9 Year Old Ride Chicken

[Biscuitsmom31]

My 9 year old son is a huge ride chicken. My daughters (8) and I are fearless thrill seekers. Any ideas on how to get my son to loosen up and try some rides? He won't even ride Splash or Big Thunder Mountain and my daughters consider those baby rides. I don't want to terrorize him - I don't expect him to ride ToT or RnR, but he should at least get on everything at Magic Kindom. KWIM?

 

[FanOfStitch]

I don't know if this will work, but I used to always make a deal with my DS12, try the ride once, if you don't like it, I won't ask you to go on it anymore. I've since turned him into a thrill ride junkie!!

 

[tjmw2727]

If he has ridden a ride once and really dosen't enjoy them then I personally wouldn't make him ride. OTOH our rule is (within reason) try it once and if you still don't like it then its off the list for you. My youngest dosen't love Splash because of the drop but after riding she loves the rest enough to deal with the drop. My oldest will not ride TOT tried it 2x and just dosen't like the holograms or the drop so we take turns doing something with her while the other rides with youngest dd.

Perhaps a better knowledge of the ride will help him? We love the WDW guide for kids by kids it may help him realize that WDW is really about family rides rather than thrill rides.

Otherwise - use FP, separate and take turns and yes you can please everyone! BTDT, bought the shirt

TJ

 

[mmeb144]

Don't worry about it. I have an 11 year old DD who is a ride chicken. We don't push her. I figure that, eventually, she will want to try the ride. Besides, she won't let herself enjoy a ride that she's not ready to experience. There's plenty to do at MK, or the other parks for that matter, without riding the fear causing rides. Go with the flow!

Marie

 

[Ilovestitch]

I was a ride chicken too at that age- probably b/c I hadn't been to many theme parks before. My parents forced me to get on every ride, but afterwards I always loved it and had a great time. I think I just had a fear of the unknown.

Anyways, maybe if your son is scared of a ride ask him "What's the absolute worst thing that could happen?". Most thrill rides are less than 5 minutes long, so just tell him it will be over before he knows it and then he doesn't have to ride it again.

 

[BabyFu18]

I wouldn't force him to ride splash of anything he wasn't ready for. If he's scared and you talk him into going on a ride it might not turn out so well. I think when he's ready, he'll let you know he wants to give it a try. I was one of those children (and as an adult I still am) that won't ride anything remotely scary. Being put on a ride that I did not want to go on made me never want to ride things that scared me in the slightest ever again. Even though the ride I was put on wasn't scary to me when I got off I still hated it and refused to ride things because I was once forced into it.

I just can't jusitfy making a child do something they clearly aren't ready for, like I said he'll let you know when he's ready and if he's not he will still have a wonderful time because there are plenty of other rides he'll love and enjoy.

 

[Ghost]

My 9 year old son is a huge ride chicken. My daughters (8) and I are fearless thrill seekers. Any ideas on how to get my son to loosen up and try some rides? He won't even ride Splash or Big Thunder Mountain and my daughters consider those baby rides. I don't want to terrorize him - I don't expect him to ride ToT or RnR, but he should at least get on everything at Magic Kindom. KWIM?

Check out some online videos of the ride together with your son. Like this one from Splash Mountain . It might change his idea about riding it.

 

[bleeps]

PLEASE keep in mind that it isn't always just a matter of being "chicken," or being "unwilling to try" -- there is a difference in brain function, really and truly, and how people process motion AND process "thrill/risk" -- it is NOT true that everyone will love any ride once they try it. It is not "good" to love rides and "bad" (or deficient, or silly, or stubborn) NOT to love them -- this is as much the case as saying as a good child has blue eyes and a problem child has brown.

So, please let your son make his own decisions, even if that means never trying any of the rides that you love....

 

[WDWtinkbell1982]

I agree. Don't push him. I used to be a ride chicken...and it made my DD so angry at me. It made our family vacations....well...unpleasant. I eventually got over it...on my own. But the greatest thing about Disney is there are so many other rides for your DS to enjoy!

 

[tripplanner]

I was a ride chicken as a child. I had been exposed to plenty of theme parks, my family loved them. I was forced to ride a water log ride once and actually passed out on the drop. My family was soo frightened that they never pushed me into riding another ride. The amazing thing is that I now love thrill rides. Once my family backed off on trying to get me to ride, I actually started choosing to ride certain rides once I got older (maybe 14). As an adult with two kids, one a thrill ride addict and one a definite scaredy cat, I don't make a big deal when one wants to ride and when one doesn't. We simply either have one adult hang out with the child who doesn't want to ride (sometimes we hang out and have ice cream; othertimes, we walk through shops or just sit and watch people) or we do the baby swap thing if it's something both adults really want to ride. It's been great for both kids. When we do baby swap our ride addict gets to ride the ride twice (once with each parent) and our other child gets to spend a little relaxed one on one time with mom or dad. The great thing about Disney is that there are plenty of "non-thrill" rides that everybody can enjoy together.

 

[jjk]

Our son has been scared of rides, particularly ones he couldnt see before you ride for a long time. we never made him go on anything he felt uncomfortable with just took turns to wait with him(even though this was somtimes quite frustrating) then all of a sudden last year he just decided he wanted to try everything and loved the rides DH and I could not belive it. whatever you decide I hope you have a great time

 

[bubba73]

My DD (9) is the same way but maybe even worse. I was at another park with her once and put her on a ride that went so slow that I could have walked beside her to hold her hand. She was screaming to the top of her lungs! When she got off, we asked her why she was screaming. Her answer was that she thought they were going to speed up the ride and make it go fast. Now with that said, we leave for WDW in less than a month and she can't wait to do Mission Space, Soarin and TT. I have told her that if she can do all of that, she can go on one of my rides. I am going to try to be fair about it though and put her on one of the slower rides like BTMR. I do keep joking with her though and saying that I am going to put her on EE. You should see how pale she gets and she knows I am kidding.

