4yo : DINOSAUR & STAR TOURS????

[LindaOwl1]

Leasving in 2 weeks - just me & my DGD age 4. I WAS going to try everything she is tall enough for (41"), but lately I've decided against TOT.
What do you think about DINOSAUR & STAR TOURS for her? She LOVES roller coasters & is not afraid of the dark. Last year though she had a little problem with the 3-D movies. Didn't like things "coming at her". I think rides like Splash Mtn will be OK, but not sure about these 2. ADVISE??
Thanks!

 

[keriannhoward]

My son just turned 4 a couple weeks ago-when we went over Labor Day he rode *everything*, including Dinosaur and Star Tours. The only ride he was scared on was ToT, but other than that he really got into the "scary" rides he was barely tall enough to ride on.

Have a fabulous time!

 

[bleeps]

My advice would be to, if you can, try Star Tours first and then if she likes it, try Dinosaur. It's true that the rides are very different (Star Tours you are in a room with a screen and the room itself moves, Dinosaur you are in a ride vehicle that gives a VERY bumpy ride and the animatronic creatures come at you). My rough and rugged 8 y-o DS loves roller coasters, loves Star Tours, but hated Dinosaur. He wasn't scarred-for-life by it or anything (thank goodness!) but we rode it when he was 6, he was apprehensive but willing, and in the end really hated it (TOO realistic, too bumpy, too intense in the dark).

 

[kyirish25]

For my DS he loved Star Tours. It is a bumpy ride but also nothing scary about it. Plus the 'pod' is big enough you could distract her from the movie if she wasn't liking it.

We have avoided Dinosaur thus far. Just a little too realistic for myself and I'm 32 years old. No way I feel my 4 yr old would be okay with a big T-Rex breathing in his face.

 

[tjmw2727]

I would say sure for Star Tours, and probalby not for Dinsasour. We just did a trip with my neice and nephew 4 and 2 and my nephew loved Star Tours. It is a simulator ride but nothing pops out like in Muppets or Philharmagic. They also did a non-motion verson for us as there were lots of us doing child swap so the under 40" could ride and my 2yo neice loved it as well.

As far as Dinasour - my kids liked it at that age but I know my nephew would not have. I say if your unsure of anything just skip it, or at the very least ride them yourself and try and put yourself in your childs shoes then decide. Honestly though there is sooo much else to do that missing one or two rides isn't a big deal.

My 9yo is still terrified of TOT but my 11yo loves it and visa versa for Space Mountain. You really can't go just by height - HTH

TJ

 

[liznboys]

Ours do Star Tours and love it. We haven't taken them on Dinosaur yet. It is intense!

 

[kakiegirl]

I would think you would be fine with Star Tours my dd has been riding it since she was three and loves it. Dinosaur is dark, loud, bumpy and the dinosaur at the end is pretty scary. However, my dd loves this ride, she was 6 the first time she rode it and I felt so bad the entire ride, I tried to cover her up and kept telling her its okay it will be over soon. When the ride was over she looked at me and said why wouldn't you let me enjoy the ride? We ended up riding it like 6 times that day. You know you dgd the best if you think she could handle the dark and noise and she likes dinosaurs she would probably like it. You might try warning her about what it is going to be like before you ride it.

 

[Minnie824]

My DD was just 4 last year, and DH took her on Dinosaur. He seemed to forget how bumpy it was. But, she loved it. She didn't even want him to hold on to her. We weren't at MGM long and didn't try Star Tours, but I would say go ahead and try both of them. We also opted to not let her on tower of terror yet.

 

[Hound 109]

I agree with the posters above. Star Tours - no problem. Dinosaur probably not.

But if you do go on, tell DGD that the big mean dinosaur is gonna lean in & growl at her....but it's just pretend.

hound

 

[LindaOwl1]

Thanks to everyone for such great responses!!! We will definitely do Star Tours, and maybe I'll ask DGD how she feels about a bumpy ride with dinosaurs jumping out at her. But you're right, there is so much else to do, maybe I'll just leave this for when she's older.

 

[marciemi]

One more "skip Dinosaur" vote. My youngest son is not afraid of anything usually, loves all coasters, and LOVED Tower of Terror when he was 3 1/2. At that point Dinosaur was called Countdown to Extinction and he was too short for it (46 inch requirement then). When we went back when he was 5 1/2, it had changed to Dinosaur with the lower requirement and he rode it and was TERRIFIED! On our next trip he was almost 10, and still remembered it and refused to ride it. I don't know what it was, but we're trying to convince him to try it our next time when he'll be 12. On the other hand, I remember all 3 of my boys riding Star Tours when they were 3 and none of them had any problems with it.

