It’s time to talk about height requirements at Universal Orlando. 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 (called “Child Swap”) at Universal Orlando.
Universal Orlando 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.
This post doesn’t talk about the different ride experiences. If you’d like to read more about the rides, we have:
Which rides at Universal Orlando have no height requirement?
There are a total of seven rides at Universal Orlando Resort with no height requirement—3 rides with no height requirement at Universal Studios Florida, and 4 rides with no height requirement at Universal Islands of Adventure.
There are three rides at Universal Studios Florida with no height requirement: Hogwarts Express - King's Cross Station, Illumination's Villain-Con Minion Blast, and Kang & Kodos' Twirl 'n' Hurl.
There are four rides at Universal Islands of Adventure with no height requirement: Caro-Seuss-el; Hogwarts Express - Hogsmeade Station; One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish; and Storm Force Accelatron.
Which rides at Universal Orlando have height requirements?
There are a total of 23 rides at Universal Orlando resort with height requirements. I’m going to break these down across the two parks.
There are ten rides at Universal Studios Florida park with height requirements:
E.T. Adventure — 34” (86.36 cm)
Despicable Me Minion Mayhem — 40” (102 cm)
Fast & Furious - Supercharged — 40” (102 cm)
Race Through New York Starring Jimmy Fallon — 40” (102 cm)
The Simpsons Ride — 40” (102 cm)
TRANSFORMERS The Ride-3D — 40” (102 cm)
Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts — 42” (107 cm)
MEN IN BLACK Alien Attack — 42” (107 cm)
Revenge of the Mummy — 48” (122 cm)
Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit — 51” (130 cm)
There are thirteen rides at Universal Islands of Adventure with height requirements:
Flight of the Hippogriff — 36” (92 cm)
Pteranodon Flyers — 36” (92 cm)
Max height 56” (143 cm) (Or accompanied by a rider meeting height requirements )
Skull Island: Reign of Kong — 36” (92 cm)
The High in the Sky Seuss Trolley Train Ride — 36” (92 cm)
The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man — 40” (102 cm)
Jurassic Park River Adventure — 42” (107 cm)
Popeye & Bluto's Bilge-Rat Barges — 42” (107 cm)
Dudley Do-Right's Ripsaw Falls — 44” (112cm)
Hagrid's Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure — 48” (122 cm)
Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey — 48” (122 cm)
Jurassic World VelociCoaster — 51” (130 cm)
Doctor Doom's Fearfall — 52” (132 cm)
The Incredible Hulk Coaster — 54” (138 cm)
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 Universal Orlando Resort, along with the rides they gain by hitting each milestone (inches rounded up to nearest half inch):
Under 34” - 7 total rides
34” (86.36 cm) - 8 total rides (E.T. Adventure)
36” (92 cm) - 12 total rides (Flight of the Hippogriff, Skull Island: Reign of Kong, The High in the Sky Seuss Trolley Train Ride, Pteranodon Flyers)
40” (102 cm) - 18 total rides (Despicable Me Minion Mayhem, Fast & Furious - Supercharged, Race Through New York Starring Jimmy Fallon, The Simpsons Ride, TRANSFORMERS The Ride-3D, The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man)
42” (107 cm) - 22 total rides (Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts, MEN IN BLACK Alien Attack, Jurassic Park River Adventure, Popeye & Bluto's Bilge-Rat Barges)
44” (112cm) - 23 total rides (Dudley Do-Right's Ripsaw Falls)
48” (122 cm) - 26 total rides (Revenge of the Mummy, Hagrid's Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure, Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey)
51” (130 cm) - 28 total rides (Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit, Jurassic World VelociCoaster)
52” (132 cm) - 29 total rides (Doctor Doom's Fearfall)
54” (138 cm) - 30 total rides (The Incredible Hulk Coaster)
Universal Orlando Complete Height Requirement List
Here is a list of all the height requirements at Universal Studios Florida:
Hogwarts Express - King's Cross Station - None
Illumination's Villain-Con Minion Blast - None
Kang & Kodos' Twirl 'n' Hurl - None
E.T. Adventure - 34” (86.36 cm)
Despicable Me Minion Mayhem - 40” (102 cm)
Fast & Furious - Supercharged - 40” (102 cm)
Race Through New York Starring Jimmy Fallon - 40” (102 cm)
The Simpsons Ride - 40” (102 cm)
TRANSFORMERS The Ride-3D - 40” (102 cm)
Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts - 42” (107 cm)
MEN IN BLACK Alien Attack - 42” (107 cm)
Revenge of the Mummy - 48” (122 cm)
Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit - 51” (130 cm)
Here is a list of all the height requirements at Universal Islands of Adventure:
Caro-Seuss-el - None
Hogwarts Express - Hogsmeade Station - None
One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish - None
Storm Force Accelatron - None
Flight of the Hippogriff - 36" (92 cm)
Skull Island: Reign of Kong - 36" (92 cm)
The High in the Sky Seuss Trolley Train Ride - 36" (92 cm)
Pteranodon Flyers - 36" (92 cm)
The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man - 40” (102 cm)
Jurassic Park River Adventure - 42” (107 cm)
Popeye & Bluto's Bilge-Rat Barges - 42” (107 cm)
Dudley Do-Right's Ripsaw Falls - 44” (112cm)
Hagrid's Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure - 48" (122 cm)
Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey - 48" (122 cm)
Jurassic World VelociCoaster - 51" (130 cm)
Doctor Doom's Fearfall - 52” (132 cm)
The Incredible Hulk Coaster - 54" (138 cm)
Does Universal Orlando Have Rider Swap?
Universal Orlando does have rider swap, called “Child Swap”. Here’s how they describe the process:
If your children are too small or unwilling to go on a particular ride that you want to experience, take advantage of our "child swap" program. Each ride and attraction has a family room where one member of your party can wait with the little ones while the rest of your party rides. Once they are finished, switch places so whoever rode can stay with the kids, and the adult(s) who sat out can enjoy the ride.
We don’t have much experience using Child Swap at Universal Orlando, so we can’t comment much on strategy and such using it.
Most of the time, we’ve seen Child Swap use a family room inside the queue. This means your family will wait for most of the ride together—including non-riders—before being split up. This means your non-riding party won’t be able to spend the queue time doing something else, you’re all in line together.
Additionally, you’ll want to think about the interplay of Child Swap and Universal Express Pass. If Child Swap is going to consume too much of your time, it might make sense to use Universal Express Pass so the adults can quickly get on and off the thrill rides.
All Your Other Universal Orlando Planning Questions Answered
Don't be overwhelmed by Universal Orlando planning! Take a second to check out our most important content!
Just starting out? Start with our Universal Orlando Resort planning guide! If you’re considering a Universal hotel, read our Review of Universal’s Aventura Hotel!
You’ll want to know what rides the parks offer, so we’ve got a Universal Studios Florida Rides Guide and a Universal’s Islands of Adventure Rides Guide. And to know how to get on them without the long waits, read all about Express Pass at Universal Orlando Resort.
If you’d like an idea of how to plan a day at these parks, we can help there, too. Our One Day Universal Studios Florida Itinerary covers a full day at the original park, and our Universal’s Islands of Adventure One Day Plan covers that park.
Early risers always have the best theme parks days (well, we think so). Read about Early Park Admission at Universal Orlando to learn how to get an extra hour in the parks. And read about rope drop at Islands of Adventure, including getting on the brand new Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure.