Best rides for timid 7 year old

[Belle_1989]

We are heading to Disney and DS will be 7/ almost 8 he is a bit timid about riding kid coasters but says he doesn't want to ride "baby rides". What are some good rides to put on our good to ride list?

 

[Klayfish]

I think that may depend on what he'd define as a "baby ride". For example, would he consider Pooh a baby ride? I wouldn't, but that's purely subjective. Just off the top of my head, not including shows, etc...just actual moving rides. I'm sure there are many more, but this is just thinking out loud.

MK - Laugh Floor, Stitch (not sure if he'd be frightened by the dark?), Pirates, Tomorrowland Speedway, Buzz, Splash Mountain (final drop too intense?), Pooh, Peter Pan, Haunted Mansion, Peoplemover, Astro Orbiter

Epcot - Mission Space green, Seas, Soarin, FEA, Ellens Energy, Spaceship Earth, Figment

HS - TSMM, Great Movie Ride, Star Tours (too intense?)

AK - Dinosaur (again, not a coaster but a little intense), Kali River Rapids,

 

[mikeyg1479]

Its time to him to earn his beginner thrill ride stripes, and Disney is the perfect place for this, because there are plenty of attractions that are fun, but hardly over the top unlike which you will see in abundance at the local amusement park.

I'd get him on Splash Mountain- not thrilling throughout, just one hill at the end- but what a first accomplishment.

IMO Thunder Mountain Railroad is very tame and a great "1st coaster". It will get him used to moving around and such, but it really doesn't do anything crazy- no big hills, loops, extreme speed, anything like that. The Dwarfs minecart would fit the bill well too.

Test Track isn't really all that nuts, it just looks it, but in the end you are just going regular highway speed in a convertible. You are all seatbelted in and secure, and not bouncing around at all, and it all just seems faster than it actually is.

All things to consider for the age, IMO, if he truly does want to graduate from "baby stuff".

 

[linzbear]

My timid 7 year old loves buzz/toy story mania, TTA, dumbo playground (& Dumbo, though he wouldn't admit it!), Tomorrowland speedway, jungle cruise, Tom sawyer's island, soarin, spaceship earth, Mexico boat ride, nemo.... basically everything without a height restriction (excepting Soarin'). We try to nudge him onto splash, but he cried entire time through (his little brother loved it though), same with seven dwarfs, test track, and star tours. He just doesn't like anything slightly thrilling.

 

[Belle_1989]

Thank you everyone for the suggestions. Rides where he gets wet are out because he hates it ( learned the hard way at Sea World lol). We watched a video or 7DMT and he freaked out because they were swaying. I'm hoping to get him to try Thunder Mountain first since I've already scarred him with 7DMT.

 

[Cynister]

I had a ride timid 9yr old a few yrs ago. For actual rides, Splash was his favorite. he was hesitant at first & nervous about the drop but once past it we had to ride it over & over. As with most log ride types, the drop feels bigger from inside the boat than it actually is because you can't really see the end when you first go down. It is a really good intro. Another is Goody's Barnstormer. I was surprised at how much like an 'adult' coaster this is. It is very bumpy & definitely has more thrill to it even though it is in the 'kid' section. I'd do this after he's conquered Splash.

There are others that are good from a difficulty perspective, they just aren't roller coasters. Things like Buzz Lightyear, HM, etc.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

My DS was a bit timid of the rides at that age as well.

In MK, I would do Jungle Cruise, Aladdin, Peter Pan, Goofy's Barnstormer (this was my DS's "starter coaster" and he loved it), Tomorrowland Speedway and Buzz. I bribed my DS to go on BTMRR and then he loved it. If he doesn't want to do a lot of rides, Sorcerer's of the Magic Kingdom and the Pirate Adventure are great activities to do as well!

In AK, I would do everything except EE, Dinosaur and Primeval Whirl.

In EP, everything.

In DHS, skip ToT and RnRRC. And maybe The Great Movie Ride - the Alien scene freaks me out!

 

[TexasKiwiPrincess]

My youngest DD was not a fan of thrill rides at that age either. Her first coaster was DLR Space Mountain- with her eyes closed! SM is really pretty tame and slow but the visuals add to the "thrill!" Riding it with her eyes closed let her feel the motion of the ride without it being super scary. SM at WDW doesn't allow two riders side by side, so that might be a factor too if he wants someone next to him.

 

[caroline1851]

EPC: Soarin, Nemo, Living with the Land
DHS: TSMM, Star Tours, Great Movie Ride
AK: KS, Tough to be a bug
MK: Tomorrowland Speed., People Mover, buzz lightear, 7 dwarves, Little mermaid, Haunted Mansion, Pooh, Peter Pan, Itr's a small world, Aladdin, Pirates, Splash (unless you think the big drop at the end is too much), Jungle Cruise, BTMRR (i'm a non-roller coaster person and I love this one)

 

[Babs1975]

Basically all of Fantasyland is for him. If you can somehow talk him into SDMT, it is amazing for any age. It is such a smooth little coaster with its new technology. I think he would really love it if he'll give it a chance! After Fantasyland, Pirates and Buzz.

