Are your kids afraid to ride???

[corky805]

We have a normally cautious 4 year old son. He is not the type of child to just jump in to things....he has to go at his own pace and has some fears that other kids his age do not. We are planning our trip for Sept. and over the weekend took him to a local amusement park where we could hardly get him on any rides. Including some of the kiddie rides. Are we doing something wrong? Should we reconsider our trip?

I am hoping that I don't have the only child in America that is afraid of everything.....Please share your experiences.
Thanks,

 

[handsfull]

we're lucky enough to have fearless kids...although that makes me even more nervous....

my first tip would be not to push him...tell him the "goods" about the ride, and ask why he doesn't want to go on...usually a CM is greatful enough to explain to you son that the ride is not scary...and that he should give it a shot....

have you tried showing him a video of the rides...I did this why my kids and they knew what to expect, and had an idea what the rides were like, if they had a doubt about a certain part, I told them to let me know and ask questions....it worked out great...

best of luck!

 

[crisi]

I have a tentative son as well. He likes to think things over before he does them. It took him a full seven days to get close enough to the characters to touch them. With my son, I'd take him to your local amusement park again and see if his response this time is different. After thinking about it, he may decide it was fun. (That's my son, the first time doing anything is scary to him, the second time he begins to warm to the idea. BTW, he is very brave when looking at the guidebooks and assures me he wants to ride all the big rides this time).

Do you have other children? If not, (and the second amusement park trip doesn't go well) I'd think about postponing the trip until your son gets over his fear. Or resigning yourself to short days, shows, and a lot of pool time (assuming he isn't afraid of the water), and doing the attractions he IS comfortable with over and over and over again. Start with Dumbo (DON'T start with Snow White, its right there as you enter Fantasyland and its a tempting first stop) and Small World, the Carrosel, move up to Pooh, Buzz and Peter Pan. Figure out what he doesn't like and do your research (dark? loud noises? motion? My son loves to spin- teacup fan, but gets very nervous with up and down movement, like roller coasters - or even Pooh).

 

[campingcorgi]

If he doesn't want to do any rides skip the kiddy rides, do child-swap on the bigger rides, and enjoy the shows and parades. Now, if he doesn't want to do the shows and parades I might rethink the trip for a year or two.

Did he just not want to ride the kiddy rides alone ? Cause he can't ride any of the Disney rides alone--under 7 must ride with an adult--so he may be braver with you. Try Small World first and work your way up and he may surprise you! Just be sure to skip Snow White altogether and try Pirates and Haunted Mansion LATE in your trip!

Be sure to be truthful about every ride, too. Warn him ahead about dark or noises, etc.

 

[Jordan's MOM]

You are getting great advice. I would add that I would invest in a copy of the "unoffical guide to WDW". It has a great scare factor rate that outlines why rides might scare small children. I agree with campingcorgi that the fact that you can ride EVERYTHING with him should help a lot. My DS never liked the kiddie rides that he had to ride without us, but would ride anything as long as we went on with him.

The fear of the unknown is a big factor in preschoolers and taking some of that away might also help. Start with rides that he can see exactly what happens, like Dumbo, and reasure him that you will be right beside him. Be carfeful not to put ideas into his head that he might not have even though of such as"there's no way you can fall". Encourage as much as you can with out forcing him to do anything that he does not want to. Reasure him that he does not have to ride again if he does not like that. I have even been know to promise an mickey bar as a treat for trying something new!!(Ok, no flamming, it worked and he love TOT).

Also be aware that WDW seems to add scary stuff to many rides and shows. With a good guild book you can know what's comming and fill you son in. At that age I did not call the stuff scary, but rather, disney surprises that might make us jump. When my DS was a little older I reminded him that lots of people like to be scared, and that sometimes WDW did things to scare people just a little bit for fun. You just have to choose the best way to let your son know what is going to happen and knowing yourself is very important.

I would take it slow, encourage, but don't force and let him enjoy what he can. Fountains, and playgrounds might be his favorite. If you think he can handle it, I would insist that he try one new thing a day. A very mild ride, going into a show that you know has no fear to it etc. Every child has a different tolerance level, but all need to be introduced to new things, even if at a very slow pace.

I am sure this can be a wonderful trip with lots of research ahead of time and following your son's lead.

Have a blast.

