Attractions my 4yo found scary

[Keyser]

Maybe this should go in the trip reports, but I thought it would be of more use here. I thought some others might be interested in the rides my 4yo daughter found too scary (some of this was a big surprise to us...). I know every kid is different, too, but figured this might help some folks when planning.

The first ride we tried was the River of Time ride in the Mexico pavilion at Epcot. I had thought this would be one of the most mild, least scary rides we could do. Wrong. She was terrified, first due to seeing the volcano (which she seemed to think was going to hurt us somehow when we went "inside"), and later by the few dolls dressed as skeletons in one of the scenes (they're celebrating the day of the dead, but it's only part of a much bigger display - I didn't even think she had seen them).

That pretty much set the stage - almost any indoor ride after that she would get scared on. Journey Into Imagination scared her. Winnie the Pooh scared her (especially the blacklight dream sequence). It's a Small World had her scared the whole ride, but then at the end she decided it was not actually scary after all. Carousel of progress had her on edge the whole ride. Seeing the drop on Splash Mountain did not scare her (in fact, it made her want to go on it), but once the ride started indoors, she was again terrified (especially in the darkest section). She was too scared to get on the boat ride in the Land pavilion at Epcot, or on Peter Pan. We didn't even try things like Maelstrom, Pirates of the Carribean, Snow White, and Dinosaur, that we thought would actually be scary. My wife and I were going to swap off on Test Track, but my daughter was too frightened to stand in the line.

For 3D movies, which we were worried about scaring her, she enjoyed Philharmagic, and absolutely loved Muppetvision (it and Dumbo were her favorite attractions at Disney World). But, she didn't like wearing the 3D glasses much - putting them on/taking them off several times during the show. It's Tough to Be a Bug scared her (we had to take her out early) - we had thought that her familiarity with Bug's Life and her enjoyment of the other 2 movies would overcome the fear factor (and we underestimated how scary/dark it would be), but no. Another kid had to be taken out, also - this show is much scarier than you might expect.

Every outdoor ride she tried she loved, including things like Big Thunder Mountain (other than the one section where you go through a cave). She also loved Soarin, though we had to "trick" her by not really telling her anything about it while we were waiting (just saying "it will feel like we're in California") - when we had described it earlier in the day, she said she was too scared to go on it...

Shows varied. Most she was OK/happy with, though she'd be nervous if they were indoors. Festival of the Lion King scared her (during the "Be Prepared" song with the fire twirler) - again, not what we had expected. We didn't try the stunt shows at MGM with her. She was scared all through Fantasmic, but didn't want to move or look away when we suggested doing so. She seemed OK with it once it was over though (I think that in trying to prepare her, we'd built it up too much), and since we came back, she's been listening to the soundtrack multiple times every day, and now acts like it was her favorite thing there...

Overall, we found that trying to explain things to her ahead of time usually just increased her anxiety more than if we hadn't said anything at all. Were we to do it over again, we wouldn't have spent so much time preparing her for Fantasmic - I think the buildup of anxiety was actually more intense for her than the show itself. Also, we'd probably try to start with an indoor ride like It's a Small World first, before moving on to something that's in the dark. We'd certainly skip It's Tough to Be a Bug (and maybe Splash Mountain).

Hope some others find this useful...

 

[MichelleChell]

Very helpful. I am going in July with my DD she will just be 3. I was thinking of trying IASM first and Dumbe. Then work her inot other things. She is scared of fireworks. SO I am going to try to take her to a 4th of July show before we go to WDW.

 

[jennifer293]

The only thing my 4 yr old DD was scared of was the Dinosaur ride (not sure of the name of it) it is the one where the huge dinosaur comes down at you roaring..Yah that about made her potty in her pants.

HER FAVORITE RIDE: Tower of Terror..little booger rode it 3 or 4 times. I got on it once and I got off of it as white as a sheet. NEVER AGAIN!!

 

[Twingle]

Thanks so much for the post - it's always good to know how other little ones will react.

I made the great mistake of taking my twin DD's on Pirates, mainly because my 6 year old DS LOVES it, and they were scared silly. Wouldn't have anything to do with a boat the rest of the time we were there. Every time they even SAW a boat it was "BIG SCARY BOAT!" screamed at the top of their lungs. In stereo - yikes.

 

[Amyn1274]

We took my nephews this past weekend, one is 6 and one is 2. The 6 year old did great on everything, he was afraid to go on Splash Mountain a year ago but went this year and loved it. He was pretty nervous on the ride and kept asking when the big drop was but then busted out laughing when it was over. The 2 year old loved IASW,he rode that one twice, he liked Pooh and Peter Pan but didn't like the Tiki Room and Pirates one bit. He also didn't like the roller coaster in Toon Town at all. It had been a long time since I had been in the Tiki room but it can be pretty frightening for kids.

