What would a 5 yr old think?

[MMD281]

I AM looking for a little advice here, but I confess that I'm just as interested in hearing related stories. Let me tell you my story and hopefully I can lead by example.

I'm about to take my five year old daughter to Disneyworld (and HS, EPCOT, and AK) for the first time. I last went in 2002. I know she's going to have a great time, but I'm her father so I just HAVE to make it better if I can. Anyway, I'm looking at the rides and shows and trying to think ahead to which to take her to. For the shows, I think she'd be good with just about anything except a stunts spectacular. That would probably be too loud and startling for her. For the rides, I was letting the height requirements be my guide. She'll be at that 40" mark when we go. I THINK she'll be good with most anything they'll let her on, but there are three rides I'm already planning to give a pass to... but maybe I'm being too cautious.

1) The Haunted Mansion - I think that's just going to be pure scary to her and she will not see any of the humor at all.

2) Kali River Rapids - She'd like the water, but if it flows over her at all (as opposed to just splashing her) she is going to freak.

3) Tower of Tower - I can't IMAGINE that she wouldn't be scared out of her mind on this one.

So are these three milder than I think? Are there other rides that Disney would let her on but that I should be more cautious about?

Oh, and I did say I wanted to read related stories so here's one from me. When my daughter was 2.5, we took her to Sea World for the first time. She loved all of the shows, but she was too short for nearly every ride and I'm including the whole kiddie ride area. So I'm passing their log ride and I look at the height requirements... and there aren't any! Sea World won't let her on half of their kiddie rides, but they'll let her on this? Hmmm. I know she'd like the splash, but it does go up sort of high for her and that drop might totally freak her out. We watch the ride a little and I ask her if she'd like to ride it. She says yes, but then she IS only 2.5 and she might say yes to swimming with sharks if you asked her. She's already been turned away from so many rides today though and I know she wanted to ride SOMETHING so I decide to risk it.

It took a while to go through the line and she was a little restless but that had a lot more with her being 2.5 than it had with the upcoming ride. Our turn finally comes and we climb in with me right behind her. She seems to be cool with it all. We get ratchetted up the first big hill and she seems okay. We're up in the troughs now, fairly high up, but she's so short that I'm not sure she even realizes it. We approach the first big drop and I go into overdrive, chattering about how we're going to go real fast and have a splash and I wrap my arm around her as if I'm her seat belt. We go over the top, we shoot down, and then we get splashed. OMG! Have I just scarred her for life? Have I mis-read her actual interest? This is easily the biggest ride she's ever been on in her life. Fortunately, there were no tears. She turned around in her seat with big glowing eyes and said excitedly "Again Daddy?!" This ride did have one more lift and drop and she loved it too. And we rode it again later that day and it was easily her favorite ride.

Last year we went to Sea World and were surprised to find that they had demolished their log ride! We still had a good time but I had really been looking forward to taking her on it again. You can BET we're riding Splash Mountain at Disneyworld!

 

[Missy13d69]

I have a log ride at Sea World story, involving a 2 and a half year old. It's my brother though, not one of mine. My mom took my brother and I to Sea World in San Antonio when I was 14 and my brother was 2.5. My mom is not into "big" rides at all but decided to try the log ride because she thought it looked fun. This version also had no minimum height posted, so we thought it would be pretty mild and wouldn't scare my brother. Huge.Mistake. When we plummeted that first drop it scared my brother so badly, that he wiggled up from between my mom and I (I was in front, he was between us) and attempted to climb over my mom trying to get out of the boat. She was trying to get him seated again, but he was fighting her tooth and nail. He clutched onto her head and would not let go. I was turned around trying to help her get him down, but he was not budging. So my mom wore my brother as a hat for the rest of the ride. He has never ridden any kind of a ride since that day. We went to the Texas State Fair a month or so later and he cried when he saw the rides. Even after he forgot the incident, he could always remember being afraid of rides and has never ridden any kind of ride. He's now 20 and still won't ride anything more thrilling than an elevator.

 

[Disneylover99]

My daughter was 5 on our last visit to Disney and she is a fearless daredevil.
Loves TofT, HM, EE, SM....all of the fast rides. She is just not tall enough for RNR yet.

