getting a almost 5 yr old to ride rides

[piratemamaof3]

My youngest will be almost 5 when we go. We have passes to the local amusement park and regardless of what his older brothers do (usually what pushes him to do more) he has no interest in any rides out side of the "kiddie" rides.

We are not planning on giving the boys an exact date of when we are going (going to be a surprise we are going today thing) but I need a way to talk up some of the rides to hope my youngest will ride them. I won't push him on any thing he doens't want to go but we don't go every year so it's not like "well there's next year" for us. There is so much more for him to be able to do at the world I don't want him to miss out make it harder on the older 2 to wait while we have to parent swap on every thing.

 

[summermac]

Start showing him the stuff online? That's what we've been doing with our soon to be 5 yo. He is SO excited about all the rides!!!

 

[piratemamaof3]

I had thought of that trying to look on youtube also for stuff. He like being on the PC and is home w/ me during the day so we can look at it w/ his brothers always hanging over. I'll start w/ the easy stuff before working up to the bigger rides he can ride

 

[summermac]

You can see lots of stuff on WDW's site too.

Click on map tab across the near top on this site
Then pick your park and the entire map is clickable:
http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/wdw/parks/parkLanding?id=MKLandingPage

 

[ilandrazdsw]

I talked the rides up to my DS5 and DD3 (what they would be able to do due to height). We "made" them try everything. BTMRR and EE we told them was a train...it is, isn't it...kinda!?! He did everything at least twice, but asked not to go on Dinosaur after the second time. Once they did the rides...with mom and dad encouragement, they like them.

 

[justhat]

Maybe he just doesn't like wild rides? I still don't like coasters at 28yo, so it's possible. The reason I say that is we went to WDW last month and my daughter (who is almost 5yo) went on Mission Space, Space Mountain, Tower of Terror, and Expedition Everest and liked them all. When she was almost 4yo she went on Soarin, Test Track, BTMRR, etc. And at 2yo Barnstormer. Loves all of them and rides over and over.

My son, otoh, who is WILD, went on the Barnstormer and was terrifed and that was that. Wouldn't go near it after that, even though his sister rode over and over. He cried when she would get in line, we'd offer him to go again, and he'd say no and sit back down and wait for her.

So I think he's just gonna be like me, a ride chicken, while my daughter is a coaster fan like her daddy.

 

[ilandrazdsw]

Well, at least ther is plenty in each park to do besides the rides!!! A little bit of everything of everyone.

 

[puffkin]

If you know he can handle the ride and for whatever reason doesn't want to go on, I would just force him on. Sometimes kids can have really irrational fears about things or they see it as a power struggle (they like the attention of not going on the ride). If he really won't go on a ride for no real reason other than because I would just let it go and keep moving on with your day and I wouldn't make special accomodations for him (like doing a bunch of "kiddie" rides). Eventually he will probably get bored and start trying stuff.

I am adding a disclaimer that I think every kid should try a ride ONCE. If they don't like it after trying it then fine.....they don't have to do it again. Now, I am not talking about something like ToT or something like that for a 5 year old....but Test Track or Soarin' I would definitely make them try (for example).

We forced our 7 year old niece on EVERYTHING she was tall enough for when we took her. She had fears about almost every ride. The only ride she ended up no liking was ToT, but she was glad she tried it. Her family went back this year (she is now 11) and it is now one of her favorites. Her younger sister (8) wouldn't go on most of the rides and basically made the trip miserable for all of them, because her parents had never been there before and didn't want to force her. We already told her if she comes with us in December she will have to try everything or we won't take her.

 

[justhat]

If you know he can handle the ride and for whatever reason doesn't want to go on, I would just force him on. Sometimes kids can have really irrational fears about things or they see it as a power struggle (they like the attention of not going on the ride). If he really won't go on a ride for no real reason other than because I would just let it go and keep moving on with your day and I wouldn't make special accomodations for him (like doing a bunch of "kiddie" rides). Eventually he will probably get bored and start trying stuff.

I am adding a disclaimer that I think every kid should try a ride ONCE. If they don't like it after trying it then fine.....they don't have to do it again. Now, I am not talking about something like ToT or something like that for a 5 year old....but Test Track or Soarin' I would definitely make them try (for example).

