Dinosaur with a 4.5 yr old???

[100acrewoodsfan]

It totally depends on the kids. My 3 year old went on it and enjoyed it and asked to ride it again on our next trip. We encourage our kids to ride all the rides as soon as they are tall enough. When they are little they tend to react based on our (parent) behavior and not preconceived fears. I told my son that the dinosaurs were playing hide and seek and were going to try and jump out and surprise him. He thought it was funny! However this is the same kid that is terrified of Ursula and hates the Voyage of the Little Mermaid show. You know your kids best, go off of their cues. But I would make sure you have ridden quite a few other dark rides first so they know most of the rides aren't scary.

 

[SplashMo]

Skip it for sure. Scary for even teenagers. And hardly worth it...

 

[BraveLittleToaster2]

I also find it very jerky! I'm an adult and my neck was hurting after getting off dinosaur. We broght our son when he was 5. He cried coming off and complained of back pain. He is now 12 and every time we bring it up he always gives an emphatic No!

 

[Muskrat191]

My 4.5 year old rode Dinosaur in February. We tried to talk her out of it, but she insisted on coming with us. She didn't love it, but didn't hate it. She was proud of herself for riding. We did cover her eyes for that one dinosaur. She also rode EE, and once again, didn't particularly like it but was proud of herself for riding it. (She loved TT.)

 

[d1gitman]

i took my son on when he was 4.5 yrs old...about 10 seconds into it he cowered and buried his head under my arm...that was the longest ride of my life as a parent. he was in tears when we got off.

 

[hookedonears]

Has anyone done this? How did they do?

I'm worried it's too scary. And I don't have much background to go on. The last time he went to WDW, he was 9.5 months old so, of course, didn't ride it. We've gone to the fair every year but he's never done any ride that's comparable. It won't be on our first day (4th day in the parks) so I would have some time to judge his reactions to other MK, DHS, and Epcot attractions but if we plan to do it, I would probably FP it. Leaning toward skipping it and using the FP for something else we can all do together (I've read that it worth it for Nemo).

If they're tall enough, they're good to go on ALL attractions. It's Disney! They make their attractions for the entire family.

 

[bumbershoot]

When they are little they tend to react based on our (parent) behavior and not preconceived fears.

The only people who get to believe this are people with kids who fall in line with it.

MY kid pays attention to the feeling of the queue, the props like big Dino skeletons, the music (I thought he was going to do something with music given how much he pays attention to it), the whole thing. Two measly parents telling him dinosaurs are going to play peekaboo with him would mean nothing when compared to the evidence assaulting his senses.

Any imagineer watching him in line would be proud of their work because he pays attention to it all.

If they're tall enough, they're good to go on ALL attractions. It's Disney! They make their attractions for the entire family.

They don't. Height reqs are based on the physical nature of the ride and I assume state allowances (given the lax height reqs between Dino vs Indy and Kali vs Grizzly). You've never ridden no-height-req Pinocchio if you think all their rides are for the family.

 

[PrincessWithABlaster]

If they're tall enough, they're good to go on ALL attractions. It's Disney! They make their attractions for the entire family.

As a child I was tall enough to go on Snow Whites Magic (Scary ? I don't remember what it was called) Adventure. I had witch nightmares for months according to my parents. Some kids are more sensitive than others and the height requirements are for safety not scariness.

 

[elmoandzoey]

I'm mom to DS11 who to this day refuses to go on POTC because he thinks it's too scary. So I am not even pushing the issue of trying Dinosaur. This is going to be a disaster on our upcoming trip because my DS7 is a daredevil who will want to go on every thrill ride (and he sure will enjoy it). Point being - you know your kid best, you will know how he reacts to certain things. There'll be people here saying do it as much as there will be people saying don't do it - but they don't know your little one. It is a pretty scary (and LOUD!) ride indeed. Some kids will be able to handle it at 4, some kids won't even be ready at 11.

 

[DavidNYC]

It could definitely go either way with him. I just don't have many experiences with him to compare it to.

