EE for 4 year old??

[rimomma66]

I've been watching YouTube videos of WDW rides with my 4 y/o son, * he just happens to be over 45" tall* and he is STUCK on Expedition Everest. He wants to watch it over and over and says he can't wait to ride it "if we go to Disney World" (It's a surprise trip).
I've never done EE so I'm torn as to whether to even let him try it. The most thrilling ride he's done is Vapor Trail at Sesame Place but he LOVED it and rode it 5 times.
Any input??
Thanks!!

 

[mesaboy2]

If he's tall enough, he's physically safe on the attraction. The rest is up to you.

 

[rwdavis2]

Go to the Magic Kingdom first and see how he handles all the coasters there. EE is far more intense than all of those.

 

[g-dad66]

Go to the Magic Kingdom first and see how he handles all the coasters there. EE is far more intense than all of those.

Try Barnstormer first.

Then Big Thunder Mountain.

Then Splash Mountain.

If those all go OK, then he might be ready for Space Mountain and Expedition Everest, but I would warn him that they will be more intense than Barn, Thunder, or Splash.

 

[indigoxtreme]

Try Barnstormer first.

Then Big Thunder Mountain.

Then Splash Mountain.

If those all go OK, then he might be ready for Space Mountain and Expedition Everest, but I would warn him that they will be more intense than Barn, Thunder, or Splash.

I agree with this poster If he handles these EE is just a little more intense expecially since it goes back wards.

 

[mesaboy2]

Nah, throw the kid in the deep end.

 

[rimomma66]

Try Barnstormer first.

Then Big Thunder Mountain.

Then Splash Mountain.

If those all go OK, then he might be ready for Space Mountain and Expedition Everest, but I would warn him that they will be more intense than Barn, Thunder, or Splash.

Normally this would be perfect except our AK day is our first day in the parks. Hence my complete confusion. My DH is of the "If he wants to then we will" mindset and I'm more cautious I suppose.
I don't suppose any others have incredibly tall 4 year olds and have tried this? *lol*

 

[DRDISNEYMD]

I've been watching YouTube videos of WDW rides with my 4 y/o son, * he just happens to be over 45" tall* and he is STUCK on Expedition Everest. He wants to watch it over and over and says he can't wait to ride it "if we go to Disney World" (It's a surprise trip).
I've never done EE so I'm torn as to whether to even let him try it. The most thrilling ride he's done is Vapor Trail at Sesame Place but he LOVED it and rode it 5 times.
Any input??
Thanks!!

~We love Expedition Everest! It's a notch above Big Thunder Mountain Railroad on the intensity meter but much smoother! And, I like Expedition Everest better than Space Mountain for that age. I also like that you can sit right next to your child and hold on. Have fun!

 

[mesaboy2]

Normally this would be perfect except our AK day is our first day in the parks. Hence my complete confusion. My DH is of the "If he wants to then we will" mindset and I'm more cautious I suppose. I don't suppose any others have incredibly tall 4 year olds and have tried this? *lol*

My DD tried it at 8yo and did not like it, but I'm sure there's plenty of tall 4yo's who loved it. Only you know your child.

 

[g-dad66]

Normally this would be perfect except our AK day is our first day in the parks. Hence my complete confusion. My DH is of the "If he wants to then we will" mindset and I'm more cautious I suppose.
I don't suppose any others have incredibly tall 4 year olds and have tried this? *lol*

My experience is that it's extremely difficult to predict a young child's response.

The first time I took two of our grandsons (ages 8 and 9) on Everest, I "knew" that one would love it, but I was worried about the other one.

As soon as we got off, the one I was worried about wanted to do it again immediately. The other one refused, and we have never been able to coax him into trying Everest again (he was 8 then, is 12 now). He also refuses to try Rock n Roller Coaster.

On what was the first trip for most of our grandkids (back in 2008), I had planned to do Animal Kingdom before Magic Kingdom, but the which-rollercoaster-first-issue caused me to switch our days. And I'm glad that we did, so we could see how the MK roller-coasters worked out.

The last thing you want is a terrified child who then balks at going on any "dark" ride after that.

We never make ADRs, however, so it was an easy matter for us to switch park days.

 

[tina.tina]

I would be hesitant to make that his first dark ride.

