The parks at Walt Disney World are the most fat-friendly, plus-size or “Pooh-Size” welcoming theme parks in existence. As a self-identified fat person who wears between a 3-5X, I’ve done “the walk” from several rides at other parks when I can’t get the restraints to close… and with very few exceptions, I have been able to comfortably ride or experience anything I’ve wanted to at Walt Disney World. In this series, we’re going to look at what rides and attractions I’ve been able to ride or do, which were a no-go, and which I could experience with special considerations.
For the sake of making it easier to compare my size to your own if you have concerns about fitting on a ride, I’m 5’6″ tall, and have weighed somewhere in the realm of 385-420 lbs for most of what I’m sharing in this series (any exceptions will be noted in the ride description). I also carry most of my weight in my lower body, especially in my hips and butt, however I’m not “small” anywhere on any scale.
Let’s Get Started!
Discovery Island
It’s Tough to be a Bug!: Sorry, y’all, I’m terrified of bugs, so this show is not my jam. If anyone would like to contribute to this description, you can email me at accessthemouseinfo@gmail.com and I’ll share your review.
Pandora – The World of Avatar
Na’vi River Journey: I love this one. It’s a slow-moving boat ride like “it’s a small world”, but has fewer rows per boat. Like other boat rides, I recommend stepping onto the seat, and then to the floor.
Avatar Flight of Passage: This ride is the only ride I have not been able to ride, whatsoever at Walt Disney World. My wife and I were on property opening week, and neither of us were able to fit in the ride restraint system for different reasons. You can read more about that experience here. Update 2023: I still don’t fit, but my wife was able to ride this time, after losing about 40 lbs. She took the big kids on while the toddler and I hung out in Pandora.
Africa
Festival of the Lion King: This is the backless bench stadium-style seating at some of the other shows. I don’t anticipate any trouble with this one, and look forward to checking it out.
Kilimanjaro Safaris: This is such a fun ride, with some amazing opportunities to see and photograph some beautiful animals without ugly cages, fences, or walls in the photo. The giraffes even walk right up to the truck. There are long bench seats, and I’ve done fine here. It’s a little short on leg room for taller guests, but it’s not uncomfortable. One tip is to turn sideways when boarding the truck if you have wider hips; this makes it easier to board. There are no seatbelts on the truck, and it can be a bumpy ride, so be aware of that. There is a separate vehicle for guests using mobility devices that loads and unloads a little further down the ramp. You park the device and walk maybe 10 steps to the ride vehicle.
Rafiki’s Planet Watch
Wildlife Express Train: This is the train guests take to get to Rafiki’s Planet Watch, which is over a mile away from the main part of the park. The train has long benches that face out of the side of the car. My family has not done this experience yet.
Rafiki’s Planet Watch: Conservation Station, the Animation Experience,and the Affection Section: Like I said in the “Wildlife Express Train” my family hasn’t gone to this section of the park, but we’re hoping to next time.
Asia
Feathered Friends in Flight: This show features stadium-style seating without backs.
Kali River Rapids: I have not ridden this ride. As I mentioned in my EPCOT post, I’m not a big fan of walking around while wet. I have heard that this is not the most plus-size friendly ride. They do not have seatbelt extenders available. I will try to get an update when I go next.
Expedition Everest – Legend of the Forbidden Mountain: As a coaster fanatic, I’ve ridden this ride a bunch. As a matter of fact, this was the first coaster I rode at at Walt Disney World, after years of not fitting on rides at local theme parks. Everest has a special place in my heart, and was the ride where I realized just how accessible the Disney parks were. There are two seats per row, with individual lap restraints. These are much more comfortable for me than the ones on Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. They aren’t as tight on the knees. This one was down on our Animal Kingdom day this trip, so I can’t speak to accessing the ride with a mobility device.
Dinoland U.S.A.
The Boneyard: This is a kids’ play area in the Dinoland U.S.A. section of the park. I haven’t taken my kids in here yet, but I’m planning to see how my toddler likes it soon.
Finding Nemo: The Big Blue… and Beyond!: The seats for this show are staduim-style benches with backs, and shouldn’t pose an issue for most guests.
TriceraTop Spin: This ride is similar to The Magic Carpets of Aladdin over in Magic Kingdom. It has two rows per dinosaur, and each row can hold two adults. I’ve ridden with my wife and two older children on one ride vehicle before.
DINOSAUR: I avoided DINOSAUR for five years because I had heard that it was a tight fit and I was afraid I wasn’t going to be able to buckle the restraint. There are also stairs (16 steps) involved in the queue, and with my balance disorder, I didn’t want to mess with those either. However, I am happy report that 1) there is an elevator I was able to use instead of the stairs, and 2) I fit perfectly fine on the ride. Honestly, I was mad I avoided it for so long, because it was easier to get on that several other rides with similar seatbelted bench style rides (looking at you, Test Track and Star Tours.) The way the seat dividers for this ride are positioned, I had no trouble getting the seatbelt buckled and unbuckled on my own. Same “rules” for this type of ride do apply here, though. Pull the whole seatbelt out while standing, and buckle it as you sit, keeping it extended the whole time. Update 2023: Okay, so now I know what other plus-size guests were talking about when it comes to the ride being painful. On that first ride in 2017, I was in the right-side corner seat between the wall of the ride car and my wife and I didn’t get jostled to an an uncomfortable degree. On this trip I was in the back row, with my nine-year-old on one side of me and an empty seat on the other, and I got thrown around a lot more. I had trouble getting the seatbelt on my own, but a cast member was able to help me (it was mostly an issue of my dress getting in the way of me being able to see the clip, rather than the belt being too short.) If I have the option to choose, I would choose the farthest seat to the right side of the car with an adult sitting next to me again – the seatbelt latches on the left, so it’s more accessible if you sit on the right side of the car, and an adult should help you from getting thrown as much. Mobility devices go through the here queue here, but it was a little tricky to navigate the elevator with the ECV and I almost asked my wife to take over to get us out of there because we were causing a little bit of a backup.
Thanks for checking out this installment in the series! Be sure to skip back and read about the Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, and Hollywood Studios!
To go back to Series Page, click here.
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