If he hasn't done stuff like this You Tube is key. When they had seen videos and knew what it was going to be even if they didn't like it when riding, they were pretty much over it when the got off the ride (or they appeared so scared of the video that you decide not to try). We also talked about it in advance about not being real and how we were proud of them for trying it. The combination of all those things helped so even if they didn't like it - they were proud of themselves for trying.

 

[WDWRook]

Is there a general consensus on which rides are the scariest or too thrilling for young kids (ages 4 - 6/7)?

I'm gathering somewhere along the lines of (ordered from worst to easiest - ignoring height restrictions):

- RnR
- Dinosaur
- ToT
- Space Mt
- P. Whirl
- Everest
- Mission Space Orange
- Test Track
- BTMR
- Haunted Man
- Splash
- Speedway
- 7DMT
- Carpets, Dumbo, Barnstormer


I think we will keep our FP+, and wait to see how the kids do on the rides at MK and adjust if they don't seem ready for scary, fast or thrilling rides, but it would be nice to have a vague concept of comparison.

 

[PSULion]

Is there a general consensus on which rides are the scariest or too thrilling for young kids (ages 4 - 6/7)?

I'm gathering somewhere along the lines of (ordered from worst to easiest - ignoring height restrictions):

- RnR
- Dinosaur
- ToT
- Space Mt
- P. Whirl
- Everest
- Mission Space Orange
- Test Track
- BTMR
- Haunted Man
- Splash
- Speedway
- 7DMT
- Carpets, Dumbo, Barnstormer


I think we will keep our FP+, and wait to see how the kids do on the rides at MK and adjust if they don't seem ready for scary, fast or thrilling rides, but it would be nice to have a vague concept of comparison.

It's just so hard to rank/compare, because they are all so different. Each person is gonna be hit or miss on each ride. Primeval whirl isn't really bad at all. Definitely tamer than Everest. Mission Space orange is very claustrophobic and bad for motion sickness. My two won't go anywhere near Haunted Mansion, but for creepiness, not because it's fast. Also, my 7 yr old LOVES Space Mt, but absolutely hated Everest. You just never know!

 

[ArielSRL]

I also find it very jerky! I'm an adult and my neck was hurting after getting off dinosaur. We broght our son when he was 5. He cried coming off and complained of back pain. He is now 12 and every time we bring it up he always gives an emphatic No!

This is why my mom won't ride it.

 

[ArielSRL]

If they're tall enough, they're good to go on ALL attractions. It's Disney! They make their attractions for the entire family.

Thanks for the reply but I definitely do not agree with this statement.

 

[SplashMo]

You might hit the gift shop and bypass the ride...

 

[hookedonears]

Thanks for the reply but I definitely do not agree with this statement.

Time to get the kids to stay out all day and play, go bare footed all day. Tell them to go and drink out of the hose if they get thirsty. If it's raining, tell them to make mud pies.

 

[ArielSRL]

Time to get the kids to stay out all day and play, go bare footed all day. Tell them to go and drink out of the hose if they get thirsty. If it's raining, tell them to make mud pies.

I suppose you are being funny....

 

[Julylady]

We have never made any kid go on a ride he/she didn't want to go on. My sister took my 4year old nephew on Space Mountain years ago and he woke up with nightmares for months afterwards. She so regretted it. That was an object lesson for us!

That being said, we have been successful in trying several approaches that have helped the kids cope. One of my nieces was scared of dark rides. We bought her those glow in dark necklaces and she wore one each day. Just having a little light around her face helped her. Her younger sister was scared of some of the images. She hated Pirates because of the ship scene with the canons. She sits next to me with my arm around her. I can totally cover her eyes with my hand. When a ride or show gets too intense, she reaches for my hand and puts it over her eyes. As long as she can't see it, she's fine. This is also how we rode Dinosaur for years. We have also had the talk about Mickey trying to scare us, but its always, always safe.

 

[hookedonears]

I suppose you are being funny....

No, not really.

 

[kapstar]

It frightened my DD (8) and DS (5) so badly on our last trip that it is the one unanimous "skip" on our visit this April. Too loud and too jerky for the other three of us too.