The one thing she hates is getting wet on rides. When we go on Kali River Rapids, she takes off socks and running shoes, puts on flip flops, and bundles herself up in a rain poncho, making sure the hood is tied and every strand of hair is securely protected from the water. She does this on Splash Mountain as well, even though just her legs usually get wet.

 

[ChitownFamily]

I AM looking for a little advice here, but I confess that I'm just as interested in hearing related stories. Let me tell you my story and hopefully I can lead by example.

I'm about to take my five year old daughter to Disneyworld (and HS, EPCOT, and AK) for the first time. I last went in 2002. I know she's going to have a great time, but I'm her father so I just HAVE to make it better if I can.

To make your experience more personal, have you looked into character dining? Or thebibbidi bobbidi boutique (at Magic Kingdom & downtown disney) Character autograph spots- did you know you can search online ahead of time, to figure out where her favorite characters will be? Or Pin Trading (use the search function on the dis to find more info on pin trading) These are the things that, for me, make a trip extraordinary.

Anyway, I'm looking at the rides and shows and trying to think ahead to which to take her to.
Depending on the time of year you are going, you may want to look into "touring plans" or plans that help you maximaze your ride/attraction experience. The website www.touringplans.com has many different plans for a nominal fee. IF you are going during a busy season, summer, school break (christmas, thanskgiving, spring break) You may want to consider a touring plan. Hope this helps!

If she likes Phineas & Ferb, look into the Phineas & Ferb experience/adventure at Epcot.

 

[Mkrop]

You might want to add Dinosaur to your list.

 

[Sheaboys]

Haunted Mansion is not bad, I think the stretching room is the scariest because of the darkness and loud voices, I just covered their ears. Other than that the rest of the ride was cool and they loved it.

Kali Rapids, is a hit or miss, you could either be under the waterfall type wet or just a splash. Our 3yr and 6yr olds, did not love that part, but once off the ride they were fine. No big deal. The 3yr old got the brunt of the water, while he was not happy he did fine. We brush alot of things off as no big deal, so he looks to us for how he should feel. But, I did not attempt to take him again, as even I know their limits, once was enough.

Your 5yr old will meet the height requirements for everything, except maybe Rockin Roller Coaster, and maybe Expedition Everest.

Lion King is a great show.

 

[Happyjen27]

Your list of rides:

Haunted Mansion: We showed our 5 year old twins a youtube video of HM and asked if the wanted to go. The girl said yes, the boy said no. In the end, the boy decided to go, and it ended up being one of his favorites. It was lighthearted enough to be a fun ride, and DH and I kept the mood light too.

River Rapids. I hate getting wet, DD hates getting wet. We went in December so we all skipped this one. If she isn't going to dig being in a waterfall, I would skip it.

ToT: I wouldn't do it with my 5 year olds, but some really love it.

My whole take on Disney is to let them be little. They have years ahead of them to like the thrill rides. They only have a small window when Peter Pan and Dumbo are going to be magical. So, we chose to let them enjoy the little kid rides this year, and saved the bigger kid rides for when Winnie the Pooh no longer brings wonder and joy into their eyes.

Oh, and we brought ear plugs for the loud shows and fireworks. Worked great!

 

[SouthernBelles]

We went in December and took my 4 year old daughter and my three year old son. They loved everything of course but since we are talking about your daughter, I can pass along things that my daughter loved. We did the BBB and she was able to dress up like her favorite princess. It's cheaper if you bring your own dress but if you don't already have one for her, they sell them there. Then we ate lunch in the castle with her all dressed up. The pictures of her with the princesses all dressed up are so special!!! I made all of us adults t-shirts that said Princess Protection Agency on them and the pics of all of us standing around her are priceless! You can also do a carriage ride if she likes that sort of thing.

We had another day at the MK and we let them do a pirate day at the Pirates League. They both dressed up as pirates and had a blast doing that. You can also have pirate makeup done with her. That was such a fun day and we ended the night eating at Chef Mickey's then getting on the Pirates and Pals Fireworks cruise. It was AWESOME!!

