What can a 44-inch child ride?

What changes at 44 inches

Forty-four inches opens Space Mountain, Avatar Flight of Passage and Expedition Everest at Walt Disney World. Flight of Passage is the one to note: it is routinely the longest standby wait in the entire resort, and this is the first height at which your child can ride it. At Universal it adds Dudley Do-Right's Ripsaw Falls.

Newly open at this height

Rides a child could not board at 42 inches but can board now.

• ·Space Mountain — Magic Kingdom, 44"
• ·Avatar Flight of Passage — Animal Kingdom, 44"
• ·Expedition Everest — Animal Kingdom, 44"
• ·Dudley Do-Right's Ripsaw Falls — Islands of Adventure, 44"

What is still off-limits

Only the top tier is left. TRON Lightcycle / Run and Rock 'n' Roller Coaster need 48, as do Hagrid's, Forbidden Journey, Revenge of the Mummy and Stardust Racers. VelociCoaster and Rip Ride Rockit need 51, Doctor Doom's Fearfall 52 and the Hulk 54.

• ·TRON Lightcycle / Run — Magic Kingdom, needs 48"
• ·Rock 'n' Roller Coaster — Hollywood Studios, needs 48"
• ·Indiana Jones Adventure — Disneyland Park, needs 46"
• ·Incredicoaster — Disney California Adventure, needs 48"
• ·Hagrid's Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure — Islands of Adventure, needs 48"
• ·Jurassic World VelociCoaster — Islands of Adventure, needs 51"
• ·Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey — Islands of Adventure, needs 48"
• ·The Incredible Hulk Coaster — Islands of Adventure, needs 54"
• ·Revenge of the Mummy — Universal Studios, needs 48"
• ·Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit — Universal Studios, needs 51"
• ·Stardust Racers — Epic Universe, needs 48"
• ·Monsters Unchained: The Frankenstein Experiment — Epic Universe, needs 48"
• ·Dragon Racer's Rally — Epic Universe, needs 48"
• ·Doctor Doom's Fearfall — Islands of Adventure, needs 52"

Does a paid line-skip make sense at this height?

Neither resort publishes a flat per-ride price for skipping a line — Disney prices Lightning Lane by date and demand, and Universal prices Express Pass as a day product that swings hard with the calendar. So the only useful question is per ride: which queues are long enough to be worth it. We keep a ride-by-ride verdict in the Lightning Lane worth-it guide and the Express Pass worth-it guide.

Open at 44 inches and worth checking first

• ·Is Seven Dwarfs Mine Train Lightning Lane worth it? — Almost always worth it
• ·Is Space Mountain Lightning Lane worth it? — Usually worth it
• ·Is Big Thunder Mountain Railroad Lightning Lane worth it? — Usually worth it
• ·Is Peter Pan's Flight Lightning Lane worth it? — Almost always worth it
• ·Is Jungle Cruise Lightning Lane worth it? — Usually worth it

How the parks actually measure

Both resorts check height at the attraction entrance, with shoes on, against a fixed marker — not at the ticket gate, and not once for the whole trip. A child measured barefoot at home can come up short at the queue after a long day, which is the single most common way a carefully built plan falls apart. Measure in the shoes they will wear, and if they are within half an inch of a gate, plan the day as though they are in the tier below. Our full guide to Disney World height requirements goes through the rules park by park, and the crowd calendar covers the other half of the problem — when the queues you can use are shortest.