Expedition everest

[Bon1423]

How intense is expedition Everest? It has worked out with the fast pass I could get, and the day we could get our Tusker house reservation, that animal kingdom is our first park and expedition Everest is the first ride. I'm taking my 6 and 4 year old boys. My oldest loves rides but has not ever done a roller coaster. He's very excited about it but I would hate for his first ride to be too scary.

We've watched the ride on YouTube and he is excited (my 4 year old too, they are both tall enough). But I'm wondering in person, is it super intense and scary or is it manageable for smaller kids?

 

[Tomh]

If they are daredevils, it'll be fine, depends on the kid. By Disney standards, it is a pretty big coaster, though certainly not when compared to the rides at Six Flags or other thrill parks. It was intense, but not horrifying, and I am a bit of a ride chicken. Splash scares the heck out of me lol.

 

[bc7ate9]

I think it completely depends on your kid and what he finds scary. It's more intense than Big Thunder or the 7D ride, but less intense than Rockin' Rollercoaster.

 

[PurpleKomodo]

As long as they are prepared for the backward part and the dark parts, they should be fine. Like others have said, it is one of the most intense rides at WDW (beaten by ToT and RnRC), but it is not super intense compared to roller coasters at other parks. I think your kids will be okay.

 

[LBlovesM&WDW]

Do your boys get motion sickness? We all loved the first part of the ride, but when we did it backwards, oh my was it awful. If you and your boys have no problems with that and some darkness, it's a fun ride.

 

[PantherPete]

Depends on your kids. My overly tall 3 year old rode it. He didn't get upset or anything but didn't want to go back on. Said once was enough. He has been on it several times since though.

 

[Ermise]

As long as they are prepared for the backward part and the dark parts, they should be fine. Like others have said, it is one of the most intense rides at WDW (beaten by ToT and RnRC), but it is not super intense compared to roller coasters at other parks. I think your kids will be okay.

I would agree that the backwards part seems to feel much more intense to some people, including myself. We went on it with a group of kids between 7-10 and a couple didn't like it because it was too intense, but most did. The look on my son's face when we went backwards was a look of terror, but he said he loved it and has ridden it each time we have gone!

 

[micksn]

I think it might put them off. Would you have a chance to go back later in your stay? I would start with Big Thunder Mountain and gauge everything else from that. You could always book it if there isn't something else you would rather do and let them have a look at it. I would be tempted to do Primevil Whirl and Kali River instead. - Sorry!

 

[Kathryn777]

I think it is pretty intense for a first ride, myself. I find standing at the bottom listening to the people scream is the worst part. It's intimidating

 

[Indio]

If they've never done rollercoasters, I wouldn't start with this one. It does have the big hill and the backwards part inside the pitch black mountain is a little intense. And if it's just the 3 of you, they won't let either of the kids ride alone since they aren't 7 so someone would be sitting with a single rider - if they even let you in line with 2 small ones... I wouldn't do this one first. Start with Big Thunder or 7 Dwarfs.

 

[disnut8]

How intense is expedition Everest? It has worked out with the fast pass I could get, and the day we could get our Tusker house reservation, that animal kingdom is our first park and expedition Everest is the first ride. I'm taking my 6 and 4 year old boys. My oldest loves rides but has not ever done a roller coaster. He's very excited about it but I would hate for his first ride to be too scary.

We've watched the ride on YouTube and he is excited (my 4 year old too, they are both tall enough). But I'm wondering in person, is it super intense and scary or is it manageable for smaller kids?

If they have seen the Youtube videos and are fine with it - go for it. I would make it a fun event - "we are going on the biggest, baddest thing here in the park on our first ride!" Get them excited, you be excited and then go for it. If they aren't thrilled with it (and no one can know how they will be on it, not you, not them and not anyone on these boards), you can say, "but, it's done and now everything else will be just a ton of fun!"