They had fun at all the parks but the talk all the time about dressing up and eating at the chrarcter meals.

I bought them personalized pillowcases from Etsy and had all the characters sign the pillowcases. My daughter loves it b/c she said it makes her dream about princesses.

One last thing was doing the pressed pennies. It's one of the cheapest things to do at Disney!! It's $.51 (the penny to be pressed and .50 to press it). Then you can get a display book. My daughter LOVES Ariel so we got a ton of pressed Ariel pennies and I poked holes in them to make earrings, necklaces and bracelets. We are going back on Tuesday and I have to get more Ariel pennies to make a b-day goody bag fillers.

 

[jadelane1]

We took my 5 year old daughter and let her try everything she could. The HM was fine, the only time she got a little scared was when the lights go out in the stretching room. I let her bring in her light up princess wand( it's fairly dim) and told her when she gets scared to light it up and it will keep bad things away. She was fine with that and even went back a couple of times. She was also OK with the ToT, You never know unless you give it a chance. I told her to try the rides and if she didn't like them then she did not have to do them again, however I always left it up to her and never forced her on anything.

 

[msmama]

My concern with my 5 year old son is that if I take him on a ride and he DOESN'T like it, he'll never go on another ride again.

He's been on Haunted Mansion loads of times. Like others have said, the scariest part is the stretching room. I think with this one, the more YOU hesitate, the more scared she'll be. If you act like she MIGHT be scared, she is more likely to. Treat is as fun and she'll never know it's not.

The rides I skip with my son:
Space Mountain - I don't like the set up of seats. It's one person in a seat in a line. That makes me uncomfortable. If I could let him sit NEXT to me, I'd do it in a heartbeat, but I don't think he'd be okay sitting in front or behind me.

Dinosaur - Frankly, even after all the times I've been on it, it scares ME!!

Kali - I admit I don't like water rides so skipping this is no skin of my back, but I skip this one similar to the space mountain reason - I can't put my arms around him. If they get scared on this one, there's no way to comfort.

TOT - I'm fairly certain if he went on this one, he'd never go on another ride again, lol. Again, I don't love it so I don't mind skipping. I suppose if he asked I'd take him though.

We don't do Splash either, but that's his choice. I'm hoping to get him on Big Thunder Mountain this year because I do think he'd like it. It's really loud right outside Test Track when the car drives over you and that scared him away last year, but he's saying he wants to try it this year (I keep telling him it's not loud when you ride it).

Have fun!

 

[DESKRoberts]

I took my DS who was three on ToT last year. He was a little unsure in the holding room, but I explained to him that it was all pretend like a movie. He really enjoyed it, and was proud of himself for going on it, especially because daddy didn't want to!

 

[Happyjen27]

I forgot to add my story:

The very first Disney ride my twins rode (they were 5) was The Star Wars ride in DHS. They are big fans of Star Wars.

It terrified them. The film running for our ride included a ship crashing into ours and the appearance of it piercing through our ship's glass with a sharp point ramming right for us. My DS5 jumped, my DD5 gasped.

I thought we blew it for the whole trip. Luckily the next morning was MK, and Winnie the Pooh saved the day! It was calm, entertaining and just what my pair needed to erase the memory of Star Wars.

 

[NotUrsula]

IME, as long as it is warm, small kids who like rides will be just fine on Kali as long as you have them in water shoes and let them wear a poncho.

Ponchos and water shoes lessen the shock of the water hitting them, and they laugh and get a kick out of feeling superior because all the grownups on the boat are freaking out over being all wet while they are not.

One other thing about Kali: while it IS possible to sit next to your child on it, kids who are just tall enough have to sit in the safety seats with the drop-bar added, so be sure to put yourselves in the correct seat when you load. Because the boat is round and the course mostly drops by gravity, the distribution of the weight of the passengers in the boat helps determine who gets drenched: the heavier side of the boat always will be the victims. So, if you want to spare your kid the worst of the water, try to sit near other kids so that your side of the boat is lighter than the other side of it.

