Dinosaur to scary for 5 year old?

[kathyell]

This is just our experience, and it may not be your experience at all.

On our first trip, my daughter was three. We had prepared her ahead of time and she knew that none of the rides were designed to hurt her, that they were all just pretend. She knew many of them were designed to be scary, but that it was just a "pretend scary".

She rode Dinosaur on that first trip and asked to ride it again. She's five now and she's probably been on Dinosaur 30 or 40 times now. She still loves it every time. We actually have a contest to see which one of us can make the happiest/silliest face at the Carnataurus at the end when you get your on-ride photo taken.

Prior to our first trip, we also showed her some on-ride video of this and other rides we thought she might be uncertain about on YouTube, and also talked to her about the rides being safe as long as you follow the rules you're told about riding on it. I pointed out to her that I'd never take her somewhere if I thought she'd get hurt, and I wouldn't ride anything myself if I thought any of us would get hurt. She seemed to react well to that preparation work, so we took her on more and more exciting stuff on her first trip and discovered that she wasn't really fearful or anxious of any of it and enjoyed everything we went on. But please note: **A lot of this has to do with her natural happy-go-lucky temperament.**

MANY, MANY kids will not react this way. However, we have had a lot of fun on this ride and I'd hate to have missed it just because I never let her give it a try. I would not take a child on their first ride on Dinosaur as their first ride in any park, as their first ride of the day at AK, or as their first dark ride. I'd make sure they were prepared and had a realistic idea of what the ride is like. I'd let them make the call and allow them to leave the queue at any time if they became uncertain after getting in line.

Regardless of your decision about Dinosaur or any other ride, OP, I hope you have a great trip and a great time in the parks.

 

[megan926]

I would say...it depends. My DD (5) LOVES dinosaurs....and she LOVED the ride...she asked to go on it a few times.

From a 32 year old perspective, I would have TOTALLY thought it she would have freaked and been scared, but she wasn't....

 

[Dizneefamily+4]

I agree with pp, it's VERY scary for young kids. My ds10 has been watching Jurassic Parks since he was 3 (don't ask, grandpa let him watch it - mom WASN'T happy) and STILL loves dinosaurs. We took him on it when he was 7 - and it scared the beejesus outta him. Heck, I was on it with him while dh stayed back with dd3 (at the time) and it scared the beejesus out of me too! I remember getting off and telling dh when ds wasn't looking that it was SCARY!

When we went back last summer, dd was 5 and ds was 9, so we could all ride. DD cried, but she liked it. Didn't want to ride it again that trip though! We just got back 2 weeks ago from this year's trip and we spent 2 days of that trip at AK. Needless to say, we all rode Dinosuar 8 times - and finally dh said ENOUGH and the kids and I had to ride the 9th time ourselves - ds10 still covers his ears and wears his sunglasses on this VERY DARK ride. It's pretty funny actually. It really is one of our favorite rides, but still scares the heck out of us EVERY time!

Now, that being said, my dd6 is the ultimate thrill seeker in our family. She has a need for speed and that adrenaline rush - EE is her favorite ride in all of WDW (and I don't even ride it). I think it really depends on your child and their personality.

Have fun and if she goes, I hope she loves it as much as we do!!

 

[hookedonears]

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

Hate having to get on this soap box, but IT'S DISNEY, rides are made for the entire family. If the child is tall enough, it will be fine.

 

[Rora]

Dinosaur terrifies me and I'm a 24 year old woman.

 

[mackenziefaith]

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.

I'm glad to see you typed that because honestly, that's EXACTLY what I thought! The first time I rode it my DH and I did the kid swap because our girls were only 2 and 5. I really didn't think it would be as scary as it was, even though they are very clear in the warning at the beginning that it's a scary ride. I'm SO glad we kept them off because I can guarantee my 5 year old would have been panicked.

I agree with the others that said to ride it first and see what you think. Do the kid-swap. Have your DH stay behind with your 5 year old and after your done, if you think she'll enjoy it, let them go...but DEFINITELY ride it first.

 

[OhioDisneyDad]

I'm a big 46 year old male and it scares me every time!

 

[NLD]

I'm 32, rode Dinosaur for the first time last year at age 31, and would be just fine never riding it again. I LOVE thrill rides--the faster and the more drops the better.

But Dinosaur is a whole different kind of "scary," different kind of rush. It was like my fight-or-flight response was on hyper-alert the whole ride. It was not an enjoyable type of arousal for me, it was more like PTSD hyper-vigilance.

