40 inch tall, 4 year old kid

[HollyL]

Hello. I know all kids are different and some freak out easier than others, but just curious here.....
My son is 4 years old and 40 inches tall. I think for our next DL trip, he will be tall enough to ride a lot of the rides that he wasn't able to last time. He has grown and matured a lot since our last trip (last year) and he wasn't scared of most of the rides he was tall enough to go on. He loved Pirates, the tea cups, the flying rockets, Buzz Lightyear, and pretty much all of the kiddie rides.

I am hoping he will want to try some of the bigger rides this next time around. He loves airplanes and flying, so I hope he will be willing to try Soarin over California. He loves trains, so I am hoping he will want to try Big Thunder Mountain RR, but that can go either way.

I highly doubt he will try Tower or Terror, The Matterhorn, or Space Mountain, so I probably won't even attempt those.

Just wanted to hear from other parents of 4 year olds, and what your kids were and were not afraid of, or any advice.

Thanks!!

 

[KalamityJane]

DD was 3y4m when we went last year and she rode Matterhorn 3 times and LOVED it. Hated Splash Mountain because she didn't like getting wet. Was a hair short for Goofy's Sky School, but liked Soarin'. She didn't go on Big Thunder, I think it may have been closed? I know DH didn't ride it either.

 

[Girimama33]

DD was 42 inches by the time she was 3.5. Now that she is 4, she is close to 43".
Her favorites are Star Tours and BTMRR.....they are ridden multiple times a day when we are in the parks. She has also been on GSS, Space and Splash - she didn't like being wet either, but loved the big drop.
We didn't make it to Soarin' last time, so that is on our list for this trip. She is also looking forward to meeting Harold in the Matterhorn, and I am considering letting her ride TOT.

 

[HollyL]

Is it just me, or are the girls braver when it comes to rides?! My son was afraid of his shadow at 2 years old, my daughter, at the same age isn't afraid of anything. My son is kind of small for his age, and my daughter is catching up to him fast. I have a feeling she will be riding some of the bigger rides before him!
On our last trip, I thought for sure he would have loved the Toy Story Midway Madness because he LOVES Toy Story, but he freaked out at the last minute. I don't know if he had an anxiety attack over something (runs in the family) but, I thought for sure he would have loved it. He loved the Buzz Lightear ride.
You never know....the kid was too afraid to ride a Merry-Go-Round until he was 3 and a half!

 

[DLmama]

DS is 4 and we're going in Dec. He's already talking about wanting to ride BTMR, Space Mountain and ToT. He's 42 inches now. I hope he'll be interested in Soarin too. We took him when he was 2.5 and he rode the Matterhorn, but didn't like it very much. He loved Pirates, both Toy Story rides, the Fantasyland rides, and the teacups. He could've ridden nothing but the teacups and been happy. LOL!

 

[Girimama33]

Is it just me, or are the girls braver when it comes to rides?! My son was afraid of his shadow at 2 years old, my daughter, at the same age isn't afraid of anything. My son is kind of small for his age, and my daughter is catching up to him fast. I have a feeling she will be riding some of the bigger rides before him!
On our last trip, I thought for sure he would have loved the Toy Story Midway Madness because he LOVES Toy Story, but he freaked out at the last minute. I don't know if he had an anxiety attack over something (runs in the family) but, I thought for sure he would have loved it. He loved the Buzz Lightear ride.
You never know....the kid was too afraid to ride a Merry-Go-Round until he was 3 and a half!

I think your statement is true...It seems during the early years that girls are more brave than boys, but when they get older, it reverses...At least that is how it was with my niece and nephew.

 

[txcorey]

My son had just turned 4 the last time we went to WDW. His favorite ride was BTMRR. We didn't ride SM because I don't really like it. We rode splash with no problem. He didn't like Soarin, but I told him to just close his eyes. I mean you are pretty much just suspended in the air for Soarin' and it's the views that get ya.

 

[princesscinderella]

My son was 3.5 and 40 inches when we went to DL 4 years ago he is a little daredevil and wanted to go on space mountain. He went and loved it. He was so small that he did not show up on the picture all you could see was my husbands arms reaching over the seat to hold his shoulders! Our youngest DD turns 3 on Sunday and she is 39inches barefoot so she just might be able to go on some of the big kid rides she sees her brother and sister go on when we go in a few weeks.

 

[jmainaz]

My Daughter rode the Matterhorn at 2 years old (She turned 3 the next day )
She loved it. At 4 she rode Thunder Mountain over and over raising her hands up the entire ride!

However, she was more scared on the dark rides (Mr. Toads, Roger Rabbit) because Disney really cranks up the volume on those rides. It was the loud sound FX that frightened her the most.

Last year (when she was 4) she measured 41 inches. We put her in high backed sneakers and stuffed napkins in her shoes so that she could ride Grizzly and Goofy at DCA!

Every child is different.

-JMAinAZ

 

[KalamityJane]

Yeah, DD was terrified of Snow White and was not a huge fan of Mr. Toads either.

 

[starshine514]

Last year, when my DD was 4, her favorite was BTMRR (her favorite at WDW for her trip during her 3rd birthday was Goofy's Barnstormer, so she's a coaster girl). She also liked Soarin'. We had APs, so when she reached 42", she enjoyed GRR and Goofy's Sky School. Oh, she loves the Silly Symphony Swings also. She didn't like Space (it's still not her favorite), but will ride it if her sister wants to, she's also not terribly fond of Splash. She rode ToT the first time just before she turned 5, she LOVED it, it's her favorite in CA now.