Jordan's mom

 

[mmgrdg]

My 3y.o. DS is the same way....we're going next week....I'm hoping for the best, but am prepared to just do shows, etc if necessary. It will still be fun no matter what!

 

[BevS97]

my dd was exactly like this on our first trip when she was 3 1/2. actually she would have been ok, but we took her on teh Cat in the Hat (at IOA) for her first ride, it spooked her, and it took a long time to get her confidence back.

My suggestion would be to start with It's a Small World - there is nothing at all scary on this ride, Dumbo is very safe too, although the lines can be long. Pooh is mostly ok, but dd was a little nervous of the heffalump scene. But, by asking the CM at the entrance to each ride, what would happen, was anything scary, etc, and pushing the CM to really tell us if there was a scary scene, my dd was quite happy to ride lots of things by the end of our trip.

Work your way up slowly, there is no need to try and do everything the first day, make sure you have a good guidebook and are aware of what happens on each ride - a mistake like mine with the Cat in the Hat can shake them for a long time.

I would not even touch Snow White, it's a stupid ride in that it scares the little ones, but is too tame for the older ones. Likewise, I wouldn't go near Haunted Mansion - we can't even walk past it without my dd pointing out that she is not going on that thing.
She does like Pirates now, but we didn't do it on our first trip, but worked up to it.

Another thing to consider is that the rides at your local amusement park are probably quite different to the WDW rides - more of the Disney rides are about sitting in a car and watching a show, for example, It's a Small World I would describe to him as a boat trip rather than a ride. And I have to tell you, that I had to strongly encourage my dd to go on Its A Small World, and the grin on her face when she realised it wasn't scary at all, and she actually quite liked it was worth the price of the whole holiday!
Mind you, we had to ride it about 10 times, which is quite a price to pay....

Bev

 

[mmgrdg]

Bev--LOL about riding Small World 10 times...I'm expecting that too!! The Tomorrowland Speedway will probably be fine, right?? Thanks!

 

[crisi]

The Tomorrowland Speedway is loud and the cars are jerky. We avoided it like the plague with my noise sensitive son (not to mention I know that getting bumped unexpectedly from behind would not thrill him). But if your child has different "buttons" than mine, it may be just fine.

 

[mmgrdg]

Originally posted by crisi
The Tomorrowland Speedway is loud and the cars are jerky. We avoided it like the plague with my noise sensitive son (not to mention I know that getting bumped unexpectedly from behind would not thrill him). .

ooh, never thought of that.... and I was going to do that first thing, as the one thing I thought would be totally safe! thanks for the info...you've given me something to think about!

 

[Roxie A]

We just took our kids, 9 year old girl and 3 1/2 year old boy. Now my girl would ride anything at that age but my boy is very skiddish of anything that he doesn't have control of. I was really amazed at the number of rides at MK that are dark. He didn't like anything that we rode but Small World, Jungle Cruise & Tiki Birds. In all we had a great time though. On the rides that scared him I just told him to close is eyes. Oh and he LOVED the monorail!

 

[CEDmom]

Our DD (almost 4) is quite timid as well and I was very concerned about our trip in May. We ended up having a great time but didn't focus on the usual kids things. She loved Toontown and the train but not much else in MK. However, she LOVED Epcot. We got her a passport for the WS to have stamped and signed at each country. She loved the "street" performers and the living with the land ride. We did the ice cream social which was great. My advice is to just go with your instincts regarding your son and enjoy the beauty of WDW.

 

[BevS97]

dd was alright on the Speedway but her fear factir isn't so much loud or bumpy or even fast- she doesn't like anything 'scary' as in things that go BOO or surprise her in anyway - she is also very easily affected by scary music, so walking past the haunted house is quite a big deal for her.

on the other hand, she LOVED Goofy's barnstormer, and even did Splash Mountain on our last trip - it really is a case of different types of elements being a problem for different kids. She is standing next to me now, saying 'tell them that Goofy's Barnstormer is great for kids'.

As someone else said, she also loved Epcot, she really enjoyed collecting the stamps, doing her mask, and watching the performers. She really loves Spaceship Earth, although the first few times we took a lightup Pooh Bear wand with us which made it more of a treat to go into the dark (since Pooh wouldn't work in the bright Florida sunshine). She also like the Figment ride, although we saved this until quite late in the trip, and she loved the Mexico ride (think Its a small world but even more annoying). She wasn't too keen on Norway because of the trolls.

