8 Best Rides for Kids at Universal Studios Hollywood, Ranked (2026)

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Mario Kart: Bowser’s Challenge is the best ride for kids at Universal Studios Hollywood. It’s not scary and has a minimum height of 40″ making it suitable for most children aged 4 upwards.

I have taken my son to Universal Studios Hollywood several times since he was just one-year-old and been on all of the rides myself, so here are the eight worth queueing for with children, with a height limit and fear factor for each.

1. Mario Kart: Bowser’s Challenge

📏 Minimum height: 40″ (102cm), 40 to 48″ with a companion
😬 Fear factor: 1/5
🧍 Single rider: Yes

Mario Kart is the best ride for kids at Universal Studios Hollywood. You wear a visor, steer a kart through Bowser’s courses and throw shells at the other team, and it never leaves the ground, so there are no drops and no real speed, only a few sharp turns and effects that can catch a small child by surprise.

Children between 40 and 48 inches ride with a companion, and the lap bar has to close around the waist, with a test seat at the entrance on the right before the stairs. The visor takes a couple of goes to get the hang of, so tell them not to worry about the score.

A Power-Up Band turns the rest of Super Nintendo World into a game, and with a child of six or over it is the best thing you can buy in the park.

2. The Secret Life of Pets: Off the Leash

📏 Minimum height: 34″ (86cm)
😬 Fear factor: 0/5
🧍 Single rider: Yes

The Secret Life of Pets is a slow dark ride through the streets of New York in a pet carrier, and at about five miles an hour it is the only ride in the park I give a fear factor of zero. It seats four in two rows with a lap bar, so a parent can sit beside each child.

Unfortunately, the 34 inch height limit is tall for what it is, so it rules out most two-year-olds, and the rides a toddler can do at Universal Studios Hollywood is the shorter list to plan around. It runs a Virtual Line through the app, but the standby queue was open too on 1 September 2026 and posted 15 minutes.

3. Flight of the Hippogriff

📏 Minimum height: 39″ (99cm)
😬 Fear factor: 2/5
🧍 Single rider: Yes

Flight of the Hippogriff is the first real roller coaster most children are tall enough for. The queue winds past Hagrid’s hut and the pumpkin patch, the train is styled as a Hippogriff, and it is over in under a minute with one gentle hill and no loops.

Seats are two abreast in open carriages, so a child sits next to you rather than in front. If it goes well, Revenge of the Mummy is the next step up at 48 inches.

4. Silly Swirly Fun Ride

📏 Minimum height: None, but children must sit up on their own
😬 Fear factor: 1/5
🧍 Single rider: No

Silly Swirly is the only real ride at Universal Studios Hollywood with no height requirement, as long as your child can sit up on their own. I took my son on it at 14 months and he loved it. Each bug rises and circles Super Silly Fun Land, and a handle in the car controls how high you go.

At 14 months he could not reach the handle, so I kept us low. The splash pad and the dry playground are next to it, and the splash pad soaks children within minutes, so pack a change of clothes.

5. DreamWorks Theatre Featuring Kung Fu Panda

📏 Minimum height: None
😬 Fear factor: 1/5
🧍 Single rider: No

DreamWorks Theatre Featuring Kung Fu Panda is a seated show rather than a ride, on a 180-degree screen with wind, water and smell effects. There is no height requirement and the story stands alone, so you do not need to have seen the films.

The effects can startle a very small child, which is the only reason it scores one rather than zero. The Studio Directory board lists it at 15 minutes, and it is a good sit-down in the heat.

6. The World Famous Studio Tour

📏 Minimum height: None
😬 Fear factor: 3/5
🧍 Single rider: No

The Studio Tour has no height requirement and the whole family rides the tram together for about an hour. The three in this list is for the Bates Motel, the flash flood and Jaws, plus the King Kong 360 3-D segment, which is loud and dark.

You do not get off the tram and there are no toilet stops, so go before you board with a newly potty-trained child. Seat a nervous child on the front left of the tram and they see less of the Bates Motel and Jaws.

7. Despicable Me Minion Mayhem

📏 Minimum height: 40″ (102cm)
😬 Fear factor: 1/5
🧍 Single rider: No

Despicable Me Minion Mayhem is a motion simulator inside Gru’s house that turns you into a Minion. The motion is mild, and there are stationary seats at the front for anyone prone to sickness, which is why it scores one.

It drew the longest posted wait in the park on 1 September 2026, 55 minutes at 4:45pm, so ride it first thing or in the last hour. Minion characters are often outside the entrance for photos.

8. Jurassic World: The Ride

📏 Minimum height: 42″ (107cm)
😬 Fear factor: 4/5
🧍 Single rider: Yes

Jurassic World is the only water ride, and for most of it you drift past dinosaurs in a boat in rows of five. The four is for the ending, an 84 foot drop into a pool that a child cannot see coming unless they are in the front two rows.

The dinosaur theme scares some younger children on its own. The Raptor Encounter and the DinoPlay climbing area sit next to the exit, so meet the raptor first and see how your child takes it before you queue.

Rides to Skip With Young Children

The other five rides in the park are for older children, and this is why each one is off the list:

• Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, 48 inches. Mostly in the dark with Dementors and spiders, and the over-the-head restraint makes it hard to see or comfort the child next to you. Walk the castle queue anyway, because it is the best set in the park
• Revenge of the Mummy, 48 inches. An indoor coaster in near darkness that launches to 45mph and runs backwards, with seats four across and a lap bar each, so you cannot hold a hand. The right step up after Flight of the Hippogriff, and the second scariest ride in the park
• Transformers: The Ride 3-D, 40 inches. No drops, but the explosions, the volume and the motion make it a known sickness trigger. I skip it myself
• The Simpsons Ride, 40 inches. Nothing frightening, but the constant motion is the worst in the park for anyone prone to sickness, and it is the ride I rate lowest at Universal Studios Hollywood
• Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift, 51 inches. The park’s first outdoor coaster goes upside down at up to 72mph and needs the tallest height in the park, so it is for teenagers. The cars parked outside the ride building are the photo stop for everyone else

Frequently Asked Questions

The questions I get asked most about taking children on the rides at Universal Studios Hollywood.