Tower of Terror for 3 - almost 4 year old??

[WDWorBUST]

Our daughter, Samantha, is so excited about our trip starting this Friday. She has been to the World before - most recently this past January - but she is just now tall enough for BTMRR, Dinosaur, TOT, etc. She rode Kali in January - and let's just say we stayed on it repeatedly about 5 time through. It was a little chilly out (not too bad) and we had ponchos on and her and her little friend were with just kept wanting to go. She LOVED Goofy's Barnstormer. And now she saws she wants to ride EVERYTHING she can. We have talked about TOT and she says she wants to ride it. We went to dinner with my boss & her children this week and her little girl (almost 8) told Sammi how scary it was and asked Sam if she was really going to ride TOT and Sam just giggled and said yes. We have talked about Dinosaur a lot too and how they will try to scare her - but that it's all just fun and pretend.

Now reassure me that everything is okay with her riding these 2 - they are really the only ones I'm even a little concerned about. She has rode the Haunted Mansion and I just asked her if anything at Disney has ever scared her and she told me the Dinosaur ride I told her you haven't even ridden it yet - (I guess I did my job preparing her) - and she said oh yeah. I asked her if she was going to ride it and she said yes. I will not make her go on anything - even if that means we get to the ride vehicles and I end up having to take her out at that point. It's not worth an upset child and I have experienced them all before.

So I'd love to hear about experiences with those 2 rides with children that age. (She will be 4 November 1st)

 

[MSSANDRA]

I would see how she does on Splash and BIg Thunder mountian first. I really am not sure I would let a child that age on either Dino or TOT. Both really are scary and physically pretty intense. I know that she meets the height and should be safe but that is a LOT of shaking on a little neck on dino and the drop on TOT are pretty intense as well. Not a lot of help. Sorry.

 

[emh1129]

I don't know.. my ds is a tough little guy. He was 5 when we were there and will be just about 6 the next time we go. He went on Big Thunder Mtn and will enjoy Splash Mtn, I'm sure (it was closed when we went) but I wouldn't let him go on TOT. I think it's too intense for him. But, it's really just an opinion, so I know others might feel differently.
He loves roller coasters, but I think the feeling of free falling would be terrifying for him. But all children are different, so it's really a judgement call you have to make.

 

[WDWorBUST]

Boy you guys are a lot of help

I have a friend who took his then 3 year old - well actually they went in February and he turned 4 so pretty close to the same age she is when they went - in April and he loved Dinosaur and wanted to ride it again. I don't remember if he told me whether they rode TOT - I'll ask him Monday.

I think I will of course start with BTMRR & Splash Mountain and then let her decide. I would not let her ride Mission Space even if she was tall enough because I think it would be too intense and confusing to her. TOT - I think we'll just have to see how everything else goes - same for Dinosaur. And she LOVES Stitch - but I think Stitch's Encounter might scare her too.

Playing it by ear sounds like our best bet.

 

[my3disneygirls]

Dinosaur scarred the tar out of me. My DD 5 at the time went on first with daddy and my middle daughter. She then talked me into going on, so my oldest and I joined them. My oldest does ALL of the rides, RnRc, ToT... Well I screamed the entire time, oldest DD cried the entire time and my little five year old...laughed at us the entire time.

You will know what she can handle. Dino is not just scary, but dark and VERY loud and jerky. I don't know if I will go back on, but little DD loves it.

 

[tanyaandallie]

My dd is 4 and 40 inches but I would not let her ride ToT or Dinasour even if she wanted to. Far too much for such a tiny little body. ToT scared the you know what out of me so I would not put my little one on there. It's a whole different level of ride from Spash, etc.

 

[caracap]

Ds will be 4 in December, adn Splash is the only one I am letting him on, if he even wants to go.

 

[Ellester]

I will step up to the plate as the mom who may not have the best judgment. Our little guy was 2y10m on our last trip and was just at 40 inches (yes, we grow them quite tall in our family). He went on ToT and Dinosaur. He didn't mind Dinosaur at all. To be honest, I don't think he was able to see very much. Our dd8, however, spent the ride with her head in her Grammy's lap. Dd5 thought Dinosaur was "OK" but was in no hurry to ride it again. I let my dh take ds2 on ToT, really against my better judgment. He was not scared getting on but you could tell that he did not like it one bit. Now he was ill two days before and that may have been some of it. Dd5 and dd8 loved, loved, loved ToT and rode it as many times as they could. They laughed and screamed the whole time. I say if your dd is up to it, she will be fine. If she doesn't like them, she doesn't have to ride again. But if she wants to, I would let her. Of course, this is my own personal opinion.

