The ride is both jerky and scary. The jeeps, or whatever thye're modeled after, are designed to make you feel like you're going over rough terrain. Nothing that would make you motion sick, but it is a bit jarring. As far as being scary goes, these aren't cuddly cartoon dinosaurs! They're designed to look like the real thing, and are quite convincing. Your kids are at ages where it's tough to determine whether or not they'll be ready for it, so I'm not sure what to tell you. I like this ride a lot, but I've never been on it with kids. So I guess if your kids are scared of loud noises, the dark, being jostled around, or dinosaurs, it's probably not the ride for you. Other than that, I'd play it by ear, being very upfront about what the ride entails. Maybe you could even ride it once without them to see what you think?