Children afraid of Dumbo

[EltonJohn]

I'm surprised to read that some children are actually afraid to ride Dumbo. Can someone please explain why a child would be afraid to go on a ride that goes around in circles????

 

[daisyduck123]

Well I'm 40something & I won't get on it (never have). It's a little to high up for me. Seriously!

 

[hmdavid]

I think it is more a fear of the unknown. For a small child looking at a ride, it is big, new and scary. They do not just see little cars going in a circle. My youngest is not afraid of anything, she cries when we take her off the rides. My twins that are two years older would not ride anything but the carousel until they were 3, now, at 6, they still have issues with many rides.

 

[Maggie'sMom]

It gets pretty high up in the air and there's something about the whole going up and down motion that is a little unnerving. DD and I love it, but I have a slight fear of heights and I get a little jumpy when DD really gets it moving. She has no fear of this ride and really like making it rise and fall a lot.

 

[Katiebell]

My DGD (3) was afraid of it going up in the air. And she is afraid of anything that looks like a toy -- like it should be an inanimate object -- but it moves on it's own. Wind up toys freak her out!!! So.....DL was a bit challenging for her. She was scared of the characters in costume, too...but Pluto, then Chip and Dale won her over because they were so nice. Meeting all the princesses was a big help, too -- face characters aren't so scary. She never did like the dark rides, even Pooh -- too loud, too intense, and everything kept moving around.

Dumbo...well, at DL there is a Dumbo ride car on the ground (not sure about WDW), so you can take pictures. We had to coax her to even get into that -- I think she thought it might take off and fly around Then we asked if she wanted to ride, and she just kept saying, "Oh, no, I can't do that..."

So our early entry day, there was hardly any line for Dumbo, and I just said, "OK, honey, we are riding Dumbo now." And she said, "Oh, no, I can't do that" and I said, "Sure you can, look at all those little kids smiling and having fun! There are even babies on that ride, see?" So she got in line, still kind of timid and unsure, but she rode with her mom and LOVED IT!

Here's the thing -- I would absolutely NOT have taken her on it if she strongly resisted or was crying or anything like that. She'd already seen it several times, watched the other kids riding it and enjoying themselves, and she had been in the ride car on the ground. So...she was ready by then.

 

[EltonJohn]

Well I'm 40something & I won't get on it (never have). It's a little to high up for me. Seriously!

I guess you don't like the Astor Orbiter jets!

 

[daisyduck123]

I guess you don't like the Astor Orbiter jets!

I can't even LOOK at that ride....to do so turns my stomach over

 

[tinkandpan]

My ds was afraid of it and didn't want to go on it the first couple of time he was there. He just didn't like watching it go up in the air- even if it is not high, it was still higher than he was!

 

[WantToGoNow]

For my ds (and my dh) it's the height. They are both afraid of heights and they don't feel secure. My ds did enjoy it last trip (at 5.5) but he put it up and left it - no up and down for him. Same thing with the Aladdin ride -- and he won't go near Astro Orbitor.

 

[eyeheartgoofy]

Who knows?! Kids are funny that way. It does make that loud hissing sound as it stops/starts ... that could intimidate some kids.

 

[SharpMomOfTwo]

I think it also has to do with age, and what stage they are in at that age. For example, last summer, DD3 (then about 2.5) was skateboarding on her own and loving it (yeah we got some wierd looks from other parents in the neighborhood, but whatever!). This year we put her on and she freeked, but her sister, DD18m LOVED it. Just go with the flow, if the kid doesn't want to go on, then oh well, missing Dumbo isn't the end of the world!

 

[puffkin]

We are big fans of forcing him on to try it once. My son just gets very contrary sometimes and isn't really afraid. He just enjoys being difficult

I am sure many kids have this issue

 

[pednurse]

Well I'm 40something & I won't get on it (never have). It's a little to high up for me. Seriously!

DH won't ride Dumbo either. So I rode with DD while DS got an elephant to himself. DH will ride any "thrill" ride (like TOT) but won't get near anything that spins (you guessed it....it was just me & the kids on the Teacups too! LOL). Each child (& adult....won't get me on TOT! LOL) is different in what bothers them.

 

[dis75ney]

I'm 30-something and won't go near those sorts of rides. It's purely a height issue...I get freaked out if there's nothing under me (hence the reason I can ride roller coasters without too much of an issue, but can't fly without a death grip on the armrest). If DS would just keep the darn carpet/elephant/plane/piece of fruit (at our local Six Flags park) in one spot, I'd be all right. But up-down-up-down-up-down? No thanks. DH can go on those with DS...

Astro Orbiter makes me throw up a little each time I see it...

 

[SandrainNC]

Back in November, my 16 month old did not like it. He whined the whole time. My DH did not tell me this, so I put him on the dinosaur one at AK that is similar. He was not happy. He was fine on Pirates and Haunted Mansion though. Go figure.

Sandra

 

[bzzymom]

When DD was 2.5 she was a little hesitant because she was afraid of "falling off Dumbo" but I told her there is a seat belt and that she can look inside the ride first, and then she was OK with it and actually loved the ride.

 

[DevilDuckie]

I'm surprised to read that some children are actually afraid to ride Dumbo. Can someone please explain why a child would be afraid to go on a ride that goes around in circles????

Umm... because some people are afraid of heights? My Dad will ride most of the thrill rides cheerfully but you will never get him on Dumbo. Heck, he doesn't even like to watch the rest of us on it.

 

[las3888]

Don't get me started on the list of all the rides DS won't ride (he is 3). I can't tell you how sad I am when I have to walk past 'it's a small world' and don't get to ride it. Some kids just have anxiety about some of these rides...

 

[AKBAFB]

Children see things from a different perspective and aren't necessarily rational about things like this. It could be the height, size, noise, or even something they've imagined about the ride that causes them to be scared of it. Obviously, even rational adults, who would probably admit that the ride is completely safe, don't care to ride it.

 

[SmallWorld71]

Who knows? Everyone is so different. Why can I go Space Mountain but can't handle Snow White?
Anyway, DD5 isn't afraid of it. But, she goes on, moves it up in the air a little and there it stays for the duration of the ride. No up and down for her. And this from the girl whose favorite rides in all of WDW are Splash and Soarin.