 

[flit]

It really is all about the child and what they like. The first time my twin daughters (fraternal) went and were tall enough to ride Dino and TOT, they had just turned 4. One absolutely loved them both and begged to go back on ( which we did ) , the other refused to even get in car for Dino ( no problem just turned around and left ) and loved the dropping part of TOT but hated all of the scary pre-ride stuff ( walked through it with her head buried in my jacket). Yes, the nature vs. nurture debate is rampant in our house because this is not the only thing they are complete opposites on.

I would suggest taking your cues from your child. If she is still excited about it once you get to the vehicle/elevator then go, if not, leave.

 

[Longsx3]

My DD(11) was 4 when she was tall enough to ride TOT, she wanted to ride and we let her. She loved it and still does! When we took her cousins, 12 & 8 this summer the did not want to ride anything...DD just could not understand that.

 

[drivencrazy]

My little man was 4 and he said that he wanted to go on TOT... walking through he changed his mind and no longer wanted to ride it... so him and daddy passed. He said that he will ride it next time... who know if that time will ever come! My 9 and 12 year old girls went on it at that time and came to get me (child swap) and we went on it, they both said they would skip it next time.

Really depends on the child and the day. You can always go through the line and if she decides it's not for her ask a CM to point your way out!

 

[TinkerFairy]

Dinosaur never fails to freak me out, DD6 wants to ride everything though.
Just today we went to check out Halloween costumes and they had this whole graveyard set up with motion activated monsters and she jumped back and wouldn't get near them.

We had a talk about how the ghosts in the mansion are "nice ghosts", and how we'd never stay at ToT, we're just "visiting"

I did sort of cheat and let her watch ride footage on YouTube, to make sure she had a idea of what was going on and let her form her own opinion after that.

 

[letsgoagainsoon]

My DS is the same age... personally I would not let him go on either of those two even if he wanted to. I think they are just too intense for a small child. JMO

 

[jessica52877]

My son loves them all and has since he was tall enough which was slightly after 3, probably close to your daughter's age. He is right at 44 inches this year so more excited about trying the rides he was never tall enough for before.

 

[GraysMom]

I will not be letting DS2 ride ToT until his body is a little bigger and sturdier. I love roller coasters and big rides, as does he, but I don't want to risk something happening when his spine is compressed on the "landings" of the elevator. I have back problems now, so I don't ride it as many times as I would like, but even before I had problems my back was usually a little achy when I got off (note: I was airborne a good portion of the ride due to my weight, so my spine and tailbone would crash into the hard seats every time we landed).

I can't give you any advice on Dinosaur, since DH has recommended I avoid it (would make my back sore as well).

You know your child best and know what their body can handle. I hope you have a great trip, whatever you decide!

 

[JenEeyore]

I'm the mom of a little adventurer. He is now 5 and he is tall for his age, so has been riding bigger rides since fairly young. We let him go on TOT the first time when he was 3 going on 4 (it was December and he was 4 in March). He wanted to go because the family we were traveling with had older kids that were going and he was bound and determined to follow along. Now mind you, we LOVE TOT, and it isn't scary to us anymore, so maybe I'm more "game" than some moms would be for it (I will ride it over and over if the line length allows). We did tell him that he could bail before we got on the elevator because I don't believe in taking freaked out kids on any rides. We also allowed him to take his "blinky" necklace (you know the ones you buy before parades when it is dark outside?) and he could leave it on so his face was never in total darkness since it is his fear of the dark, not his fear of drops or anything else that had him nervous. I'm hoping we didn't irritate the tar out of other riders with his necklace (we did sit up in the back row to not totally distract), but it was a saving grace for him - made him more brave to face a dark situation. We just have to watch that said necklace doesn't fly off and away during the drops. We held hands tightly and he made it through, and has ridden that ride again since then. It is not his favorite, but didn't cause nightmares either. But you have to know your kids' boundaries (my 30-something BIL fared worse on that ride than my little one - so age isn't necessarily the only factor).

We have yet to have tackled the Dino ride though. His little friend (also tall for his age) has been riding that since he was tall enough (probably 3 1/2) and he loves it, but my little guy again with the dark thing has yet to take the plunge, and I'm not going to force it. Maybe next trip he will be ready. But he has already tackled Mt Everest (last trip when he was 4 1/2) and did one round on Space Mtn (after we bailed at the last minute at the beginning of the trip, he finally agreed to ride it at the end of the trip because that was one ride he really WANTED to ride before we got to WDW since he would be tall enough). Space Mtn - he rode, but did not love to ride again -once was plenty. We'll see how that one goes next time. The one surprise ride that he LOVES though is Mission Space since we do the "tame" version (green mission line, I think it is called). He calls that one the Video Game Ride. We did that one like 6 times. I can't handle the spinny version well myself, so it will be YEARS before I will broach that one with him, but the side that doesn't spin doesn't get you sick, and he loved being able to do his mission part and hit the buttons to launch the rocket or whatever his part was supposed to be for that trip. As long as you are fine with enclosed spaces, that ride is not too bad for young ones that meet the height requirement.

