Haunted Mansion - is it scary for 5 yr old?

[KateMW]

So my eldest will be 5 in October way before our December trip, will it be too scary for him? I'm worried he'd be traumatized and think that rides are scary.

He has only been on 1 roller coaster this year at Sesame Place and did great.

DH and I both haven't been to this ride. We're wondering if it will be like POC.

My daughter wasn't a fan at 5, but was at 6. May be possible to find something about it on YouTube and check it out yourself.

 

[photo_chick]

So my eldest will be 5 in October way before our December trip, will it be too scary for him? I'm worried he'd be traumatized and think that rides are scary.

He has only been on 1 roller coaster this year at Sesame Place and did great.

DH and I both haven't been to this ride. We're wondering if it will be like POC.

I remember very vividly being terrified on HM at DL when I was 7. So much so that I was hesitant to take my kids on it during our first WDW trip. After their first time on it (at 10 and 7) they proclaimed it as boring and lame with bad special effects. These same 2 kids were terrified on Dinosaur.

It's hard to tell what they will and won't be scared of.

 

[GiGi30]

So my eldest will be 5 in October way before our December trip, will it be too scary for him? I'm worried he'd be traumatized and think that rides are scary.

He has only been on 1 roller coaster this year at Sesame Place and did great.

DH and I both haven't been to this ride. We're wondering if it will be like POC.

My kids were that age and younger when they rode it and they loved it! I think it depends on the child. It's not terrifying by no means. They only thing that made them jump was the heads popping up behind the tombstones in the cemetery scene. What was worse, we got stuck right in front of one. We timed it and they popped up every 8 seconds.

 

[nuzmom]

Both of my boys rode it when they were 4. However, we did prep them ahead of time!!! If time allows, you may want to ride it without him first.
I know you said you watched a youtube video, but it really is scarier in person (but not "scary").
My recommendations, keep it fun by "looking for things".... distraction can go a long way at preventing being afraid!!!

Don't stare or point out the portrait that turns into a skeleton! Focus on finding the room with the funny paintings. In that room, try playing a quiet guessing game of "can you remember what's the below the lady with the parasol?" "What color are her slippers?"
Remind him that it's going to become dark, so let's hold tight to wait for the scream & lightning. Those tell you to start counting because when you reach 10, the door opens to go into the ride. (we didn't look up when our DSs were young).

During the ride, I think the knocking and banging on the doors is quite creepy!!! Seems like monsters in the closets to me. We focused on looking for the clock, then the black bird with red eyes, then the sign with "home sweet home" (or is it tomb sweet tomb), then look for the skinny shaking dog... you get the idea.

Those pop up "heads" are scary, too!!! But the singing ones, and the opera singer are kind of cool. During the attic scene, we looked for luggage and chairs & didn't pay too much attention to the scary woman!!!

You can also remind your DS that you see the FUNNIEST pretend ghosts at the end and that you've heard that they sometimes you even get to tickle them (if they appear in your ride car)!!!

Anyway, destraction always worked for us and this is still one of our favorite rides and we still love looking at the "background" parts of the attraction.

 

[nuzmom]

Oh, and if you choose to not ride it this time, it will be there next time.

 

[DaughterOfTriton]

It totally depends on your child. DH and I saw absolutely terrified kids older than 5 that were dragged on that ride. And worst of all it kept being interrupted by 'silly spooks' (aka it kept shutting down). Maybe take your child to the ride so he can look at the outside. Maybe you can give him a heads up of what to expect and that it's meant to be more of a joke than a super scary ride.

 

[nicoleakr]

I would take the advice of watching it on you tube with your child and let them see what they feel. My youngest was afraid (age 4) when the lights went off during the pre-show and he did not make it on the ride but he loves it now!

 

[shannyk]

My 5 year old loved it. It was his favorite ride and we had to go on it 3 times.

 

[anorman]

My two DDs got really freaked out by HM when they were 6 and 7 but we quickly followed it with a ride on IASW and they calmed right down. Every time since then we have had to do the same thing......a small price to pay and they love it!!!

