Best Spanish Theme Parks and Water Parks for Young Children — A Height Guide

Spain Is Not Just Big Coasters

Spain's best-known parks are famous for their coasters, but most of them also have an area built for small children, and the water parks along the coasts and on the islands have wave pools, lazy rivers and children's zones with no minimum height. Many Spanish parks also price tickets by height, so a child under 90 or 100cm often gets in free.

We checked every ride at all 31 Spanish parks in our guide (620 rides and attractions) and ranked them by how many a small child can actually go on. The tables on this page are calculated from our ride-by-ride data, so they stay current as we add and re-check parks.

Top 10 Parks for Children Under 100cm

"Rides at 99cm" includes rides a child can only go on with an adult beside them. Spanish parks usually publish two heights for a ride, one with an adult and one alone, and the table counts the lower one. Water-park counts are mostly pools, rivers and children's areas, because their main slides start at 110 or 120cm.

The Best Picks by Situation

Best on the Costa Dorada: PortAventura Park

PortAventura Park, at Vila-seca on the Costa Dorada, is known for Dragon Khan and Shambhala, but 13 of its attractions have no height restriction at all. They include the steam-train stations, the boat trips, the play areas and small children's rides such as Kiddie Dragons and Canoes, which list only a maximum height. SésamoAventura, the Sesame Street area, adds rides such as Street Mission, open from 90cm with an adult (alone from 120cm). In total, a child under 100cm can go on 22 of the 45 attractions in our guide.

The next big step is 100cm, when the Silver River Flume log flume opens with an adult (alone from 140cm). At our last check, a 1-day ticket was listed online from €37 for adults and €33 for juniors (4 to 10), with parking from €15 a day. Ferrari Land and Caribe Aquatic Park, the resort's water park, are next door on separate tickets. Our PortAventura vs Parque Warner Madrid comparison goes through both parks height by height.

View all PortAventura Park rides →

Best in Barcelona: Tibidabo

Tibidabo sits on the mountain above Barcelona, and its ticket includes the Cuca de Llum funicular. Tickets are priced by height: at our last check, children under 90cm went free, the Júnior ticket (90 to 120cm) was €15.50 and the General ticket (over 120cm) €39.

Many of its rides take a child of any height with a companion: Carrusel, Tasses and Rio Grande (alone from 90cm), and Globus, Avió, Tchu Tchu Tren and the Castell dels Contes dark ride (alone from 120cm). Talaia, the observation tower, opens at 80cm with a companion. A child under 100cm can go on 18 of its 30 attractions. Parking at the summit was €18 a day.

View all Tibidabo rides →

Best in Madrid: Parque Warner Madrid and Parque de Atracciones

Madrid has two theme parks with a children's area, and at our last check both let children under 100cm in free (at Parque de Atracciones, when they come with a paying visitor).

At Parque Warner Madrid, small children spend most of the day in Cartoon Village, where many rides take a child of any height with an adult and let them ride alone from 105cm. Scooby Doo's Tea Party Mistery opens at 80cm with an adult (alone from 105cm), and Hotel Embrujado, the haunted-hotel ride, at 90cm with an adult (alone from 120cm). A child under 100cm can go on 14 of its 32 rides.

Parque de Atracciones de Madrid, in the Casa de Campo, has Nickelodeon Land. Los globos locos takes a child of any height with an adult (alone from 90cm), and the Patrulla Canina and Padrinos voladores coasters open at 90cm with an adult (alone from 120cm). Parking at the two car parks by the main entrance is free.

View all Parque Warner Madrid rides →

Best in Seville: Isla Mágica

Isla Mágica, on the Isla de la Cartuja, is themed on the Age of Discovery. Many of its family rides open at 90cm with an adult: El Tren del Potosí, Capitán Balas and ¡A los cañones! (alone from 120cm), and Zum-Zum: Las Abejitas (alone from 130cm). Las Llamas and Los Toneles open at 85cm with an adult. A child under 100cm can go on 17 of its 27 attractions.

