ETA FP Decisions-Please Judge Me! What rides would a 9 year old who is scared of "big kid rides"....

[>Ash<]

i think space mountain will be intense for her if she is a little bit scared of bigger kids rides. its in darkness and your sat behind or infront of her not along side her so that may be difficult for you.
big thunder, splash even i dont do lol im a ride chicken and everest is a no go for me too.

i recommend 7 dwarf mine train and goofeys barnstromer to try with her coaster wise. most other rides in disney arent too thrilling Test track i would go on no drops just track and speed.
mission space whilst intense if only a simulator so if you do the milder side of the ride rather than the intense side i think you will be fine.
Haunted Mansion is an awesome ride, the begining is eery but once you get on the ride its amazin and fun!

 

[Rosebud123]

Does she like stuff after she tries it? My son has chickened out of Untamed and Extreme Frisbee at Canobie, but loves Yankee Cannonball (wooden roller coaster)!

When he was 5, he tried to chicken out of BTMRR but I made him go on. He was crying and I got so many dirty looks. However, I knew he would love it and he did! Rode it a million times that trip. Same with RocknRoller Coaster when he was 9. Sometimes he just needs a little push!

I think there's a fine line between encouraging your child to try stuff you know they'll like and respecting their decision not to ride rides that they fear.

 

[Rivermonster]

I would say no to Space Mountain, M:S, ToT, RnR, but I would try for her to give Splash a chance. My scaredy-cat really loved it and BTMR.

 

[msmama]

I have a 7 year old chicken!! His thing is mostly fast rides that he won't do (inside or scary doesn't bother him as much).

He has ridden BTMRR - he hated it and will not go again. This trip he did do 7DMT and he LOVED it!! Just FYI, it's very mild at first (mostly turns) then slow down to actually go through the mine to see the 7D, then it gets a little more intense on the second half, I think. The bigger "hills" (which are still very small) seem to be on the second half.

The problem with splash is that it's very long and the trop comes at the end so it's like close to 10 minutes of anticipation. My son won't do it. (If you do Pirates, there is a small drop there (in the dark) so maybe do that first to see how she reacts to the drop).

He laughs at me if I bring up Space Mountain.

My son has ridden Test Track but he refuses to do it again (the noise of the speeding cars scares him away every time).

We've done Mission Space on the less intense side (orange, I think). I personally find it very claustrophobic so I won't do it again, but it's not scary. We haven't tried the green side.

At AK, we've never tried Everest or Kali river rapids with him. We did do Dinosaur on this trip which is a very rough ride (though inside and theming is more scary than roller coaster-y) and he did okay. He didn't leave vowing never to ride again. We only did this because it was blisteringly hot and it was the only open air conditioned building nearby.

We don't do Rock n Roller Coaster or Tower or Terror (which I think is obvious with a chicken). He loves Star Tours.

 

[Maddysdaddy]

My daughter was much like yours, and for the longest time, refused to go on some of the "bigger" rides. The way we helped her get over her fears was to let her watch YouTube videos of the rides, so she could adjust her expectations and apprehension of what she 'thought' was going to happen, with what actually does happen.

Thought that we would never be able to get her onto Expedition Everest, but once she watched a few ride-thrus (she was 9), she told herself that she would ride it "once". Two years later, "once" now means as many times as possible, preferably one right after the other, lather, rise, repeat.

 

[alc571]

My 9 year old son is exactly the same way. These are the rides he won't do:

AK - Everest, Bug's Life movie
EP - Mission Space
HS - StarTours, Rock N Roller Coaster, Tower of Terror
MK - Space Mountain, Thunder Mountain, Splash Mountain

He loved 7DMT! He has agreed to try Splash Mountain after watching some YouTube ride through videos. I think he'll love it, as his favourite part of POTC is the drop.

 

[Ears2YouVlog]

I was a "ride chicken" as a child and i would suggest avoiding anything with the word "Mountain" in it. The biggest thrills for me as a kid were PoTC and HM, you couldn't have payed me to ride something like MT or Barnstormer at that age. I would even suggest stuff like Living with the Land and Gran Fiesta tour at Epcot. We just saw a dad force his crying daughter on RnR and boy does that seem like a way to ruin Disney for a kid!

