If you're planning a visit to "The Happiest Place on Earth" with tadpoles, it's a good idea to familiarize yourself with the height requirements of Disneyland Resort first. Understanding what your children can and cannot ride goes a long way toward having a stress-free visit. When we start planning our visit to a new park, one of the first things we do is familiarize ourselves with the rides. We check out any that have height requirements or rides that may be too scary for Lily, and we also review park maps and videos from the comfort of our own lily pad. That way, we can avoid disappointment, meltdowns and surprises on the day of our visit.
FAQs
- At what ages does my child need a ticket to Disneyland? Ages 3 and up require a ticket. Save on multi-day tickets (and even more on limited-time, promo tickets) when you purchase through Undercover Tourist.
- Are there age requirements for rides? A few rides have age restrictions. You must be 7 or older to use the Single Rider line, and under 13 (and between 42 and 63 inches in height), to use the Sequoia Smokejumpers Training Tower tire zip line.
- What if my child is not tall enough to ride or doesn't want to ride? Use Rider Switch so the adults can take turns watching the child.
- What can my toddler ride? Undercover Tourist has blog posts with lists of rides without height requirements that are perfect for babies and toddlers at Disneyland and Disney California Adventure.
- How can I avoid scary rides for my child? Undercover Tourist lists the scariest rides at Disneyland so you can avoid them with your more sensitive children.
When we first started visiting theme parks as a family, back when Tad was a small frog and Lily wasn't even an egg waiting to hatch yet, we were always unsure of just how much we'd get to do at the parks. Nowadays, we don't worry about this at all — and not because everyone's all grown up! Tad's tall enough now for even the biggest coasters, but Lily still doesn't meet every height requirement. It's simply much easier now that we know to do our research on height requirements before our visit.
The Disneyland Resort goes out of its way to make sure all guests have fun, even if they can't experience all of the rides. Let's start with the Disneyland height requirements and then we'll briefly discuss Disneyland Rider Switch. If you want to see any of the Disneyland rides in action, check them out on our YouTube channel! It will help you get a sense of seating, so you can get a sense of if your party can sit together or if you will need to spit up to ride. For a downloadable version of all the Disneyland and Disney California Adventure Park height requirements, save our infographics by clicking the link!
Here's an example of those infographics. Click the box below to see all the height requirements for Disneyland and Disney California Adventure:
Complete List of Disneyland and Disney California Adventure Height Requirements
32 inches (81 cm) or taller
- Autopia - Disneyland Park (when accompanied by another rider 54 inches or taller)
- Luigi's Rollickin' Roadsters - Disney California Adventure Park
- Mater's Junkyard Jamboree - Disney California Adventure Park
- Redwood Creek Challenge Trail Hoot n' Holler Log Slides - Disney California Adventure Park
35 inches (89 cm) or taller
- Chip 'n' Dale's GADGETcoaster - Disneyland Park
38 inches (97 cm) or taller
- Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run - Disneyland Park
40 inches (102 cm) or taller
- Big Thunder Mountain Railroad - Disneyland Park
- Guardians of the Galaxy — Mission: BREAKOUT! - Disney California Adventure Park
- Jumpin' Jellyfish - Disney California Adventure Park
- Radiator Springs Racers - Disney California Adventure Park
- Silly Symphony Swings (tandem only) - Disney California Adventure Park
- Soarin' Around the World - Disney California Adventure Park
- Space Mountain - Disneyland Park
- Star Tours — The Adventures Continue - Disneyland Park
- Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance - Disneyland Park
- Tiana's Bayou Adventure - Disneyland Park
42 inches (107 cm) or taller
- Goofy's Sky School - Disney California Adventure Park
- Grizzly River Run - Disney California Adventure Park
- Matterhorn Bobsleds - Disneyland Park
- Redwood Creek Challenge Trail Cliff Hanger Traverse Rock Climb - Disney California Adventure Park
- Redwood Creek Challenge Trail Sequoia Smokejumpers Training Tower zip line (must be between 42 and 63 inches, as well as under 13 years old) - Disney California Adventure Park
46 inches (117 cm) or taller
- Indiana Jones Adventure - Disneyland Park
48 inches (122 cm) or taller
- Incredicoaster - Disney California Adventure Park
- Silly Symphony Swings (to ride in a single swing) - Disney California Adventure Park
54 inches (137 cm) or taller
- Autopia (to ride alone) - Disneyland Park
Disneyland Age Requirements
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Whether rides have height requirements or not, they all have age requirements for riding alone. While people of any height may enjoy many of the rides at Disneyland and Disney California Adventure, the rides require children under 7 to ride seated next to someone who meets a certain height requirement (see Autopia) or is at least 14 years old.