 

[beckmrk04]

I am taking my nieces (3 and 5) in May, and I have NO idea what to expect!! I guess it's just one of those things where you never know what they'll find scary until you get on the ride. I am a bit apprehensive about Tough to be a bug, though. But then again, some kids love it. I did read a tip on here that I am going to use: I am packing small penlights for each of the girls, and I'm going to tell them that if we go on a ride where it's dark, they can turn on their light so it's not so scary... It should be just enough light to make them feel better but not enough to bother other people on the ride.

 

[linda0706]

The only thing my 4 yr old DD was scared of was the Dinosaur ride (not sure of the name of it) it is the one where the huge dinosaur comes down at you roaring..Yah that about made her potty in her pants.

Hey now, Dinasaur about made ME potty in my pants. We got tickled looking at the photos they take of you during the ride...my DD5 & I were both hugged up together with our head down & hidden!

 

[liamsaunt]

From my December trip with 4 year old niece and 6 year old nephew:

Niece HATED Soarin' and Test Track. With Soarin' she hated the flying sensation. She was a little wobbly after getting off but otherwise OK. Test Track was a nightmare. Although she said she wanted to ride it and got on with no problem, once it started she cried through the whole ride and we had to carry her out of the pavillion.

Nephew liked both of those rides (Soarin' was his favorite thing in all parks). I took him on BTMRR, which he decided about 2/3 of the way through that he hated. Thankfully the ride broke about 2 seconds later so it wasn't too traumatic.

We did not attempt to have them ride Space, Splash, Mission:Space, Dinosaur, Stitch, TOT or Rock n Roller Coaster (they would have been too short for that one anyway). Did not take them to ITTBAB or HISTA, but they really enjoyed the other 3d films. Oh, and we skipped that rocket ride in tomorrowland too, but that's because I hate that one. I always feel like I am going to fall out.

They both rode all the other rides, including the dark rides and boat rides with no problems.

I guess it just depends on the temperment of your kids--obviously, my Dsis's kids are a little less adventurous than others. That's OK, it will give them something new to ride when they are older.

 

[NotUrsula]

Keep in mind that right around age 4 a lot of previously brave kids get a bad case of the willies about just about everything. The phase can easily last until about age 6. Prior to age 4 a lot of kids don't really understand physical danger, and when they suddenly understand the concept of actually being careful to avoid getting hurt, some of them go overboard on the caution.

My DS was a classic example -- at 4 he suddenly professed himself terrified of rides he had been on dozens of times and always enjoyed. He didn't get brave again until the summer after kindie, at which point he had grown tall enough, at 6yo, for real coasters. Once he had begun to ride major coasters, he felt that it was time to face the dark ride fears, and then discovered that he liked them again. At that point, he also finally agreed to learn to ride a real bike -- something he would not go near when he was in his fearful phase. (His fear of bikes was caused by the need to wear a helmet; he decided that anything that required a helmet MUST be a really dangerous activity!)

 

[1of6]

We skipped many things. As a group, we skipped HISTA, dinosaur and ITTBAB. DS9 did everything...he is a thrill seeker. He loved every minute.

I wish I could say the same for the rest of the kids. Most things were too loud for DD2. We covered her ears for most shows and then she was fine.

DS4 was ok for many things. He skipped the mountains. He was scared during Star Tours but loved it once it was over. He would have gone again. ToT scared the p*ss out of him. He could not get off it fast enough. Today, it was his favorite ride and he says he can't wait to do it again. Stitch was also too much until near the end.

DD6 had many issues. Norway was too scary for DD. As was energy,The Great Movie Ride, POTC, Tower of Terror (yes she rode it),& Stitch. She skipped Star tours, the mountains & Mission Space. Soarin was her favorite. She now talks about the ending of Stitch and says it was great. She loved Goofy's Barnstormer and Primevil Whirl. She did them both 3 times each.

 

[alisonbestford]

DD (7) still isn't keen on any of the indoor rides

She absolutely hated IASW when she was 5, refuses to go anywhere near it's a Bugs life but can just about manage to sit through the Little Mermaid show as she adores Ariel, she rode Pirates of the Caribbean and Dinosaur with her eyes closed last year, sat through Stich almost breaking my hand and won't even walk anywhere near to the boat ride in Mexico

Now, show her a coaster and she's laughing...................

Just waiting until she's tall enough to ride the 'big' ones

 

[golden1]

Thanks for this post! I have been curious about which rides will be too intense for my daughter who will be 4.5 when we go. She can get worked up very easily so I think I am going to ease her into some of the indoor rides and skip a lot of the more intense rides unless she really pushes to go on them. I could definitly see her taking a nutty over certain rides. However, it is almost a year away and she might change before that. I'm not really worried about my son because he is fearless (although that could change before we go). I'm almost sad that he will be too small to go on some of the rides because I think he would really enjoy them.