It really depends on the kid, though, her sister loved SM at WDW when she was 5, but ToT terrified her. Those would be the two with HR that I would be the most concerned about (well, those and Splash, DD7 is still scared of the drop at the end and insists on sitting in the back seat (the only one that seats 2 ppl))

Both my girls liked the Matterhorn last year (when we could snuggle while riding), but we haven't been back since they changed the cars so they'll have to sit on their own. So, we'll see...

 

[Rubygoose]

My daughter was just under 40 inches last year when we went just after she turned 4. They let her on jumping jellyfish (I thought she looked too short, but they let her on anyway. Guess it was a slow day) and she keeps talking about wanting to go on it again this year. Now that she is 42 inches she wants to go on the big rides. So I've been showing her videos of the rides to see which ones she wants to go on. There are some good video podcasts where you get a good feel for the rides. Just search disneyland in podcasts. She is excited about splash mountain and BTMRR.

 

[Liat]

My four year olds favourite rides on our last visit were Star Tours and Soarin'. He would have been quite happy if that was all we went on, throwing in the occasional ride on Splash Mountain or Big Thunder.

 

[IBLarsen]

My dd was right at 3.5 years old our first trip and she was 40". I had no intention of letting her ride some of the bigger rides, but when her brother age 5 got to do it, she insisted. So we simply told her what to expect and she said ok, so we rode just about everything and she loved it all!
I honestly didn't think she would like most of it, boy was I wrong. my DS5 at the time was more scared of things than she was.
By age 5 she wanted to go on TOT, so I let her, after trying to talk her out of it and she liked that one too! I didn't however.

We have been every year since that first time and she is now 7 and still remembers riding on each and every thing she has done and can't wait do try Screamin' for the first time now that she is tall enough.

So I would say to let your child try what he/she wants to. For the Matterhorn I did warn her that the Yeti would try to scare her, so we made a game out of her trying to scare the Yeti first. For Splash, we warned her that there would be a drop and it was scary but fun at the same time. So she knew what to expect and did fine with it. So we tried to let her know without making it sound scary, just very matter of fact.

Hope your little one enjoys everything!

 

[aimathy]

I know my daughter (4) is the exception, but oh my goodness is that child a daredevil!! She was 41" tall for our trip in August and we knew she always loved most rides (roller coasters, the frog drop one at carnivals etc), so we knew she'd like most of the rides she went on. She LOVED them all, the bigger, the better! She went on Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Railroad, Soarin'....she wanted to go on Tower of Terror and that's where I was drawing the line. I didn't want to traumatize her. She BEGGED for HOURS to go on it. I told her how scary it was...told her it was dark....there was lightning....the lights are out...it's a huge drop. The more I told her, the more she smiled. Finally, I relented and took her on it. She LOVED it. I still can't believe it. On top of that, she has her hands high over her head on every single ride picture we bought. Unreal. She went on ToT 4 times while we were there. I'm sure the people on the ride thought I was a terrible Mom who wanted to go and dragged my frightened little girl on the ride....if only they knew! I guess it really, really depends on the kid. My son (now 12) wouldn't go on ToT until he was 11!!!

 

[dmband]

I feel a lot of if a child likes a ride or anything else depends on how they are preframed
If you tell them it's going to be fun and whatnot they are going in thinking its fun
Same goes on the ride, if you are telling how fun it is vs screaming it makes a huge difference

 

[skellinton]

My nephew was 3.5 when we where in WDW last year and he loved everything, (he was tall enough for everything but Everest and Dinosaur and Mars). His favorite was Splash Mountain, but he seriously loved every single ride.
Your daughter is old enough to let you know what she wants to ride or not. I bet she will love everything!

I agree about the dark rides, those were the only things my nephew was a little timid on. Oh, and he HATED the Bugs Life Movie, kept yelling for us to get the butterfly away from him. Embarrassing, but hilarious, after all it is a BUTTERFLY, and he was terrified!

 

[bekkiz]

My guys were 40 inches in March when we went (3y5m), and we brought them on pretty much everything we could! However, I did talk them through almost every scene I could remember so they would know what to expect. I also showed them some of the ride videos online.

I never once said "this part is scary" or "you might not like this." I simply assumed they would like everything. If a ride has an animatronic that jumps out (like Haunted Mansion), I would warn them that some guys are trying to play a trick and surprise them.

They LOVE Big Thunder and Space Mountain. They like Splash Mountain except for the whole getting wet part. Soarin was a big hit too. They've been on Tower of Terror once each trip (March and May), but once has been enough. Oh, yes, and Star Tours got many many many repeat rides (but, they are huge Star Wars nuts, so that might have something to do with it).

We're going in October, and I think they're pretty close to 43 now, but I'm positive they wouldn't like the Grizzly rapids, just because of the getting wet aspect. Goofy's coaster might be fun though.

 

[I❤MICKEY]

We went to DL for the first time on DS 3rd birthday. He was 40" tall and loves rides. He went on any and every ride he was tall enough for including: Tower of Terror, Splash Mountain, Matterhorn and Space Mountain. He cried when we checked him for California Screaming and he wasn't tall enough.

Every kid is different. I would just see what he's interested in when you get there and ride accordingly.

 

[kailuagirl]

Last Dec. my 4 year old was 40" when we went and we had the BEST time ever!! She wanted to go on everything, she was so happy she was finally tall enough. She loved Space, we went on it over and over and over again, already loved Matterhorn, kinda liked Tower of Terror, liked Splash, but didn't like Big Thunder at all. Hopefully this time around she'll give it another try and find out she likes it. Youa re going to have a blast being able to go on the "big" kid rides!! Take it nice and slow and don't just rush it so he doesn't get scared and then won't try anything. Maybe even show him the rides on Youtube, that's what we do and it gets her excited about it and knows what to expect.

Have fun!!!