{Gasp} 8 Year Old Doesn't Want to Go to WDW

[mom2daisy]

Oh, boy. I really need your help on this one. DD (8) does not want to go to WDW.

We made the mother of all mistakes on our first trip to the World (March '07). Somehow DH and I turned into commandos the minute we stepped off the plane. DD rode all the rides with the exception of EE. There was no way she was going "up that mountain". Now, we are planning a Feb. '08 trip. She told me this evening that she doesn't want to go because she is sure that we are going to make her go on all the scary rides. I have tried to assure her for months now that this trip will be "her trip". Her choice about which rides she will go on and the amount of pool time, water parks, etc.

Please . . . tell me that we are not the only parents to "scar" our child. Has anyone else made this mistake??? What can we do to help calm her fears??? I've already tried bribery and that didn't work.

Also, does anyone have any tips for the most efficient way for DH and I to take turns going on the "scary rides" separately?

Thank you.

Angela

 

[I'mNoPrince]

When DD was younger and didn't like the scary rides I would get up early and hit them while they slept in on certain days.

Now that she is a bit older she goes with me as DW sleeps in.

Go to the WDW sight and let her do a Family Custom Map picking what she wants to do.

 

[Texasmomof3]

I'm afraid I might have ruined my 10 year old when he was little by taking him on Splash Mountain he now refuses to ride anything bigger than the kids coaster He still loves DW and we just do parentswaps for the rides he won't go on and our 2 year old can't. It's great for my 6 year old who rides everything twice as she gets to go with me and then her dad. I don't think she ever wants him to get over his fear

 

[ldo]

we took DD (3) on Haunted Mansion and I nearly had to sign her up for therapy (CM told me "it's FINE for a 3 yr old").
Get or print out some WDW maps and let her plan what rides she wants to go on--there are tons of fun things to do, shows, etc.
You might sweeten the deal by letting her pick out a character meal (assuming you can get it).

 

[Shasta]

Sell her with the commercial side of Dinsey. At 8 years old, (my DD is 8) you can use the Pixar characters, Highschools musical, Cheetah Girls, etc to sell her on the "New Disney".

I can't help but to think that your best ally would be the Disney channel and other characters that her peers talk about. Once there, she may view Disney in a new light with you guys being cool about the wilder rides.

 

[lpizzuro123]

Watching different Disney shows is a great idea. Many years ago my boyfriends nephew scared by my boyfriends son by taking him on a rollercoaster at Hershey Park when he was too little to know what he was in for. We went to WDW after that and could not get him on any scarry rides (he was 9 at the time). We went back to WDW the following year and we left the day after Christmas. Christmas morning we watched the Christmas Parade on TV from WDW. Well, AK had just opened and they were doing this whole show on all the rides at all the parks (along with the parade). Some of the kids from the Disney shows that he watches were riding Big Thunder Mountain. Where did he want to go when we got to the MK - Big Thunder Mountain. After seeing the kids he watches on TV go on this rides he was looking forward to it.

He also got into pin collecting and I told him I would buy him the pin from Splash Mountain if he went on the ride with me. He did and he loved it. He is now 19 and had never rode Space Mountain until this past July when we went to WDW with him and his girlfriend joined us. Well, she loves Space Mountain and he went on with her. I guess love got him over his fear.

There are so many other things to do at the parks other then riding certain rides. We enjoy the shows and night time fireworks and parades. I am sure if you go and take it slow she will have a great time.

Linda

 

[Sea-Donkey]

My daughter was 4 last March and loved Big Thunder and Splash Mountain. She was a little too short for Everest and Space Mountain, but this coming March she'll be tall enough for everything but Aerosmith (48").
All kids are different I guess.

 

[Clubhouse Mickey]

This is just my thoughts...

first of all, kids are smart. They know if you are trying really hard to get them to like something or do something they don't want to. And that's precisely when they will decide to dig their heels in and be the most stubborn (speaking from experience, and my daughter is only 6!) So maybe downplay it a little. You have the holidays to get through before the trip anyway. By then, she may have softened some.

Speaking of the holidays, maybe focus on any of the Disney characters she does like. Another idea, I recently discovered that toys r us sells (at least online, I haven't been to the store yet to see if they have it there too) a Dance Dance Revolution Disney Mix that has a lot of cool Disney songs...

