Disney World with young kids: A full guide to kid-friendly rides, shows and waterparks for 2025
If you’re thinking of doing Disney with little ones, you might be wondering what you can do that’s young-kid-friendly? I’ve rounded up everything that’s age appropriate for younger children so you can save yourself from the dreaded feeling of being turned away from one of the ‘big kid’ attractions. And don’t forget head to Attraction Tickets to get some of the best deals on Disney tickets!
Magic Kingdom
This park is great for younger children - from calmer rides to character moments, here’s what to prioritise that all have low or no height restrictions:
It’s A Small World - a colourful boat ride with catchy tunes and no height restriction, a perfect first ride to start the day
Peter Pan’s flight - you soar over Neverland! This is a popular one so the queue does get quite long
Dumbo the Elephant - another classic with no height restriction and the kids loved flying up and down in this
The Adventures of Winnie the Pooh - this one’s great as it has a little play area inside the queue to keep the kids entertained before it starts.
Journey of The Little Mermaid - this is a dark ride with gentle drops but still suitable for toddlers I’d say!
Some others include:
The Mad Tea Party (teacups)
Prince Charming’s Carousel
Aladdin’s Magic Carpets
Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin (an interactive shooting game, my son loved this)
Jungle Cruise (a gentle boat ride)
The Walt Disney Railroad which is a train ride circling the park (great for when little legs need a break)
Casey Jr. Splash and Soak station - a great splash playground perfect for cooling off on hot days!
The shows and parades in Magic Kingdom are amazing!
There’s a daily Festival of Fantasy parade with princesses, characters and floats!
A 3D musical show featuring lots of classic Disney songs which is a nice indoor escape
And a country bear animatronic show with singing bears that my kids found hilarious!
Animal Kingdom
Animal Kingdom is a great one if you love watching the shows. It’s also fantastic if your kids love animals as you can see a real range!
Kilimanjaro Safaris - this gentle safari ride is through African habitats its a real must do for little animal lovers! You can see elephants, giraffes, rhinos and more.
The Boneyard is a fun dinosaur-themed playground where the kids can dig, climb and explore.
Discovery Island trails - easy walking trails where the kids can spot animals along the way. This ones a stroller friendly environment too!
The real showstoppers at Animal Kingdom have to be:
It’s Tough to be a Bug - a 3D show inside the main Tree of Life.
The Festival of The Lion King - a high-energy live stage show full of music. Honestly couldn’t recommend this one more!
Finding Nemo - another great musical stage show re-telling the story of Nemo through puppetry and songs.
At Rafikis Planet Watch - the ‘affection section’ is a petting zoo experience. You can also get the Wildlife Express train here!
Some other attractions are:
Triceratops Spin - lets kids control up and down movement on flying dinosaurs.
Na’vi River Journey - a calm boat ride through avatars rainforest. This ones so gentle and magical for younger kids.
Epcot
Epcot often gets overlooked but it’s honestly one of our favourites. We found it the best place to do character meets as the queues were really short and you often got to meet more than one character at a time! As you walk around all the countries there are stops where the kids can draw, colour and collect a postcard at each place! There’s different food and drink at each country as well and of course there was a fish and chips and a cuppa in England! It felt like the best part for slowing down and letting the kids have some moments of calm.
Frozen Ever After - definitely a popular ride and to be honest I’d rank this one of the highest for in-queue entertainment as they have loads of interactive bits for the kids to look at as you wait to go on! It’s worth noting that there are two little drops and one is backwards though and my four-year-old daughter didn’t really like it. We queued about an hour for this.
The Seas with Nemo and Friends - a calming boat ride, ideal if you want a bit of peace.
Soarin’ is another absolute classic that I think the kids love just as much as the adults! You glide over lots of global landmarks with really cool visuals!
We met Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Pluto, Elsa, Anna, Daisy Duck, Snow White, Belle, Anna from Wish, and Jasmine all at Epcot. I felt my most calm here. There’s still loads going on, but it’s not as hectic as the other parks.
Also, it’s worth noting that it is so beautiful to walk around. They had the Encanto characters made out of flowers.
Hollywood Studios
Now we thought Hollywood was slightly more geared towards older children but there’s still plenty to do with younger kids!
Minnie and Mickey’s Runaway Railway is great and has no height restrictions!
Toy Story Mania is an interactive 3D ride that’s easy to enjoy even if the kids haven’t fully understood the concept
The Alien Swirling Saucers are located in the Toy Story section too!
Other attractions include:
Disney Junior Play & Dance – a stage show full of dancing, singing and Disney characters.
Frozen Sing-Along Celebration – Frozen songs and characters in a sing-along style
Beauty and the Beast – Live on Stage – A Broadway-style musical thats a great indoor break from the heat.
Blizzard Beach
We loved the fact that Blizzard Beach had free parking and free towels and kids jackets to use!
We also loved:
Tikes Peak which is a Frozen-themed splash zone
They’ve got a large kids area for small children and one for older kids which worked quite well for us. Our five-year-old was able to go on a fair few slides too!
Cross Country Creek which was basically a lazy river that loops around the entire park
The theme of the entire park as a ski resort made the park feel so unique with ski lifts and snow-themed slides.
It’s worth noting they tell you you’re not allowed to use your own inflatable rings so the fact that they provide free ones is great.
We had two hotdogs to share for lunch with drinks for only £22 here ($30).
Typhoon Lagoon
Typhoon Lagoon also has free towels and parking however this wasn’t open when we went but in August, both waterparks are open so you have double the choice!
It has one of the largest wave pools in North America but this is great to watch from the shallow end with your little ones.
The lazy river at Castaway Creek is another calm float option
And at Ketchakiddee Creek there is an interactive toddler play area with mini slides and wading pools that are both safe and fun!
Overall if you were choosing out of the two, I would say Blizzard Beach has more things for the little ones but you’d have a great day at both to be honest!
Hopefully this round-up has helped you navigate the younger child-friendly parts of Disney as I feel like the bigger rides for older kids are always the ones we hear about!
Overall i think our favourite parks were: Epcot, Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom and then Hollywood Studios.
Let me know in the comments what your favourites were if you’ve already been or the park that you’re most excited to visit if you haven’t yet.