Sitting behind your young child on Space Mtn is usually effective; you can keep your hands on their shoulders. As to SW, the trick there is to avoid the front rows on the first run; try to stay in the back. It's shakier in the back, but the 3-D effects are not as startling when there are a bunch of other people between you and the screen.

For Haunted Mansion, GMR and Soarin' the best way to distract apprehensive kids is to have them look for hidden characters, especially the hidden Donald on HM. I've even pointed this out to kids in other families if I see their parents are having a tough time convincing them -- the search for the hidden character consumes them so much that they forget to be afraid.

The other one that you have to be careful of (besides Dinosaur, of course), is ITTBAB. Make it a point NOT to sit near the front righthand side of the theatre (where Hopper appears), and always have your child sit on your lap, so that they will not feel the freaky "sensaround" effects that are engineered into the seats -- the "bee stings" in particular scare the bezeejus out of young kids.

 

[MSSANDRA]

From the views of DS6 when he was 5: He is a cautious yet daring child. He is more concerned about the story line fear than the actual ride. He was 44 inches when he was 5.

MK-
HM- He hated it!! Hid his face in my lap and was quite upset over it.
Splash Mountain and TM.- Was ok with these. Did not really like the drop on the logs, and thought TM was too rough. Did not want to ride again.

Everything else was a go except Stitch as I knew that would scare him a lot and we avoid it always! I hate it too.

Epcot-
LOVED Soaring
Chose not to ride TT for some reason but it should be fine for most 5 year olds.
Stood in line for MS and backed out just as we started to get on. Not sure why??? It is a pretty intense ride but the line is not scary sooo??
Everything else was good.

AK-
AVOID dinosaur. Scary and rough. I did not take him on this one but he says next trip he wants to do it which is fine.
Rapids- LOVES these....but did not do them last trip as it was too cold. She will get splashed and very wet.
EE-she will be too short.
Everything else was good. ITTBAB can be iffy if she is afraid of bugs in any way.

HS-
We walked by TOT and he thought we were going back on HM---major not going to happen!
ST- LOVES it.
All shows- LOVES them though you are right that the stunt show is loud and hot and smelly and not my favorite.
Couple places in the GMR can be a little iffy but he loved this one.

Hope this helps. Don't forget a character meal or two, some meet and greets and some things dad wants to do too!

 

[Darcy03231]

I took my neice for her first trip when she was 4, almost 5. She's tall for her age so she met the height requirements on just about everything. We skipped:

MK - Haunted Mansion, Stitch & Space Mountain
AK - Dinosaur, Expedition Everest, Bugs Life (she's terrified of bugs)
DHS - Rockin Rollercoaster, Tower of Terror and Lights, Motors, Action. She initially wanted to try the Tower of Terror but got partway through the preshow and didn't want to go any further.
EPCOT - Mission Space

I did a scrapbook/journal for her of the trip and on the way home asked what her favorite things were. I was really surprised that nothing near the top of her list was a ride. To the best of my recollection they were:

1. Swimming in the pool (This was definitely #1)
2. Trading her pins
3. Being made up like Princess Ariel (Bibbity Boppity Boutique)
4. Playing in the parks (Winnie the Pooh, Chip n' Dale, the Boneyard, etc.)
5. Having dinner with Cinderella (1900 Park Fare)
6. Having breakfast with the princesses (Akershaus)
7. Trick or Treating in Magic Kingdom (Mickeys Not So Scary Halloween Party)
8. Coloring her mask and getting her charms (EPCOT World Showcase)
9. Getting picked for the Lion King show

After all of this I think we finally got to a ride. It was Test Track.

 

[Courtney829]

My 3 year old loved Kali. We went on it 5 times in a row because she loved it that much. I was nervous about taking her on HM but she liked that one too and wanted to ride it again. This year, we're planning on hitting all of the rides that she can ride. We watched a video of Dinosaur and she wants to ride it but I'm a little apprehensive about that. Kids are all different though so you may want to show her a video of the rides you're not sure about and see how she reacts.

