to you.

Builds character.

 

[JennaDeeDooDah]

Is there a place to find a height restriction chart for all rides in Disney?

How young is too young for some rides? How old until you took your kids on SM or Soarin', etc.?

DH and I are traveling alone with DD(5), she's a taller 5 but I'm wondering what rides she will be able to do, and not do...which means either single riders for mom then dad or skipping some favs all-together...

We took my daughter on her first Walt Disney World trip when she was 2. She rode everything she was tall enough to ride which, at that point, was nothing with a height restriction except Barnstormer. She loved all of it, including Haunted Mansion. We took her again when she was three and, courtesy of her 6'8" daddy, had the height to ride Thunder Mountain, Soarin', Tower of Terror, etc. Splash Mountain was down, unfortunately. She was begging us to do it. Anyway, she didn't want to get off of Thunder Montain. She road Tower of Terror four time. She still talks about how much she loved Soarin'. She is now ready to ride Space Mountain after seeing some videos. So, basically, if she was tall enough, we let her ride it.

I will tell you this about Tower of Terror. We were really concerned about that one. We weren't worried about anything else. We had her watch it drop from the outside. We went through the line and video with her. The whole time, we told her that she didn't have to ride if she didn't want to. We repeatedly told her that we would have no problem exiting without riding. She was confident she could handle it, though. And she did.

 

[Kalea]

At 3 years old and 41ish inches, DD rode everything she was tall enough for. Tower of Terror rattled her, but she claims she wants to ride when we go back this year. I know as a young child, I would not have had the guts to ride BTMRR or Splash, much less ToT. So it really does just depend on the child.

What did surprise me is how infrequently she was measured. She was occasionally measured at the beginning of the line. She was never, not even once, measured at the end/immediately before the ride.

 

[PEC]

It is really a case by case basis. DGD (6) would love any roller coaster she is tall enough to ride, but hates dark rides and getting wet (another words BTMRR OK but HM and Splash MTN no). Of course I think we got a fiz for Splash MTN. Have her wear her bathing suit under her clothes, wear that for Splash MTN and then change or put her other clothes back on.
Keep in mind there are some adults that don't like roller coasters so some of this is a case by case at all ages.