At what age is Haunted Mansion ok for kids?

[laura428]

So my DS8 and DD6 have been asking about doing Haunted Mansion for our upcoming trip in January. Checking out the video on Disney's site makes me think no way, but they claim that it's a ride for all ages...?

Anyone take their kids on this ride? At what age do you think they can handle it?

 

[pickles]

depends what kind of chickens your kids are(some are more bold than others)

no reason an 8 yr old shouldnt be able to do it. If you dont want them frighten, be sure to explain it isnt real etc

our family rule, is everyoine tries everything once, after that they arent required to do it again

 

[nemofans]

My DS loved it at 4 yrs old. I would think kids at your kids' ages would be perfectly fine. The scariest part of it is the stretch room b4 you get on the ride. I did have DS at 4 yrs old skip that part.

 

[Deb & Bill]

Our son was four and he loved it.

 

[delmar411]

we've been taking our kids on it since they were toddlers. Why wouldn't you take kids that old on it? It's a family ride. They can close their eyes if they get scared but being 'scared' is part of the fun in some rides.

 

[pjhootch]

Our kids started at about 4 and it is still a favorite.

 

[jcemom]

DD9 has been going on HM her entire life, but she isn't afraid of much. She's never found it the least bit scary. My niece, however, would have been terrified at age 6 or 8.

There are some videos on YouTube, though the ones I've seen are pretty dark so it's tough to make out much of what you're seeing. It might help though, to let your kids watch them ahead of time and see what they think.

 

[caseyd66]

Depends on the child. My dd rode it first at 8yrs with her hands over her ears and her head buried in my shirt She is now almost 11 ... and still rides it that way! She's a total chicken when it comes to 'scary' stuff, but knows that it is my favourite ride and so will do it for me

btw: she rides all other rides including dinosaur and ee with no problem. She is afraid of ghosts!

 

[curlycue241]

My DD was 5 when she went on it earlier this year, she said it was awesome and it's the first thing she wants to go on when we go again.

 

[ddluvsdisney]

It totally depends on the kid. There is no certain age. One of my DSs loved it since he was 4. My other DS had to leave the ride from the stretching room when he was 8 and wouldn't go on it again until he was 10. Now it's his favorite ride and went on it about 6x our last trip lol.

 

[DisneyNutMary]

If your kids are talking about it, then take them on. Let them know in advance it's an attraction for all ages, and not scary...but, if they feel uncomfortable in the stretch room, they can just look down at the floor and hold your hand, and/or if they feel uncomfortable in the doom buggy, they can just close their eyes.
Some kids are okay with HM, some are not- yours will never know if they don't give it a try,

 

[budafam]

My 2 year old daughter rode it in May for her first time and loved it. DS (5) has ridden 4 times and can't get enough...

I don't find it "scary" at all... maybe for a kid who's super sensitive but I would think your kids' ages would be just fine.

 

[Claire&TheBoys]

My kids rode it as toddlers. We always said, "remember, it's just Mickey magic!" At 2, my youngest was getting off and running back to the entrance saying, "Let's do it again!"

 

[MainMom]

DD 10 first rode it when she was 3. DS 6 is planning on riding it in a few weeks!

 

[dwsandy]

dd4 LOVES it and would go on as many times as we let her. dd10 Will only go once per trip but says it's her favorite ride but it still kinda scares her. ds6 went on once this last trip but was pretty scared and I had to cover his ears while he closed his eyes. You know your child(ren) better than anyone else but I would say try it at least once. Sometimes the imagination is worse than reality

 

[Hannathy]

we've been taking our kids on it since they were toddlers. Why wouldn't you take kids that old on it? It's a family ride. They can close their eyes if they get scared but being 'scared' is part of the fun in some rides.

I agree 100%

Mine have been on it also since they were toddlers, I don't know anything on the ride that would truthfully scare an 8 yr old.

 

[WantToGoNow]

Both of my kids have been riding it since they were babies. It's not a haunted house type attraction - you ride in rides and look at things. Nothing jumps at you, touches you or is gory.

 

[cmurray234]

My children have gone on this ride since they were 3 and 5. They have never found it frightening in the least. I suppose it depends on the child.

 

[Jey12]

I would say if your kids are terrified of the dark and cute ghosts then it might not be the ride for them. Every kid is different. If they are asking about it, I'd say let them ride it once and then make a decision if they want to ride again. The ride is supposed to be scary but in a family type of way. I can't think of any age that would be too young to ride on HM based on age alone? DD4 rode HM last year and loved it. When we went back this year HM was the first ride she asked to go on, and then asked to go again. She also laughed at the end of Dinosaur, and wanted to ride it again because DH was scared by the dinosaur at the end. HM is a big open buggy type of seat that simply goes through the HM while the ride has a narrated family type of soundtrack while you ride. Nothing any worse than you would hear while walking up to a neighbor's porch on Halloween. Honestly it's probably a lot more tame than what you hear coming out of houses on Halloween.

 

[kathy884]

Just an FYI -- not everyone likes this kind of ride. If your kids are interested, it's really not too bad and I think they'd be fine. I'd let them go if they want to.

DS never wanted to do it, so I always let him skip, but last March year I made him do it (said I just wanted him to try it once because it was a favorite of mine when I was his age). He's 15 by the way and was perfectly OK with going to humor me. It really wasn't his thing, though // He just didn't care for it -- There was a place too when you are riding in the cars where something did come jumping out at him (He doesn't care for that and attractions always loose brownie points with him if they resort to that as entertainment), and he also thought the technology was pretty lame comparing it to Tower of Terror which he likes. (His reaction was kind of interesting to me. He was fine with it, but found it kind of scary and lame at the same time and said he'd skip for sure next time.)

I have to say too, I'm 50 now and was not nearly as impressed as the last two times I tried it (Age 10 in 1970 and age 15 in 1975 -- It seemed way cooler then.) // The cool technology of 1970 even with some refurbishments just didn't hold up for me in 2011, 41 years later).