 

[Jkpark]

I'm assuming if your 6 year old hasn't done a roller coaster, your 4 year old hasn't either. My only fear is that if they don't like this, they might be too afraid for Thunder Mtn, Space Mtn, etc for the rest of your trip. Because of the dark and backwards part, I don't know if You Tube does it justice, especially for kids who haven't felt 'roller coaster sensations' before. Does that make sense? You will know your kids better than us, in terms of how they react, bounce back, how adventurous they are - but those are the questions I would be working through in your shoes. And as background, when my daughter finally hit 40 inches at Disneyland, we did do Space before Thunder or Splash b/c she begged too and I was scared - luckily she loved it.

 

[Lucius Best]

How intense is expedition Everest? It has worked out with the fast pass I could get, and the day we could get our Tusker house reservation, that animal kingdom is our first park and expedition Everest is the first ride. I'm taking my 6 and 4 year old boys. My oldest loves rides but has not ever done a roller coaster. He's very excited about it but I would hate for his first ride to be too scary.

Every kid is different, but EE does not seem like a good "first coaster". We went with 5yo niece a few years ago. Her parents warmed her up with the kiddie coasters at local amusement parks before our trip. Then we did the Barnstormer first, no sweat. Then we tried BTMRR, which she loved. Then Everest, which she rode but didn't really care for. We had no idea which ones she could handle, but I would never have sent her on Everest first thing.

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

My fondest Disney memory is chasing my then 3 year old daughter back to the entrance of Space Mtn moments before midnight with her screaming "one more time Daddy" all the way.

I would think that a 6 & 4 year old would be fine on EE.

 

[J'Adore Disney]

At 12-years old, my son loved all the mountains except Expedition Everest, he was intimidated by it and would wait outside, while the rest of my family and I would ride. Now, at 19-years-old, he rides it consecutively!

I've seen little kids raise their tiny arms throughout the entire Expedition Everest ride! I personally find Expedition Everest more intense than Rockin' Roller Coaster.

I believe it all depends on the child. If your child is scared to go on a ride, don't force him/her, use parent swap or have him wait with another family member. On several occasions, I've heard parents say to their kids "we paid a lot of money to bring you here, you better go on, etc." That's just completely unnecessary, let him/her decide on their own when they are good and ready to get on a ride.

 

[hdnwaters]

Last week was our first ride on Everest. (It kept shutting down on our last trip) The backwards part was a little intense. The drop is really not any more scary than Splash. I would ride it again. But if I had never ridden a coaster.....I think it would be really scary. I agree with some of the others....start small and build up. When my daughter was 8 our first park was HS and she really wanted to ride ToT. We did and it scared her to the point we had a hard time getting her on anything else. She sat in my lap, cried, and clawed the crap out of me at Universal in the Terminator 3D movie because she overheard someone say it dropped at the end. It was only last week that I got her back on ToT!!! She's 25 years old!

 

[TXMama09]

My DS tends to be a weenie about attractions and rides to begin with. He refused to ride Space Mountain at 4 yo...but he loved Everest. I sort of had to force him on it, but I KNEW he would love it. I'm a mean Mommy. I really do know what's best, and force the issue.

 

[bpadair32]

I've heard parents say to their kids "we paid a lot of money to bring you here, you better go on, etc."

This drives me nuts. Disney is about so much more than the rides. It is about the experience. I don't understand why people would ruin the experience of Disney for their kids just so they can go on a ride that they want to go on.

 

[Micca]

I can see it going either way Bon. The one thing you don't want is for them to get the bejeezus scared out of them such that they don't want to ride anything else no matter how tame it is. If they're daredevils, take them to EE and let them watch for a couple of minutes. If they are still up for it, give it a shot. I'd agree with those that suggest trying something less intimidating first and work your way up to EE. Please let us know how it works out.

 

[bumbershoot]

It's an intense ride.
It looks, from the outside, FAR more intense than it is.
I personally would choose other rides as the first ride, and another coaster as a first coaster.
But...if you're going to do it, do it.

I would make it a fun event - "we are going on the biggest, baddest thing here in the park on our first ride!"

Yep.
This wouldn't work for my son, but I'm sure it would work for many others. Hopefully yours are included.


The backwards part FEELS like you're going upside down. You're not. Might be important to know.