 

[mjallemand]

There's very little in the way of "scary" rides at Walt Disney World, when I think about it. Only really Tower of Terror comes to mind.

 

[Frozen2014]

With 7DMT, try to sit at the front. Those seats will be the slowest since the coaster will be half way down any hills before picking up speed.

If she likes theming, then go for things like Peter Pan, Winnie the Pooh, Its a Small World, Pirates of Caribbean, Jungle Cruise, Buzz Light, Dumbo, Monsters Inc and Mickeys Philharmonic shows
Skip Splash Mountain, Big Thunder, Space Mountain

At HS, Toy Story, any of the shows. Skip Tower of Terror, Star Tours, Rock n Rollercoaster.

At Epcot, Nemo, Turtle Talk, Figment, Spaceship Earth. Perhaps skip Mission Space, Test Track, Soarin

Don't know AK

 

[labdogs42]

My son is 10 and has been to WDW 15 times. He's not really a thrill ride guy either. Rides he still won't even consider are rock n roller coaster, tower of terror and Mission Space Orange. Rides he did once but won't do again are Splash and Everest. Rides he eventually went on after years of coaxing and now likes (and that's just in the last year that he likes them, so age 9): Space Mtn, BTMRR, and Test Track. The only "thrill" rides he's liked since he was 3 or 4: Soarin' and Mission Space green.

ETA, he loves the themed rides like Spaceship Earth, Living with the Land, Small World, Haunted Mansion, Nemo, etc.

 

[HatBoxSteve]

Take it from the biggest whimp as a kid ever! lol I spent literally 2 weeks of my childhood every year at Disney and did not ride Splash Mountain or Space Mountain until I was in my late 20's. I wouldn't ride Maelstrom until I was 15. The Disney-coasters are really not bad AT ALL. I think the problem your daughter and I have in common is drops. Most rollercoasters do straight drop where Disney-coasters turn and coast to minimize dropping. That being said I might avoid Splash Mountain (which I've grown to love) and the Tower of Terror. Mission Space does have a tame version (green team) but if she or anyone else gets dizzy from simulators i'd avoid it. Expedition Everest goes upside down while backwards so that may be out, and Rock n Rollercoaster goes upside down.

As far as fastpasses for tame ride you don't really want to waste them on something that the wait times are relatively short for. Rides you may want to consider to fastpass are: Soarin, Test Track (a fast ride but no drops), Peter Pan, Toy Story Mania, Buzz Lightyear, Jungle Cruise, Winnie the Pooh, Great Movie Ride, Kilmanjaro Safari

Great rides that you can get on with relatively no problem: Haunted Mansion (my favorite and not scary), Pirates of the Caribbean, People Mover, The Land, Spaceship Earth, Finding Nemo, Gran Fiesta Tour, Little Mermaid, Small World.

Hope that helps a little anymore questions feel free to ask!

 

[nanaka]

I haven't been to Disney since I was 16 so my recollection is skewed and a lot has changed.

My dd is NOT an adventurous ride kind of person. Anyone from the New England area? I had to BEG her to go on Storyland's Polarcoaster!

But, she loves theming, etc so I think she will get sucked in by the "idea" of rides and any interesting ques. She has tried to "be brave" for rides before and chickened out last minute. No biggie at our local amusement park (Canobie lake anyone?) but with Fast Passes I want to get an idea of what everyone thinks is worth me trying out with her. We have watched the videos and these are the rides she's excited about but I think once we are there she will "no way Mom" me.

Splash Mountain
Big Thunder Railroad
Edited: I meant Mission Space!!! (I heard this is really intense)

We are doing 7 Dwarfs because I know in the end she will be glad she did. Any other suggestions for my fearful little big girl?