 

[imama]

The last time we went to WDW, I KNEW my four year old would flip out during the scream room portion of the ride. I figured the rest of the ride would be fine though. I talked to a CM as we were entering into the Mansion and she took us straight to the doom buggies and let us by-pass the scream room completely. The four year old did great and can't wait to ride it again!

 

[ChloesDaddy]

The last time we went to WDW, I KNEW my four year old would flip out during the scream room portion of the ride. I figured the rest of the ride would be fine though. I talked to a CM as we were entering into the Mansion and she took us straight to the doom buggies and let us by-pass the scream room completely. The four year old did great and can't wait to ride it again!

We were expecting trouble with DS5 on our recent trip. We watched the videos, but those often fall way short of providing the feel of the actual experience. When we put our plans together we made sure we would hit several other dark rides (PP, JotLM, Pooh, ...) before HM so if he didn't like it he would see the scariness as an exception. He ended up being fine and we rode again on another day.

 

[Wicket's Mom]

My GD was five on her first time on HM. She cried the whole time, scared her quite a bit. Her mother made GD ride & it was with me! She spent the whole ride crying & I was talking all the way trying to calm her down. It was not a fun experience.

 

[erikamacelroy]

My six and two year old went on HM and loved it. We had no issues. Hope you have a great rip!

 

[angey77]

Don't make this the first ride of the trip. I had a friend make that mistake when her son was 3 and he refused to go on any dark rides the rest of the trip.
I went to WDW five times before graduating high school, and I would not open my eyes on HM until I was 19. It all stemmed from being scared to death our first trip when I was 2 1/2!
On the other side of the spectrum, my friend's girl is 4 and LOVES HM. My son of the same age tolerates it.

 

[luvmy3]

The first time we went my youngest ds was 2 months shy of 5, Haunted Mansion was his favorite ride. I think we rode it 8 times that week. I didnt mind, its my favorite too

 

[jaykorf001]

This made my giggle, scary dinosaurs on tv are one thing, scary dinosaurs in your face coming at you..... Whole new ball game!!!!!

A lot of it was the overwhelming sound which does not represent on the YouTube videos.

 

[writersblock42]

My dd 5 only freaked out on two rides-Haunted Mansion and Dinosaur. (For the record we did not take her on Tower of Terror)

 

[Maleficent Dragon]

All kids are different. Some are scared, some are not. Our families do not observe Halloween and we do not watch horror movies. We have age ranges from 6 - 15 and none of them like it. You know your kid the best. You could watch it on YouTube and then decide.

 

[wordwitt]

As has been repeated here, it really is the kid. We took our daughter to Disneyland on her 4th birthday, and she begged us to go on TOT. My protective in-laws were there, and they can vouch for me on this one. She met the height requirement, so my husband and I took her, thinking she'd chicken out. Of course, the other people in line were looking at us as if we were child abusers, and a couple even asked her if she really wanted to ride. I guess her answer satisfied them. After the first drop, she looked over at me, eyes as wide as saucers, and said (I could tell, hopefully) "Is that it?" "No," I answered honestly, I don't think so." When it was over, she said she didn't want to ride it again, but she wanted the t-shirt and the photo. ha ha. And she's talked about it for years. She's now 12. Dinosaur didn't scare her and she loves roller coasters, but she refuses to do HM. Go figure. Oh, and TOT is still one of her favorite rides. LOL. TOT scares me, but I just find HM amusing, and I've been riding it since I was probably 4 or 5. (SoCal)

 

[PrincessKaylie]

I would have to agree that the stretching room portion before the actual ride is the scariest part. Maybe just prepare him that the lights will go out but everything is ok? It really depends on the child. My family dragged me on tons of rides that scared me and when I was 7. I cried on Dinosaur, Pirates of the Caribbean and the barnstormer. But having to close my eyes and suck it up for a few minutes didn't traumatize me too bad,and some of the rides I was terrified of I actually ended up enjoying.