2 year old's first experience with rides...what to take her on first?

[emmismom05]

Hi, my question/dilemma is that my DD2 has never been on any rides before besides a carousel (which she LOVES) and those mechanical rides that cost like 50 cents (which she also loves). I don't know how she will react to rides so we'd like to take her on whatever is very tame or toddler appropriate first. Ex: I don't want to take her on Peter Pan first, have her be terrified of it and then not want to ride anything else. (I don't anticipate her being afraid of Peter Pan but toddlers are way unpredictabe. Just when I think I have her figured out she throws me for a loop!)

So... any advice/suggestions as to what rides to go on first? MK is our first day there. Thank you!

 

[TinkerbellLuvr7]

When I was little my 3 fav rides at WDW (MK) were the buckets (which arent there anymore), People mover in tmwland, and my fav fav was Peter Pan, but for her first ride, you could take her on dumbo, its outside so its not so scary and children love it!! but it does go in the air so i dunno how she feels about that.

 

[MommyWithDreams]

What about it's a small world or the little train in Fantasyland?

 

[wdwdancerwannabe]

Winnie the Pooh should be among the first! and Small World

Your 2 year old would also enjoy Jungle Cruise and Tiki Room.

 

[Laurabearz]

See Winnie the Pooh scared my kids.. there is a big thunderstorm in it and they hated that!

Peoplemover AKA Tomorrowland transit autroity has some fairly long dark spots in it. We brought glow lights for the kids to use the first couple of times... it really helped. It's now one of our favorite rides! Cool breeze, never a line, and great stuff to look at!

I would start with Dumbo.. Small world.. Merry go round... tea cups... Mickey's philharmagic... work your way up... dont try rides your not sure of if the child is tired, hungry, et all. lol

 

[1Prince2Princesses]

Definitely It's a Small World. It was the one ride that my 2yo and my then 8 month old DD's both LOVED. There's nothing scary in it, it doesn't go high, and it's full of music. It would be a great start to your day!

Don't forget, too... you could always do Cinderella's Carousel. If it's something you know she loves, it might be a good transition ride to get her going.

 

[Princess Roo]

For a completely different reason, if you're getting to the park right when it opens, then I definitely say Dumbo...the only time of day that the line isn't long!!! That was my DS' first ride when he was 15 months. I wouldn't start with Peter Pa, Fantasia or Pooh *first* just because of the darkness others have mentioned. Small World is another good one to start. If one of the other ones scares her, you can always follow that immediately with the carousel, since she's used to that, to get her back into the riding happy zone

 

[Mouse House Mama]

No question it has to be DUMBO!!! It is awesome and the kids (ahem and parents ) love it! I wouldn't do WTP first. My dd hates tht ride (she's 3) and won't even go on it. Whatever you do do not take her on SWSA first (or even at all!). We made that mistake once and dd was terrified the whole trip of any ride that was inside. IASM is my dd's favorite. Good luck! I so wish we had a trip coming up soon!

 

[tadamom]

I agree with the People Mover or Dumbo.

 

[tmarquez]

I would start with Dumbo.. Small world.. Merry go round... tea cups... Mickey's philharmagic... work your way up... dont try rides your not sure of if the child is tired, hungry, et all. lol

Excellent advice. I agree with all, but have heard that some get frightened at Philharmagic.

 

[asktriplets]

See Winnie the Pooh scared my kids.. there is a big thunderstorm in it and they hated that!

Peoplemover AKA Tomorrowland transit autroity has some fairly long dark spots in it. We brought glow lights for the kids to use the first couple of times... it really helped. It's now one of our favorite rides! Cool breeze, never a line, and great stuff to look at!

I would start with Dumbo.. Small world.. Merry go round... tea cups... Mickey's philharmagic... work your way up... dont try rides your not sure of if the child is tired, hungry, et all. lol

ditto on dumbo, small world, teas cups, carrousel.

philharmagic is LOUD and dark (and my kids hate the glasses),
winnie the pooh has thunderstorms and the "scary" woozles (our kids at 4 still don't care for the ride ,but they now love pirates of the carribbean?!?!..i truly think they got scarred at 2 y.o. by the ride!) TTA also has some dark and loud spots. buzz is loud, dark, and a bit scary to my kids.

glow sticks help my kids (i tell them to "look at the bright light" if they are uncomfortable with a dark ride), but i think the glow stick gives them a sense of courage, even more than a sense of comfort on the ride. we actually start a glow stick for each of them each morning and we let them hold them for any dark ride (we hold onto them for the rest of the time or they'd be lost in 30 mins!)

we also learned after trip #2 that my kids are very uncomfortable with/scared of loud noises, so we also bring earmuff/head phones to reduce the noise level. i don't think most kids have this problem, but you might just want to watch for any signs that your child is uncomfortable with the noise level so you can cover ears, if needed!

the train ride around the park is great, too.

