AK Dinosaur Ride: Any prep for a 4 yo?

[CarnotaurDad]

Does anyone know of any good way to tell when your child is ready for the Dinosaur Ride at AK?

My DD will be almost 4 when we go in November.

She is absolutely in love with dinosaurs and knows that there is a ride at WDW (she has the AK poster in her bedroom and says good night to the Carnotaur every night). She rode the Universe of Energy last November and loved it.

She also loves amusement park rides and will ride anything she is tall enough to go on (roller coasters, spinning rides, etc.).

Assuming her height is fine, does anyone have any prep tips for the Dinosaur Ride?

She already knows that the ride is "very dark and very loud" but that probably still won't prepare her.....

Your advice is greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Pete W.]

The Carnataur does "jump out" at you a couple of times and can be somewhat startling. The most sudden appearance comes from the right side of the vehicle so I would recommend sitting your daughter on the left, you sit to the right and make a joke of the fact that the dinosaur will scare you, or maybe ask her to hold your hand so you're not afraid. There's nothing too traumatic in the ride, just a couple of 'startles.' If she doesn't startle too easily (or gets over things like that quickly) then she'll be fine.

 

[goofy4tink]

Just that it is incredibley loud. My dd was terrifed but wanted to give it a shot. She never saw anything since her head was shoved between her knees to block out the noise!!! You can barely see her in the photo! Other than that, it was fine.

 

[jaygatz]

I don't think it's really a good idea to put a 4 yo on this ride. As stated, it's loud and dark. At one point, the car you are in gets "stuck" while being chased by a carnotaur. Simultaneous with getting stuck, the lights go out and the screams of pursuit are deafening--not great for the 4 yo psyche. Now, this is just my opinion....perhaps you should ride it first, and then make your on informed judgment.

 

[dturner]

Fist of all, I'm not so sure a 4 year old will be tall enough but I could be wrong. I took my 6 year old son, who loves roller coasters (the bigger the better), dinosaurs, etc. and he hated the ride. Everything scared him and he's not easily scared. I, personally, laughed through the entire ride and loved it. It is very dark, very loud and very startling even for adults.

 

[DNBois]

My husband and I just returned from an 8 night stay at Caribbean Beach and did not go to AK last time so we decided to go this time. We went a few times and the first time, even I was somewhat startled; we were on the ride each time with parents and children about 5 or more and they were not too happy. Needless to say that the children were screaming. The ride does not depict dinosaurs as friendly but as carniverous and scary so your child may not enjoy it. The ride is also in complete darkness with these creatures appearing out of nowhere to scare the rider. Good luck with your decision.

 

[JoNo]

my fiance went a few months back with her 14 y/o brother & 11 y/o sis.... none of them really looked during the ride. I rode it & will admit, it's pretty tense, I would suggest letting the 4y/o decide if they want to do it or not...

 

[Lyli]

Hi,

My best friend took her 7 year old on this ride because he loves dinosaurs and he hated it! He vows he'll never go on it again.

 

[sha_lyn]

My DD rode it at 4 1/2 and loved it. Since your DD enjoyed Ellen's energy adventure and like dinosaurs she really might do well on the ride. I'd do a few things first .... Great movie ride at MGM. All the 3d movies, Huanted Mansion, Star tours and body wars (these 2 for the roughness especially). If she handles those well my guess would be that she would be fine with Dinosaur. I can't remeber how much of it they show in any of the travel channel specials, but they do show some of the ride. I've used the unversal specials to get DD ready for Spiderman, and I think it really made the difference. She also watched the WDW one that covers a lot of ToT, and the ToT movie. Those really helped her with that ride.

 

[ZachnElli]

I would not reccommend this ride for a 4 year old, not even an adventurous one. I took my ds on it when he was 6 and he will not ride it now that he is 8! It is very intense and scary. He bent over so far that he was not visible in the picture at all! He was also extremely interested in dinosaurs at the time, had seen Jurassic Park (the movie) and his whole room was done in dinosaurs. It, quite frankly, scared the you know what out of me and I'll ride anything (by myself if I have to!). Oh, I also have a 4 year old now and I won't let her ride it, no way, no how.

 

[ZachnElli]

I also want to add, that if you insist that she is ready, for the sake of the nightmares that could result, please ride the ride before she does and then determine if she is ready! They have lots of dinosaur stuff there that she will enjoy besides this ride. Good luck!

 

[taylor1293]

My DD, who was 8 last summer, loves all rides. That was, until this one! She HATED Dinosaur! She had her eyes closed almost the entire ride and by the time it was over she was crying.

I really don't recommend it for a 4 year old. It's more than only dark and loud, it quite scary. Especially for a small child.

Good luck!

Teresa

 

[Moby]

I just returned from Disney and I rode the ride first. It is dark, loud and, as stated by someone else, the dinosaurs jump out at you like they want to eat you. I have a 4 1/2 year old and though she was interested in riding, I knew it'd be too frightening for her so we'll hold off until she is older. I think it would cause her to have nightmares.

 

[CarnotaurDad]

I really appreciate everyone's input on this.....it is very helpful to hear what other families have been through......

Based on the info, I think we will stick with Universe of Energy at Epcot and other dinosaur related activities at AK.....

Thanks again!

 

[lindaso]

Another one chiming in saying I won't take my 6 year old or my 3 1/2 year old on that one (and I encourage them to ride a lot of things!!). I tested it out last time we went and decided right there that they'll have to be MUCH older to handle it. Plus I don't want to discourage them from trying other rides that I think they can handle, KWIM?

 

[KellyJ]

I'm in the minority but my 4 yr. old loved it. He also LOVES dinosaurs and we've seen Ellen"s Energy Adventure more times than I can count. We did a baby swap with my 1 yr old and my son rode it first with me. I told him it was dark and loud and that it would be jerky. I also reminded him that he could close his eyes any time he needed to. When we got off the first time he said "That was OK but I don't think I want to do it again because the dinosaur might catch us the next time." I quickly reassured him that the dinosaur wasn't real and there was no way the dinosaur could ever catch him and he replied "Gosh mom, why didn't you tell me that before??? Let's go again!" Now at the ripe old age of 6 he frequently reminds me about the time I forgot to tell him they weren't real. It's near the top of his must do list for every trip now.

Kelly

 

[Ecdubfan]

After riding Dinosaur alone because my then 4 year old son was too short to ride, I was relieved. This was a very intense ride and I know that it would have scared the you know what out of him. This is one of the few rides that I'm going to hold off and restrict his riding until I am confident he is mature enough to handle it. Heck, I was startled quite a bit on this ride.