How to encourage 6 year old to try rides

[jess1662]

We had a little bit of trouble last year with my (then) 5 year old not wanting to ride any rides. He would try them once and then say, "That was fun. Let's never do that again." So I spent a lot of time sitting with him waiting while my DH and older son went on rides.

We began to suspect a couple of days into the trip that he was actually wanting to sit and play games on his DS (which was what I had been letting him do while we waited -- don't judge!) rather that go on rides. We stopped letting him play on his DS or on our phones while we waited, but it was too late. He refused to ride anything more than once.

We're going to Disney again in September, and he is already telling me about all of the rides he DOES NOT want to ride. I honestly don't think he is really afraid. I think he is just being his sweet, stubborn, 6-year-old self.

Does anyone have any ideas about ways to encourage him to try the rides and to actually give them a fair shot?

I will not force him to ride them, and I would NEVER want him to ride anything that actually frightened him. But I know he would actually love a lot of them. It just seems kind of sad for a kid who is obsessed with all things Pirates of the Caribbean to not ride the POTC ride!

 

[MSSANDRA]

Our 6 year old is very much like that. What we do at WDW is that we have some rides that are choices and some that are family rides and we all do them because we are there to spend time together as a family. Anything without a height requirement is pretty much something we are all going to do.Except HM. That means that older DS has to do Pooh and little one does spaceship earth. Other things like Splash Mountain is always a choice though we strongly encourage a one time try. Some he does, others he does not. DH is not a trill rider, so no issue there. They do a different ride or do something else. We tend to try to not repeat( on the same trip) rides everyone does not want to do or we split up and do different rides for a bit. I would just tell him now that some rides he can choose not to ride, but others are things you are all going to enjoy together. No flame but I would leave the DS in the room. I do, maybe a few times a trip, hand DS my iphone if the line is long, but we find our day goes better without using it much. Good luck.

I mean leave DS the game, not DS the child in the room!!!!!

 

[Greta]

We had a little bit of trouble last year with my (then) 5 year old not wanting to ride any rides. He would try them once and then say, "That was fun. Let's never do that again." So I spent a lot of time sitting with him waiting while my DH and older son went on rides.

We began to suspect a couple of days into the trip that he was actually wanting to sit and play games on his DS (which was what I had been letting him do while we waited -- don't judge!) rather that go on rides. We stopped letting him play on his DS or on our phones while we waited, but it was too late. He refused to ride anything more than once.

We're going to Disney again in September, and he is already telling me about all of the rides he DOES NOT want to ride. I honestly don't think he is really afraid. I think he is just being his sweet, stubborn, 6-year-old self.

Does anyone have any ideas about ways to encourage him to try the rides and to actually give them a fair shot?

I will not force him to ride them, and I would NEVER want him to ride anything that actually frightened him. But I know he would actually love a lot of them. It just seems kind of sad for a kid who is obsessed with all things Pirates of the Caribbean to not ride the POTC ride!

When our oldest DD was 7 (she is now 17) she was fearful about trying the rides and at the beginning of our trip we let her choose with no pressure - just reminders that this is Disneyworld and NOTHING here would hurt her and that we would never encourage her to do something that would hurt her. That - combined with a small reward for trying something that she was nervous about (DISNEY PIN of the conquered ride) was the ticket.

Unfortunately - we created a Pin Monster. Just today she came out of her room with all of her pins on a new cross body bag announcing that this was how she was going to travel in style when we go to WDW in October. LOL

 

[Taylor'sMom]

What about some kind of inexpensive "reward" for each ride he is brave enough to ride? Something he can "collect" sort of like a badge of honor. Could be as cheap as a pressed penny (many of the bigger thrill rides even have a specific themed machine near their exit or in their gift shop)... could be a pin (again, you will find themed ones, but this could get expensive)... could be a "disney dollar" (either a real one, or a fake one you make, that he can save for a souvenier at the end of the trip... sonething he can say "I got this because I was brave enough to ride x, y and z").
If u have an older child also, they may feel jipped like "I ride this stuff, what do I get!?!?" so you may need to have a conversation with the older child, explain what you are doing and either allow him the same, or an equivelent dollar value in some way.

 

[Greta]

I mean leave DS the game, not DS the child in the room!!!!!

Oh my gosh-- so funny! I did think you meant DS (the child) until I got to the part about the iPhone then I understood. LOLOLOL

 

[Happyjen27]

I think you figured it out last year with the DS and leaving that in the room, so without that in play this year, and being a year older, it might go better.

I am pretty much a "take them where they're at" kinda mom, and if he's at sitting and people watching rather than riding, that's where I would go with it. Disneyworld is for kids, and if that's what makes him happy, that's what I would do too. Although I would switch off with DH now and then to change things up a bit, sitting with DH might not be as great as sitting out with Mommy. Not saying either of you is more/less fun than the other.

