3 year olds and rides - HELP!

[Brave teacher]

I have been planning a trip to WDW for my dh, ds3, and myself for over 6 months now. We are going April 14-20. My dh and I brought our son to the zoo yesterday, and he asked to go on the carousel. Great! I was happy he wanted to go on the ride since we have this trip planned to go to "Mickey's House." My dh gets the tickets and takes him through the gates to go on the carousel, and it happened. A screaming at the top of his lungs 3yo little boy - he no longer wanted to ride (not even on the bench). He sat down on the bench outside the ride and watched his two best friends - our neighbor's children 4 & 5 - ride and have fun. Well, when the ride finished, he said he wanted to try again. I took him this time. The exact same reaction occurred. He is the type of child that is scared to look at something and think it will be okay, but once he does something, he is okay. I don't want to be that parent that forces their screaming child onto a ride against his wishes, but now I am so disappointed. I was so sure he would be fine because he likes the rides at the mall. He is normally a fearless kid - he loves the BIG waterslides,etc. I know WDW has so much more to offer than rides, but I just disappointed and looking for some help. Any suggestions?

TYIA,
Megan

 

[jenr812]

I am sorry you're dealing with this. My suggestion would be to start with some fun attractions and then try to work up to some rides at his lead. Try Playhouse Disney and Philharmagic first in MK. Small world isn't really a "ride" - he may not view it as such. Wishful thinking, but maybe the magic of being at the MOUSE will alleviate his fears.... Good luck and have a great trip regardless!

 

[lauritagoddess]

My son is that way too, he'll balk at something but if I can get him to do something often he'll be okay. We just got back a week ago and what I did was start with things I knew he'd like like Dumbo and then tried other things. But he was very clear about what he liked and didn't like and I never forced him onto anything when he was adamant about not going. Interestingly, the only ride he completely freaked on at MK was the carousel, the least scary one of all.

 

[susykt4]

Ugh. My DS3 did the exact same thing right before our first Disney trip. He freaked over some silly horse ride at WalMart and I figured our trip was pretty much ruined. He ended up going on every ride he was tall enough for and Big Thunder Mtn and the Goofy rollercoaster were his favorites. You never know! My son is also very shy so I figured he'd be afraid of the characters. Nope. He absolutely loved them all!