 

[Disney Khi]

My DD7 is very afraid of rides. I talked her into Barnstormer and she was terrified. She won't consider any other coasters. These are attractions that she likes:

MK: Carousel of Progress, People Mover, Speedway, Monsters Inc, Buzz Lightyear (this is actually a fairly new one- she was afraid of this one for a while), Dumbo, Aladdin, Small World, Country Bears, Pirates, Jungle Cruise, Swiss Family Tree House, the Train, the tea cups (She does not like Pooh because of the bouncing Tigger part but she will ride it; she doesn't like Peter Pan either.)

Epcot: Spaceship Earth, Ellen, Mexico, The Land, Soarin' (she gets scared at take off, then is okay), she likes the Nemo aquarium but not the ride (She didn't like Maelstrom and doesn't like Frozen because of the backwards part.)

DHS: Indiana Jones show, TSMM, Disney Jr show, sometimes TGMR but parts of it scare her

AK: Safari, walking trails, Rafiki's planet watch, Lion King show, dino dig playground, Wilderness Explorers scavenger hunt game

Every kid is different, so it's hard to say exactly what yours might like. I would definitely not try to push him onto things. It's not worth it. DD tried a kiddie coaster at Legoland and sobbed for ten minutes on a bench afterwards. I felt horrible.

 

[Kathryn777]

He may feel very different when he gets there in person and sees them. The coasters at Disney look NOTHING like coasters at 6 flags or Sea world. Splash was the one my kids stayed afraid of. The drop is daunting to watch. I would start with barnstormer and try again with 7dmt. But only if you want to push his comfort zone. Everything without height restriction should be fine, soarin and test track probably fine.

Dinosaur at AK my kids hate and Kali river rapids I'd wear a poncho if he doesn't like getting wet, but it's not scary.

 

[schultzywi]

My son was almost 7 on his first trip and was afraid to even do Spaceship Earth. We found what he was really afraid of was not being able to see the ride before going good on it because you can't see most rides from the queue. So we startef showing him YouTube videos of the rides and that worked like a charm. Try showing him some videos of the rides before your trip to get him excited and see what he would like.

 

[MinMou]

Have you looked at the Unofficial Guide to WDW? They have a write up about every ride, and include a scare factor for each one. If you add that info to the experiences everyone here has shared, and compare it to what you know your son likes and dislikes, you should be in good shape.

 

[Minsc]

One of my daughters was also very adverse to riding anything thrilling once she reached the age (6 in this case) to be tall enough to start riding most of the thrilling rides. I sat with her for 15 minutes one night by the Barnstormer coaster just watching it. Finally, she said she would try it once. We rode it. She came off looking a little shell shocked, but as we left the exit line, she looked up at me and said "Daddy? Can do it one more time?"

We did. A bunch. We moved on to BTMRR. Loved it. The next year, we did SM. Loved it. The year she did EE for the first time, she stormed off and loudly proclaimed "I'm never riding that again! I hated the backwards part!" We passed by it later in the day, and she said "Daddy, can we ride it again?" We did. A bunch.

She is now 12, and rides stuff that makes me pause for a second. I'm not saying everyone will have the same experience, but I think in her case, once she realized her spleen was not going to fly out of her body (except Rip Ride Rocket at Universal, but that is another story), she reached a peace about it.

Good luck OP! You never know. Once he gets a moderate thrill ride under his belt, you may have a monster on your hands!

 

[hedge333]

My daughters were timid riders and YouTube sometimes made it worse. We got them a copy of Birnbaum's Disney World for Kids. It has ride descriptions and rankings from kids. They felt more confident picking after they read about them. Our rule was also that you never had to ride anything, we could always leave a line. The first trip, they loved Fantasyland, the Speedway, Splash,
the Monorail, the train, Aladdin, Jungle Cruise, and the Monster's Inc Show. One of my girls rode Splash and the Barnstormer but refused to ride the people mover- she thought it was scary. Lol.

 

[kohlby]

It depends on what makes him timid. I also have a timid 7 year old. There's no way he could handle stitch, space mountain, splash mountain, Haunted Mansion, or dinosaur. (Forget about ToT or Rockin rollercoaster). He doesn't like the dark. He doesn't like scary things. A drop of water on him might as well be acid considering his reaction. He has some sensory quirks so it's a bit more than the usual timid kid stuff too.

We went on one trip and he refused to ride anything for the first four days - and I mean ANYTHING! Then we had a day at Legoland in the middle of our trip and a switch went off - he was willing to try rides! He learned that he liked the coasters. We had more days at Disney and he loved BTMRR. He was not ready for EE that trip - but did it our last one and loved it. We never could force him on rides. If we bribed him into doing it and he hated it, the day was ruined - he wouldn't do anything else. So we had to be very careful. One thing that made a big difference was if he could see exactly what the ride did. He's more scared of Peter Pan than BTMRR. He has come a long way and there is now a lot he will do - too many to list. Just not dark, not scary, not wet, and not loud unless he has headphones. (Some shows can be an issue due to this. Festival of the Lion King was a terrible experience due to how loud it was).

 

[DisneyRegulars]

I have a timid seven year old, who has gotten progressively more timid over the years. It's easier for me to list what he won't ride, everything else he enjoys or at least tolerates:
Tower of Terror
Star Tours
Rockin Roller Coaster
Space Mountain
Philharmonic
New Soarin (scene transitions are now scary)
Expedition Everest
Dinosaur

He'll ride everything in magic Kingdom except space mountain.

He LOVES:
Spaceship Earth
Test track
People mover
Tomorrowland Speedway
Toy Story Mania
Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin
The Carousel
Thunder Mountain
Barnstormer
Mine Ride