I do love the idea of collecting items for a badge of honor. Stuff like that would definitely work with my timid boy.

Maybe give him a day to plan a day? If he is planning it, he may be more inclined to ride. Full family participation would be required, so older DS and DH would do what younger DS plans. Pay attention to his plans, if they include more shows than rides, that is probably just what he's into. It puts a burden on him for family fun, because planning on "sitting outside of Small World" is probably going to not be well received by the rest of you. Then, on the other side, older DS gets to plan a day, and FULL family participation is important on both days, and you can pull the "older DS did your day, it's important you do his day" Younger DS can get a few "veto" rides that might be scary, but anything without a height restriction is not veto eligible.

 

[jess1662]

What about some kind of inexpensive "reward" for each ride he is brave enough to ride? Something he can "collect" sort of like a badge of honor. Could be as cheap as a pressed penny (many of the bigger thrill rides even have a specific themed machine near their exit or in their gift shop)... could be a pin (again, you will find themed ones, but this could get expensive)... could be a "disney dollar" (either a real one, or a fake one you make, that he can save for a souvenier at the end of the trip... sonething he can say "I got this because I was brave enough to ride x, y and z").
If u have an older child also, they may feel jipped like "I ride this stuff, what do I get!?!?" so you may need to have a conversation with the older child, explain what you are doing and either allow him the same, or an equivelent dollar value in some way.

This is a really great idea! I love the Disney Dollar idea. I think I am going to try that. Thanks!

 

[jess1662]

I think you figured it out last year with the DS and leaving that in the room, so without that in play this year, and being a year older, it might go better.

I am pretty much a "take them where they're at" kinda mom, and if he's at sitting and people watching rather than riding, that's where I would go with it. Disneyworld is for kids, and if that's what makes him happy, that's what I would do too. Although I would switch off with DH now and then to change things up a bit, sitting with DH might not be as great as sitting out with Mommy. Not saying either of you is more/less fun than the other.
I do love the idea of collecting items for a badge of honor. Stuff like that would definitely work with my timid boy.

Maybe give him a day to plan a day? If he is planning it, he may be more inclined to ride. Full family participation would be required, so older DS and DH would do what younger DS plans. Pay attention to his plans, if they include more shows than rides, that is probably just what he's into. It puts a burden on him for family fun, because planning on "sitting outside of Small World" is probably going to not be well received by the rest of you. Then, on the other side, older DS gets to plan a day, and FULL family participation is important on both days, and you can pull the "older DS did your day, it's important you do his day" Younger DS can get a few "veto" rides that might be scary, but anything without a height restriction is not veto eligible.

Ha! You're definitely right on learning our lesson last year! Thankfully, we drastically cut back his use of all things electronic over the last year, so hopefully we are past that!

I thought a lot about what you said about taking him where he is and considering what he would rather be doing. I hadn't really thought about that, but I think that really was a factor. His brother is a run-and-do kind of kid and wanted to rush from ride to ride and also do things over and over again. And Ryan definitely needs more down time. I hadn't really thought that it might have been his way of getting a mental (and physical) break from the craziness. I need to make sure to be more sensitive to that this year. And you're right -- he loves his momma, so he would probably rather spend the down time resting with me (so he could be ready to run and play with Dad).

Great ideas on letting him plan a day, too! Thanks so much!

 

[maxiesmom]

What we do at WDW is that we have some rides that are choices and some that are family rides and we all do them because we are there to spend time together as a family. Anything without a height requirement is pretty much something we are all going to do.Except HM. That means that older DS has to do Pooh and little one does spaceship earth. Other things like Splash Mountain is always a choice though we strongly encourage a one time try. Some he does, others he does not. DH is not a trill rider, so no issue there. They do a different ride or do something else. We tend to try to not repeat( on the same trip) rides everyone does not want to do or we split up and do different rides for a bit. I would just tell him now that some rides he can choose not to ride, but others are things you are all going to enjoy together. No flame but I would leave the DS in the room. I do, maybe a few times a trip, hand DS my iphone if the line is long, but we find our day goes better without using it much. Good luck.

I mean leave DS the game, not DS the child in the room!!!!!

I agree with this. Especially if you know he is not hanging back because of fear. If he wants to spend time with mommy or daddy he can just as easily do that on a ride as sitting outside waiting for the rest of the family.

I do like the idea of letting him plan a day too. However there is no way I would spend that kind of money on a trip and let a kid sit around because he just didn't feel like riding, and not because he was afraid. You don't have to spend the whole day going from ride to ride, but those rides you do, he should do too.

 

[Snooks23]

Compromising & bribing worked for me.

