3-yr old on Matterhorn?

[mmlover74]

I am hoping my DS who is almost 3.5 will enjoy all the thrill fun loving rides like his Mom.

 

[Leofoenget]

My son did as soon as he was tall enough.

 

[jlima]

Disneyland was a TOTALLY different park once DS15 was tall enough to ride Matterhorn, Star Tours, and everything else that was 35 inches. The night he first rode all of them, DH was totally blown away by how much fun it was to be a dad.

 

[MoniqueU]

This is the coaster we started all our kids on. No one complained and they all like coasters which is important to us since my DH and I love them. I say go for it before he changes his mind and gets scared.

 

[01spirit750]

We took our daughter on the matterhorn at 2.5 and she absolutely loved it. The only problem was she didn't want to get off.

I strongly recommend that they ride with you (probably obvious) and you use your hands to brace their head a little. We do this with my daughter. We don't hold her head but use our hands as "safety stops" about 1" on either side of her head.

I believe that kids at this age don't know how to brace themselfs like adults when they see a turn coming. I also don't think there neck muscles are as strong as an adults.

This is just by gut instinct. I am not a Dr.

Chris

 

[mousireid]

My daughter rode for the first time our last trip (we all were able to ride as a family for once even Daddy, who won't ride coasters, enjoyed it but we both found it a little rough) and she is three, however my 7 year old son complained about it being too jerky and decided once was enough whereas his sister wanted to go again, and again! I think at three they are often less afraid and if you begin when they are older they understand what real danger is and may be a little more apprehensive? Dunno!

 

[dirtbikebride]

I took my DD when she was just a week shy of 2 years old. (She was already 36" before she was 2.) I was more worried about smashing her hands as she kept them on the outside of my legs. She did great on the ride but I was a little stiff from trying not to smash her. We are going to Disney next week so I'm interested to see how she does on the ride now.

 

[sahbushka]

We are going in September and my DS will be 4. He is not much of a daredevil so I try to gage him by the rides at our local fair. This past year he finally started liking the kid rides but still didn't care for the dragon roller coaster even though he begged to go on it. The fair is in August so I will get to try him again before we go to get a good beat on what he will do. The last time I took him to DL he was 18 months old and didn't like anything that went inside...even IASW he turned into my neck on once it goes inside the building. I am hoping we are at least beyond that! Good luck! I am hoping he has turned a corner and will go on the roller coasters too!

Sarah

 

[thmar]

We just returned from DL, and our 3 year old grandson absolutely loved the Matterhorn. He went on it about 7 or 8 times. He would have gone more if it would have been up to him. He's about 36-37 inches tall. He wanted to go on the "other mountains" too, but he wasn't tall enough.

 

[mmlover74]

I took my DS (3) and he did fine on it. I aksed him if he wanted to go back on and he said no, but he liked it. Then, the rest of the trip he kept mentioning about going back to the "snow covered mtn ride". However, the line was too long.

 

[specialks]

I took my DD4 on it last trip and she loved it. She is a complete daredevil though. I agree about wanting to cushion them. I think I kind of laid my arms around her neck and pulled her right back against my chest. It is a jerky ride. And I do think it is good to make up a story about the yeti. Something that lets them know it is there but soften the yeti so the kid isn't scared to get on the ride. My DD fave is Space Mountain. She went on it 8 times.

 

[disneynerd420]

I really would have loved my parents to have introduced me to coasters at a young age... they didn't like roller coasters though. Because of this i developed a long running irrational fear of almost all thrill rides.
It wasn't until a few years ago, during the Disneyland trip that began my DL mania, did I go on my first roller coaster. It was BTMRR. It scared the beejebus out of me, but the coaster bug burrowed deep within my skin. Since then, I have been on all of the "thrill" rides in DLR numerous times and still loving it. I feel like I need to make up for lost time.