Expedition Everest age recommendation.

[calgarymom]

The E.E. ride looks like a lot of fun, but I am wondering if it is too scary for a 7 year old who is not very adventurous? She liked Space Mountain but I think EE has higher dips and seems faster. Is there anyone that can comment on this? Thx.

 

[twokids0204]

The E.E. ride looks like a lot of fun, but I am wondering if it is too scary for a 7 year old who is not very adventurous? She liked Space Mountain but I think EE has higher dips and seems faster. Is there anyone that can comment on this? Thx.

It is a LOT less intense then Space Mountian.

My 6 year old rode it, and loved it.

Here is my (not so great video) of me and him on it. You can here him at the top of the hill when the track breaks.

 

[imthatgirl]

There is no big drop. the longest drop is at an angle which makes for a smoother ride. So there is no climb and drop....if that makes sense.

My daughter started riding it at 6 and loves it. At 7 I would just ask hi if he wants to ride it. If he does great, if not, no big deal.

 

[HelenParr]

I am a big fan of "give it a try" (but not pushing too hard if there's resistance), adults or kids. We employed this approach on a recent trip with a 6 year old cousin, and a bunch of us went on EE.

He didn't speak for about 45 minutes after. Poor little guy. And I don't think he's below average brave. Might have been strategic error to watch the screaming folks on the downslope from the vieweing area first. ("Hey Ben, doesn't that look fun?") LOL.

Happily he recovered, and although while still at WDW he refused another go at EE, he now says when we go back, he's looking to do it again.

Long way of saying I don't think you'll know until you try.

 

[calgarymom]

Yeah. I want to give it a try (and I am not a thrill seeker). I think she said no because I showed her a youtube vid of it. She loved Space Mountain, but I think she went on it without fear because she couldn't see what the ride was all about, hence no fear. We leave in 7 days so maybe by then she will work up excitement and courage to go on it. Or, maybe it will be sooooo busy we can't go on anyway

 

[stephie1012]

my 5yr old went on in. she was nervous about the yeti actually working when i assured her it wasnt she loved it. She didnt like the pitch black part but other than that she was fine. My 3yr old begged to go on, but hes not tall enough yet.
the 5yr old is not adventurous and the 3yr old is.

 

[TagsMissy]

My 7 year old niece jumped off the ride and in the gift shop all we heard from her was "AGAIN! AGAIN! AGAIN! AGAIN!" I will admit when one looks at the ride and sees the steep incline you think that a decline is next well that isn't so. The ride itself while fast doesn't have a lot of drops but it does have sections on the dark and the drop where the photo is taken which you can observe by the fencing. It's one of my most favourite rides and in fact my hubby showed me this link last night:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lffjEUKjPlA

 

[Pixie Princess]

I just returned from a trip where I took my 6 (almost 7 y.o.) and 9 y.o. nieces on EE. Neither of these kids have really been to amusement or theme parks. Mainly the carnival rides you can find the county fair. Anyway, the younger one who is generally willing to try things, got off and said she was never riding it again. The 9 y.o. said it was scary, but was up for another ride when DD and I said we were going to ride it again (no wait at the ride). We went back to where my SIL and MIL where waiting for us, and by the time we got over there the younger one decided she liked it, and was going again. The 9 y.o. backed out..too scary. I did have to kind of talk the younger one through the ride (we're going backwards now, it is going to be dark etc.). I wouldn't say she was 100% in love with the ride. She wasn't up for a third ride. (the chill that night may have had something to do with that as well). She said what she didn't like about the ride was the downward hills after you go backwards through the mountain, and that huge lift up in to the mountain. The Yeti growling in the mountain didn't sit to well with her the first time either.


The next day we rode Space Mountain, and she LOVED it immediately. Even in the dark which I though would be the stumbling block for her. She liked the dips, the jerkiness, the lights..all of it. The only thing she didn't like was me screaming woo hoo behind her. She did end up asking that day if we could go back to AK to ride EE as well. I guess it kind of grew on her.

 

[4forMe]

My 6 year old hated Space Mountain the first time he went on it two years ago. He reminded yesterday he doesn't want to ride it again on our upcoming trip.

EE was a totally different story - he loved it and rode it two more times.

I guess it just depends on the child.

 

[Flipper]

My 6 year old hated Space Mountain the first time he went on it two years ago. He reminded yesterday he doesn't want to ride it again on our upcoming trip.

EE was a totally different story - he loved it and rode it two more times.

I guess it just depends on the child.

Same here, 7 year old hated Space Mountain and said she will not go on it again (did not like the darkness and not knowing what was coming next). But went on EE multiple times and is looking forward to going on it again in September. Now my almost 5 year old loved EE , but went on it too many times in a row and got an upset stomach. So he is only going to go once this year!

 

[TurkA77]

It is a LOT less intense then Space Mountian.

My 6 year old rode it, and loved it.

Here is my (not so great video) of me and him on it. You can here him at the top of the hill when the track breaks.

I am a full grown male and it took me about 4-5 trips to DW before I rode SM. My parents never went on rides when I was a kid, so I grew up being sort of afraid them. I progressively rode bigger rides every trip. One year I did Splash Mountai, the next year I did BTMM, The next year I did Space mountain etc. The last trip I finally did Expedition Everest.

That being said, EE is definitely more intense than SM. SM has a max speed of ~28mph with a max drop of 35 feet. EE has a max speed of ~50mph and a max drop of 80 feet. SM is completely in the dark, so it makes it feel worse, while only parts of EE are in the dark. I feel if your kid has done SM, then he will be able to do EE no problem, but it is going to be slightly more intense.


PS Next trip means I have to ride RnR which I have put off forever cause I hate inversions, but I promised the gf. Not looking forward to it.

 

[anorman]

My then 6 and 7 year old DDs rode EE several times on our first trip to WDW and since then they can't wait to get back to it each trip.....it is one of their favourite rides! My kids tend to be a bit adventurous though....last year we went to Busch and Seworld and my youngest was just barely tall enough in sneakers to ride the big rides like Manta, Kraken, Sheikra, Montu, etc. She couldn't wait and we all had a great time (at that time she was only 7 and my other DD was 9). All I could hear was "do it again, do it again!" after each ride.

My advice.....be enthusiastic yourself. I do believe in previewing the more intense rides on youtube with my kids. It takes away the unexpected but remember to pump up your own excitement level when you are watching. If the kids see that you are excited to ride then they are more likely to want to and will enjoy it. Have fun!

 

[tzolkin]

My DS4 rode both EE and Space Mtn 6-8 times each during our last trip.

Our first day at AK, I just asked for a rider switch pass because I assumed DS was way too little (Pretty sure he was under 43" when we were at home). The CM said, "Nah, he's tall enough. I'll give you a pass if you want, but he can ride." We let him decide and he wanted to try it.

Of course my DD6 rode once and then said it was fun, but she didn't want to do it again because it made her a bit sick so she sat it out with grandma. She did the same thing with Space Mtn. But then on our last day, she decided to try it again and wound up riding 4 times in a row.


IMO, Everest is a more intense roller coaster, but Space Mtn gave me a bit more anxiety taking a small child on initially because you are in separate seats and can't see the child well enough to reassure them if they are frightened.