The other thing is to see if you could plan something fun for her to look forward to. Is she into the princess thing? maybe a Bibiddi Bobiddi Boutique appt would something she might appreciate. Or maybe let her pick out some costumes to wear to parades, etc. Or even schedule a character meal for her. My daughter is very much not into the princess thing but she loves Mickey so on our trip coming up we are doing Chef Mickey's twice...

Another thing kids like is to have autograph books. You can even use your imagination and come up with alternatives on that theme. ex: I believe amazon sells a disney encyclopedia of characters and that was suggested as a good book to take to have characters sign on the page of their picture

8 yrs is also old enough for her to take her own camera, or if you have an ipod maybe let her take it with some disney songs on it? I have an ipod shuffle that hubbie got me before upgrading me to the nano, so I plan to put songs for her on the shuffle to take with us.

Buy her the Birmbaum guide for kids and let her make notes on what she'd like to do.

Once you get there, you could set up a gift basket for her to be delivered to your resort on the day you arrive either via peggy's sweets or memories by betsy. They will fill with plush, toys, mickey ears, basically whatever you'd like and it could even be a special gift from "mickey"

I guess my last advice would be to maybe just admit to her your mistake and say that you realize now that you made choices on your first trip you wish you could take back, but you can go forward and you are interested in hearing her thoughts. But if she is still resistant, I would just give her lots of these opportunities and then drop it for awhile. She'll come around. Who couldn't love disney?

 

[Jrabbit910]

I agree w/ the pp and say let her get a customized map on Disney & she can choose what she wants to go on...

Hope it works! I would hate for her to think WDW is a bad place w/ frightening rides!!

 

[I believe]

I agree w/ the pp and say let her get a customized map on Disney & she can choose what she wants to go on...

Hope it works! I would hate for her to think WDW is a bad place w/ frightening rides!!

I would let her do what Jrabbit910 said above, but I would add that I would stick to what she is comfortable doing in the future. Let her explore the WDW website and see what she missed out on last time. I would start following HER lead so she doesn't miss any more magic.

 

[letthewookiewin]

I was afraid I had done that to my youngest son after our first trip. For his 2nd trip, I made them a lot more involved in the planning. My DH and I picked the lvl of resort we could afford, and then I let them pick the one we stayed at. Then we let them pick the character breakfast.
I then made him a deal. I told him I was a really big chicken, and if a ride was easy enough for me to ride, it wasn't a bad ride at all. When we got on EE and I could put my camera in a pouch on the back of seat in front of me, I told him it was a super easy ride. He said he was scared, but he wanted to "face his fears, and not let his fear beat him". By the end of the ride he was laughing about beating "his fear".

If she's a really girly girl, maybe you can bribe her with a day at BBB and then lunch or dinner at CRT.

 

[Twitterpated Dad]

I agree that you should get her evolved in the planning. Why don't you take her to the book store to pick out a guide book. Many books will rate and describe the rides. This should help put her at ease. My favorite book is the Unofficial Guide.

You could also make a deal with her. Have her go through the lines with you. She can always walk through and wait for you just on the other side. I've found that the CMs are very understanding.

 

[JPN4265]

Oh, boy. I really need your help on this one. DD (8) does not want to go to WDW.

We made the mother of all mistakes on our first trip to the World (March '07). Somehow DH and I turned into commandos the minute we stepped off the plane. DD rode all the rides with the exception of EE. There was no way she was going "up that mountain". Now, we are planning a Feb. '08 trip. She told me this evening that she doesn't want to go because she is sure that we are going to make her go on all the scary rides. I have tried to assure her for months now that this trip will be "her trip". Her choice about which rides she will go on and the amount of pool time, water parks, etc.

Please . . . tell me that we are not the only parents to "scar" our child. Has anyone else made this mistake??? What can we do to help calm her fears??? I've already tried bribery and that didn't work.

Also, does anyone have any tips for the most efficient way for DH and I to take turns going on the "scary rides" separately?

Thank you.

Angela

She will be just fine when you get to the parks.

