Encouraging Kids To Ride.....

[lovetovacation]

MY DS WAS 8 ON OUR LAST WDW VACATION. HE REFUSED TO RIDE SOME OF THE '"BIGGER" RIDES, LIKE TOT, SPLASH MOUNTAIN, AEROSMITH ROLLERCOASTER. HE IS NOW 11 AND STILL SAYS HE DOESN'T WANT TO TRY THSES RIDES. I AM OK WITH HIM NOT DOING TOT OR THE ROLLERCOASTER, BUT THINK HE WOULD LOVE SPLASH MOUNTAIN IF HE GAVE IT A CHANCE. WHO AS HIGHLY ENCOURAGED THEIR KIDS TO RIDE CERTAIN RIDES AND ARE YOU GLAD YOU DID? THANKS FOR YOUR RESPONSES!

 

[Wish Upon A Star]

Good question . . .it is very hard to try to encourage them to ride certain rides that they have already decided they weren't riding.

My DS was 5 1/2 when we visited WDW for the 1st time in 99 and we went into Honey I Shrunk The Audience. . .needless to say I had to walk out with him after the "mice" escaped into the audience . . .he is almost 10 now and we have been back to WDW 3 times and he still won't go on it.

Last July we went on Thunder Mountain for the first time and he absolutely loved it . . .(except for the part he thought he was going to fall out) and hopefully we'll go on it this trip.

What we did was let him watch the ride first and told him it was no big deal . . .we asked him to try it at least once . . .This will be the case for Test Track this trip . . .

I've been working on getting them to try Splash and Space Mountain . . .hopefully I'll be able to report that we actually rode these two rides when we come back.

 

[laurabelle]

During the last 2 trips I have encouraged my 8, turned,9 yr old to begin riding the BIGGER rides. 1st, we started off small, Goofy's Barnstormer, then Big Thunder Mnt., then Splash Mnt., then Test Track. Next trip she is dying to do ToT because we rented the WWofDisney movie about it and she is hooked!She's considering Space Mnt. and wants to do Dinosaur and definitely wants to do Mission:SPACE! Do you have the Birnbaums Kid's Guide? They love reading through it and planning. My youngest will be 7 next trip, very timid. I'm trying to convince her to ride Peter Pan... Good Luck!

 

[lovetovacation]

THANKS FOR THE IDEA OF THE KIDS GUIDE. I HAVE REALLY ENJOYED READING MY GUIDEBOOK. MY SON LOVES SPACE MOUNTAIN AND BIG THUNDER MOUNTAIN, SO I'M KEEPING MY FINGERS CROSSED THAT HE WILL TRY SPLASH MOUNTAIN!

 

[Kallison]

I've "highly encouraged" my kids to do certain rides. Some others I know they won't like such as TOT. I believe we looked like the worst parents in the world when we made my 9 year old ride Test Track. He got off and immediately ran around to get on again, rode it 8 times in a row. The CM's were cracking up. I guess you have to know your own child. Yes, he was crying but I knew he would love it, he thanked us afterwards.

 

[safetymom]

I am a big chicken so I never made my kids ride anything they were uncomfortable with.

I did let them read about several rides and then they decided when they wanted to try it. Of course I didn't ride it with them.

They will let you know when they are ready to try the ride.

 

[susy]

My son was 3and a half on our first trip ad DH just took him on TM. He loved it! He did Splash on the next trip and is looking forward to doing TT, Dinosaur, and Primeval Whirl yeah, he's 48 inches now!). He's doen all the 3-d shows, Kali, Star Tours, and he did do haunted Mansion the first trip. I say... if you think they will like it, just get on the ride. If you think they will freak out, save it for next trip. I do encourage my son to do the things I think he will like. I try NOT to appear apprehensive about ANY ride.

 

[mep319]

My 6 yr old (7 on the next trip) is the type of kid you almost have to force on rides for the first time. I know I look like a terrible mom but she hates to do anything new. Once on however she ALWAYS keeps going on. For instance on our last trip I finally talked her into doing TOT on the last day and she rode it 7 times in a row...I'm the one who made her stop b/c I was going to get sick!! You know your kid, use your judgement!

 

[dizkidz2]

I encourage them to do it once. Then from that point on it is their decision. I tell them they don't know if they will like it or not if they don't try. Also they are not going to 'fall out' for get hurt it's Disney and they couldn't let that happen or else no one would be riding. Also with the exception of Space Mountain you can ride right next to them and hold on to their hand or them if they want.
Or a REALLY good bribe or compromise may work also.

 

[GeorgePA]

We always encourage our kids to try new rides if they ride it and dont like they dont have to ride it that trip again but when we go the next time again give it a try.
My son at 4 rode SPlash MTN and BTMRR and luved them both he got off and on BTMRR 5 times in a row.
He wants to despertly do rock n rollercoaster but he will not be tall enough.
One way to get your children used to the rides is take them to an amusment park near you close to your trip, you can get most of the ride apprehesnion out of there system by doing so.

 

[HvnzCaress]

We did a couple of test runs to a local amusement parks last year. At first I was not very encouraged by my sons enthusiasim (or lack of) when it came to the rides. My son is the same age as yours and was refusing to ride just about everything. We managed to get hiim onto one ride (a suspended rollercoaster) which actually started in motion among some quiet tears being shed in the seat next to me (the crying started just at the point he was getting into the seat).

After this ride he had an agreement with us that the one challenge to his fears was all that was expected for the one day. By the end of the day he was leaping fences to get on a ride with his dad (one much like TOT). He now claims he won't be afraid of anything at Disney...we'll see...

Take from my experience what you will. I hope you find something that helps.

