DS won't ride the rides..........

[emsip]

All of a sudden, DS does not want to go on any rides. Has this happened to anybody else?

We went to WDW last year when he was 15 months and had no problems with any of the rides we went on. A couple of months ago we went to the zoo and he enjoyed riding the bug carousel.

Well on Memorial Day weekend, we decided to go to Six Flags Great Adventure. They have a bunch of new children's rides and my wife and I thought that DS would really enjoy it. We were so wrong. He did not want to go on anything. It didn't matter whether we would be riding with him or not.

We have another WDW trip planned in September. Anyone have any suggestions?

 

[jj1403]

Bump!

We are in the same boat with our DD. We took her to a little carnivale with some kiddie rides. She was pretty excited until the reality of going on the rides hit her. Then she was all tears and tantraums.. We're heading to Disney in January/07 and I'm hoping she'll snap out of it!

 

[Jenn Lynn]

We took DD when she was 3. We are all excited going on Dumbo. ASKING her Do you want to go on this? Well, she freaked out and said no, started crying. I was one of those 'bad' parents that made her go on. She was smiling by the end.

We learned not to tell her we were going on a ride. We just got in line and kept her distarcted and then got on the ride. She did absolutely fine with that. We just stopped asking/telling her.

 

[LISAVWL]

We had a similar experience with my now 4 year old DD. She was a very brave toddler, going on all the rides and laughing the whole way through. Then she turned 3 and refused to go on anything but It's a Small World -- yes, over and over! We must have ridden that 100 times that week, poor DH! We're hoping that she will be a little more adventurous this year as not to encourage that same "fear" from her younger brothers! Wish us luck!

 

[hockeymomoftwo]

My 4 y/o is like that also. We learned that his reluctance to go on rides has a lot to do with his inner ear. He got lots of ear infections as a baby/toddler. We could definately tell when he was starting to get pressure in his ears/nasal congestion because he hated to ride any rides. If he was snoot free he loved to ride.

For our trip we definately will be giving him all of his allergy meds for weeks before and probably add sudafed before hand so he has the best time possible.

We know his allergies pretty well for Colorado but are worried about florida and the different climate for his allergies.

 

[zizzyx]

I've taken my son to Disney since he was 2. He was afraid of everything. He'd always ask "Is this in the dark?" "Do the seats move?" "Does this go up & down?". We tried to make him go on the rides but he seemed truely terrified. He did find out that he loved Pirates and the boat ride at Mexico. We just bit the bullet and would each go on a ride and baby swap. When he got older, he enjoyed the park as much as us but in different ways. (Parades, shopping, shows). He is now 21 and still does not do rides but still loves Disney. If I had forced him one too many times, he might of started hating it. Surprisingly, he's one tough hockey player and fearless on the ice! Sorry this is so long.

 

[steen995]

In the past we bought our DS a flashlight for the dark rides and that seemed to help. I mean he was/is scared of just about everything. Our last trip we just did a ride swap most times. He loved the parades, etc. It just wasn't worth forcing him.

 

[plutoNme]

Our son has been to Disney every year since he has been 2 1/2. He got on every ride he could and loved it. All of a sudden last year,( now 8) he would not get on stuff he has riden since he was little. My husband was trying to force him to go on stuff and then we were the parents trying to force him to ride something. Yes, we were the family (in case you saw us) outside Test Track with my DH arguing with my DS to get on, and me telling him, I will just sit here and wait, you are embarassing me and we going to be one of those families we read about on the boards. Hopefully, when we go in October he will be out of this scared stage.

 

[Mom to Jordan]

Children go through so many diffent phases. When they hit a phase of fears whether it is dark or noise or just the fear of loosing control it often makes them usure of riding the same ride they always rode before. Now some children was just cautious about everthing as a part of their personality !!! Now i would never force a screaming child on a ride, but I think you have to really look at your child and know his personality and decide if strongly encouraging your child to ride or not is a good idea. My DS went though a stage like this about 8. I knew him well and knew that he was in a major wory about everything stage! On most rides I told him we were all going to try this ride one time and if he did not like it he did not have to do it again. He agreed to everthing and loved it all except TOT and he was ok with that, just did not like it and even how when he rides everything anywhere, does not like any drop type rides. A few times we told him that he did not have to ride but was going to have to sit with dad while I rode and mom while his dad rode. Decided that was too long and enjoyed the ride as much as we did.
With todders it is oftern the fear of the unknown. Choose rides such a Dumo or the Indy Cars first where they can see everything that will happen. Avoid anything that has fear factor at all early on. All 3-D show and many indoor rides that are so dark.

