6 and 4 years old- fine for Haunted Mansion with some prep?

[nessz79]

We have not taken our kids on the HM during our 3 trips to the Magic Kingdom. It's one of my favorite rides and I've been trying to prep them some with youtube videos, etc. I am not really worried for the 4 year old as he isn't easily scared by these things as long as he has Mom and Dad. However, the 6 year old is very sensitive and easily scared. He said he thought it would be ok after watching the youtube video, but I don't want to have him have nightmares for months either. Anyone have any experience with sensitive kids and the HM?

BTW, he loves fast rides- Splash Mountain, BTMRR, etc. He's done POTC and was fine, although he hid his eyes in a couple spots. Thanks!

 

[Mandychelle79]

DD went on it at 3 and was scared at 4 she said they are just pretend right? and enjoyed it

Ds was 2 and wasnt freaked by it.

 

[tkitty]

We took my DGS for the first time to HM (DL)when he turned 4. He was fine, never seemed to be bothered. He has never been afraid of the dark, either. Then took him at age 6, along with his sis-15mos, she was even fine! Just wide eyed.
I think they get more fear as they get a bit older. I agree that youtube is a great resourse for getting children ready to ride.

 

[Aubrielle]

My DS5 is very sensitve and tends to frighten easily. The ride itself was totally fine. It was all the 13 yr old nitwits screaming in the elevator at the beginning of the ride that did him in. (Apologies to parents of 13 yr. old nitwits.... )

Later, a friend told me that it is possible to ask a CM to let you skip the elevator portion and go right to the rest of the attraction. We never tried this, so I'm not positive it is true, but it might be worth your time to ask.

 

[jenb1023]

I have a sensitive DD who is a thrill seeker but doesn't like scary things. We explained HM to her ahead of time. She was fine on it at age 3 1/2 but didn't want to ride again. She did not ride it at a little over 4. She rode it and was fine and said she would do it again at age 5.

 

[arielmomma]

I took my children (4 & 1) on it in January. They had no problems. In fact, we went on it a few times! My 4 year old thinks its kind of funny! When he was 3 he was a little nervous about the Pirates of the Caribbean, but never the Haunted Mansion.

 

[Perditamarie]

My 6 yo finally got up his courage to get on this ride...after many trips of bailing out. He had a hard time w/the howling noises leading up to the entrance and the stretching room was almost too much...after you get on the Doom buggies, everything is fun and not too scary, but if you can avoid the stretching room the scariest part will be over!

 

[MNFootballMommy]

My 3.5 year old was apprehensive at first this past Sept, but she did fine with it. I pointed out some of the 'silly' things (footprints on the ceiling, etc.) and kind of directed her away from some of the things that might have been scarier for her (i.e., the bride in the attic). What really made it 'better' for her was making her go on it a second time (I know, Mother of the year, right? )--she could see that everything was just pretend because it was exactly the same as the first time she rode it. And then, she started pointing out the silly things to us!

 

[brie182]

My daughter was really scared in the first room when the floor drops. She did not want to ride again.

 

[princessmom29]

My DD had just turned 5 when we rode it and did fine. I told her before we went on that it was all just pretend for the ride and not at all real and she seemed fine with it.

 

[stephd219]

My DS5 (almost 6) is also pretty sensitive. He went on HM for the first time at 4 and did great. Fast forward to last week and he hated it. He didn't freak out or anything, but would not open his eyes for the entire ride. Strangely, he did fine on Everest and Space Mountain. I thought he would have no problem with HM, but I guess you never know how they are going to react and even previous reactions are not a great guide!

 

[squirrel]

My niece (4.5yrs) seemed to be okay with HM, but did mention that the ghosts would be following me home - not her!

 

[lucas43068]

im really hoping my lil girl(turning 3 on our trip) will get on this, ive shown her youtube, and pics form the trip and she seemed ok with everything (she said the bride kinda looked scary, but i just told her shes silly, so now every time she sees her she just cracks up and calls er silly lady, lol.) but im sure its a lil different in person.

 

[nessz79]

Thanks everyone! I guess the only way to find out is to give it a try. I wonder how to skip the stretching room- which CM to ask?

 

[aubriee]

One of the cutest thing I ever saw was one time when I was getting off the ride: a little girl about 7 years old, put both hands on her hips, glared at her mother, and said, "That really wasn't a very good idea, mom!". She didn't really look scared, just mad. The mom said, "well excuse me, but you were the one who insisted you were old enough to ride it". The little girl gave her a very disgusted look and said, "Well what do I know, I'm just a kid". I think what made it so hilarious at the time was the fact that my GD has said almost the exact same words to me on our previous trip after she insisted she was old enough for Rock n Roll rollercoaster.

 

[SCHBR'smom]

On our last trip, we took 6 kids on HM (luckily there was also 6 adults). The kids were 8,5,4,3,2, and 1. The 3 oldest were a little nervous after they got off the ride, but were completely fine once they went on to something else. The oldest wasn't even scared of anything at tower of terror, but something about HM worried her. The only ride that actually scared her was dinosaur (I kinda found it scary, too). My 3 1/2 yo little girl found HM funny. That helped show the older ones that there was nothing to actually be scared of. I think that just thought about the ghosts a little too much.

 

[Jack&Ryan'smom]

HM is too my favorite ride. Imagine my surprise when my DS who was 6 and other DS who was 2.5 totally freaked out and we had to leave through a emergency door. I was so annoyed I missed my ride and it had just reopened from the remodel. Hopefully next time we go I will get to go on it. It's no fun riding it alone.

 

[Tiger926]

I guess I'm always confused by these posts - if child is afraid, why bother? My DD5.5 has been to WDW 7 times and we have never gone to HM. She isn't naturally afraid of much, but the whole concept of ghosts and hauntings is very confusing to her, so we don't visit HM and we won't until kids are much older. Not saying this is the case with OP, but it`s kind of selfish, IMHO, to become annoyed or angry with young children because they get frightened of certain rides or attractions.

Good luck to OP, Tiger

 

[James65]

Such a dilemma . Of course, I don't want to scare my ds(7) next week; but, also I don't want him to miss out on something that could be really fun. We've already viewed a few things on YouTube ... should add HM to the list.

 

[autumnsmommy]

My DD was fine with it at 3,4,5,and 6....although now that she's about to turn 7, seems like she's becoming more fearful of some things than she used to be.