Are your kids afraid to ride???

[momof3disneyholics]

My 6 year old son has become cautious over EVERY ride lately. The last time we went to Disney in May, I couldn't get him to get on anything. We were walking around fantasyland and he said no to small world, no to peter pan, no to dumbo. Finally, I got fed up and made him get on small world. I almost had to drag him. Once he got on it and we went into the ride, he realized that rides were alot of fun and not scary. After that he was okay for the rest of the day and rode everything we asked him to for the rest of the trip. I guess it just took me doing that for him to see that it was going to be alot of fun.

 

[pooh2001]

My DS - age 11 - HATES any fast ride - roller coster type.
He would not even go on Goofy Barn Stormer.
Don't force your child on a ride.


Typical amusement parks do NOT have the great magical
calm fun rides of WDW.

Buy - Birnbaum's Wlat Disney World For KIDS by KIDS
guide book. Kids reviewed the WDW rides and
have given each ride a Scary, Dark, Loud, Rough, Wet
status.

My DS hastes Haunted Masion - but my DD, age 8, loves it.

Another suggestion - give your child a very small flashlight.
The one inch kind that only goes on when the button is
pushed in. You can find them in the dollar store.
If a ride becomes to dark, have the child cup the small
flashlight in their hand and light it. This will not disturb
any other guests and will comfort a child.

Another suggestion - there are some 'calm rides'
which have a small drop down a 'water fall'.
Such as Norways ride in EPCOT and Snow White
in Magic Kingdom. My DS did not mind the small drop -
go figure - but to help my DD along, I told her to hold on to
the bar in front of her, plant her feet firmly on the ground,
close her eyes and pretend she is flying. The rush of air
on your face will feel like you are in the air with Peter Pan.

Buy the guide book for kids by kids and read it with
your child. Lots of pictures and activities for the chilld reader.

 

[corky805]

Thanks so much for all the replies....I am comforted to know that I don't have the only child like this. I will put some of these suggestions to use for us and see how it works out.

 

[CK1]

I have 3 children (ages 8,7, and 3) -- or more specifically, one cautious and 2 daredevils!!

Eldest son has been a cautious child since Day 1. He evaluates the ride and makes up his mind then and there if it's his speed. Our first trip with him (he was 3), it wan't a big issue b/c he was too short for thrill rides. He focused on the race cars, open-air rides like Dumbo (teacups made him ill, however) and lots of character interaction (except for Eeyore -- scared the beejeebies outta him). Loved the shows. DH was mightily bummed (he's a thrill seeker). The next year, ds still wanted no part of the thrill rides (now tall enough for SM and BTMR). He did Buzz lightyear many times, the cars, Pooh bear -- just nothing fast. We were doin' pretty good. But dh and my niece did something naughty -- while I took our younger son back to room for a nap, they persuaded (they say -- I bet "forced" might be more like it!) eldest ds to ride SM. They say he liked it.. yet why then would he not touch the ride in the 3 years (2 trips) since?!? Vehemently refuses.

As for Epcot (my favorite park) -- he LOVED it. Loved going from country to country, loved the fountains outside Kodak... (he went to HISTA and just covered his eyes when I told him to for the snake and lion parts... I guess it helps that I had seen it several times and knew when these parts were). Loved Illuminations.

Now let me note he's a huge NASCAR fan, and has wanted to ride Test Track, but couldn't get past his fear. Every time we were in Epcot, he would say he'll ride it, then we get to the ride and he backs out. It was our last day of a 10 day stay on our last trip... we had the fastpasses and everything... and he backed out. Wouldn't go. THe others waited but then finally went in without him. WHile the others were on the ride, the poor kid cried because he realized he had missed his chance yet again. I had stayd with him and his 2 yr old sister, and I consoled him, and asked him if he reallly truly wanted to ride. He said yes, it wasn't fair, they went in without him, he was GOING to go...(Bottom line is that he suddenly realized how more much he wanted to ride than he was afraid, and probably also that hey, his YOUNGER brother went on there...not fair!) So when they came out, I revealed to him that I still had 2 good fast passes. He chose to ride with his aunt and came out positively beaming. Now it's possible that if dh had forced him, he still would have come out smilin', but at least this way, it was his choice, at his speed. (No more "SM" episodes for us!) It also helps that I am not a big thrill seeker -- I expect that he and I will continue to pal around while the wild crew (dh, ds, and dd) go ride to hearts' content!

Cindy

 

[TandyR]

My DD who turns 7 in a week...has only been on 6 rides in all of WDW Spaceship Earth, the Pooh ride, Smaill World, Peter Pan ride, Dumbo, and Carousel...she even refuses the Teacups. We visit with the charitors and we do the shows and we also do a couple charictors meals....it works out well for our family...but now that DD who is 3.5 and is a major daredevil is wanting to branch out the riding....I am going to figure out how to do that without makeing DD almost 7 from feeling pressured that her little sister does things she is scared about....it has been something we have been dealing with for awhile...we keep telling older DD it is ok to do what she wants because all people are different...I tell her that I like rollercoaster and her Dad doesn't and that helps alittle. So I wouldn't mind hearing ideas how to deal with this situation.