 

[°O°Joe]

In Dinosaur, an extremely realistic, loud, fast, large T-Rex almost eats you. It scared me the first time and I ain't scared of nothin'.

I vote no for Dinosaur.

 

[kidsgobears]

I agree with the above posters. "Star Tours" - yes, "Dinosaur" - no. Dinosaur was the only ride that really scared my 8 and 6 year olds. I didn't even know they were scared until after the ride. It is so dark in there you can't see each other. All you see are scary dinosaurs. I personally loved it! When we looked at the photo after the ride, DS8 had his head down with his arms over his head. Both said never again (although near the end of the trip, they both said if we went back to AK again that they wanted to ride it again...kids!)

 

[Wishes]

Took my DD to WDW for the first time when she was 5. She loved Star Tours but the pre-show for it has Chewie demonstrating how you sit in the seat and put the safety belt on. She was scared he was going to be in there and when we went into the ride she kept looking over her shoulder to make sure he wasn't anywhere to be seen! Dinosaur can be a little bit too scary for little ones. I'd avoid this one. We have a great picture of my DD on this ride clinging on to her Daddy because she was so scared and she was actually 13 years old and had been on it several times! Just another note about Tower of Tower. When my DD was 5 and rode it for the first time she loved it and shouted "Let's do it again!" If your DGD isn't afraid of roller coasters or the dark she just might get a kick out of it! My DD loved how her hair flew up during it when she was little!

 

[Hound 109]

I posted my opinion upthread, but the last few comments resembled my 5 year olds reaction to the ride the first time he (or we) rode it.

Dinosaur is so realistic & dark & loud. Adults love it cause it's so realistic (but of course we know it's pretend). Kids (even some 7-10 yo) don't automatically make that connection.

When we went the second time a year later (when he was 6). He knew it was pretend (& T Rex was coming) & he actually liked it.

 

[shafke]

When DS was 4 he did all of the rides he was tall enough for. I don't recall hiw reaction to Dinosaur so it cannot have been all that bad. As for ToT, the 1st time he rode it he said he liked it but did not want to go on again. I then went on RnR and when I got off DS had decided he wanted to try ToT again. He went twice more during the trip. Star Tours was not a problem.

For our next trip DD will be 4 and should be tall enough for the 40" rides. She will be a little harder to get to try these rides since she is nowhere near as adventurous as DS. With her we will need to start off slow and work out way up to Dinosaur and ToT if she does not flat out refuse those.

 

[shamrockshake]

My daughter has not been to WDW yet. We leave in a a few weeks, but she is a disneyland expert!

At 2 she started on the matterhorn ( 35 inches) LOVED it. Then once she hit 40 inches at 3 years old she loved all the bigger rides, thundermountain, space mountain, star tours, splash mountain ( her fave) soarin over california. She did go on tot, and said she liked it, but will go on it "Next time we are in disneyland" I think she was a bit spooked by the ghosts.

we hope she will go on tot in WDW since we have heard it is much better than the CA version. We are still not sure about dino ride, if we do we will make that the last ride of the night, so she is not spooked the whole time in AK. It would not of occured to me that the dino ride was so scary. Glad to have the heads up so we can talk to her before hand, and she can decide.

She is about 43 and 1/2 to 44 inches now, so maybe she can go on some of the 44 inch rides. we will see.

either way, everyone have a safe and wonderful Trip.

dont forget to say hello to the folks with the lime green mickey heads!

 

[littleprincessmom]

My DD (now 7) has ridden TOT since she was 4. We usually ride several times in a row!

Rides Star Tours and LOVES it.

BUT HATES, absolutely HATES, Dinosaur. I knew better than to let her ride but she BEGGED this summer (and she was 6). She was petrified and literally cried when we got off and it was over. That is an intense ride for a small child and I would not recommend it - especially if she doesn't like things "jumping out" at her!

Good luck!

 

[Abra Cat]

My son turned 3 on our last trip, and he rode and LOVED both Star Tours and Dinosaur. It definitely depends on the kid, though-- his older brother loved Dinosaur at 4, was terrified of it at 5, and loved it again at 6.

 

[LindaOwl1]

OK, I'm convinced. No Dinosaur! DGD has all the other 40" rides to be new & exciting for her this trip. I'll save TOT & Dinosaur for next time. And next year we'll have a group of 12 - safety in numbers! Skipping a couple of the "biggies" also makes touring a little easier this time. Thanks!