Toddler thrill rides, you say? Yes! Believe it or not, there are a handful of thrill rides that toddlers can do at Walt Disney World, once they hit 38 inches! Below is a listing of thrill rides that have a 32-38″ height requirement, the first “big kid rides” that toddlers can do! If you are pregnant, make sure your toddler has another adult to go on these rides with – none of the rides below are safe during pregnancy. To check out pregnancy-safe rides, click here for Magic Kingdom, here for Hollywood Studios, here for Animal Kingdom, and here for Epcot!

Magic Kingdom

• The Barnstormer (35″)
• Seven Dwarfs Mine Train (38″)
• Honorable mention: Tomorrowland Speedway (32″)

Hollywood Studios

• Alien Swirling Saucers (32″)
• Slinky Dog Dash (38″)
• Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run (38″)

Animal Kingdom

• Kali River Rapids (38″)

Magic Kingdom Attractions

A Quick Note about Tomorrowland Speedway…

At Magic Kingdom, most attractions don’t have a height requirement, but of the rides that do have one, the lowest height is 32″ at Tomorrowland Speedway. This isn’t a particularly thrilling ride, at least by adult standards – but toddlers love this one as they get to “drive” a car! They won’t be tall enough to reach the gas pedal at 32″, so make sure an adult is able to ride with them for a few years. For the purposes of this ranking, we won’t count Tomorrowland Speedway in our ranking of thrill rides as it is not a fast-moving ride.

The Barnstormer

Of all the rides on this list, Barnstormer is the roughest coaster! It’s a short coaster, with the shortest height requirement of all the thrill rides at Walt Disney World, but don’t underestimate this one! Once you get up that first lift hill, it’s nonstop action until you get back to the loading station.

Tips for Experiencing Barnstormer with Toddlers:

• Watch the ride! This one is entirely outdoors so it is easy to see and prep your child for what to expect.
• Consider avoiding this attraction if they are sensitive to noises – the sound of the ride itself is very loud! There isn’t any music or narration or anything, the coaster itself is just quite loud.
• Put your arm around your child, to cushion their head. This is a seriously rough/jerky coaster, so having that extra padding there will protect their head from bonking on the side or back of the seat.
• Hit this one later in the day, after dinner – the wait will generally be lower!

Seven Dwarfs Mine Train

Seven Dwarfs Mine Train can be rough as well, although not as rough as Barnstormer! The coaster itself is smooth, but there is a side to side swaying motion that depends on the weight distribution of guests in the ride vehicle. This ride has some indoor scenes from Snow White, featuring everyone’s favorite dwarfs, which provide a minor break from the fast-paced action of the hills and curves of the coaster.

Tips for Experiencing Seven Dwarfs Mine Train with Toddlers:

• If wait times are a concern, hit this one first thing in the morning, last ride of the night, or consider purchasing Lightning Lane access (coming fall 2021). Until the new Tron coaster opens, this attraction remains one of the longest waits in the park.
• Watch the ride! It is in the middle of Fantasyland, so you can walk around the entire coaster and see all the hills & curves. The indoor portion is slow and features characters, so your child may handle it just fine! If you’re concerned, check out ride throughs on YouTube for this portion of the ride.
• This ride can also be a little bit noisy, particularly in the indoor section (be prepared for a rendition of “Heigh-Ho!”)
• Put your arm around your child’s head, especially being mindful of the side of their head. Front to back didn’t seem to be a problem for my son; it was the side to side that was more concerning for me.

Hollywood Studios Attractions

Alien Swirling Saucers

Although this ride has a 32″ height requirement and looks tame from the outside, do not be fooled! This ride is more fun than it looks! Be prepared to be whipped back and forth around corners to the beat of some fun Toy Story music.

Tips for Experiencing Alien Swirling Saucers with Toddlers:

• You can watch this ride, too! Although it’s covered, you can walk right up to the side and check it out prior to boarding.
• If you or your toddler are prone to dizziness, you may want to skip this one. It doesn’t spin like the Mad Tea Party, but it does whip you side to side and can create dizziness if you are prone to it.
• Put your arm around your child’s head, or sandwich them between two adults. No lap sitting on this ride, and you’ll want to protect their head from hitting the side as you get whipped back and forth quite rapidly!

Slinky Dog Dash

Slinky Dog Dash is the largest coaster on this list! It is the tallest and longest of the rides included here. Slinky Dog Dash is nonstop action from start to finish. Despite being the longest and the tallest on the list, it is also the smoothest! No rough rides here!

Tips for Experiencing Slinky Dog Dash with Toddlers:

• This ride is entirely outdoors and can be seen from multiple angles in Toy Story Land. Watch it for awhile before hopping in line!
• Since it’s entirely outdoors, it goes down when it rains. If rain is in the forecast, plan accordingly!
• This is one of the longest waits in Hollywood Studios, so if waiting in line is going to be rough for your little one, hit this at rope drop, last ride of the night, or consider purchasing Lightning Lane access (coming Fall 2021).
• Although it is one of the smoothest coasters at Walt Disney World, I put my arm around my little one so that he feels safe and secure!

Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run

This is a simulator ride with interactive elements – guests will be either a pilot, gunner, or engineer. The seating configuration is a little awkward, and toddlers who don’t know anything about Star Wars will probably be confused as to what’s going on! It’s a very bumpy, rocky ride, and the controls (especially for pilot) may be too far away for your little one to reach until they are a little taller!

Tips for Experiencing Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run with Toddlers:

• Request to either sit behind your toddler, or request that both of you are pilots. The seats are arranged in kind of a pyramid arrangement, where the front 2 seats are closest together, middle 2 are further apart, and the last 2 are farthest apart. If you are both pilots, you can reach over and hold their hand during the ride. If you sit behind your toddler, you can lean forward and comfort them.
• This is a rough ride! It is very bumpy, and it gets even bumpier if you don’t have the best pilots (and if your toddler is a pilot, they may not be able to reach the controls, making it even bumpier!). The seats are hard, not cushioned, so if you’re concerned about them hitting their heads, maybe wait on this one til they are older.
• The ride cannot be seen at all from the outside, so consider watching a ride-through on YouTube!

Animal Kingdom Attractions

Kali River Rapids

Kali River Rapids is a typical water raft rapids adventure! It features one drop and a couple sections of choppy rapids. Expect to get wet on this one!

Tips for Experiencing Kali River Rapids with Toddlers:

• If your toddler is between 38 and 40 inches, they will be given a wristband at the queue entry, which indicates that they’ll need to sit in a special seat on the raft. That seat has a lap bar that comes over the top of the seat in addition to the seatbelt. Once they hit 40 inches, they can sit in any seat!
• This ride tends to go down seasonally for refurbishment, typically in January-February.
• Bring a change of clothes & shoes for your little one – if they get soaked, they probably won’t be comfortable walking around in wet clothes all day!
• This one can’t really be seen too well from other areas of the park, so consider checking it out on YouTube beforehand.
• This isn’t a particularly rough attraction, but you’ll be sitting right next to your child so you can hold onto them if you feel it’s necessary!

A Ranking: Least to Most Intense

1. Alien Swirling Saucers – no hills, just a lot of whippy spins!
2. Kali River Rapids – one hill water ride with a little bit of bumpy waters!
3. Seven Dwarfs Mine Train – only a few small hills on this smooth coaster featuring our 7 favorite dwarfs!
4. The Barnstormer – outdoor bumpy rollercoaster ride!
5. Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run – indoor simulator with the potential to be quite bumpy!
6. Slinky Dog Dash – long, tall rollercoaster with nonstop action from start to finish!