Wondering if Slinky Dog Dash is too scary for your Disney World group? We’ll can help!

This quick guide will tell you everything you need to know about Slinky Dog Dash’s speed, drops, and overall intensity. Try to relax, because this is easily one of the best ride experiences at Disney!

IS SLINKY DOG DASH SCARY?

For a roller coaster, Slinky Dog Dash is not very scary. The ride is fast, but smooth. Drops are minimal and there are no loops or inversions. Overall, Slinky is an outstanding “family” coaster.

Slinky Dog Dash is one of the newest attractions at Walt Disney World making it extremely popular for passholders, annual visitors and first-timers alike. There’s good reason for it ranking so highly on our extensive list of 110 Disney World Must Do’s.

However, there are two parts of Slinky Dog Dash that may intimidate smaller guests. The first is the tall curve at the top of the ride you’ll see when walking to the line queue. Aboard, you can see the new Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge from this curve, but we can attest that the ride is so slow at this point, that there’s nothing to fear.

The second would be where the ride stops and takes off again. This is probably the fastest speed you’ll experience on Slinky Dog Dash, but it’s nothing like Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster. The takeoff here is accompanied by Slinky’s friendly voice saying “Hold on, here we go!” and only reaches 40 mph.

We definitely think Disney Imagineers had families in mind when building this one. The zig-zags, turns and curves Slinky Dog takes are extremely smooth and fairly slow-paced and there are no inversions on this ride.

That’s the quick answer, but we have much more information broken down for you to get a real idea of what the ride entails.

THE SLINKY DOG DASH EXPERIENCE

Slinky Dog Dash takes you on a fun journey through Andy’s backyard in Toy Story Land. The entire ride lasts 2 minutes with multiple turns and curves, and it launches twice.

RECOMMENDED AGE

We’d say the recommended age for riding Slinky Dog Dash would be 3-4 years and older. Most children that meet the 38″ height requirement should enjoy the ride, as it’s fairly tame and comfortable, filled with colorful toys and lights from the Toy Story movies.

Children will inevitably love the larger-than-life toys and game pieces throughout Andy’s backyard and adults who enjoy Pixar’s Toy Story will regret skipping Slinky Dog Dash. Even if you don’t find a Fastpass for this one, go when the line is the shortest – it’s definitely worth it.

THEME

Toy Story Land itself is a brilliantly designed portion of Hollywood Studios, built to make guests feel like they are walking through Andy’s play area and have suddenly become “toy-sized”. You’ll find huge replicas of Woody, Buzz, Jesse and Rex, along with Slinky as the ride vehicle for Slinky Dog Dash.

Toy Story Land does an excellent job of bringing the Toy Story movie characters to life with many character meet-and-greets throughout the day, fun attractions and creative details displayed throughout the park.

Slinky Dog Dash is built to look as though Andy put the roller coaster together with an old “Dash & Dodge Mega Coaster Kit”. The kit box and extra pieces can be found in the line queue and sprinkled in the grass outside, along with crayons, pencils, jacks and building blocks.

Bring a good camera (we have few suggestions in our gear guide), because Slinky’s track, and all of Toy Story Land in general, is jam-packed with amazing photo ops.

SPEED

Slinky Dog Dash takes off slowly and builds speed in some of the break aways, but these are few and far between. The maneuvers are taken softly and guests won’t slide back and forth on their seats like you would on Big Thunder Mountain in Magic Kingdom.

The fastest point of the ride is the second launch, where Slinky slows to a halt and takes off again. The ride reaches 40 mph after this relaunch, but it takes a few seconds to achieve this speed.

Compared to something like Expedition Everest, Slinky isn’t nearly as intense.

DROPS & MANUEVERS

As mentioned before, Slinky Dog has one drop toward the front end of the experience. This is essentially one tall curve, not necessarily considered a drop in the traditional sense.

Following the curve is a long turn around the building blocks that Jesse and Rex are standing on. The ride glides around them twice and exits into a straight away for the relaunch.

Slinky stops and backs up a little, revving up for the second launch that races ahead to 40 mph. You then take a few more curves and zig-zags into a series of dips that conclude the ride.

In our opinion, the most charming part of the ride is the ending where Wheezy the squeaky penguin serenades you with his rendition of “You’ve Got a Friend in Me” with the help of Mr. Mike, a toy radio with microphone.

RIDE VEHICLE

One of the best parts of Slinky Dog Dash is the ride vehicle design. Slinky is the perfect character for a Toy Story themed roller coaster as his long body is accommodating for this type of experience.

When the coaster pulls up, you’re greeted with a smile from Slink and his front paws at the beginning of the vehicle. The “body” portion holds 18 guests, which is split into 5 cars with 2 rows. The exception here is the last car which has one row for 2 guests with Slinky’s springy tail and back paws.

The seats of the vehicle are quite spacious and each guest has their own pull-down lap bar to secure them in place. Each car is also equipped with pouches for you to place items that may roll around during the ride.

CONCLUSION

By now we’ve hopefully convinced you to take your family and friends on Slinky Dog Dash on your next visit to Walt Disney World! We truly feel that most people will enjoy the ride and agree that it’s perfect for children and adults alike.

While we didn’t have to worry about waiting in line, but we have heard the line queue can be too hot in the middle of the day – especially when the wait can get up to 170 minutes long. So be sure to plan on visiting this attraction very early or later in the day if Lightning Lane isn’t an option.

STILL PLANNING YOUR DISNEY TRIP?

We can help there too! Check out our Insider’s Guide to Planning a Disney World Vacation on a Budget. It will give you all of the tips and info you need to plan a perfect Disney trip at any price level!