 

[onecoolmama]

Thank goodness that other people have cautious kids! My DS2 will not do anything! He has been to Sesame Place about 12 times in 2 years. He goes to the shows..loves the characters, but will not do one ride. We put him on the teacups..but he hated them. He just started to causiously try a moonbounce..but other than that he hates rides. The one ride he did like was these antique cars I pushed the gas, but he drove them. He did them three times in a row! I then realized he likes things that he has complete control over..hence not liking the Tea Cups. Anyway, hopefully being in Disney for 1 week..he will warm up to things. We are going to put him on IASM, we've taught him the song and he loves shows and kids singing. Other than that..it's totally up to him..he will not ride Dumbo..we know that..but he might like the Tiki Room or the Jungle Cruise. He might even like the safari (dare I dream?) The bottom line is we will be watching all the shows, all the parades, and none of the fireworks (he didn't like those either, we found that out July 4th!) But this will be great, my DH and I never go to the shows or the daytime parades..so it will be a great trip for all of us.

 

[jeannej]

My 10 year old has always been the cautious type. If he sees the ride then he usually is ok. Unfortunately this isn't always feasable and his cautious nature has kept him off rides I know he would love.

In January, he refused to ride Test track inspite of my assurances and his sister's that he would love the ride. He sat in a waiting area waiting for his sister and me. Apparently, the waiting area had a TV monitor so that those waiting could view the ride. He watched the entire ride and really regretted not going. I think he said he wasn't sure what he was so worried about.

Each child goes at his own paec and I have learned you just can't force a child to ride a ride her/she is frightened of.

My husband and I used child swap areas alot until he decided to join us on the more thrilling rides.

Now, he'll ride roller coaters that do not go unside down, things that spin and he is looking forward to riding the roller coaster in AK.

jeannej

 

[Cuchman]

As some of you have mentioned, the problem I encountered with my kids (dd 3.5 and ds 2 on the last trip) was the fact that most of the rides are dark. Both of them are a little scared of the dark and adding that to the apprehension of the "unknown" ride almost prevented us from enjoying a bunch of stuff.
My solution was to get each of them some sort of light-up toy. We have used little glow sticks and small LED necklaces or "lightsaber" looking things. They make a huge difference because no matter how dark it gets in the ride, the kids each have their own personal light source. They also have the added bonus that if the kids are bored on the ride (think Spaceship Earth) they can play with the light for a few minutes.
Along similar lines, we have some kid's silicon earplugs for fireworks and loud shows. (lights and plugs come from CVS)
Even though they can still see and hear what is going on, I think the empowerment of being able to ask for and receive some "defense" against what they are afraid of makes it much easier for them to enjoy it.

When we talk about trying new rides and shows on our next trip, my DD often says "make sure you have my light and earplus in case I need them!"

 

[Needs Motivation]

We took our kids to WDW last year for a week when our DS was 4 and DD had just turned 2. The first attraction I took my son on was It's A Bug's Life and he was traumatized the first 30 seconds into it by the bugs "throwing acorns" at him. I guess 3D and some 4-year- olds don't mix. I had to reassure him several times after that that no one was going to throw anything at him on any particular ride. He was pretty good after a while, surprising me with a few rides he really wanted to go on. Those that he definitely didn't want to go on (Pirates and Buzz) opened up the opportunity to go with DD, who knows no fear. There are still so many things we did that I know he enjoyed (pool slide at POR, train/monorail/boat rides, the safari ride and conservation station at AK, race cars at MK, character photos/autographs everywhere). We never forced him to go on anything, and he had such a good time working at his own pace, that I know we didn't make a mistake taken them. Part of the fun I had, in fact, was discovering things through him that we adults would often miss. When DD and I exited Pirates, I found my son standing under the entry archway talking up to the pirate parrot. My wife told me that he had been talking to him the whole time I was on the ride!!

 

[mmgrdg]

My 3yo DS *hated* Winnie the Pooh ride when we were there....it was horrible! Between the thunder, the dark, and the huge heffalumps and woozles, it was the LONGEST ride we did while we were there. He still tells me "I can't ride the Pooh ride" and we've been back for over a week!

 

[southernwingz]

My DS10 is also what I would call a cautious child. I guess I am somewhat too, but I like the rides. This will be his first trip since he was 2 1/2...he has no memory of that, so everything is new to him. I have been worried that we're spending all this money, and he won't enjoy himself, but I'm arming him with information, which usually works with him. I let him read the DIS with me, we've watched all the videos at digitaldisney.com, and looked at what seems like everyone's pictures of the different rides......his story now is that he's riding everything but TOT, and he's most looking forward to SM. He'll be 11 when we actually go, and seems to be getting more and more brave, plus there's the 'I'm not a baby' factor too.

 

[pam66]

We just took our 3 and a half yr old DD and she absolutely loved the characters and didn't like the rides. She loves Buzz and kept talking about his ride but cried just as we were about to board. I got her on once and she was proud of herself at the end but changed her mind again at the last minute the second time we tried to get on, at her request by the way. We tried IASW but she cried again just as we were approaching the boats. She was fine on rides like the merry go round and goofy's rollercoaster because I think they were outside. She didn't like anything disappearing into a tunnel. We had a great time doing the character meals, parades, playgrounds, and shows. She was so great with the characters and that made it worth it alone. Next year (hopefully) we will just have that much more to discover.


Pam