Be patient, before long they we be begging to go to Universal for the "BIG THRILL" stuff.

 

[lovethattink]

From the time my oldest ds was 2 until age 4 he was scared to death of thunder and darkness. Most of the attractions at Disney have thunder or darkness in them. For those 2 years we watched shows, parades, found hidden treasures most people miss while scurring from ride to ride. It's better to miss some of the attractions and save them for when the phase is outgrown, than to take a screaming kid on them.

 

[Mish]

We had the same exact problem in September 2004 he was almost 6 he wouldn't go on anything. I was so upset I asked the same question here. We went back that April and he rode everything that we went on. We are going back in October and he is talking about going on all of the rides. So yes there is hope.

 

[emsip]

What's funny is that DS will stand in line and look really excited about getting on. But once we are actully about to get on he starts kicking at the ride. I tried getting on first thinking he will want to follow me in. Once I was on the ride, he would grab my hand and try to pull me out.

When I picture it now, it was kinda cute. But at the time it was frustrating.

 

[lauritagoddess]

What's funny is that DS will stand in line and look really excited about getting on. But once we are actully about to get on he starts kicking at the ride. I tried getting on first thinking he will want to follow me in. Once I was on the ride, he would grab my hand and try to pull me out.

Hey, how did you get my DS? LOL, but really my DS is the same way. He got very excited about rides on the outside, but got scared on so many, even ones you wouldn't think would be scary like Peter Pan or Goofy's Barnstormer. After awhile, I just stopped even trying to take him on anything I knew he would freak out on. Although I did urge him to go on Soarin' because I was pretty sure he'd like it and he did really enjoy, well until the last 5 seconds. I'm hoping when we go back in December he'll do a little better. But if not there are so many things he did enjoy. He loved the characters, the parades, looking at everything. He absolutely fell in love with Epcot, I think because it's relatively ride free. It does make you crazy a little when you see everyone else's child having the best time and yours is scared of everything, but no use in pushing and making it worse.

 

[Whosemom]

Anyone besides me ever get the feeling its a power play? I don't doubt that some kids are afraid, or that my dd is afraid of somethings, but SOMETIMES I think we're trying to see who is in charge of the days events.

 

[kstinw19]

I have the same kids. My dd (5) went on everything when she was 3 and 4 but once she turned 5 she would go on nothing. And my ds (now 4) has always been a chicken. We spent last year mostly on Dumbo, Tea Cups, Cindy's Carousel and Small World.

I think there are two scary factors, the fear of the unknown and the noise. Most of these rides feature a car that you get in, and you cannot see where you are heading. This can be scary for a kid. Also, I know that my kids didn't like some rides like Buzz because they were just too loud.

One thing I have tried this year, and we will see if it works, is to go on one of the websites that has video of the rides and show them to your kids before you go. I have been trying to get dd on Splash Mountain and she refuses, but I showed her the inside of it the other day and now she is so excited. It takes the fear of the unknown away.

Also, I am going to try earplugs this year. I think that if the noise is muffled a bit, it might help.

Good luck!

 

[satman1962]

About all I could get my little guy to ride the first time we went was the TTA. Again, and again, and again, over and over. At least it wasn't crowded.

 

[dbarker]

I just skimmed most of the posts and I didn't see this suggested.

It could have been just a different atmosphere. Since I have been to WDW I do not like the rides at 6 Flags. And I won't even go to any local stuff that has rides. So, maybe the magic of WDW will work.

Last time we went, some girls screamed in the Haunted Mansion. This scared DS. He decided he did not want to ride. I let him know that he did not have to ride anything he did not want to. For him, letting him make the decision made all the difference in the world. He then decided he would ride it since he had a choice.