I am pretty confident that I could talk my kids through just about anything (maybe not Dinosaur- I'm too scared to ride it). DH had DS5 on POTC (in a separate boat from me) and he was terrified. I told DH to talk to him but ended up having to talk loudly to him about the ride the whole time to calm him down. I figured people would appreciate that more than DS's shrieks of terror. By the time we got off the ride, he was ready to be a pirate and we let him buy a souvenir for positive reinforcement. He rode BTMRR and other rides (including where the witch jumps up on Snow White- I told him we were supposed to laugh when we saw the witch because we knew Snow White would beat her) and he was just fine because I rode with him and prepared him for it. He didn't care for being jostled on BTMRR but it didn't scare him because he was prepared.

Like OP's DS, he can't wait to go back and ride the Yeti roller coaster!

 

[karenklo]

I had the tall 4 yo too! He could ride everything but RnR. He had just turned four too! He LOVED it! But then he also loved ToT and anything else too. Now that he is 11 you cannot keep him off RnR! I was OK with letting him try it. He knew that he couldn't get off if he didn't like it 1/2 way thru.

 

[mummabear]

If my DD4 wanted too (and was tall enough) we would let her. I know she wouldn't get hurt and it wouldn't scar he for life. DD tried everything she could last visit loved Splash and BTMRR did not like Dinosaur or TOT but neither had long lasting effects on what else she wanted to ride...

 

[quesang]

Our son rode it at just turned 4. After I said -wasn't that awesome??? and he said I quote "NO And I am never riding that thing again!" He didn't cry or freak out during, but was not keen on doing it again. I think he rode it at night the first time too, so that probably didn't help. We did get him on again at 7 (during the day!) and he enjoyed it more, but was not asking to ride it again anytime soon!:0) His favorite is still BTM!

 

[Disneychick75]

When my daughter was 4, she wanted to ride Tower of Terror with DH. I was a nervous wreck. After riding it, she wanted to go on it again. If we had let her, she would have ridden it all day long. She also loves roller coasters. I think the idea of letting him try other coasters first is good.

 

[StirlingSilver83]

I am having the same issue, lol, but my son is 7 and finally meets all the height requirements for most of the rides. I watched the EE on you tube and it looks really cool. My son wants to try it just for the fact that it goes backwards, lol. My prob is I cant ride roller coasters bc of vertigo issues and my husband is NOT a roller coaster person, lol. I am the over protective mother so I don't know if I am going to let him on it bc this is his first year he can actually do the bigger coasters and I don't know how he'll react to it. Hes been on smaller coasters similar to barnstormer and has LOVED them...we shall see if my husband is feeling brave on AK day, lol

 

[disnut8]

Normally this would be perfect except our AK day is our first day in the parks. Hence my complete confusion. My DH is of the "If he wants to then we will" mindset and I'm more cautious I suppose.
I don't suppose any others have incredibly tall 4 year olds and have tried this? *lol*

I don't have an incredibly tall four year old (we are height challenged as is our son and grandson) but, your husband is agreeable and your son is agreeable. Since you have never been but the other two want to do it, why not sit it out and then let the two of them deal with any aftermath? If the trip is successful, everyone can laugh and then all three of you try it together. If the trip is horrible, husband and son can deal with it.

 

[Disney44please]

We went in December and my 4 year old (tall also), rode everything, besides RNRRC, and loved them all. He went on EE three times and was upset when we wouldn't let him go on again.

The one thing I was concerned about was the Yeti jumping out in the dark, but we talked about how everything was fake and then I told him he could close his eyes if he wanted to. He did great, no problems and is looking forward to riding again in April.

Have fun!

 

[auralia]

My dd was 5 and she went twice! But twice was enough for her. She loves coasters though and she had already done btmr, space, splash, and tot before Everest.

 

[Krissy562]

I absolutely agree with the PPs who suggested that it's best to work up to these rides, but since you don't have that option - I might be inclined to allow it. With a 4yo, he is every bit (possibly more) likely to be terrified by ITTBAB.
As long as he understands that the ride is fast and exciting and LIKES that, you are probably going to be fine. Be absolutely sure he's prepared for the visuals along the way as well as the backward motion. Finally, be sure you don't project YOUR fear that he won't like the ride, onto him - kids always know when you're worried.
My DD was always tall for her age and rode every single roller coaster as soon as she was tall enough. She couldn't get enough of them and her height chart has notations of where the various roller coaster heights are, so she would know how close she was getting to a new ride. Ironically, she was spooked by something (we never found out what) at the Muppets 3D show when she was 2, and year after year refused to go back until she was over 10 years old.