First ride for a toddler

[Yooperroo]

We are going to Disneyland this fall and it will be my daughter's first time in the parks. She will be a few months over 2 at the time. What rides would you recommend for her first rides? I want to set the tone for a good experience, so I don't want to start with a ride that might scare her and make her afraid to try any others (I'm not sure how she will do on the dark rides). At the same time, I'd like to start out with rides that will best utilize our time. I don't want to ride something first thing in the morning that has short lines all day, if that makes sense. Any suggestions? Thanks in advance!

 

[chickapin parterre]

if she is not afraid of mice, then Dumbo would be that choice, then autopia, then jungle cruise,....then pirates for the litmus test

 

[SOCALMouseMommy]

We went when my LO was 21 months and our first ride was the carousel (loved it). Then we did Dumbo (loved it), Small World (loved it) and Little Mermaid (we were at WDW). When he liked Little Mermaid I decided to try him on Haunted Mansion (loved it) and finally Pirates, which I thought would scare him but he loved it. As it turns out, my child is a daredevil and he has not been scared of anything I have taken him on, which is everything he is allowed to ride at DL and DCA expect Peter Pan (line is always too long) and Nemo (same reason). He's 2.5 now.

Big favorites of his are Dumbo, Teacups, Winnie the Pooh, Small World, HM, Pirates, Storybookland Canal Boats, Gadgets Go Coaster, Astro Orbitor, Buzz Lightyear, Little Mermaid, Jungle Cruise and Tiki Room.

I can't wait until he's tall enough for the bigger rides like RSR, Splash and Star Tours, I think he is going to flip for them.

 

[Yooperroo]

if she is not afraid of mice, then Dumbo would be that choice, then autopia, then jungle cruise,....then pirates for the litmus test

Perfect. Thanks!

 

[Yooperroo]

We went when my LO was 21 months and our first ride was the carousel (loved it). Then we did Dumbo (loved it), Small World (loved it) and Little Mermaid (we were at WDW). When he liked Little Mermaid I decided to try him on Haunted Mansion (loved it) and finally Pirates, which I thought would scare him but he loved it. As it turns out, my child is a daredevil and he has not been scared of anything I have taken him on, which is everything he is allowed to ride at DL and DCA expect Peter Pan (line is always too long) and Nemo (same reason). He's 2.5 now.

My daughter is a daredevil, too, so I'm hoping she will love HM and Pirates! Are the lines for Nemo still that long? It's been about 10 years since I've been to DL. She is a huge Finding Nemo fan so that was a must on our list. Maybe we should make sure we hit that early in the morning.

 

[SOCALMouseMommy]

My daughter is a daredevil, too, so I'm hoping she will love HM and Pirates! Are the lines for Nemo still that long? It's been about 10 years since I've been to DL. She is a huge Finding Nemo fan so that was a must on our list. Maybe we should make sure we hit that early in the morning.

The lines always seem long. I think it's a slow loader. You could in theory head over early but it would be a shame to miss out Fantasyland, which is where we always start for in the morning. Fantasyland gets super packed as the day goes on.

Also forgot Casey Junior train in Fantasyland... that's a good one.

 

[DisneyPiPhi]

Cinderella's Carousel (at WDW) was our DD's first Disney ride. It was right there when we walked in and she asked to ride, so we of course said yes. Also, she had ridden the carousel at our local park before, so she had some prior knowledge of what the ride would be like and it got her excited for more rides.

 

[Yooperroo]

The lines always seem long. I think it's a slow loader. You could in theory head over early but it would be a shame to miss out Fantasyland, which is where we always start for in the morning. Fantasyland gets super packed as the day goes on.

Also forgot Casey Junior train in Fantasyland... that's a good one.

Thanks! Good point. We will have two days at DL and two days at DCA so maybe the second morning we can head to Nemo in order to hit fantasyland on day one.

 

[chickapin parterre]

32 inches for autopia is the minimum for accompanied driver...sorry about that suggestion..... casey jur is fun, just wait for an open vehicle.

 

[Geemo]

The Snow White ride freaked out my son when he was little.
That was back in the late '70s before previews on youtube were available.
If you have any concerns about the dark rides, go check them out on YouTube.

 

[Yooperroo]

32 inches for autopia is the minimum for accompanied driver...sorry about that suggestion..... casey jur is fun, just wait for an open vehicle.

She's currently 32 inches so we should be ok there

 

[Yooperroo]

The Snow White ride freaked out my son when he was little.
That was back in the late '70s before previews on youtube were available.
If you have any concerns about the dark rides, go check them out on YouTube.

Yes! We've been watching them. She was really interested in the Snow White one and watched it several times. Today we watched the haunted mansion and she frequently commented on how dark it looked, but she liked the "glowing blue guys" aka the ghosts HaHa

 

[bumbershoot]

California adventure's bug's land. Heimlich's Chew Chew Train.

I wouldn't go near fantasyland at first with a wee one if I had it to do over again. I mean, Casey jr is nice, but almost everything on the way is dark loud and scary or spins you around.

 

[bumbershoot]

Double. Sorry.

 

[oakleycat]

As toddlers my son's favorites were the Casey Jr. Train, IASW and at CA Adventure, Heimlich's ChewChew train. My youngest (8) still hates the dark rides!

 

[lcp9]

I can't remember if Gadget's go coaster in toontown is 32 or 36", but my son met whatever height it was at 2 and he loved it!

 

[PHXscuba]

What about a ride on the train around the park? They can see some of the rides as they pass and have a great first experience. My son saw Autopia early in the day and that's all he asked for until we made it back that afternoon!

And I would echo the "not Fantasyland dark rides" advice of others. Outdoors rides where they can see what is coming are best for a first experience. You can never tell what is going to freak them out and they are too young to articulate what is scaring them -- the dark, the characters, the music, the speed?

PHXscuba

 

[ExcitedMama]

My 2 yr old hated HM and did not like PTC. If you can you might consider the safer boat rides first and then work up to PTC. I bought the picture books for the rides in hopes that after seeing them for HM and PTC she might be more ok this time. She's now singing yo ho ho it's a Pirates life for me so I'm hoping that will set the right tone gong into it. Did you go over the shrinking room being an elevator? I'm going over that too in hopes it helps. At 2 she clung to me petrified. Are you going during the Halloween season and the Nightmare Before Christmas overlay? If so definitely get the storybook and watch the movie. I'm hoping she will do better this time knowing who the skeleton is. I think being Jack is less scary than just skeletons. She actually was ok with the other dark rides so at least that wasn't a problem. Have you prepared her for the fuzzy characters? I wasn't prepared for that and it was a big problem, they all made her cry. She loved the princesses and Tinkerbell though.

 

[SOCALMouseMommy]

I can't remember if Gadget's go coaster in toontown is 32 or 36", but my son met whatever height it was at 2 and he loved it!

It's 35 inches.

 

[chickapin parterre]

dark rides ruined my visit with 5 year old, I wish this site had been around, would have followed the sunshine rules of slowly putting the big toe into the dark end of the park.