 

[AJKMOM]

Many years ago, at the last minute, DD chickened out of ToT. The CM took her thru a door and sent the rest of us on the ride, and when we got off the ride, she was dressed as a bellhop and "greeting" people as they got off the elevator.

Of course, the whole time I was worried she would disappear, and she was about 7 or 8 at the time. There she was with a CM, waiting for us.

 

[TinaLala22]

My first response is to give the child up for adoption. Then hearing that you've caused some of the the anxiety I say - Welcome to the world of parenting!! You've now been christened! You know what kids say things now and things change whe you're there. Take her and see what happen when you get there. She might be totally freaked out and not go on the ride and you may have to pay for some extra therapy everytime she hears the word ToT or Haunted Mansion or you may go and she might be dragging you on because she's talked with her friends and found out how cool the rides are.

I'd let her watch some of the movies on YouTube and show her how much fun they are. If she doesn't want to go on don't push her.

 

[mom2taylorandemily]

I made the mistake of rushing my DDs thru everything on their first trip trying to squeeze what I thought was the best stuff for them in. Big mistake, we are going again in 28 days and this time I let them help plan our trip, the best part is that they have been now and know what they want to do. So, that helps. We're hoping to have that magical trip this time and I'm hoping you and your family do too!!!

 

[disneydeb]

first of all don't fret, i did the same thing when my dd was 7, because i was afraid we would never get down to wdw again, silly me! we have now been more times too numerous to count. and dd turned 24 on yesterday, i just kept taking her back every year, and every experiance was different, during her teens there were even 2 years when she didnt want to go because she wanted to be with her friends. well then we started bringing her friends and those were the worst vacations between 15 and 17 yrs of age. now she back to loving it again especially because it is a brand new experience with my disney grandson, shes seeing it through her son's eyes and we have some good trips and some meltdowns, so just keep bring your daughter back, she'll eventually love wdw again, my daughter now sez she wouldn't want a family vacation anywhere but wdw or wdw cruiseline. hey thats another idea, take your daughter to wdw and cruise, i bet she'll like that. pixie dust coming your way

 

[Cogswel_Cogs]

I agree with letting them help in planning. My daughter even worte some post asking for thinghs to do or telling the things she was going to do on the site here.

 

[lpandorf]

Mine does not want to go again either. Different reasons though, We've been four times since she's been four. She says it's time to try out something new. She may be right, but we have such a nice time it's hard to go elsewhere. Plus we have DS3 and it's tough to do sightseeing or hiking type vacations with that age. But I am really considering the beach and Universal this summer.

 

[PictureJumpr]

...try waking up on day three of ten with a 7-year-old telling you that he has decided that he is finished with wdw and would really prefer to just go home and play with his friends. Or maybe go to Mcdonald's and get some pancakes. Or anything, really, just not go back to the parks.

Mostly his state of mind was caused by the tension in his mother since arriving at the airport on the trip down. She was definitely in commando mode by the time we got to the hotel, and it kind of freaked the poor kid out. Kids are like that, of course - they know when the adults are acting strangely or tense, even if they don't say anything about it.

So we took him to the pool for a little while and while he played I sat with his momma and we had a little philosophical discussion about changing touring styles pdq. We had a character lunch scheduled anyway, so we told him we had to go to the park for lunch - no rides required - and then we would figure out what to do. During lunch we asked Pooh what his favorite ride was (Adventures of Pooh, go figure ). After lunch, we walked over to the hub and sat on a bench. After a couple of minutes the inevitable question is 'what are we gonna do now?'

I dunno.... go to the airport, I guess?
... or we could go ride pooh's ride!
You sure? I mean, we'd have to stay at the park to do that.
....yeah but it's okay.

After a couple of hours in fantasyland/toontown (and no more than three scalding glances at Momma ) we had met an accord - nobody had to ride anything they didn't want to and if anyone was tired all they had to do was say 'Whoa!' and there'd be no complaining from anyone else about taking a break. Me, I like peoplewatching so I don't care about taking breaks. Momma eventually learned to love it

We did use the babyswap program (even if he isn't a baby he still has to be supervised at all times like any other kid) to allow her to ride single first, and then me to take the babyswap entrance or vice versa. Single-rider lines when available are always quick anyway.

HTH!