That said I'm sure there are a number of kids who ride it and love it. My daughter would not be one of them. She was a bit shaken, at age 5 1/2, by Snow White with the witch jumping out at her. Dinosaur is the witch jumping out times 1,000.

 

[centurythree]

It really does depend on the child. I would have ridden Dinosaur with no trouble, I was up for any ride at that age. My parents didn't give me the "robots" speech either. Every parent does what's best for their own child, and that wouldn't have worked for me at all. In fact, it would have made me suspicious if they spent so much effort "convincing" me not to be scared. Only one ride in my lifetime had me actually frightened as I was walking in: Mission: Space. Why? Because I'd read so many news reports telling me I should be terrified.

I think parents on the fence might find showing the YouTube clips (in a dark room, on full screen, with speakers blaring) a good way to prepare a child if they think it best. Pick one showing the pre-show. Make it a game/show the child you're having fun watching Maybe show the Disney movie Dinosaur first if you have time?

All of that said, if you kind of know Dinosaur is too much for your kid (after all, it's too much for many adults!) please don't take them on!

 

[proud_canadian]

My 3 year old and just turned 6 year old girls went on it last year and were fine! Try it if you think she'll like it. The worst that can happen is she doesn't like it and you don't ride it again!

 

[mya1k9]

Thank you, I really apppreciate all the replies!! I think we'll just leave it alone and if she sees it and wants to ride I'll warn her and take her (will do the ride by myself if there isn't to long of a line, thats a good idea!) if she forgets about it, then I think I will leave it alone and not bring it up!! Thank you again, this was great advice!!

 

[mickey&minnie04]

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

Well....I rode it for the first time in 2009 at the age of 35 and I buried my head in my husbands shoulder the whole time! You couldn't even see me in the picture! I really can't tell you much about the ride because as soon as it got a little intense I closed my eyes and didn't open them until it was over! I'm refusing to go on it this trip...yes, I know they aren't real, but tell that to the 5 year old in me!! LOL

 

[Jasperann]

Dinosaur scared the crap out of me on my last trip. My girls got off of it looking white as ghosts.. We didn't take my 4 year old on it though. He loves Dinosaurs, but I'm sure that would change if he went on the ride and had Dino's trying to eat him. lol I think holding off would be your best bet.

 

[whitney37354]

DD rode it when she was five & didn't have a problem with it. DH even bought a dino for her in the gift shop while I waited on our ride photo to be printed.

There are four seats per row. I told DH to be sure we moved over to the end of the row, leaving the last available seat empty or for a single rider. We put DD between us so DH would be closer to the dino that would pop out at us. I warned DH what would happen from reading these boards!

I thought the ride was more jerky & bumpy than scary. In the picture, DD doesn't look scared, but she is holding on to my arm. She was more scared in Haunted Mansion, but even now she talks about riding HM with the ghosts and she isn't scared now.

 

[fan1080]

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

Ok, here's what you do:

1. Plug the audio output of your computer into an extremely powerful sound system that has a big pounding sub-woofer.

2. Crank that baby to full power so that it nearly breaks-out the windows in the house.

3. Make sure it's at night, in the dark. Even go so far as to put a blanket over the screen and anyone watching to be sure it is as pitch black as posible.

4. Hit play.

Seriously, I'm not exagerating. If she makes it through that ok, she MIGHT be ok to ride.

There is a reason they placed a rather large sign at the entrance to the attraction advising it is scary:

 

[DisneyFive]

When in doubt, don't do it. It can scare your kids for other rides as well ... "Is this one going to be scary too?"

We learned this the hard way taking our 3 1/2 yr old on splash mtn last year. This was the first day at the parks, and for the next few days he was scared to ride anything else.

Dan

 

[AdamsPrincess]

My 3-year old went on it this past May and he was fine. He did say that he didn't want to go on it again until later though.

 

[stacym]

We took our then 5 year old on it a few years ago and he hated it. It is extremely loud and dark, I didn't realize how scared he was until we saw our pictures at the end.

That being said, he wants to try it again on our trip this winter.

I think it just depends on the child.

 

[Brian Noble]

Ordinarily, I'd tell you to avoid this like the plague with a 5yo. The last time I rode it, the girl behind me---about that age---was screaming with what sounded to me like genuine terror. She was *not* happy when we returned to the station.

But, if your daughter has seen a film clip of the ride, well...a definite maybe. I'd still work my way up to this rather than start there, and save it to the end of the trip rather than the beginning, judging things as you go. Even though you know it's all "Mickey Magic", Disney is pretty good at making things feel like more than they are.

 

[amberdburke]

Dinosaur is too scary for me, and I'm almost 30