Each family is different in how they approach adventurous rides, so don't let us talk you totally in or out of one, but at least reading others' expreriences, you can feel out your child on what they can possibly handle or not. If you have to bail at the last second on something, then so be it -it is not worth forcing them to experience something they are not ready for. It is not fun to be on a ride with a bawling kid that was put on there before he/she was emotionally or physically ready for it - that is just my 2 cents.

Enjoy your trip!!

Jen

 

[MNdisneymom]

...in my little 4.5 yo DS....He just hit 40 inches (yes, he's really little for his age) and is very excited about TOT. I went looking on You Tube for ride videos, thinking to scare him off (TOT isn't one of my faves, I'll ride it once maybe), but instead he is now totally obsessed with it.

FYI, on YT, there is a snippet of the history channel Modern Marvels video on WDW that has a really neat bit on TOT. My Little Engineer (he likes to know how things work) found it really fascinating. (We went and bought the DVD--the whole thing is quite good from a historical perspective--lots of old film of Walt, etc...)

At any rate...I think you just have to know your own kids...what their limits are, mentally and emotionally, as well as physically. I know my little guy *thinks* he is as tough as all get out--but on our next trip to the world (whenever that may be), I'll have to make the grown-up decision about whether or not riding all the big rides is a good idea.

 

[all4fun]

DS has ridden ToT and all the other 40" requirement rides. ToT was the only one I had real reservations about and justifiably so. DH insisted we let him ride so against my better judgement I acquiesced. Well the first time ds got off shaking like a leaf. We didn't ride it again that trip. Next trip, same thing - dh wanted him to ride it, ds seemed fine with it so off we went. Same reaction. Now, keep in mind, ds talks UP the storm about this ride as if he likes it. Go figure. Every time we drive by Hollywood Video and he sees their sign, it reminds him of "the elevator ride" LOL. DS is a true daredevil I think. He even looks terrified in the pics they take on Splash Mtn and Dinasour but he always wants to ride again. So it definitely depends on the kid.

Now my next big concern - Space Mtn. Ds might be tall enough for this on our upcoming trip. Anyone take a 36lb child on this ride? I'm not so concerned w/ds reaction to the ride, I'm sure he'll love it, and he really wants to go on it. I'm just concerned how he'll fit in the vehicle restraint.

 

[DisneyAprilFool]

Well, as soon as my DD was tall enough to ride ToT- she demanded to go! We have her on video smiling and telling everyone how she's so brave and she's going on ToT!

So we go through the lines, all the way up to the elevator doors and she's lagging more and more- finally, she says she can't do it- doesn't want to go!

So of course, we leave the line- and then we get her on video telling everyone how scary ToT is and how she'd never ride it in her life!

She's much older now- almost 8- and telling everyone once again that she's going to ride ToT- we'll see.


Frankly, I'd let my kids go on the ride IF they were of the appropriate height and wanted to go. I'm not too worried about one ride destroying their body's physical integrity. Now, if we went on it repeatedly over and over and over- I'm sure the stress of the ride could do damage- but heck, it'd damage MY body too over and over! LOL!

 

[mommylicious]

Each kid is different. My 5 year old is our little daredevil. He hit 40" with sneakers on (regular sneakers, not thick soled ones) on our trip where he was 33 months. He LOVED Splash, Thunder, Dinosaur and Test Track. We didn't realize he was 40" when we were at MGM so we didn't try anything there. He rode ToT for the first time on our trip this past February. He didn't cry or get upset but he says he's not interested in riding it again. RnR was the same way. He said "maybe I will ride it again next time. I have to see how much bigger I am by then." He now says he will skip RnR in September but he will ride it in December. ToT is still a no.

My 7 year old has always been the one afraid of his shaddow. He didn't want to ride anything with dark or that goes fast. We even had to negotiate for Peter Pan and IASW type of rides for a while. He decided those were OK because it was "fun dark" not "scary dark." In February he decided RnR is his new favorite ride. He had gotten in to Thunder Mtn. gradually over a few trips then loved Everest in February so we tried talking him into RnR. We went through the line at least 3 times before he actually got on the ride but once he did he LOVED it. Now he will ride everything except ToT. The idea just freaks him out and it doesn't help that his little brother won't go on it again.

All that said, one of my best friends says her 4 year old daughter's favorite ride is ToT (yet she is terrified of Splash Mtn.).

EVery kid is different.