My 8 year old is also very fearful. I am from New Hampshire, so I've spent many times at Canobie Lake trying to coax him on rides that I know he will love at the end. I am getting my son very psyched for Splash Mountain. We watched the videos and I think he will love it. It's tough, because I don't want to upset him, but I don't want his fear to not let him enjoy himself

 

[ammag]

My DD. Was 6.5 on the last trip and she decided to give bigger rides a try on the barnstormer. I went with her and of the entire ride I heard a panicked "I don't like iiiiiiit" and when she got off she cried and said never again, I actually thought it was a lot faster and bigger drops than I had imagined. At least it was extremely short!
As a kid I was tricked by my dad to go on a big coaster and it was one of the worst experiences of my life! I've done a few here and there including space mountain and I have no desire to do get again! It's the drops. However as a kid at 8 I loved BTMRR splash mountain! Some of it is just psychological.

That said I am hoping my daughter does afew of these, and that I get the nerve to try EE or TOT.

I am also going to take her on mission space, orange, I had no issue with green but want to make sure she doesn't get sick. It was a lot of fun!

 

[cbellasmomma]

Does she like stuff after she tries it? My son has chickened out of Untamed and Extreme Frisbee at Canobie, but loves Yankee Cannonball (wooden roller coaster)!

When he was 5, he tried to chicken out of BTMRR but I made him go on. He was crying and I got so many dirty looks. However, I knew he would love it and he did! Rode it a million times that trip. Same with RocknRoller Coaster when he was 9. Sometimes he just needs a little push!

I think there's a fine line between encouraging your child to try stuff you know they'll like and respecting their decision not to ride rides that they fear.

Ha! We just went to Canobie for Mother's Day - so funny you should post this! And it was HOT too. We decided it would be a good test to walk around a small park on a 90 degree day (although I told dd FL in Aug will be or feel much HOTTER!) and to see what she is really willing to go on. She was pumping herself up to go on all of the coasters

To give you perspective we went on all the kiddie rides (because we went with my 3 year old nephew) and then went on the Dragoncoaster (kiddie coaster) She tried to back out of that the whole time in line! Then somehow she decided she was brave enough for the Flume (???) and when we were half way to the big drop she said "I changed my mind" ummm too late. She liked it after but would never do it again. For those not from the Northeast that drop is about 35 feet and Splash is closer to 50 (from what I read). So yeah we didn't do Canonball. I would never do Untamed OMG that ride is ridiculous!


But, there is no theming at Canobie. It's just standing in line waiting and getting anxious. DD really loves theming. She could walk around Storyland all day just looking at everything. She is so excited about the Robinson Family Treehouse lol.

I don't mind waiting in line but I would hate to waste our FP's. I'm going alone with dd for most of the trip so there is no line swapping, etc (or whatever it's called) Also she is not scared of dark/semi-scary just fast/big drops or perceived big drops

I think I will go head and FP 7DMT and try to figure everything out as we go. Her biggest "want" is to see all the characters/shows so I will focus on those. I'm not into thrill rides either so I don't care if we go on one ride. I will just be thrilled to have this mommy and me trip.

Thank s for your help everyon this has been really useful. Just knowing some adults are scared looking at the drop from Splash has nixed that off our FP list!

 

[think-like-tink]

I would start out with BTMRR then Splash. My kids were afraid at first, but ended up loving it.

My DD7 at the time, was scared to pieces of ToT but insisted she ride it. Ended up LOVING it. However, same trip she road Space Mountain and for the rest of the day she felt weird and will never ride it again. My 10 year old doesn't like Space either. We rode E.E., my 10 yr old loved it, the 7 yr old did not says it is not her fave. but, will ride again. \

We love Disney so much and I have told my kids over and over that nothing in Disney can hurt them. That scary is part of the fun. I do not FORCE them on anything. We watched youtube videos with popcorn to get *used* to the idea of what will happen. My dd was so proud she rode ToT and told everyone about it. She wanted to ride again, but, once a trip is enough for me.

 

[Rosebud123]

Ha! We just went to Canobie for Mother's Day - so funny you should post this! And it was HOT too. We decided it would be a good test to walk around a small park on a 90 degree day (although I told dd FL in Aug will be or feel much HOTTER!) and to see what she is really willing to go on. She was pumping herself up to go on all of the coasters

To give you perspective we went on all the kiddie rides (because we went with my 3 year old nephew) and then went on the Dragoncoaster (kiddie coaster) She tried to back out of that the whole time in line! Then somehow she decided she was brave enough for the Flume (???) and when we were half way to the big drop she said "I changed my mind" ummm too late. She liked it after but would never do it again. For those not from the Northeast that drop is about 35 feet and Splash is closer to 50 (from what I read). So yeah we didn't do Canonball. I would never do Untamed OMG that ride is ridiculous!