This can present problems when you are traveling with several children under 7. If you have three children under 7, you’ll want at least two adults who can ride with them (or help supervise) because children under 7 cannot sit alone. Many Fantasyland rides (and rides for all ages) allow for one adult and two children in a seat, which is so hopful. So just make sure if you have several small children (or are bringing all your tadpoles and nieces and nephews or friends) that you have enough adults to supervise and ride with the children.
At the Redwood Creek Challenge Trail, you have to be under 13, and between 42 and 63 inches in height, to slide on the Sequoia Smokejumpers Training Tower tire zip line. This smaller attraction is a ton of fun for tadpoles who meet the height and age restrictions.
Some rides require one-on-one supervision. That’s something to be aware of so you don’t encounter any surprises. We've learned this the hard way!
On one multi-generational trip, Leap and Grandma Frog tried to take a group of four froglets under 7 years old on the Matterhorn Bobsleds (while Lily and I took a spin on the teacups). They were taking forever to return. We hopped over to see what the holdup was. Poor Leap was taking turns riding with each child, one at a time.
We learned that one adult can supervise only one child under 7 at a time on that ride (same with Space Mountain). Grandma Frog was hoppy to stand on the loading area sidelines to supervise the other 4, 5 and 6-year-olds as they waited for their turns. Leap stayed on the ride. They swapped out the tadpoles each time the ride circled back because they did not have enough adults to ride one-on-one with the tadpoles. Big Thunder Mountain Railroad has a bench seat that allows up to three people. It's a better choice if you are supervising several small riders.
Single Rider, Buddy Pass and Roo Pass
If you want to take advantage of Single Rider lines with kids who meet the height requirements, they need to be at least 7 years old to ride alone.
A few gentle rides have a pass for small groups with no age requirement. Monster’s Inc. (closing in 2027) sometimes has a more family-friendly version of a Single Rider line for small groups. Groups of one or two (or three if you have a lap child) can get a Buddy Pass to wait in a separate line to fill in empty rows. An adult needs to ride with any child under 7 years of age though. There’s no preferential seating, but a Buddy Pass can be a way to shorten the wait, with a child under 7, for those rides. Buddy Passes are not always being used until the line gets long. They make a nice option for smaller parties to potentially skip a line.
At Disneyland, you can sometimes ask for a Roo Pass at The Many Adventures fo Winnie the Pooh, when the line gets long.
Disneyland Rider Switch
While the list above of Disneyland height requirements may seem long, we should tell you that most of the attractions at Disneyland and Disney California Adventure don't have height requirements. Indeed, Disney parks are among the most kid and baby-friendly parks on the planet. It's possible that you could skip every ride with a height requirement at Disneyland and still have a great time!
However families with kids of mixed ages and parents who like thrills will find Rider Switch hopful in meeting everyone's needs. But how can all the adults ride if someone needs to watch the baby?
Enter Rider Switch. With Disneyland Rider Switch, families with tadpoles too young to ride can take turns riding and babysitting so the taller and braver people don't miss out or have to wait for each group to wait in line. An adult (or supervising companion 14 years or older) can wait with non-riders while the rest of the party rides. And then, after that, the waiting adult can take their turn by using a Lightning Lane or alternative shorter queue. BONUS — They don't have to ride alone. The waiting adult can bring someone with them for a maximum party size of two.
We've broken Rider Switch out into its own post. Hop over to our Disneyland Rider Switch post for all the details and tips for using this service.
Keep in mind that just because your tadpole can ride doesn't mean they're necessarily ready to ride. Even some of the rides without height requirements can be intimidating to young riders (here's looking at you, Haunted Mansion). Some rides without a height requirement can also be a bit rough for a newborn, such as the sudden changes in direction for Mickey & Minnie 's Runaway Railway. Shooting rides, such as Toy Story Midway Mania or Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters, are much easier to navigate when you are not holding a child on your lap. You can ask to do Rider Switch for these attractions too.
We hope you find this post outlining Disneyland's height requirements and Disneyland Rider Switch service helpful. Do you have any tips or tricks you've learned for handling height requirements, scary rides and child swap at Disneyland? Let us know in the comments below!
Related: Disneyland Park 1-Day Park Plan
Related: Disney California Adventure 1-Day Park Plan
Hoppy planning!