2 y.o. is a fun, fun, fun age to take kids (even if they DON'T do lots of rides). have a great time!!

oh, i know some parents don't consider it, but world showcase at epcot is INCREDIBLY entertaining for toddlers...there is SO much to see and experience, and not just the kidcot stations(...we use that as a "last resort" to keep the kids occupied and rested, but i will warn you, SHARPIE sponsors the kidcot stations. if you are like me, you are asking, "what, SHARPIE?!?! as in the permanent marker manufacturer?!?" YES...PERMANENT markers for toddlers....arrggghhhh!!!!!!! )

 

[mdsouth]

My DD at 2 1/2 loved the teacups! She also loved the carosel and enjyed It's A Small World. You may also want to take your child on Indy Speedway.
My DD did not like Philharmonica nor Muppet 3-D in MGM. Both were too loud for her.

Have fun and enjoy yourself.

 

[jenseib]

These are great suggestions. We are going in 6 days with my 2 YO.
What about the Mickey's toon town area?

 

[latexscooter]

We took DD when she turned 2 and even though she had been before she didn't remember. We took her on everything that wasn't height restricted without a problem. We spent a lot of time before hand going over the pictures and talking her through the planning DVD so she had an idea what to expect. The only thing that made her slightly nervous was the witch in Snow White and I easily talked her through that without tears.

In preparation for our trip in May I've been going to YouTube and letting her watch videos for different rides. She's watched some of the shows, Peter Pan, and several others. It's neat that you can do this and she's very excited about it. You may want to give that a shot.

Ultimately its very much an individualistic thing - so you'll have to make choices with that in mind.

 

[Lindymom]

My son was 2.5 when we took him for the first time. Small World was great for a first "dark" ride. I took things slow and had prepared him with youtube and such ahead of time and in the end, there was almost nothing he was really scared of. I think at that age, he didn't quite understand enough to get scared. I'm anticipating many more fears on our next trip when he's just turned four. The only times he got a bit nervous were at Fantasmic and in AK at It's Tough to be A Bug. I didn't take him on Pirates, Haunted Mansion or Snow White. He loved Peter Pan, Winnie the Pooh and TTA. He didn't seem interested in riding Dumbo and the line was insane, so we just skipped it and the other rides like it. He loved the Barnstormer.

But his favorite things in all of MK were the fountains in the Hundred Acre Wood play area and the WDW railroad.

 

[Berettafan]

Do you guys think the preparation (youtube videos and such of the rides) took away from the surprise of seeing Disney for the first time? We are going with out 2.5 yr old this summer and i'd be upset for him if he didn't like certain rides.

 

[Lindymom]

Preparation was key for us, I think. At this age, my son really likes to have some sense for what to expect, but he's young enough that it's still so magical for him even though he's seen bits and pieces on youtube and DVDs. I actually found that it got him more excited about the trip and the whole experience. Besides, on youtube you can only see little bits of the rides for the most part.

 

[Cory's Gal]

We just took our son in January, it actually worked best for us to not go to MK first, we were there for a week. We went to AK, MGM, Epcot, then MK. He LOVED so much at MK that the 5th day we were back in AK and all he wanted was Dumbo Ride, Pooh Ride, Race Cars, and Merry-Go Round (Carousel). So for us it was easier to wait a few days so we could experience the other parks. Always start with Dumbo, even on slower days that line is long!! He loved EVERY park but of course could ride the most at MK. My son was also VERY into riding the bus, boats, monorail, and trains. It was a ton of fun and he remembers quite a bit still!!! It's such wonderful memories for DH and I.

 

[mexican-mouseketeers]

Excellent advice. I agree with all, but have heard that some get frightened at Philharmagic.

Mine is one of those who was frightened at Phillarmagic.

My order for a 2 year old would be:

1.- Dumbo (because of the looooooooooong lines after. Aladdin´s carpet ride is a lot like this one, for when you change lands.

2.- It´s a Small World (a really easy dark ride), if you get a good reaction with this one, then I would do Peter Pan and only then would do the Pooh ride, since that one is quite bumpy. If she likes the dark rides, you might try the Haunted Mansion if you don´t think she will be scared by the eerie sounds, since it is a slow ride too.

3.- Jungle Cruise is an easy boat ride too.

4.- Family Robinson treehouse.

3.- I would try my child not to see the carrousel until after a few dark rides, otherwise you might get stuck riding it once and over again (but on the other hand, we used to ride everything 3 or 4 times in a row since we were there to make dd happy).

The ones that I would definetly skip unless you discover your child is a daredevil:
- Snow White´s scary adventures (dd rode if for the first time when she turned 4, and we prepared her by explaining that the witch was looking for us and we had to help SW, so my dd was already making faces at the witch and actively looking for her)
- The tiki room, since it can be noisy.
- The 3 D movies (Mickey´s Phillarmagic can be quite noisy, though it is a great attraction, the Muppets one is funny too, you can do these) but definetly skip the ones at AK and Epcot.

 

[emmismom05]

Thanks so much everyone! This has been so helpful! I think we'll do Dumbo, Carousel, and IASW first. I'm glad you warned me of Pooh because my DD is scared of thunder. I'm sure we'll go on it but definately not first!