New Theme Park Rides for 2026: Height Requirements & Opening Dates

What's Opening in 2026

Update, October 2026: Most of the rides below have now opened, and their heights are in our data, checked against each park's own website. Bluey the Ride at Alton Towers takes children from 90cm with an adult; at Paultons Park, Drakon needs 125cm with an adult and Vild Swing 95cm; Aviktas at Blackpool Pleasure Beach needs 130cm; Valkyrie at Festyland needs 110cm with an adult; and Frozen Ever After and Raiponce Tangled Spin at Disneyland Paris have no height restriction. One figure we gave in February was wrong: Minifigure Speedway at LEGOLAND Windsor needs 105cm with an adult, not 100cm. Fraispertuis City lists Fireline Redwood from 95cm with an adult, but the family drop tower we mentioned no longer appears on the park's website, and Parc Astérix's attractions list showed no Greek-themed additions at our August check. We've also corrected three heights in the 2025 list at the end. We now cover 124 parks and 3300 rides: 41 in the UK, 34 in France, 31 in Spain and 18 in the UAE.

The 2026 season brings major new rides across all three countries we cover. We're tracking height requirements as parks announce them and updating our park pages accordingly.

Here's everything that was confirmed when we first published, with each section now brought up to date.

UK — Spring & Summer 2026

Alton Towers: Bluey the Ride: Here Come the Grannies!

Opened: March 2026 | Height: 90cm with an adult, 110cm alone

When we wrote this, the ride was listed here as "Bluey's Big Play", with no height announced, and we expected a low or no height restriction. It opened in CBeebies Land in March 2026 as Bluey the Ride: Here Come the Grannies!, the world's first Bluey roller coaster. Children from 90cm can ride with an adult (16+), and from 110cm on their own. The ride's own page doesn't currently print the rule, so check at the entrance on the day.

Alton Towers has 23 rides and attractions open to a child under 100cm, most of them in CBeebies Land. See the Alton Towers page for the full list.

Paultons Park: Valgard — Realm of the Vikings

Opened: May 2026 | Investment: £12 million

Paultons Park's biggest expansion ever introduces an entire Viking-themed land with multiple new attractions:

• Drakon — the park's first inverting coaster
• Vild Swing — the UK's first ART Engineering swing ride

At the time of writing no heights had been announced, and we guessed Drakon would land somewhere between 120cm and 140cm. Valgard opened in May 2026, and the park's figures are now on the Paultons Park page:

• Drakon — 125cm with an adult, 140cm alone, maximum 195cm
• Vild Swing — 95cm minimum
• Raven — the former Cobra, rethemed for Valgard: 110cm with an adult, 130cm alone

LEGOLAND Windsor: Minifigure Speedway

Height: 105cm with an adult, 130cm alone

The world's first LEGO duelling rollercoaster: twin racing tracks, forward and reverse sections. At the time of writing we gave a 100cm minimum. The park's height page puts it at 105cm with an adult and 130cm alone, so it suits slightly older children than we first suggested.

LEGOLAND Windsor has 11 rides open at any height (some with an adult) and 30 open to a child under 120cm. See the LEGOLAND Windsor page.

Blackpool Pleasure Beach: Aviktas

Opened: May 2026 | Height: 130cm | Investment: £8.72 million

Standing 138 feet tall, Aviktas is the UK's tallest gyro swing. We expected a minimum of 120cm or more; it opened in May 2026 with a 130cm minimum.

View all Blackpool Pleasure Beach rides

France — Spring 2026

Disneyland Paris: World of Frozen

Opened: March 2026

The headline opening of the year. Step into Arendelle during the Snowflower Festival in the renamed Disney Adventure World (formerly Walt Disney Studios Park). Multiple Frozen-themed attractions are planned alongside the Minnie's Dream Factory show (Feb 7 – July 5, 2026).

When we wrote this, heights hadn't been confirmed. World of Frozen opened in March 2026, and both new rides have no height restriction: Frozen Ever After, the boat ride through Arendelle, and Raiponce Tangled Spin, the Rapunzel spinner on Adventure Way. See the Disneyland Paris page.

Festyland: Valkyrie

Opened: April 2026 | Height: 110cm with an adult, 130cm alone

A new roller coaster bringing Norse mythology to Normandy. This continues Festyland's expansion of their Viking zone and complements the existing 1066 coaster. It opened in April 2026 as a Vekoma family boomerang coaster: children under 110cm can't ride, from 110cm to 130cm they ride with an adult, and from 130cm alone.

View all Festyland rides

Fraispertuis City: 60th Anniversary Rides

Opening: 2026

Two new family attractions were announced for this Wild West park's diamond anniversary:

• Fireline Redwood — family roller coaster, now listed by the park at 95cm with an adult and 120cm alone. It was due to open in July 2026, so check it's running before you go.
• Family Drop Tower — we listed this from 100cm at the time of writing. At our August 2026 check it appeared nowhere on the park's website, so it isn't in our data until the park lists it.

Fireline Redwood joins the park's European record holder Timber Drop, with its 113.1° drop (122cm minimum).

View all Fraispertuis City rides

Parc Astérix: New Greek-Themed Area

Opening: 2026

Building on 2025's successful Cétautomatix launch, Parc Astérix announced a Greek-themed area with a Zamperla Windstarz and family freefall ride. At our August 2026 check none of these appeared on the park's attractions list, so we have no heights for them yet. Cétautomatix itself needs 100cm.

View all Parc Astérix rides

2026 Height Requirements at a Glance

Last updated 3 October 2026. Heights come from our ride data, checked against each park's own website; the park pages always carry the latest.

What Opened in 2025

Last year was strong for new additions. Here are the highlights with confirmed height requirements:

UK

• Alton Towers: Toxicator — 140cm min, UK's first suspended Top Spin (park page)
• Paultons Park: Ghostly Manor — No restriction, interactive dark ride (park page)
• Blackpool: Launch Pad — 132cm min, reimagined Ice Blast (park page)
• Blackpool: Wallace & Gromit update — 90cm with adult, 117cm alone

France

• Parc Astérix: Cétautomatix — 100cm min, Europe's first family spinning coaster (park page)
• Futuroscope: Mission Bermudes — 105cm with an adult, 140cm alone, world's first "rocking boat" ride (park page). Corrected October 2026: we first gave 110cm.

UAE

• Yas Waterworld: Bahamut Rage — 105cm min (park page). Corrected October 2026: we first gave 120cm.
• Yas Waterworld: Al Daloob — 120cm min, region's first barrel twist raft ride. Corrected October 2026: we first gave 110cm.

Plan Around the New Rides

Use our height planner to check if your children meet the requirements for these new attractions. Enter their heights, select the parks you're considering, and see a side-by-side comparison of accessible rides.

Parks usually measure children with their shoes on, so measure in the shoes they'll wear on the day.

Frequently asked questions

What height do you need for Bluey the Ride at Alton Towers?

90cm with an adult (16+), or 110cm to ride alone. The ride page doesn't print the rule at the moment, so check at the entrance.

How tall do you have to be to ride Drakon at Paultons Park?

125cm with an adult and 140cm on your own, with a maximum of 195cm.

Is there a height restriction on Frozen Ever After?

No. Frozen Ever After and Raiponce Tangled Spin at Disneyland Paris are open to all heights.

What height is Valkyrie at Festyland?

Children under 110cm can't ride. From 110cm to 130cm they ride with an adult, and from 130cm alone.