 

[Bev J]

My son is 11 and recently announced if we would go to WDW he would ride all the rides....
Now the last time we went he was 8 and he would ride hardly anything...even if it were a ride he had ridden and liked. It got to be quite frustrating for us all.
So we told him that the rest of us are going to ride and it is his choice to just sit and wait while we get our turns. So he would sit with one of us while the rest rode then sit some more while the other got their turn. He got pretty darn bored. We never tried to get him to ride. Sometimes we would ask if he wanted to go- NO! By the 3 day of this he changed his mind and started to ride some rides, not any of the 'big' ones although he did go on Splash by the end of the trip.
This ended up being less stressfull for the rest of us if we did not keep trying to get him to ride.

He has since gone to State fairs and such that have what I think are 'scarry' rides and he rides them all with his big sister- she makes him feel brave I guess.
Last night we were all talking and relized we would all enjoy our trip more if 'big sister' came along too so we asked her to join us, plus that makes 4 of us so easier to wait with some one if he does not want to ride and no one will have to ride alone either..

Same thing worked for our other son, he would also not ride any of the big rides untill he had a friend along with him, that made him brave and he relized he loved the 'big' rides!

Bev

 

[Pooh_Friend#1]

We are bringing my SO DD's (9) to WDW this September. This will be the first time they will have ever been to an "amusement park" with rides. They both are scared of everything so I am a little afraid we are going to have to force them to go on the rides. They were terrified to go down a water slide and then we forced them to go down it and now they won't get off it!!!!

 

[hrh_disney_queen]

My "ride chickens" (DS8 and DS6) are getting a little braver with each visit. They don't like inside rides (except IASM), but I got DS 6 to ride Peter Pan this year. Last year we conquered BTMRR. They won't return to Splash Mountain or TOT (DS6 tried it-what a trooper!) . They went on Expedition Everest after I bribed them $5...(we give them souvenir money at the end of the trip, so what the heck, I just gave them part of it early...) I know that I will probably get flamed for this, but bribery seems to work well with us. I love all the rides, and I really want the boys to experience them, because I know they will love them too. I would NEVER force them on, so bribery seems to work. It cost me $10, but we ALL are now hooked on EE...and I don't have to pay them anymore to ride it... We are looking at RR for DS8 next trip...If we talk it up enough, it might not cost me anything.

 

[OzFan]

I was a ride chicken and still am! When we started going with our daughters we always started them out on Goofy's Barnstormer, if they like that then we moved on to Big Thunder Mountain, if they could handle that one, we did Space Mountain and last Splash Mountain. It seems like gradually adding more thrills worked for us. Now they ride everything, and can't wait to do EE in September. Me on the hand, can. I am not a droppie kind of girl, I liked Splash Mountain until the big drop then I almost ! It felt like someone sucked the air from my lungs. I have NEVER ridden ToT and probably never will, but thats just me! I'm a BIG ole HONKIN' chicken and PROUD of it!

 

[TinyLolitaBunny]

My 9 year old son is a huge ride chicken. My daughters (8) and I are fearless thrill seekers. Any ideas on how to get my son to loosen up and try some rides? He won't even ride Splash or Big Thunder Mountain and my daughters consider those baby rides. I don't want to terrorize him - I don't expect him to ride ToT or RnR, but he should at least get on everything at Magic Kindom. KWIM?

I have gotten my little sister (5, will be 6 on our trip) to agree to go on most rides she originally said 'no' to by showing her videos and pics.

I found a pic of the Yeti from EE online and showed her. I didn't want to see it myself since I wanted a surprise but I knew if I showed her she'd go on it so I saw the thumbnail and looked away before I clicked to get a big pic! LOL. Now she will go on it. She knows it's a rollercoaster and all but her fear is the 'scary things' not the fast or tall things... Her biggest excitement the whole time has been to go on Space Mountain this year! lol.

She is still afraid of the HM but says maybe. I showed her one ride video but it wasnt a very good one so there is still some mystery left and this is what she does not like . Does anyone know of a GOOD on-ride video of the HM at WDW??? Or I suppose since the DL one is similar a good video of that will do too.

She has also agreed to go on Splash Mountain. You know what she was afraid of? Not the big drop. That she can handle. She was afraid of the Briar Patch!!! lol. Shes too funny. But I have enticed her to ride by showing her pics of the critters inside. She is a huge animal lover.

So my advice is to show them ride videos or pics of the things they were afraid of and they may not be scared anymore.

PS: this will not always work, as some rides are even scarier after you see the video. AKA the tower of terror! lol. That was a useless try

 

[joll43]

PLEASE keep in mind that it isn't always just a matter of being "chicken," or being "unwilling to try" -- there is a difference in brain function, really and truly, and how people process motion AND process "thrill/risk" -- it is NOT true that everyone will love any ride once they try it. It is not "good" to love rides and "bad" (or deficient, or silly, or stubborn) NOT to love them -- this is as much the case as saying as a good child has blue eyes and a problem child has brown.

So, please let your son make his own decisions, even if that means never trying any of the rides that you love....

I absolutely love you.

 

[seashoreCM]

I vote for -- Don't make him go on anything. Let him decide, years later if it takes that long.

It took me 2 years to get up the courage to do Test Track! Three years for Tower of Terror and Rock&Roller Coaster. I ride these regularly now.

It took me about 2 hours to decide to try Mission Space but after one try I decided "never again".

Disney hints:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/disney.htm

 

[MsLeFever]

Use Goofy's barnstormer as a warm-up. How he reacts to that one should give you all of the answers you need.