Big Thunder Mountain Railroad Seating capacity per row: 2-3. The standard configuration is two guests per row, but cast members will seat two adults plus one small child, or one adult plus two small children. Larger adults can be seated in their own row; this is rarely necessary.

On Big Thunder Mountain Railroad at both Walt Disney World and Disneyland, seating arrangements for three people depend largely on the size of the individuals. The ride vehicles feature bench seats with a single shared lap bar. Generally, the rule of thumb is that one adult and two small children can comfortably fit in a single row. However, fitting three adults or even two adults and one older child is usually not possible due to the width of the bench and safety regulations regarding the lap bar. If the lap bar cannot be lowered to a safe position for all passengers—often because one person is significantly larger than the others—the group will be asked to split into two separate rows. Cast Members have the final discretion at the loading platform, but for a group of three adults, you should expect to be seated as a pair in one row and a single rider in the row immediately behind or ahead.