 

[Tinkbell]

Encouraging your kids to ride is fine. Forcing them to ride might backfire. You know your child best. After you encourage and they still don't want to ride, just let it go.

I rode Splash Mountain once behind a girl about 6 years old and her mother. It was obvious that the girl didn't want to be there. She cried the whole time wondering when "the drop" was coming. She really lost it during the small hills. She was a real mess after "the drop". When it was over she kept screaming, "I told you I didn't want to go on this!". It was quite a scene. The mom just laughed and got in line to purchase the photo of her terrified child.

 

[lovetovacation]

OH MY! That would be a scene! Thanks for all the responses!

 

[lisadam]

Like others have said - you know your child - but as much of an amusement park junkie that I am - my son seems not to be... I figure in his lifetime as his mom I will have to force him to do lots of things - like go to school, go to "boring" family events, eat his veggies, etc. but as much as I *think* he may like something I won't force him on a ride - he resists lots of things - especially new ones - I have to pick my "forcing" choices and save the pressuring for the important stuff.

 

[HunnyPots]

when he was about 11, was to have an adventurous buddy along. Of course, he didn't want to wimp out in front of his friend so he acted like it was no big deal and rode whatever his friend liked. This was at Six Flags, where there are much scarier rides than anything at WDW! This year, on our first ever WDW trip, he was fearless.

Whatever you do, don't lie to them about the ride. We went on TOT with a little girl, about 6, and her mother who kept telling this poor child, "It's just an elevator, Honey". Now, I don't have to tell you that this child was NOT amused to find out that this elevator was a little unusual! She made need some therapy to ever get back on an elevator!

 

[laceemouse]

I have severe motion sickness and don't do any BIG rides. My DH will take the kids on whatever they want to ride. We have 4 kids and they are all very different!! Some don't like drops, some don't like spinning, etc... They all like the 3D shows and none are afraid of the dark, loud noises, etc.. We just let them decide for themselves. They know that we will go back again and they can try something next time. My hubby did alien encounter by himself last time, and I would like my oldest DD12 to do it with me next time, but I won't force her. Her dad wants her to do M:S with him. We will see!!!

 

[Donnainnj]

Last July we went to Ca and Universal was our first stop. What a mistake, DD 6 that would go on just about any ride before was now afraid of everything. The only thing she really didn't care for before this was the 3d movies. Anyway this April when we went to WDW she was still afraid of a lot. Well not proud to say, but it worked, we bribed her. She really wanted a princess light up wand. We told her that if she went on Pirates, Splash, and the Haunted Man. we would get it. Well she negotiated for Pirates, splash and Space Mountain, her imagination is just to good for HM I guess. Space Mountain was her favorite. We told her it was a wand of courage. Getting her on other rides after this was much easier since she had faced her fear and had a wand of courage. Don't know what would work for an older child, but might be worth some thought.
Enjoy your trip!

 

[harperwi]

We had this same problem, and to some extent still do. Currently the boys are 7 and 10. Last year when they were 6 and 9 we planned a trip to WDW in Oct (2002). Well, in Summer 2002 we took them to Valleyfair in Shakopee, Minnesota (like a mild Six Flags - it's Cedar Point's little sister park).

All they would do was the bumper cars.

Since short of DQ, Disney doesn't have a bumper car ride, we sat them down and explained to them that we were going to cancel the trip until they were ready to go. None of us were happy to cancel, but after feeling like we'd wasted $80 on a local park, imagine how we would have felt if we'd spent several hundred with the same disappointing results!

So this year we told them both that we would take them to two test parks first, and if they were at least a little brave, we would go to Disneyworld this year.

We took them first to the local carnival. The 10 year old rode EVERYthing, even things I wouldn't do. The 7 year old rode all but the scariest ride there, which is much more than we thought he would do.

So we booked the vacation.

Then two weekends ago we took them to Camp Snoopy, and we wondered if we jumped the gun.

While the 10 year old was still completely fearless, his little brother suddenly wouldn't try anything new, and he wouldn't go on rides he'd enjoyed at 5 years old! We ended up coaxing him and describing rides to him, and trying anything we could think of to get him to try them. Eventually he tried all the ones we asked him to do.

He HATED the log flume (the silent tears thing someone else described.) But he LOVED everything else. He even rode the roller coaster four times in a row. One thing we found worked with him was to withhold some of the minor things from our description. While going into a simulator ride, we told him we were going to watch a movie. We didn't tell him the seats moved, and he didn't hesitate to go in. He loved it, even though he was at first afraid that the seats would go up to the ceiling and fall back down. We assured him that wouldn't happen.

Bottom line: we're going to WDW. He wants to ride Alien Encounter. He doesn't want to ride Splash (go figure, huh?) I'm confident we can at least get him to try Splash, but we'll probably end up taking each ride one at a time and see what he feels like that day.

(Sorry so long; I hope this was helpful)

Jon

 

[RKC]

Geez... I have the exact opposite problem. DD(4) loves the big, fast rides , even goes on without DH or I!!! And DS(22mo) cried and cried...when we took him OFF the kiddie rides.(We recently went to a small local fair.) At WDW last Sept. DD loved just about everything, including ToT. The only thing she didn't like was DINOSAUR. Occasionally she will interject into a conversation about, say, kindergarten, "Mommy? Renember that dinosaur ride at Mickey Mouse? I didn't like that." But she wants to go on everything else again, and again, and again, and again............

 

[HokieDad]

I'm terrified of roller coasters but my DD(9) loves them so I ride them. I've been in an elevator that went awry so ToT would be quite a leap of faith. But you have to conquer your fears. My DS(7) didn't like roller coasters so we started with Prime Spin and he did fine with that. Start small and move up.