 

[jess1662]

Compromising & bribing worked for me.

the story of my life!

 

[msmama]

My son at 5 refused to ride anything more than once, too.

Sounds similar to yours as he definitely needs down time and can't go from one thing to another without "stopping to smell the roses" so to speak.

Anyway, I realized that what the ride actually was and what he REMEMBERED were two drastically different things. When I finally got it was when we were trying to re-ride the safari with grandparents and he was terrified of the wobbly bridge. Now, in his mind, the wobble was real and lasted a good ten minutes. In reality, it's all pretend and it lasted maybe 15 seconds. Once I was able to explain things to him, he was all fine. I told him I'd hold him extra tight at that part and I promised nothing would happen. Once we did it again he realized that his memory failed him and I was able to use that example for the rest of the trip - though I never did get him on POTC!

So, I did have to take some of the "magic" out of things, but since that's what he was afraid of, and he's a super literal kid, it worked for us.

Good luck!!

 

[DSNY4ever]

You could pack some small stickers such as stars or disney stickers if you can find them, then in the morning pick up a map and each ride that he goes on he gets to put a star sticker on the attraction on the map. Maybe that could make it fun to cover the map with stickers from all the fun stuff he did?

But yeah, it is what it is. Like you said, don't push it and just have fun. My cousin is an adult now and still doesn't like many rides, but she loves the atmosphere and parades and shows.

 

[jennylyn_b]

This is a really great idea! I love the Disney Dollar idea. I think I am going to try that. Thanks!

You can get tickets like they have at fairs for rides. Each ticket is worth a quarter or whatever amount you make it. Some rides like small world might be worth one ticket but splash might be two or three. If he requests a ride on his own, reward it with a ticket or two. At the end of the day back in the hotel you can let him cash out his tickets for souvie money for the next day or have him wait til the end of the trip. That part depends on the kid. Some need to be able to have the chance to spend the next day while others are okay collecting and waiting for the last day.

 

[tlh0726]

Our 6 year old is very much like that. What we do at WDW is that we have some rides that are choices and some that are family rides and we all do them because we are there to spend time together as a family. Anything without a height requirement is pretty much something we are all going to do.Except HM. That means that older DS has to do Pooh and little one does spaceship earth. Other things like Splash Mountain is always a choice though we strongly encourage a one time try. Some he does, others he does not. DH is not a trill rider, so no issue there. They do a different ride or do something else. We tend to try to not repeat( on the same trip) rides everyone does not want to do or we split up and do different rides for a bit. I would just tell him now that some rides he can choose not to ride, but others are things you are all going to enjoy together. No flame but I would leave the DS in the room. I do, maybe a few times a trip, hand DS my iphone if the line is long, but we find our day goes better without using it much. Good luck.

I mean leave DS the game, not DS the child in the room!!!!!

This bolded

DS know if he is tall enough to ride (just made 48 inches) he has no choice but to go along when everyone wants to ride.

When we took another family along June 2012, I made it perfectly clear to the 2 girls before the trip. I will not tolerate complaints or whining. If it is not a ride/show you want to do just zip it, put on a smile, and pretend to enjoy it because the next ride/show may be something you want to do the someone else may not. If part of the group (and at least one adult) do not want to ride or see a show and others (and at least one adult) do, then we will split and meet back up.
We had a few melt downs (sibling related) the first 2 days but once they knew I meant business and wasn't tolerating them spoiling everyone's trip, attitudes changed quick and all went great.

 

[GoldieLocks5]

are you saying he won't do rides more than once or won't do them at all? Because we rarely do rides more than once in a trip.... so I don't see an issue with that.

don't allow the video game playing- as you did - -- and I think a prize at the end of each ride is a good idea - can add up- but is fun. We let my older son (who was 6 on our last trip) get a little something to remember each ride from --- be it a keychain, etc. He loved it.... but he also loves rides.

My twins were 4 on our trip and they do NOT love rides- we never make them go on anything they truly are afraid of - but the others we let them know that we will hold them, etc - and they end up loving them (Nemo, small world, toy story mania, etc). My 6yo loved everything- even Everest and tower of terror. Every kid is different. That's what parent swap is good for if you have a non-ride-loving kid

 

[KeeperSyd]

I mean leave DS the game, not DS the child in the room!!!!!

ROTFL. I really like your attitude about the family rides- that's he whole purpose of going to walt disney world for us!!!!

And like you said, if he were scared or causing a ruckus it would be different. Just make your expectations know up front, and down play the attention he gets when he isn't cooperating. I find the less I focus on ds behavior, the shorter the stubbornness lasts. And bribing doesn't work on mine or I would consider it, I know it sounds corny but I also do a lot of roll playing with mine. This is what we do if we think we are getting sick... This is what you do if you can't find us. Ect