Almost 4yr old already 40 inches - what rides >40" should she try?

Suzanne74

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May 28, 2004
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This is dd's first trip she is over 40 inches at 41". She is not quite 4 yet but looks and acts pretty mature for her age. She loves rides and is a daredevil. I am curious what others with tall young kids let them go on. There is NO way I would put her on Tower of Terror but I am thinking of trying test track, maybe splash mountain and not sure what else. Any suggestions of what is too scary or what would be okay to try

Thanks in advance
 
My daughter turned 3 this past December and she was already 40" tall. Being AP'ers for DLR she has always been around the rides. We went last September, then just got back from a trip in April.

She loves the following at WDW:

Test Track
Splash Mountain
Thunder Mountain
Dinosaur(she closes her eyes and covers her ears, but loves the movement of the car...go figure)

From DL she likes
Matterhorn and Soaring

She tried TOT once at DCA, and while she says she liked it, and always says she wants to do it again, she changes her mind at the last minute so we don't ride it.

Start with the rollercoaster at Toontown(can't remember what MK calls their land). Also do Pirates to experience the one drop. If she likes those, move up to Splash. If she likes that, try Thunder Mountain, the try Test Track. I wouldn't recommend Dinosaur or TOT, but if you kid has that gleam in her eye after trying everything else(plus you don't mind her trying it), go for it.
 
My DD7 now was 5 when we went. She absolutely loved Space Mountain! We rode it like 12 times or so. She can't wait to go back. Just a little advice though...beware of Dinosaur! She freaked out! HAVE A WONDERFUL TRIP!
 
My girls have always loved Test Track. We ride it 8-10 times a trip. My younger daughter is the wild one and loves Dinosaur, Space Mountain and Mission Space( yours not tall enough yet).My kids for years have loved Pirates even my 3 yr old, he just asks over and over if he is tall enough for TT yet.

::MickeyMo ::MinnieMo
 

tikkipoo said:
My DD7 now was 5 when we went. She absolutely loved Space Mountain! We rode it like 12 times or so. She can't wait to go back. Just a little advice though...beware of Dinosaur! She freaked out! HAVE A WONDERFUL TRIP!

The height requirement on Space Mountain is 44" so OP's little one is still too little to ride that one :sad2:
 
She already has done Pirates and Barnstormer before she was 40 inches. She loved Barnstormer but was a little taken back at Pirates initially. She asked to ride it again the next day though and then loved it. She loves to act like a Pirate now. She will not like Dinosaur, I know that - she doesn't even like Snow White's Scary Ride, LOL. She loves the movement and fast rides more than the loud or scary ones.
 
We were in the same situation when we went in January. DD did not turn 4 until March but she was already 43" tall. My DDs love Splash Mountain although we have not tried Space Mountain yet. Test track went well but she hated Dinosaur. She says now that she liked Tower of Terror but I think she was too scared at the time and would not do it again. She did enjoy telling everyone she went on it though. We did not try Thunder Mountain either but I think she would have been ok with it. I did not really want to push anything because she loves rides and I did not want to ruin it by pushing her.
 
My DD was 4 and 41" for our March trip...she LOVED

*Splash Mountain
*Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
*Test Track

and her favorite ride the whole trip was Tower of Terror! You should have seen some of the looks we were getting in line for taking her on. :rolleyes: She insisted on going. Her biggest frustration was that she was still too small for Space Mountain...she can't wait to go back and do that.

She HATED Dinosaur, and wasn't too crazy about It's Tough To Be A Bug...the dark/loud noises were a little too much for her. LOL!
 
I can't imagine dd liking Tower of Terror - I WAS SCARED, lol but I am curious. Did the ones that went on - did they scream and cry while the ride was going and then laugh or did they laugh and firendly scream the whole time???
 
I've been wondering the same thing, since my soon to be 3 year old is 40''. I think we'll do what was suggested and try the Toontown roller coaster first and see how that goes. :sunny:
 
1st trip DD was 4 and tall enough to ride everything except RnR. She went on everything except RnR and Space Mountain - and the only reason why she did not go on that was because there is no one sitting next to you (I vetoed her going on that trip, BTW).

Now DD is 8 and thinks nothing of ToT, RnR, and every other ride out there.

The only ride that has ever gotten to her was the old Alien Encounter. She did Stitch in October, however, and loved it.
 
Suzanne74 said:
I can't imagine dd liking Tower of Terror - I WAS SCARED, lol but I am curious. Did the ones that went on - did they scream and cry while the ride was going and then laugh or did they laugh and firendly scream the whole time???

No...my DD just wanted a secure arm around her, but she actually LAUGHED the whole way through it...

It blew my mind...this kid is scared to ride her bike. Who'd have guessed?? :confused3
 
We only took my DD on because she loves rides even ones that scare me. She really wanted to try it so we said ok. My DD did not cried. She screamed like her older sister. I knew she wasn't thrilled because she started to tremble. After the ride she said she didn't want to go on again until she was older. We promised her she didn't have to and she was fine going on other rides the rest of the trip. The only reason I really let her on was because I knew I could sit with her.
 
We just got back this past Sunday. My ds turns three this Saturday. He is already 41 inches. He went on the Test Track, Soarin, Tower of Terror, Splash Mountain & big thunder mtn railroad. He says he liked them all. He is telling everyone his favorite ride was splash mountain.
 
You guys are so lucky! My DD has been tall enough for most rides since she was 3 and HATES...

Test Track
BTM
Pirates

Will not dare try

Splash
TOT
Dinosaur

Just about manages...Goofy's Barnstormer!

DS will be tall enough for everything in Oct (he 40" and is only 2 at present!) but is a worse "ride wimp" than his sister! Dumbo freaked him out last year. The only two he likes are Pirates and.....Its A Small World! What the heck...these cant be my kids!
 
I guess I've been extremely lucky. Although my boys were 9 & 10 by the time we went to Disney World, they've been on the "BIG" coasters at Six Flags and Opryland (sad it's gone) since they were 3 & 4 respectively. They've always been big boys. (They are 6'2" and 6'5" now) There has never been a question about them being too scared to get on something.

Great American Scream Machine
Mindbender
BatMan
Wabash Cannonball
Georgia Cyclone
Ninja

The only thing that freaked them out (and me too), was one of those walk-through Halloween Horror Houses Six Flags puts on every year. I think they were 11 & 12 at the time and we went through, but we all had to shortly bail out one of the emergency doors.

Carol
 
Ds #3 was 40 inches tall when he was 3 (about 3 yrs 9 months) He was tall enought to ride--and did want to ride- ToT, Dinosaur, BTMRR and TEst Track. He didnt like the jerkyness of Dinosaur. He asks everytime we go to IOA when will he be big enought for the Hulk.
OTOH my 8 yr old nephew is scared of everything but tall enough for most everything so really it just depends on the kid. If she is adventerous let her try whatever she is tall enough for, if not maybe keep it to the tamer attractions.
 
We are in a similar situation... our youngest is just now 41 inches! :) So we are hoping all 4 of us can ride rides together now. He says he's willing, so we will see if he chickens out. ;)

My 5 year old loves TT, MS, BTMRR, SM, Dinosaur, but refuses to try ToT. He's actually up to 49 inches now, but he's still my baby! :)
 




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