3 Yr old on Haunted Mansion

[akclayton]

We are takingour DD3 in February. We think that she will enjoy the ride itself. She loved Halloween stuff this year. DH is worried about the elevator room and the lights going out with thunder and screaming ruining the chance of her being excited during the ride. He was asking the other night if there was any way to bypass that part. I wasn't sure and told him that I'd ask on here to find out.

 

[kmb584]

Good question. I'm not sure CM will allow a family to skip the stretching room but it wouldn't hurt to ask. There is a separate entrance that those in wheelchairs or on scooters use and I know that that entrance allows them to bypass the room altogether.

 

[chris31997]

Don't know about bypassing.

But if you go through the streching room, I suggest holding DD. Depending on how full the line is they can really pack that room. Nearly got seperated from our DS who was 5. DH ended up carrying him through to the ride. If you carry her it would help comfort her, if she got scared.

 

[kgeary]

I recommend holding them. I did with my two year old and now he loves turning off the lights and saying in a spooky voice "ooohhhhh spooky!"

Now he says Haunted Mansion was his favorite MK ride.

 

[missjackiemcg]

I agree! When we took my DS2 I wasn't sure how Haunted Mansion would go, but I just held him and talked to him in a silly/spooky voice while the lights were out and that seemed to soothe him OK. Once you get into the ride, there's nothing TOO scary. If she loved Halloween, I think she'll be fine!

 

[wiigirl]

I recommend holding them. I did with my two year old and now he loves turning off the lights and saying in a spooky voice "ooohhhhh spooky!"

Now he says Haunted Mansion was his favorite MK ride.

 

[Claire&TheBoys]

When my kids were little, I also held them in the stretch room. While in line, we talked about how it was just "Mickey magic" and how Mickey was trying to scare them, but it was all pretend. Neither one ever got upset or scared and usually came off the ride the first time wanting to go again.

 

[pheonixheart]

My ds6 has been 3 times and it has never scared him....I have a bad back so I can't hold him but the only thing I do is try to cover his eyes like a visor (I hope that makes sense. I don't actually cover his eyes just shield them) so he doesn't look up when the lightening goes off since you quickly see the hanging skeleton.

 

[Desnik]

We skip the stretching room on almost every time we ride. DH can't go in it so they escort us (we are a family of 4) through the back and we meet up with the guests right after they get out of the room. You just get in line like normal and tell the person at the door when you walk in you want to skip the stretching room. They have you wait by the door on the opposite side of the entrance and then a CM will escort you and your party around.

Sometimes we don't want to skip it and we let DH go around the back with the CM alone and he meets up with us as we exit the stretching room.

FYI, my kids have been going on this ride since they were infants. It's a family favorite and they were never afraid of it. Then again, my kids favorite movies were Sleepy Hollow and a Nightmare Before Xmas as kids, so maybe they aren't a good example

 

[loiamve]

Hello,

My 3 year old is pretty skittish, but I pulled up videos on YouTube of various rides (including Haunted Mansion) and he loved them all and is excited to go. I still plan on holding him during the stretching room, but think being aware of what he will see will help him enjoy it more.

 

[DSNY4ever]

We thought our 2 year old might freak out too during the elevator scream, but it didn't even phase him and he liked the whole ride. We called the ghosts "happy haunts" and he liked that. There is no way to bypass that room unfortunately. I would see how she does on other rides first and then play it be ear. That is what we did and it worked well. Work your way up Our son ended up riding everything without a height limit and had a great time. He even watched It's Tough to Be a Bug with no problems.

 

[DSNY4ever]

We skip the stretching room on almost every time we ride. DH can't go in it so they escort us (we are a family of 4) through the back and we meet up with the guests right after they get out of the room. You just get in line like normal and tell the person at the door when you walk in you want to skip the stretching room. They have you wait by the door on the opposite side of the entrance and then a CM will escort you and your party around.

Sometimes we don't want to skip it and we let DH go around the back with the CM alone and he meets up with us as we exit the stretching room.

FYI, my kids have been going on this ride since they were infants. It's a family favorite and they were never afraid of it. Then again, my kids favorite movies were Sleepy Hollow and a Nightmare Before Xmas as kids, so maybe they aren't a good example

Huh, I just saw this and my husband asked a cast member and they said no. Not to be nosey but is your husband disabled, is that how they let him skip it, or is it just because he doesn't like it? Maybe the cast member we asked just didn't know.

 

[SueM in MN]

Huh, I just saw this and my husband asked a cast member and they said no. Not to be nosey but is your husband disabled, is that how they let him skip it, or is it just because he doesn't like it? Maybe the cast member we asked just didn't know.

There is no longer a 'disability entrance' from the exit.
About 18 months ago (maybe longer) the turnstiles were removed and the line reconfigured so that guests with mobility devices go they the stretching room with everyone else.

They changed that staffing to have a CM inside of the stretching room takes guests with disabilities from the stretching room to the exit to board. So, there is not a CM at the outside exit taking guests in any longer. They may be able to let someone board at the exit without going thru the stretching room, but it would be based on need and whether they have CMs available to do that.

 

[Desnik]

Huh, I just saw this and my husband asked a cast member and they said no. Not to be nosey but is your husband disabled, is that how they let him skip it, or is it just because he doesn't like it? Maybe the cast member we asked just didn't know.

Like the previous poster mentioned, they changed how they handle things. We now wait in line with everyone and tell the CM at the door that opens to let you into the attraction. My DH has no visable disability. He has agoraphobia. He simply tells the CM I cannot go in the stretching room and need to skip it. They tell him to wait by the door across the room, let everyone else into the stretching room and then someone comes and walks him around to meet us at the spot where guests exit the stretching room.

 

[Desnik]

I also want to add that my DD(15) has a disability and sometimes needs the use of a wheelchair. When we have had her chair, we skip the stretching room and go around the back but to the exit of the ride to load with the wheelchair. They keep it & it's waiting for us when we exit, but we get into the attraction the exact same way as everyone else.

 

[DSNY4ever]

Interesting. Obviously for us it was not important to skip the room, we were just curious and our son did fine anyway. Just always funny when you get different answers from cast members.

 

[LindseyLou2222]

We skipped it yesterday. Just asked a CM, it wasn't a big deal at all.

 

[DisFanatic]

We always tell the CM at the door that we want to skip the stretching room and they put us to the side, and we go with the earlier group onto the conveyer belt of the ride. Have been doing this for 20 years and have never been denied skipping the stretch room.

 

[ShayBells]

I don't think so but what I did was warn my DS. I said the lights will go out. Hold my hand and look at your glow bracelet. It helped a lot. I knew when it was coming though. Somewhere around the "no windows and no doors". I told him right than and made sure he knew they'd come right back on than we would go on the fun ride. My DS hates the dark and loud noises but it helped. He was four though.

I took him at two right before he turned three as well. It didn't bother him at all than.

this is just a suggestion but I'd hold her during that part and than I'd get her a glow bracelet and hand it to her right before they go off. Maybe the distraction for the whole ten seconds the light is off would be enough?

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[soccermom21]

We took our almost 3 yr old last week and she wasn't scared a bit!