At our last check, children up to 90cm got in free, and the Infantil ticket (90 to 130cm) was from €20 online in advance, against €28.90 at the box office on the day. Agua Mágica, the water park next door, now has its own ticket; its Laguna Turquesa and El Arrecife Chapoteo are children's pools for children up to 110cm.

View all Isla Mágica rides →

Best in Benidorm: Terra Mítica

At Terra Mítica, 92cm is the number to know. Mithos and Jabato open at 92cm, and Cataratas del Nilo and La Furia de Tritón open at 92cm with an adult (alone from 120cm). Below that, Puerto de Alejandría and Laberinto del Minotauro take a child of any height with an adult. A child under 100cm can go on 11 of its 22 attractions.

Tickets here are priced by age rather than height: at our last check, children aged 0 to 3 got in free with an adult, and a 1-day adult ticket was from €35 online in low season. Aqualandia, a water park in Benidorm, has a wave pool, play areas and the Mini Zig-Zag slide with no minimum height, and its parking is free.

View all Terra Mítica rides →

Best for Year-Round Trips: Tenerife and Gran Canaria

Most Spanish water parks close after the summer, but Siam Park in Tenerife is open every day of the year. Aqualand Costa Adeje, also in Tenerife, and Aqualand Maspalomas in Gran Canaria list opening every day.

Siam Park suits children of 110cm and over best: Naga Racer, Mekong Rapids and Patong Rapids open at 110cm, and most of the big slides at 125cm. For smaller children, Mai Thai River, the lazy river, has no height restriction (riders under 110cm wear a life jacket, included with the ticket), and Sawasdee, the children's slide area, has no minimum height. The Lost City, the children's water playground, publishes no height rule, so check the sign at the entrance.

Aqualand Costa Adeje has a children's zone, Kidzworld, where the areas have a maximum height instead of a minimum: 120cm at Kids Pool and 140cm at Adventure Land, Pelican Bay and Pirates Island. Its slides start at 120cm.

View all Siam Park attractions →

Best for a Nature Day: Sendaviva

Sendaviva, at Arguedas in Navarre, is a nature and animal park with rides, water attractions and play areas among the animal areas. 6 attractions take a child of any height with an adult, including El tren de la Vía Verde, Tíovivo and Los Potrillos, and Mansión Encantada opens at 90cm with an adult (alone from 140cm). At our last check, children aged 0 to 4 got in free and parking was free.

View all Sendaviva attractions →

Water Parks: Head for the Children's Zones

Spanish water parks usually set their main slides at 110 or 120cm, so for a small child the day is about the wave pool, the lazy river and the children's zones. In Mallorca, Western Water Park has family body slides with no minimum height (Tatanka, Tomahawk and Tijuana Twins) and three Kidzworld areas for children up to 120cm, and Aqualand El Arenal has Dragoland, MiniPark and Polynesia, also for children up to 120cm. On the Castellón coast, Aquarama in Benicàssim lets children up to 110cm in free, and its Minidunas slide is for children up to 110cm.

Our guide also covers the Costa Brava water parks, Aquabrava in Roses, Aquadiver in Castell-Platja d'Aro and Water World in Lloret de Mar, and the Aquopolis parks at Villanueva de la Cañada near Madrid, Torrevieja and Cullera. Our Spain water parks height guide goes through them all, and our guide to water rides by height explains what to expect on rapids, flumes and slides.

What Changes at 90cm, 100cm and 120cm

In our Spanish data, 120cm is the height you will meet most often, because it is the usual minimum for water-park slides. In the theme parks, 90cm and 100cm are the big steps for small children, and 110cm opens many water-park slides. This table shows how many of the 620 rides and attractions in our Spanish data a child can go on at each height:

A few children's rides and pools also have a maximum height, often 110, 120 or 140cm, so a child just over it loses them. These are the Spanish parks where a child gains the most by reaching 100cm:

And these are the parks where a child gains the most at 120cm, which is mostly water-park slides:

Hot Days and Rainy Days: What's Indoors

Spanish parks are built for the sun, and only 20 of the 620 attractions in our Spanish data are indoors. These are the Spanish parks with the most indoor attractions, with the number open to a 99cm child:

At Tibidabo, the indoor attractions include the Castell dels Contes dark ride (any height with a companion, alone from 120cm), the Museu d'Autòmats and the Marionetarium puppet theatre. At PortAventura, Street Mission is indoors and opens at 90cm with an adult, and at Parque Warner, Hotel Embrujado does the same (alone from 120cm).

