True story: Zoe just asked me if we can go back to Disneyland Paris, and my natural question was: well what rides will you be able to go on? So, it’s time to talk about height requirements at Disneyland Paris. I’ll start with which rides have no height requirements. Then we’ll break down the height requirements by park and by milestone, so you can figure out exactly which height to bring your little one. Finally, we’ll finish with a quick discussion of rider switch at Disneyland Paris.
Disneyland Paris Height Requirements Broken Down
We’ll start with the rides without height requirements, then the rides with height requirements. Next we move onto a list organized by height requirement, so you can quickly figure out how many rides your kid will be able to ride on your next visit.
Which rides at Disneyland Paris have no height requirement?
There are a total of 22 rides at Disneyland Paris resort with no height requirement.
There are sixteen rides at Disneyland Paris park with no height requirement: “it's a small world”, Buzz Lightyear Laser Blast, Casey Jr. - le Petit Train du Cirque, Disneyland Railroad, Dumbo the Flying Elephant, Main Street Vehicles, Le Carrousel de Lancelot, Le Pays des Contes de Fees, Les Voyages de Pinocchio, Mad Hatter’s Tea Cups, Orbitron, Peter Pan's Flight, Phantom Manor, Pirates of the Caribbean, Thunder Mesa Riverboat Landing, and Blanche-Neige et les Sept Nains.
There are six rides at Walt Disney Studios Park with no height requirement: Cars Quatre Roues Rallye, Cars ROAD TRIP, Les Tapis Volants - Flying Carpets over Agrabah, Ratatouille: The Adventure, Slink Dog Zigzag Spin, and Spider-Man W.E.B. Adventure.
Which rides at Disneyland Paris have height requirements?
There are a total of ten rides at Disneyland Paris resort with height requirements. I’m going to break these down across the two parks next. I’ll provide the height requirement in meters / centimeters as Disneyland Paris provides it, and I’ll provide this in inches rounded up to the nearest half inch.
The rides with height requirements at Disneyland Paris park are:
Autopia (ride with adult) - 81cm (32in)
Big Thunder Mountain - 1.02m (40.5in)
Star Tours: The Adventures Continue - 1.02m (40.5in)
Star Wars Hyperspace Mountain - 1.2m (47.5in)
Autopia (ride alone) - 132cm (52in)
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Peril - 1.40m (55.5in)
The rides with height requirements at Walt Disney Studios Park are:
Toy Soldiers Parachute Drop - 81cm (32in)
Twilight Zone Tower of Terror - 1.02m (40.5in)
Crush's Coaster - 1.07m (42.5in)
Avengers Assemble: Flight Force - 1.2m (47.5in)
RC Racer - 1.20m (47.5in)
Ride Counts by Different Heights
When it comes to pure counting, my favorite way to think about height requirements is to ask “how many rides can my ___ tall child ride?” The idea is that you want to wait until they hit some big milestone and unlock a bunch of rides, rather than planning your trip when they’re just under a height that might get them 5 more rides.
I’m going to group both parks together for this purpose. The parks are incredibly close and there’s very little reason you’d visit one and not the other if your goal was getting on the most / best rides. So, here are the total number of rides someone can ride at each height at Disneyland Paris, along with the rides they gain by hitting each milestone:
Under 81cm — 22 rides
81cm — 24 rides (Autopia, Toy Soldiers Parachute Drop)
1.02m — 27 rides (Big Thunder Mountain, Star Tours: The Adventures Continue, Twighlight Zone Tower of Terror)
1.07m — 28 rides (Crush’s Coaster)
1.20m — 31 rides (Star Wars Hyperspace Mountain, Avengers Assemble: Flight Force, RC Racer)
1.32m — 31 rides, but now can ride Autopia without supervision
1.40m — 32 rides (Indiana Jones and the Temple of Peril)
Does Disneyland Paris Have Rider Switch?
Disneyland Paris does have rider switch. Here’s how they describe the process:
How does the Rider Switch work for the big thrill attractions?
The Rider Switch allows parents to take turns on the rides, without having to queue twice! Here's how it works:
- The first parent queues, while the second parent waits outside with the kids
- The first parent boards the attraction. At the exit, they collect the Rider Switch pass and hand it over to the second parent
- The first parent takes over while the second goes directly to the exit of the attraction and boards without waiting.
We don’t have much experience using rider switch at Disneyland Paris, so we can’t comment much on strategy and such using it.
In general, if the parent waiting with the child outside the ride can do something else, you don’t want to waste that time just standing around. (I literally don’t know Disneyland Paris policy on this. At some theme parks they' literally make you stand there.) A lot of times it will make sense for each parent to do a nearby ride without a height requirement while the other is on the thrill ride.
Additionally, you’ll want to think about the interplay of rider switch and premier access. If rider switch is going to consume too much of your time, it might make sense to use premier access so the adults can quickly get on and off the thrill rides.
All Your Other Disneyland Paris Planning Questions Answered
Don’t be overwhelmed by Disneyland Paris planning! Take a second to check out our most important content! Just starting out? Check out our Disneyland Paris Trip Planning Guide. Need to know how much this is going to take out of your pocket? We’ve got a post on How Much it Costs to Go to Disneyland Paris.
When it comes to hotels, we’ve reviewed three of them. Check our our Review of Disneyland Hotel (Paris), Review of Disney's Sequoia Lodge, and Review of Disney's Hotel Cheyenne. We also recommend considering an off-site hotel or Airbnb when visiting Disneyland Paris.
Know what to ride with our: Disneyland Paris Rides Guide and Walt Disney Studios Park Rides Guide. And just as important, know how to get on the best rides without the wait with our Guide to Disneyland Paris Fastpass! For the complete guides to a day at the park, we have a One Day Disneyland Paris Itinerary and a Walt Disney Studios Park Itinerary.
Finally, before you head out, be sure to check out our to-the-point packing list, 10 essentials you forget to pack for every Disney trip. And if you're interested in saving, there's no better list than our 53 Ways to Save on your Disney trip from start to finish.