We forced our 7 year old niece on EVERYTHING she was tall enough for when we took her. She had fears about almost every ride. The only ride she ended up no liking was ToT, but she was glad she tried it. Her family went back this year (she is now 11) and it is now one of her favorites. Her younger sister (8) wouldn't go on most of the rides and basically made the trip miserable for all of them, because her parents had never been there before and didn't want to force her. We already told her if she comes with us in December she will have to try everything or we won't take her.

My mother did this to me and I honestly feel that it is the min reason that I will not ride coasters today. I really, really disagree with this. If it's something you really think, knowing that child, that they will love, then I see the point. But otherwise, why bother?

I had no fear of coasters as a small child as I remember riding them at local amusement parks. They were never my favorite rides, but I'd ride them. When I was 7yo we went to WDW for the first time. I did not want to go on Space Mountain at all. I rode BTMRR without complaint (though I wasn't in love with it by any means), but Space was inside and I had no idea what it would be like, plus it was dark when we got in there and I really didn't want to go. I was crying and my mother forced me onto the ride and I HATED it. I probably wouldn't have hated it if not forced to ride at that moment. I had no control, no options, and it sucked. I could never do that to my kids simply cause I remember how much I hated that feeling.

FWIW, my husband was afraid of coasters as a kid, his parents never forced him to ride anything he didn't want to, and today, at 28yo, he will ride everything and LOVES things like ToT, RnRC, etc. And even on our first trip to WDW at 20yo he wouldn't ride these things. So I think being able to make the decision on your own means alot.

 

[golf]

We are heading back to Disney in a few weeks, so we've been showing our almost five year old the rides online and she is really excited about them. She rode Goofy's Barnstormer last year and she hated it. She brings it up constantly about how much it scared her, but she keeps telling everyone she can't wait to ride it again this year!? I'm not sure if we should let her ride it and hope it doesn't scare her this year or steer clear of it. It's been a long year of hearing how scary it was!

 

[squirrel]

I agree with trying to get the child to try it once.

My niece freaked out while in line for Winnie the Pooh. I took her out of the line. Talked to her about what it was like and calmed her down. Got back in line a little while later (rode the teacups) and she ended up loving the ride. We spent most of our time at Winnie the Pooh while visiting MK.

At DL I had her try everything but BTMR. By then she said she didn't like any of the coaster rides so I didn't bother making her do one more.

 

[asoko]

Try to make them fun. My dad would make riding the scary ones funny by narrating or singing along. I hated roller coasters as a child, I didn't ride space mountain when I was 6. I would have had a terrible time. But other rides I was intimidated by were ok like the HM and POC. In 1976 there weren't a lot of wild rides.

Last year we took our DS5. Husband took him on Star Tours and Soarin. Husband didn't reassure him or get his attention to make it fun. He cried on both and wouldn't ride again. I took him on TT and talked to him and told him to scream if he wanted to. I tried to make it fun. When we were done, I asked him if he liked it. He said yes, except when the car went fast and down the hill and around the corner. But at least he didn't cry and I think I could get him to go again. I think if you force them to ride it will just cause them anxiety.

My dad and brother in law are known for lying about rides. Everest doesn't have a "yetti" it has a "freddie" and its not a line for the roller coaster, its just bumper cars.

 

[Princess Sleepy]

You know your son better than anyone. If you think he will respond positively to being strongly encouraged (I like this better than"forced") to ride things that he is unsure of, then I think that's probably a good solution. My DD5 was coerced into going on the flume ride at the Mall of America in November. Now she is absolutely against trying anything that even sounds like it might be a roller coaster. She was so traumatized we have assured her that she can just watch any ride that scares her. Our situation is a little different because she is the older of two and our DD2 will not be able to ride the scary rides anyway, so swapping is already scheduled into our day. I hope it doesn't ruin the trip though, if you just let him ride what he likes. The money your paying isn't about how many rides you can fit in, but how much fun everyone has and the time you enjoy together. If that means one adult spends more time with him on the kiddie rides while the others enjoy the bigger thrills, maybe that should be an option. JMHO.