Bev

 

[debster812]

Mom to another timid DS here!!!

Anyone know what the world record is for consecutive, back to back rides on the Teacups and Carousel? I bet we were close.

DS LOVED the characters, did not care for a lot of rides. Got spooked by (of all things) Buzz's Space Ranger Spin, and that was that. We got him to go on Pirates, but he really did not care for it at all, and then when were going on IASW, he got a little spooked because the boats are similar, and head into a tunnel.

We just took it at his pace, did not push, saw lots of shows, parades, characters, did some pin trading, did the mask at EPCOT, and really had a WONDERFUL trip.

Our hope is that in January he will try a few more things, but again, it will be up to him.

Good Luck!

 

[thumperjr9]

On our last trip in April my DS was 3 1/2 (it was his 1st time there) we had the same concerns about his fears and we were right. There were many thing he would not do. He would not go into any of the shows that were in dark theaters such as Muppets and Little Mermaid show. He was also very tentative about many of the rides. One of the 1st rides we did at MK was Small World and it's probably hard to believe but he was afraid of it. When we 1st went in he started crying and said "I don't like this" but then quickly settled down. After, he asked me if the dolls were real? Also, he wouldn't go up to the characters until I told him they were not real, just people in costumes (shame on me) but it seemed to help and when we saw Woody and Buzz , his favorites, he happily went up to greet them.

Ok, despite this we still had a great time. He loved AK....the Lion King show, Safari Ride, etc. Also he enjoyed Epcot. He loved The Living Seas, the fountains, and simply taking in the sights and sounds. Now 3 months later he says he can't wait to go back and go on all the rides he didn't go on.

There is just so much to do and see that won't be scary, I'm sure he will have a great time. Oh, by the way, watch out for the fireworks!!!

 

[mmgrdg]

Originally posted by thumperjr9
. One of the 1st rides we did at MK was Small World and it's probably hard to believe but he was afraid of it. When we 1st went in he started crying and said "I don't like this" but then quickly settled down. .

Oh, by the way, watch out for the fireworks!!!

I'm actually worried about small world too, and because it's so long, if he freaks, it will be a LONG ride!! my ds doesn't like fireworks much either!

 

[Shells9]

Our DD just turned 6, and she is kind of funny when it comes to this. She has no fears of physical things -- she throws her arms up in the air on BTMRR and Splash Mountain, but she was terrified by HISTA and ITTBB and Haunted Mansion (one of my favorites!)! She will ride almost anything, but you cannot drag her into a 3-D movie now!

 

[goofy4tink]

You know your child best. My dd, now 9, is very nervous when it comes to rides. She loves BTM. It's her favorite. As well as the other more tame rides. Her friend just went to WDW and rode probably 3 rides!! She makes my dd look like a thrill seeker!! Anyway....the first time we went dd was just 6. I made her do StarTours. She cried the whole wait in line. Well...we got off and she says.."Let's do it again!!" Same thing when she was 8 and I made her do TestTrack. Now, all that being said, I did make her do Dinosaur. Big mistake. She is very noise sensitive. And that is what got to her the most! The photo of us shows her with her head between her knees with her hands over her head!! Way too loud for her. I apologized profusely after that one. My advice would be to really research the rides and then make a judgement call. Dd is even going to try RnRC this August!! But no ToT!!!

 

[figment95]

My DS (8) and DD (6) are both afraid of rides. I always encourage them to go on new rides but I don't force them to go on anything. Because of this, DH and I haven't even been on BTMRR or SM in about 5 years. We don't really mind though, because there's always so much to do at all the parks. Every time they go they get brave enough to go on one or two new rides. At this rate in about 10 years we'll be ready for SM (lol).My adivce is start small, like maybe Dumbo and work your way up. If riding all the rides means a lot to you then maybe you should consider rescheduling your trip but if you don't mind skipping a few rides you can all have a great time.

 

[FreshTressa]

My advice is to start with the very easiest, least scary ones to get him used to the idea of a ride. It will probably totally help that you are riding with him.

And no matter what, there is so much to do, you will have fun no matter what. He may like the dig site in Animal Kingdom or the toontown houses or stuff like that. Have a great time!!!