The Barnstormer

The Barnstormer: attraction at Magic Kingdom Park, Walt Disney World — live wait times, operating status, and planning data on MouseHub.

Wait time history

Historical wait patterns for The Barnstormer accrete daily as MouseHub records waits every 15 minutes. Charts appear here once enough history exists.

Visitor sentiment

4.4· 926 Google ratings

Visitors say this attraction is a fun, quick, and sweet roller coaster that is great for introducing younger kids to rides. They also highlight its appeal to all ages and the typically short wait times. Some reviews mention there can be long wait times.

Summarized with Gemini · Report summary

The MouseHub take

The Barnstormer is a short outdoor coaster in Storybook Circus, the Fantasyland corner that replaced Mickey's Toontown Fair in 2012. It opened on October 1, 1996 as The Barnstormer at Goofy's Wiseacres Farm and picked up its current billing on February 12, 2012, when the area was rebuilt. Disney's setup has Goofy running an aerial stunt show as The Great Goofini, and your car is his homemade stunt plane: up a wooden tower, then a fast swoop through the barnyard and back to the platform. The minimum height is 35 inches. There are no inversions, no dark stretches, and nothing that counts as a real drop.

Most families use it as a test. A kid who's curious about coasters but not ready for Seven Dwarfs Mine Train rides this one first, and parents watch whether the reaction is a grin or a grimace. Plenty of them come off asking for another lap. Adults touring without small kids get less: the lap ends about as fast as it starts, the cars are cut for children, and the line has no shade to speak of. Check the posted wait before you join it, because a short ride only makes sense behind a short line.

At a glance

Best for: Families with a kid tall enough at 35 inches who is curious about coasters and not ready for Seven Dwarfs Mine Train yet.
Skip if: You are touring without small children, or the teenagers in your party came for speed and real drops.
Ride type: Short outdoor junior coaster in a stunt-plane car
Intensity: Mild. Small dips and quick banked turns, all of it outdoors in daylight, with no inversions and no dark stretches.

The good

It's the coaster kids say yes to
Small dips, quick turns, and nothing that jumps out of the dark. Kids who balk at the bigger coasters will usually get in this car.
The line moves faster than it looks
The ride cycle is short and the trains turn around quickly, so a queue that looks discouraging clears sooner than you would guess from the end of it.
Grown-ups ride along with nervous kids
The seating puts an adult next to the child rather than sending a first-timer off alone, and Disney requires anyone under 7 to ride with a guest 14 or older. The youngest kids have company by rule.
It builds confidence for bigger rides
No loops, no real drop, nothing in the dark. Kids who finish this one are frequently willing to try something larger the same afternoon.
Everything happens in daylight
The whole circuit runs outdoors and in the open, so a kid who is wary of dark rides can see exactly where the car is going the entire time.
The Great Goofini gag carries the line
Disney frames the whole thing as Goofy's aerial stunt show, staged out of an open-air barn, and the props and signs in the queue keep the joke running. Little kids read the story before they reach the platform.

The bad

It's over almost as soon as it starts
One quick lap and you are back at the platform. Adults who stood in a real line for it come off feeling short-changed.
Tall adults ride with their knees up
The cars are sized for children. Grown-ups fold into the seat and stay folded until the brakes hit.
There's almost no shade in the line
The standby queue sits out in the open with little cover. On a summer afternoon that stretch is worse than the ride is good, so bring water and hats.
Coaster fans will find it dull
The dips are small and the turns are gentle by design. Teenagers and adults who came for speed get nothing out of the lap.
The stop at the end is abrupt
The brakes grab hard coming into the platform and the car stops short. It startles adults more than it bothers the kids.

Veteran tips

Check the posted wait before you commit
The ride is short, so the math only works when the line is short too. If the board shows a long wait, leave it and come back after dark.
Morning and fireworks time are the quiet windows
The first hour after opening and the stretch when the crowd packs Main Street for the nighttime show both leave this line short, and neither one puts your party in the afternoon sun.
Measure before you get in line
The minimum height is 35 inches and cast members check at the entrance. A kid turned away at the platform after a wait in the sun sets up a rough afternoon.
Ask about Rider Switch if someone is too short
One adult waits outside the line with the child who cannot ride, then boards without queuing again. Only two people can ride second, so a larger group should settle who that is before you reach the cast member.
Don't spend a Multi Pass here
The Barnstormer sits in the second Multi Pass group at Magic Kingdom, so it competes with Haunted Mansion and Pirates of the Caribbean for the same two slots. Those hold longer standby lines. Walk on to this one at a quiet hour instead.
Warn small kids about the hard stop
Tell them the brakes are going to grab before they board. Kids who know it is coming laugh at the jolt instead of bursting into tears at the platform.
Do it in one Storybook Circus loop
Dumbo the Flying Elephant and Casey Jr. Splash 'N' Soak Station sit steps away, with the Fantasyland railroad station on the same corner. Ride here first, then let the kids soak themselves at Casey Jr.
Wheelchair and ECV users transfer to board
The classification is Must Transfer from Wheelchair/ECV, so plan for the move at the platform. Service animals cannot ride either, and Rider Switch covers that the same way it covers a child who is too short.

MouseHub editorial, written from visitor reports and official Disney sources. Last reviewed July 25, 2026.