The Full Ranking — All Spanish Parks

Free Entry for Small Children

Many Spanish parks let small children in free, often based on height rather than age. At our last check of each park:

• Up to 110cm free: Aquarama (children still need a free ticket)
• Under 100cm (1m) free: Aquopolis Costa Daurada, Aquopolis Cullera, Aquopolis Torrevieja, Aquopolis Villanueva (with a paying ticket), Parque de Atracciones de Madrid (with a paying visitor), Parque Warner Beach, Parque Warner Madrid
• Under 95cm free: Aquavelis
• Up to 90cm free: Agua Mágica, Isla Mágica
• Under 90cm free: Guadalpark, Tibidabo
• Under 90cm or aged 0 to 2 free: Aqualand Bahía de Cádiz, Aqualand Costa Adeje, Aqualand Maspalomas
• Under 80cm free: Aquabrava, Aquadiver, Water World

Other parks use an age limit instead: children aged 0 to 4 at Sendaviva, 0 to 3 at Terra Mítica, Aqualandia and Aqua Natura Benidorm, and 0 to 2 at Siam Park, Aqualand El Arenal, Western Water Park and Hidropark Alcúdia. PortAventura Park, Ferrari Land and Caribe Aquatic Park sell junior tickets for ages 4 to 10. These policies change, so confirm on the park's own website before you book.

Planning Tips for Spanish Parks

Buy online and in advance. Prices at many Spanish parks change by date, and online prices can be far below the box office. At our last check, Parque Warner Madrid's 1-day ticket was from €32.90 online against €62.90 at the box office, and Isla Mágica's General ticket was from €24.90 online against €39.90 on the day.

Most water parks open only in summer. Many open from June to September, and a few, such as Western Water Park and Hidropark Alcúdia, from April to October. Siam Park is open every day of the year, and Aqualand Costa Adeje and Aqualand Maspalomas list opening every day. The theme parks open on selected dates, and Tibidabo mostly at weekends and on holidays outside the summer, so check the calendar before you travel.

Parking varies. At our last check, parking was free at Parque de Atracciones de Madrid, Aqualandia, Aquabrava, Aquavelis, Aquarama and Sendaviva. It was from €15 a day at PortAventura, €16 at Parque Warner Madrid and €18 at the top of Tibidabo.

Check Any Spanish Park

Enter your child's height on any Spanish park page to see their exact ride breakdown. Or use the height planner to compare several parks side by side. Travelling with children of different heights? Our guide to visiting with siblings of different heights shows which parks suit both.

Frequently asked questions

Is PortAventura good for children under 100cm?

Yes. 13 of its attractions have no height restriction, and a child under 100cm can go on 22 of the 45 attractions in our guide. At 100cm, Silver River Flume opens with an adult, and Tomahawk, the wooden family coaster, follows at 105cm with no adult option.

Which Spanish parks let small children in free?

Many of them, often based on height rather than age. The list above shows the policies we found at our last check of each park, but these change, so confirm on the park's own website before you book.

What do Spanish height signs say?

Look for "altura mínima" (minimum height), "altura máxima" (maximum height), "acompañado de un adulto" (accompanied by an adult) and "sin restricción" (no restriction). Heights are written in metres with a decimal comma, so "1,20 m" is 120cm and "0,90 m" is 90cm. Tibidabo's ride pages also say "Puedes subir solo con acompañante" (you can ride only with a companion).

Are children measured with shoes on?

It depends on the park. Isla Mágica, Parque de Atracciones de Madrid and Tibidabo measure with shoes on, while Agua Mágica measures without shoes, and Aquarama measures without shoes for its height-based tickets. Check the park's rules before you go, and the sign at each ride on the day.