First ride for a toddler

[BriannaRuth]

Although it never stopped her from going, my DD13 was scared of Snow White's Scary Adventures until she was about 12.

 

[Yooperroo]

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.

We have gone on 2 Disney cruises. This past time she was definitely more hesitant to approach the characters. It wasn't until the end of the cruise that she would go up to them herself. Otherwise I had to hold her. I anticipate having to do the same this trip.
We are going during Halloween and she has seen NMBC and listened to the soundtrack. We plan on listening to it and watching it many more times beforehand. We have also been listening to the Disney parks soundtrack a lot (including pirates life for me) in hopes that some familiarity will make it less scary.
She is definitely the daredevil of my children, but we've never done disney so young with my oldest (he was 5 the first time we went and loved everything). I'm anticipating that because I'm expecting her to be fine with everything, she'll probably hate it LOL

 

[Geemo]

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.

It is extremely nice to have the wisdom of DisBoard members...

To OP
If you choose to try the dark rides, ear muffs might help tone down the volume of the ride. They can be LOUD.

 

[smartlabelprint]

We have these. The parks and even the street walking to dlr are really loud. No wonder people have hearing loss so early. It's just overload. My sis went to a concert recently and someone had a baby there with no ear protection. (Eyeroll). https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01F...=8-2&keywords=ear+muffs+noise+protection+baby

This kind are easier than the snug style. These are similar to baby banz.

 

[Yooperroo]

We have these. The parks and even the street walking to dlr are really loud. No wonder people have hearing loss so early. It's just overload. My sis went to a concert recently and someone had a baby there with no ear protection. (Eyeroll). https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01F...=8-2&keywords=ear+muffs+noise+protection+baby

This kind are easier than the snug style. These are similar to baby banz.

Yes we have a pair of baby banz. I was already planning on bringing them for the fireworks, but having them for the rides is smart, too!

 

[Lm3js]

Whatever you do, DO NOT do the Matterhorn first thing. Our first time, we didn't know there were yeti's. We took my roller coaster loving (tall) 3 year old on it thinking it would be fun. He was so afraid of the Yeti's he cried the whole rest of the day in the park and wouldn't ride any rides. You may want to start off with teacups (you don't have to spin), pooh, its a small world, toon town or little mermaid over at DCA... Those are very easy introductory rides.

 

[LYSE]

We took our daughter at three months and her first ride was Alice. She liked it. Winnie the pooh was by far her favorite, followed closely by its a small world. Hope you guys have tons of fun on your trip!

 

[smartlabelprint]

Yes we have a pair of baby banz. I was already planning on bringing them for the fireworks, but having them for the rides is smart, too!

Our kids are sensory so they wear them all day. Oldest takes them off when needing a break because they are the tighter kid kind.

 

[mpadilla89]

DD first time there was when she was 3. her first ride was Dumbo. she loved it. We pretty much did every ride that time that she was able to get on. Her favorite was HM and its now a must for her every time we go.

It also depends on your child and if they are afraid of heights of fast movements or the dark. My DD likes thrill rides and is willing to try the rides at least once.

 

[Yooperroo]

DD first time there was when she was 3. her first ride was Dumbo. she loved it. We pretty much did every ride that time that she was able to get on. Her favorite was HM and its now a must for her every time we go.

It also depends on your child and if they are afraid of heights of fast movements or the dark. My DD likes thrill rides and is willing to try the rides at least once.

Right. i'm not sure if my child will be afraid of heights or fast movement, as this will be her first time at any sort of theme park. She is not afraid of the dark at home, but it's different when it's unfamiliar and there's scary music, etc. So the only way to know is really try it out and see! I just want to make sure I don't start out with one of these potentially scary rides and have every other ride ruined because of it. I definitely like the idea of doing Dumbo first.

 

[ChloroformSdxn]

My son's very first ride was Peter Pan. It was a giant disaster, he cried the whole time. I was freaking out, thinking I now have the only kid in the world who hates Disneyland. Then he loved everything else, and it's his favourite place. Definitely work your way up to the dark rides (and yes, Winnie the Pooh counts as one.)

 

[jina]

Dumbo and Astro orbiter as they are "snuggle" rides where your child sits in front of you and you have your legs and arms around them. For years my daughter called Astro Orbiter "zoom to the moon!" (after something we read in a Dora book) and we still call it that. DD also loved IASW and Casey's Circus train her first trip.

 

[smartlabelprint]

Dumbo you sit next to your child.