Dinosaur to scary for 5 year old?

[mya1k9]

My 5 year old loves dinosaurs. My DH just let her watch Jurassic Park but didn't let her see the scary part at the end. She watched the ride on you tube and said that she wanted to ride it and she wouldn't be scared. She claims to know that they are robots. I think watching it on you tube and experiencing the ride are very different, has anyones 5 year olds rode it and loved it or should I just tell her no?! TIA

 

[Robo]

Dinosaur to scary for 5 year old?

I can safely say, yes, in the case of many young guests.

It is very, VERY scary!

It's specifically DESIGNED to be SCARY.

I suggest that an adult, who knows the child well,
ride the attraction first... just to see what it's like.

Dinosaur is, by far, the ROUGHEST indoor ride at WDW.
(Space Mtn. is right in there, but not for ENTIRE ride!)

Its certainly "tied" for the absolute LOUDEST
bellowing sound effects.

And there is nothing that comes close in the category of
"Pitch-blackness...
then FULL-BRIGHT LIGHTS illuminating
GIANT DINOS with razor-sharp spiked teeth
LUNGING out straight AT YOU
with DEAFENING-ROAR sound effects."

Then,
more VIOLENT shaking,
jack-rabbit ACCELERATION,
sudden hard BRAKING...
and REPEAT.


All that said, I really ENJOY riding this attraction, and do so every trip.

(Dinosaur is based on the same ride technology that is used on the Indiana Jones ride at Disneyland.)

 

[chids]

I get scared when doing this ride and have to do it with my eyes covered and i'm 28

 

[jettyspagetti]

It is very scary. My 11 yr old that loves Dinosaurs and Jurassic Park just told me yesterday "I can't wait to get to Animal Kingdom- this time I'm going to keep my eyes open on Dinosaur!" My youngest is 5 and went on it the first time when she was 4- we really had no idea it would be so scary for the kids- and I spent the whole ride with her huddled under my arm, trying to soothe her. Promising her she could buy whatever she wanted at the gift shop worked- we made it through and she picked out the bigges, scariest looking dinosaur and carried it around the rest of the week, training it to be nice. She loves scary rides and her fave is the Haunted Mansion, but the tension level on dinosaur is high.
The ride is also really jerky and rough on grownups, too!

If your 5 yr old loves dinosuars, check out Ellen's Universe of Energy. My kids love that one. Its a long ride and it is slow but one of our favorites

 

[Hannathy]

Only one way to find out-go on and see. If they don't like it don't go on again.

I don't get this worrying about whether they may or may not get scared. You are supposed to get scared on the ride, that is the premise of it. Tell them it is a scary ride but that of course nothing can happen to you because it is 'all Disney made" (what we always called it). Everyone jumps when the Dino comes out at you.

My 5 yr old was ok, did he jump? of course! we all did. His big complaint was it was to loud, and I agree. He rode with his ears covered the whole way.

Mine saw Jurassic Park by 5 also, but the whole thing so don't be upset with your DH.

 

[Robo]

I don't get this worrying about whether they may or may not get scared.

Because some kids may become afraid to ride anything else the rest of the day... or the rest of the trip.

 

[TisBit]

Yes, unfortnately it is. For some reason I never really saw it as super scary and we took our kids on it (think they were 4 or 5) and scared the crap out of them. Took them again the next trip, thinking the second time would be better...yes better, but still scared the crap out of them. Another kid that was with us, freaked out and as Robo said...was pretty scared of any ride after that.

 

[Oglet]

Dinosaur is one of those rides that has the potential to really freak people out, regardless of age.

I can say that standing inside the gift shop you will probably see more children screaming than any other ride at WDW. I like the idea of you ride first, after all, you know your own children better than anyone else.

This is probably one of the only rides at WDW I would highly suggest parental testing on.

 

[pat fan]

YES! It is loud, rough, fast, and did I say loud? the big red Dino jumps in your face and SCREAMS at you! A lot of adults can't handle that. At 5???

My DS rode it at 7 and wouldn't go on it again until he was well into his teens!

If you really think she would like it, you ride it first to see, but I really wouldn't take her on it. Same DS of mine insisted he wanted to ride TOT at 7, even after watching the planning video and having it explained, so we did it. He was freaked! Had nightmares all that night of falling etc...If I had to do it again, I would have waited until he was older. No sense ruining thier trip and scarring them for life on the off chance they are the .01% that wouldn't get scared.

 

[HelenParr]

I love Dinosaur -- one of my favorite attractions in all of WDW, but, I have to agree with the PPs -- way scary.

My 5 year old cousin, who is generally very brave and willing to try things, who loved BTMRR, Space Mtn, and Everest didn't talk for hours after Dinosaur. Poor little guy.

