When to make unwilling kid ride?

[BuckeyeBama]

That isn't funny, nor is it necessary.

 

[bumbershoot]

Most likely peer pressure will work

Eek! I'm trying to make my kid peer-pressure-proof. To be the leader rather than the follower. Like my brother; not like me.

Would we say 'never' if the question was about helping a young child overcome the fear of sleeping by themselves in their own bed?

Aw, mammals sleeping alone is against nature especially as young ones. It's sad to sleep alone when little. And humans have such a LONG childhood compared to most mammals.

riding a roller coaster is just not a necessary part of life.

You make a good point.

Right near to when you on the ride, he got quite hysterical and the mother turned around and said to him. If you do not go on the ride, we are leaving the park and you will not ride anything else! And with that they all went on.
I was flabbergasted, that a parent would do that

I'm sure it would be startling, but I'm such a busybody AND a passive studier of human nature AND I've had my own interesting moments at themeparks, that I would probably realize that a mom saying that in line is a mom pushed to her absolute limits. There are OTHER things going on in that family, and she is at the brink. As my friend says, he was on her last nerve. Who knows how many times they had gone through that scenario that day or trip? Who knows if he was the one at home saying he wanted to go and he'd go on everything only to turn it all around when there? Who really knows what was behind it? I do know that for me, if I'm saying or thinking something like that, there has been HOURS of crud happening, and anyone seeing my proud moment is seeing the very very end of a LOT of junk.

Since they loved their pins....... we offered to buy them a pin for any new ride they rode. The Tower of Terror pin, Rockin' Rollercoaster pin, and others were great motivators to just ride the ride once.

Once DS was ready, a pin was terrific for Indiana Jones at DL and Expedition Everest. But it didn't get him on the rides until he was ready, or almost ready.

No TOT pin would have gotten him back on it until he was ready; he quite liked the ride itself, but DL's version where you're "turned into skeletons" had him convinced that we had died. From 4-9 years old "we died on TOT and I don't want to die". Even though we are alive. Not skeletons. Sigh. He likes WDW's better because you don't "die", but now he's heard the stories of the CM hiding and spooking people as they enter the building one night we were there (since he's tall we had to FP it separately because DS wouldn't ride, and the CM got me, then got DH in a different way) so the *line* scares him...

He'd somehow managed to convince himself that the rickety bridge (which I don't think is even there anymore) was way longer than the maybe 20 seconds it actually lasted.

I think it is. The nice thing about being an adult is you can sit at the window and look out and see how the bridge thing is done. Poor kids. Can't see that.

If I made one of my kids ride something and she actually liked it, she wouldn't admit it and would continue to hate it on principle.

Heh heh. I was very much like that as a teen. Not with disney (we didn't go as teens) but with everything.

We talked my son (5 at the time) in to riding Tower or Terror. It's been 10 months and he is still having nightmares. Not of the ride itself, but the Twilight Zone theming and effects before the ride.

Yep, see above. We didn't even talk him into riding the first time, he wanted to! And he liked the *ride*. Just not the effects.

You are getting fear confused with consequences. Fear has no place in the life of anyone. It does not help us make good decisions - it hinders that process.

I think that people are using different ideas of "fear". Sounds like you're looking at it in the "False Expectations Appearing Real" way. Others are seeing it differently.

Have you read The Gift of Fear? Despite it saying that fear is a gift, I think you would ultimately agree with it. If you are ONLY fearful, you can't DO anything. So you have to go beyond it so you can act. Someone lurking in the bushes? Fear will freeze you. Working out what you can do about it is pushing through the fear and getting yourself away from the lurker.

But...themeparks DO have accidents. I think some fear is warranted. I mean, sure, I felt like a fool bursting into tears at Universal a year or so ago, when DS wanted to hit Dr Doom, Hulk, Rip Ride Rockit, and then Dragon Challenge, all on the same day. I made it through the first 3 but the THOUGHT of Dragon Challenge caused a slow tearburst. Thankfully hubby and son respected my fear (of the ride failing and us falling face-first to the ground, to be smashed to a pulp) and put it off. It's my choice to ride with him; he's old enough to go alone, but I can't deal with the idea of him being evacuated from the highest point of Hulk while alone, nor can I handle the idea of him smashing to a pulp alone, so I go with him. DH can't go because he's of a size that doesn't work with the restraints.

It's not probable that such an accident will happen, but it's *possible*.

I'm eternally thankful that DS is now too big for Uni's Pteranodon Flyers, and therefore none of us can go on it at all, because THAT ride sent me into a panic unlike even Dragon Challenge. I will *never* ride that again even if I'm traveling with a child big/little enough. I'll hire someone to go with that child rather than go myself. no no no.

The rest of the world shouldn't be subjected to your traumatized crying, begging child shrieking through the stretching room, or the library or in the TT car etc.

Well, those rides would be a million times better if NO ONE shrieked. I know MY kid would not have been so annoying about HM (only going on the Nightmare Before Christmas version at DL until this year) if it weren't for all the ridiculous adults screaming in the stretching room.

So after 2 years, she now "bursts into tears" at the thought or suggestion she go on the ride? HHMMM

To be fair, she was not just thinking about it, but they were *there*.

"Then when she was almost 8 I tried to get her to ride it again, but she burst into tears, so I didn't make her."

Not wanting to go on a theme park ride does not make someone a "wuss." Some people have motion sickness.

And some have a healthy knowledge of physics and that low probability doesn't mean "never".

 

[BuckeyeBama]

But...themeparks DO have accidents. I think some fear is warranted.

You had me until you got here - fear is not warranted because there is a minute risk involved. The real risk of serious injury or death is much higher in your home than in a theme park. Are we afraid to let our kids walk around our homes?