But, there is no theming at Canobie. It's just standing in line waiting and getting anxious. DD really loves theming. She could walk around Storyland all day just looking at everything. She is so excited about the Robinson Family Treehouse lol.

I don't mind waiting in line but I would hate to waste our FP's. I'm going alone with dd for most of the trip so there is no line swapping, etc (or whatever it's called) Also she is not scared of dark/semi-scary just fast/big drops or perceived big drops

I think I will go head and FP 7DMT and try to figure everything out as we go. Her biggest "want" is to see all the characters/shows so I will focus on those. I'm not into thrill rides either so I don't care if we go on one ride. I will just be thrilled to have this mommy and me trip.

Thank s for your help everyon this has been really useful. Just knowing some adults are scared looking at the drop from Splash has nixed that off our FP list!

Canobie is so fun on Mother's Day! We used to go every year. Love the "Moms get in free" deal! I would book SDMT for sure. I think you should try BTMRR at some point. Some of the little ones (Dragon Coaster at Canobie, Barnstormer at MK) are actually rougher than BTMRR! Maybe see if you can push her a little bit to try it at the end of your trip.

 

[cbellasmomma]

Ok so this morning we watched You Tube videos and she insists she wants to do Splash Mountain but no WAY will she do Barnstormer It's really all about the theming for her. She is willing to do the big drop as long as the ride has interesting things to see. Same thing with 7DMT. It's a definite because of the cool theming but NO WAY is she going on Big Thunder Mountain. I guess we will just have to see. Since she is mostly concerned about meeting the characters we might run out of FP's anyway.

 

[mommycrawford]

Ok so this morning we watched You Tube videos and she insists she wants to do Splash Mountain but no WAY will she do Barnstormer It's really all about the theming for her. She is willing to do the big drop as long as the ride has interesting things to see. Same thing with 7DMT. It's a definite because of the cool theming but NO WAY is she going on Big Thunder Mountain. I guess we will just have to see. Since she is mostly concerned about meeting the characters we might run out of FP's anyway.

I think you are spot on skipping Barnstormer! there are so many things to enjoy without pushing the envelope!

Mild rides in MK include:
Carousel of Progress, Buzz Lightyear, (Monster's Inc Laugh Floor,) Dumbo, Little Mermaid, Pooh,( Philharmagic,) Carousel, Small World, Peter Pan's Flight, (Fairytales with Belle,) (Hall of Presidents)(Country Bear Jamboree) Magic Carpets of Aladdin, Jungle Cruise (dark at night.)

Slow but dark: Haunted Mansion (my favorite when I was 7,) Pirates of the Caribbean (another favorite when I was 7,)

7DMT is very smooth! Splash mountain is generally a slow ride, has some small drops, and 1 big one as you know, but the theming is very fun for children: hillbilly animals!...Maybe you could ride it first and get a real sense of whether she could handle it! Thunder Mountain Railroad is bumpy, and goes over water, so I don't know how that might work out.

You will have a great trip even if you skip a few things!

 

[cbellasmomma]

Updated with FP decisions - please judge me!!!

 

[AlohaAnnie]

My 18 year old son still has a hard time with certain rides, we started going to Disney World when he was 10. This upcoming trip will be our 10th trip. He will not ride Space Mountain or Splash Mountain. He will ride Big Thunder Mountain Railroad but I can tell it scares him a bit. At times he holds on tight, lol! I never say anything, of course. He likes everything else in Magic Kingdom (we haven't rode 7DMT).

At Epcot, He rides everything. Mission Space the mild side only.

At Animal Kingdom, he rides everything except Expedition Everest and that one jerky ride in dino area, the one that spins, can't remember the name.

At Hollywood Studios, it is a no go for Tower of Terror, Rockin Roller Coaster. He likes everything else.