The whole rest of the trip, before he would get on any attraction, he quizzed us carefully as follows: "is it loud, dark, and scary like that dinosaur thing?" "Do bad things chase you, like that bad dinosaur?" "It isn't like Dinosaur, right?"

We've also seen numerous kids come off crying or silent from being frightened.

If your kid bounces back quickly from scary stuff, might work.

 

[sissy_ib]

Because some kids may become afraid to ride anything else the rest of the day... or the rest of the trip.

Exactly. My 4y/o nephew would not ride any inside rides after we went on the Great Movie Ride. Of course we went on that the first day. It was a long week.

 

[chikita]

Hi, My sister took my 6 year old nephew on this ride, the problem was it was his first ride ever at Walt Disney World. He was on the floor boards trying to hide under the dashboard the whole time. It set the tone for any future rides the rest of the vacation and he's still not a big fan at rides in any park. I would suggest trying other rides first and see how she does on those. You could also have an adult go ride through first to check it out. Have a great vacation! Oh, by the way my nephews second attraction was It's Tough To Be A Bug, which can also scare lots of children. My sister thought it would be a mellow cartoon to watch and settle him down. He was through going on rides the rest of the day.

 

[Audray]

I think that the answer really depends on the kid. In January, our 5 year old decided that she wanted to ride Dinosaur. Before that, she had done Space Mountain, Test Track, Mission Space and Thunder Mountain and was fine.

In my opinion, Dinosaur was probably one that we should not have done. She didn't freak out, cry or show any evidence of permanent damage, but honestly she just didn't enjoy it. Afterwards, she wanted to do Expedition Everest and loved it (actually rode it twice).

We are headed back in October, and I've been asking which rides she wants to do again - and she never even talks about Dinosaur.

 

[Celine]

The last time we were at Disney World, my younger two were 5 and they both LOVED Dinosaur! Of course, I prepared them for what it was and my oldest kept "doing the dinosaur rawrrrr" at them and they'd laugh. On their first ride, they were just thrilled! I think it helps that you can sit right next to them, so that helps them feel secure, I'm sure, but mine LOVED it and we went back on it 3 more times that day at their request!

This trip, it's ALL they talk about it.. they know it's supposed to be scary and that's what makes it all the more fun!!

Maybe preparation is key??

 

[Oglet]

Just look at the location of the ride itself, It's in a very child friendly area and I can easily see how it might catch people off guard.

 

[robinbutterfly]

My 6 and 7 year old are so wanting to try this ride. They haven't been on many of the thrill rides, but I promised them this trip they could! I hope I am not making a mistake!
Is it scarier then TOT? We haven't done either ride yet!

 

[delgrec]

Dinosaur is my absolute favorite ride in all of Disney. We are going back in Nov and DS will be 4 1/2. I am pretty sure I WILL be taking him on it. I have already spoken to him about the ride and plan on continuing to prep him prior to it (although DH wants the trip to be a surprise so my prepping is in the form of..."if we were to ever go to disney, there is this ride..."). I have already told him it is loud, dark and the PRETEND dinosaurs pop out in the dark. If he decides he doesn't want to go on it than of course I would not push it. As of right now he wants to try it. I really think he will be fine. He is the kind of kid who doesn't mind scary themes but wouldn't want to ride a roller coaster. I will feel so guilty if it ruins the rest of the trip for him but I really don't think it will.

 

[pat fan]

He is the kind of kid who doesn't mind scary themes but wouldn't want to ride a roller coaster.

Ummmm....Dinosaur is very much like a roller coaster. Only in the dark with scary things chasing you and someone yelling frantically in your ear. It may not have steep hills and drops like E. Everest, but it is fast, whips around corners and does have some fast decents that drop you into a fast corner. 4 1/2??? I might rethink that one.

 

[Hannathy]

This trip, it's ALL they talk about it.. they know it's supposed to be scary and that's what makes it all the more fun!!

Maybe preparation is key??

That is my point! some rides are supposed to be scary. and they are scary to all. But you know they are pretend and the kids know it is all fake and won't hurt them.

After a scary ride it should be that was scary, yes it was, I was scared to. Now what are we going on?

 

[delgrec]

Ummmm....Dinosaur is very much like a roller coaster. Only in the dark with scary things chasing you and someone yelling frantically in your ear. It may not have steep hills and drops like E. Everest, but it is fast, whips around corners and does have some fast decents that drop you into a fast corner. 4 1/2??? I might rethink that one.

He is okay with the fast descents and whipping around corners, he doesn't like to go up high and have steep drops. Maybe I will ride it first since it has been awhile since I rode it but from what I remember, I really think he will be fine. He is also the kind of kid that will just say, "yeah, I won't be doing that one again!" and move on if he doesn't like it.