 

[Claire&TheBoys]

My kids rode pretty much everything as soon as they were able. They rode Haunted Mansion as toddlers and were fine. I always told them ahead of time it was just "Mickey magic" and that Mickey was just having fun trying to scare them but nothing was real so it wasn't really scary. I would distract them at different times ("look at the dog!", "look! the ghosts are dancing!") if I thought they might be getting a little scared. My youngest (at age 2) ran off of it the first time saying, "let's do it again!"

Tower of Terror can be a little creepy. My oldest liked it at 5, didn't like it at 8 for whatever reason. My youngest loved it at 3, but with his big brother being apprehensive now, he's decided he's not sure about it either.

Kali is fun especially on a hot day. I do wear a poncho because I don't like to get soaked, but my kids do. I would definitely try it. It's a short ride and the fun is in the anticipation: how wet will you get!

Like others said, I would AVOID Dinosaur. That is one ride that we waited to take our kids on because *I* think it's extremely loud and jerky. My oldest rode at 8 and loved it, my youngest at 5 and hated it. I would also probably skip the Stitch experience in MK - you're pinned into your seats and it gets very dark and you think things are touching you.

 

[Julie711]

Our DD (5) has been 4x to DW and among her favorite rides are HM & POC. She has yet to try TOT, maybe this upcoming trip! She loves Phillarmagic, Beauty & Beast show, only show she didn't like was It's Tough To Be A Bug, age didn't like all the fog & feeling of bugs crawling on her ( and to be honest I didn't like how much fog there was, got very hard to see anything).

 

[Familyof4lovesDW]

Our first trip DS was 5 and dd just turned 4. DD's fav ride was tower of terror. She still loves it! DS, still doesn't lol, but does ride it w us.

They rode rnr the following year and loved it.

Stay away from the stupid stitch ride and its a bugs life.

We just rode dinosaur and wondered why we had not yet. It was not as scary as I expected from what I read on here.

Have fun

 

[MMD281]

Lots of good advice and stories!

The one thing she hates is getting wet on rides. When we go on Kali River Rapids, she takes off socks and running shoes, puts on flip flops, and bundles herself up in a rain poncho, making sure the hood is tied and every strand of hair is securely protected from the water. She does this on Splash Mountain as well, even though just her legs usually get wet.

Hmmm. This does sound like something my daughter might do too. From the comments so far, I’m inclined to either skip it or maybe just do it last before we leave because she’s going to be very gripy if she has to walk around wet for long.

To make your experience more personal, have you looked into character dining? Character autograph spots- did you know you can search online ahead of time, to figure out where her favorite characters will be? If she likes Phineas & Ferb, look into the Phineas & Ferb experience/adventure at Epcot.

Yep! We’re booked for a princess breakfast and we know where all of the character spots are. I think she’ll really like the P&B hunt too.

You might want to add Dinosaur to your list.

Sigh… so I’ve been reading. I just feel like we’re doing so little at AK that I had to toss out yet another activity. I think I will look for a video online and see how that goes.

My whole take on Disney is to let them be little. They have years ahead of them to like the thrill rides. They only have a small window when Peter Pan and Dumbo are going to be magical. So, we chose to let them enjoy the little kid rides this year, and saved the bigger kid rides for when Winnie the Pooh no longer brings wonder and joy into their eyes. Oh, and we brought ear plugs for the loud shows and fireworks. Worked great!

You’re right. We’re going to be riding plenty of rides that will be totally magical to her and boring as hell to me. But… I’ll love them if she does.
My wife is considering bringing ear plugs for the fireworks, etc. You just can’t tell how my daughter will react to those. Sometime she loves them, sometimes she fears them.

The very first Disney ride my twins rode (they were 5) was The Star Wars ride in DHS. They are big fans of Star Wars. It terrified them. The film running for our ride included a ship crashing into ours and the appearance of it piercing through our ship's glass with a sharp point ramming right for us. My DS5 jumped, my DD5 gasped. I thought we blew it for the whole trip. Luckily the next morning was MK, and Winnie the Pooh saved the day! It was calm, entertaining and just what my pair needed to erase the memory of Star Wars.

There is no WAY we are not going on the Star Wars ride. NO WAY. She will go berserk if we skip that. She pretends to be Ventress ALL OF THE TIME. We’re also planning on signing her up for Jedi Academy when the gates open.