Fears like this are totally irrational. They live only in our minds. Giving them credibility by bringing the tiny risk into the discussion helps no one - certainly not those trying to get past those irrational fears.

Would Disney allow 4 year old children onto rides that introduced them to REAL risk?

 

[maxiesmom]

When? When you choose to be a bully instead of a parent.

Bull. I think most parents are good at judging what is fear and what is apprehension of the unknown. The one time I helped force my nephew on to a ride ( a ride at Dollywood similar to Kali River Rapids, but not as thrilling) after we went on he said something like "I was afraid of that???" Sometimes giving in to every fear makes that fear worse. Which is not doing the child any favor.

 

[ThornXBL]

My parents took me (not kicking, but) screaming on Splash Mountain on my first visit when I must've been 6 or 7 years old (I've been told that I tried to alert CMs that they "were trying to kill me").

It's been one of my favorite rides since.

In hindsight I suppose they knew me better than I did at that age, haha.

 

[Jennasis]

It doesn't have to be fear. Maybe the kid just doesn't enjoy it. Can't that be enough? Plenty of adults don't enjoy the sensations certain rides give them (the drop, the speed, the zero G, being wet...etc)...why can't kids feel that way too?

 

[BuckeyeBama]

It doesn't have to be fear. Maybe the kid just doesn't enjoy it. Can't that be enough? Plenty of adults don't enjoy the sensations certain rides give them (the drop, the speed, the zero G, being wet...etc)...why can't kids feel that way too?

Agreed - we have never asked one of our children to ride again if they expressed a dislike for a ride once they had tried it, no matter their reason for not liking the ride. I hate some rides/attractions, so I can relate. But, just like food, they have to have tried it before they are allowed to say that they don't like it.

 

[maxiesmom]

It doesn't have to be fear. Maybe the kid just doesn't enjoy it. Can't that be enough? Plenty of adults don't enjoy the sensations certain rides give them (the drop, the speed, the zero G, being wet...etc)...why can't kids feel that way too?

I go on plenty of rides that I don't exactly enjoy, to be with my family who does enjoy them. Sometimes you have to suck it up and do what the rest of the group wants to do, instead of staying behind. Sometimes you gotta Take One For The Team.

 

[itchin2go]

I go on plenty of rides that I don't exactly enjoy, to be with my family who does enjoy them. Sometimes you have to suck it up and do what the rest of the group wants to do, instead of staying behind. Sometimes you gotta Take One For The Team.

That's one option, but it's not the only one. You can also let them go on the ride and go fetch delicious drinks and snacks that will be waiting for them when they get off the ride. There's more than one way to be a team player.

Regardless, if you go on a ride you don't particularly enjoy, it's because you chose to do so. I think it's only right to let a child make the same choice.

 

[disnut1149]

Never, I don't like thrill rides, so I wouldn't want to be forced to ride.

 

[coolbrook]

NEVER! You said, "Too late for that." I say, "Then never again." Don't do it, its not worth it for a stupid ride that is supposed to be fun.

 

[Catvondita]

I found it funny.

 

[fbb]

You've got to know which approach works best with your kid. Ours is analytical, so I'll pull out a spreadsheet of how much the vacation is costing me to cajole her.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

Never. It's a ride at an amusement park. Does it really matter if the child rides it or not?

The readiness is all. My DS loved Barnstormer and slowly worked his way to BTMRR. Then begged to do Splash (I had to overcome my own fear to do that with him) and went on Space Mountain. (He does it alone now and I wait for him). He has no interest in ToT, EE or RnRC and would actually rather go to Hall of Presidents or Peoplemover. It's fine! We have fun and if someone in our party wants to ride one of the bigger rides we just split up for a little while.

 

[Summertinkerbell]

Clearly people have very different parenting styles and philosophies.

I base my parenting on a Masters Degree in Education, a National Accreditation awarded by the National Association for the Education of Young Children, and many years of experience as a parent and an educator.

...But what do I know?

 

[BuckeyeBama]

I stayed at Holiday Inn Express last night.

 

[Lisaloo]

 

[Angel Ariel]

Curious how others handle kids who are scared to ride. I made my scaredy-cat daughter (probably age 6 at the time) go on Thunder Mountain a couple times - no loud crying, just a pouty face and a little pitiful whimpering. I truly thought (and still think) that she would like it if she just tried. Then when she was almost 8 I tried to get her to ride it again, but she burst into tears, so I didn't make her. But I've already told her that she's trying 7DMT next time, despite her protests (she'll be almost 9), so she has 6 months to get used to the idea .

What do you do? No judging each other please! Keep just keep about your own approach!

I would show them YouTube videos beforehand, but if - in the end - they were at the ride and really did not want to ride, I wouldn't force them. Kids are ready for things at different times, and that's OK.

 

[Jing]

Big difference between force and encourage. I have seen some awesome examples of encouragement from parents in the parks where the kid was empowered to make their own choice - sometimes going through with the ride and sometimes not. I have also seen the making-fun of the fear and bulling the kid onto the ride - I have yet to see the kid appreciate the experience afterward. I failed at encouraging my niece to go on EE when she was 8, but she tried it a year later and loves it now at 13.

Had my parents done the "force" approach with me, it would have become a ridiculous power struggle, and I would have been stubborn just to prove I could say no. They offered coping skill advice when I was scared of an experience to get me to go on it and did not seem like refusing to go was a big deal.

 

[maxiesmom]

That's one option, but it's not the only one. You can also let them go on the ride and go fetch delicious drinks and snacks that will be waiting for them when they get off the ride. There's more than one way to be a team player.

Regardless, if you go on a ride you don't particularly enjoy, it's because you chose to do so. I think it's only right to let a child make the same choice.

I disagree. I think it is a life skill to be learned, that sometimes you do things just because it will make someone else happy.