Has you child FREAKED on a ride??

[smi727]

I remember absolutely freaking out on Haunted Mansion when I was little. I really never got over it until I was a teenager. And PLEASE keep your little ones away from Stitch!!! I rode it last summer and there were so many screaming kids you could barely hear the ride audio!

 

[Whosemom]

My oldest is our chicken. She was 10 on our last trip. We live in Ohio near two really fun coaster parks, and when DD#2 started riding coasters 3 years ago, we kind of tried to shame her a little, but she wasn't having it. Then last year DS turned 5 (5 yrs younger than her) and she still said "so?" LOL. THEN, she got tall enough that she wasn't ALLOWED on the kiddie rides up here. So she had to try something or just walk around all day, so she started riding some tame roller coasters - think BTM.

So there we were at MGM and she announces she's going to ride RNR. I'm telling her al the way through the line, "you can change your mind. Daddy's in the shop at the end." Oh, no, she's going to do it. Well, wooosh it takes off...you can hear her absolutely SQUEALING "mommymommymommymommymommy" over the music through the whole ride. It was hysterical! I mean, no, no, that's not it, I mean it was awful, yeah, that's what I meant. UM, she didn't ask to do it twice. Then two days after we get home, they had that awful tradgedy, and I don't think she'll get on a fast coaster ever again.

DS, who was 5, was very proud to be big enough for space mountain. He said nothing when we got off. But after about an hour of unusual quietness, he turne to me and said "I really thought we were going to die on space mountain, Mommy" AWWWW.

quiet terror gets so much more sympathy from me than the other kind

 

[lmcdo02]

I agree, Stitch is a scary ride for most kids. My 5yo freaked when the lights went out! She calmed down, but we did not go on it again. My son has very sensitive ears, so he felt much better when he carried a pair of ear plugs with him. He chose when to put them on (which was frequently because everything is SO loud), and I kept an extra pair with me in case he lost one.

 

[luvlumpy]

Both of my girls FREAKED out last year at the Haunted Mansion. They were 2 and 5. I was so surprised, but will not try it again for a very long time

 

[CampbellScot]

My oldest is our chicken. She was 10 on our last trip. We live in Ohio near two really fun coaster parks, and when DD#2 started riding coasters 3 years ago, we kind of tried to shame her a little, but she wasn't having it. Then last year DS turned 5 (5 yrs younger than her) and she still said "so?" LOL. THEN, she got tall enough that she wasn't ALLOWED on the kiddie rides up here. So she had to try something or just walk around all day, so she started riding some tame roller coasters - think BTM.

So there we were at MGM and she announces she's going to ride RNR. I'm telling her al the way through the line, "you can change your mind. Daddy's in the shop at the end." Oh, no, she's going to do it. Well, wooosh it takes off...you can hear her absolutely SQUEALING "mommymommymommymommymommy" over the music through the whole ride. It was hysterical! I mean, no, no, that's not it, I mean it was awful, yeah, that's what I meant. UM, she didn't ask to do it twice. Then two days after we get home, they had that awful tradgedy, and I don't think she'll get on a fast coaster ever again.

DS, who was 5, was very proud to be big enough for space mountain. He said nothing when we got off. But after about an hour of unusual quietness, he turne to me and said "I really thought we were going to die on space mountain, Mommy" AWWWW.

quiet terror gets so much more sympathy from me than the other kind

I absolutely died laughing at your story! I am the same way...quiet terror gets a lot more sympathy from me than squealing and whining. To me that is just attention seeking and so I ignore it and guess what...You are going on that ride! (granted, you have to know your kids)

I was on a ride at SiX Flags with my little cousin who was 10...it was one of those standing up, tons of loops and corkscrews type of roller coasters. She said she wanted get on over and over...once we were locked in and moving she wanted OFF!! I looked at the operator and he just shrugged at us. To her credit she didn't scream, she just closed her eyes and cried the whole time. I felt HORRIBLE for her b/c I couldn't help her!

As for our upcoming trip, we have a rule...it's a lot like the "trying food once before you veto it" rule. My stepdaughter is 8 and she will talk herself out of everything if allowed to. So she has to trust that we are not going to ask her to do something she can't handle and she has to try every ride we ask her to go on ONCE. If she hates it, then she doesn't have to go on again. These situations for her can turn into very attention seeking "Oh look at how terrified I am please give me attention" shows...which just takes the fun out of it for EVERYBODY, including her fearless younger brother who wants her to be with him on rides. (We reminded both of them that Great Auntie Charlotte lives very close to WDW and if they can't behave on this trip then they can spend the day watching gameshows and eating buckwheat muffins! Daddy and I will go see Mickey all by ourselves!!)

So call me the Wicked stepmother, but she's going on these rides DANG IT!!We aren't traveling all the way to Florida to play "let's sit on the bench".

 

[Tess'smom]

When my daughter was seven she was terrified by Its a Bugs Life. Five years and five trips later she will NOT try it again. RRA and EE are her two favorite rides but we couldn't drag her near the Tree of Life in AK.

 

[nancy drew]

dd was 15 months on her first trip to disney, and she freaked on pirates and haunted mansion. i nursed her to calm her down and she was fine after that. next trip she was a little over 2, and she FREAKED at the 3D movie (philharmagic? the one in fantasyland) and the playhouse disney show at mgm. the playhouse disney show was a little crazy, she was crying, screaming "GO HOME!!! GO HOME NOW!!!!" and laughing and clapping all at the same time. it kind of reminded me of the beatles fans from the 60s, the girls who were crying and screaming and freaking out. there was nothing scary about it at all, i think all the cheering and excitement got to her. after the 3D movie (more screaming, crying, and sheer terror, and had i known what that experience would be like i never would have taken her in) she was a little freaked on most rides, but was easily "talked down" once the ride began. and now that she is almost 3 she cannot wait to go back. i am doing a lot of "prep" to get her ready for the rides, telling her what will happen, telling her that she liked the rides last time (once we were home she was asking to go on the rides ) etc.

 

[letsgoagainsoon]

My nephew freaked out in the Haunted Mansion. My SIL had to leave with him.

DS2 was pretty much okay with everything if he got scared i would just tell him to close his eyes and mommy would tell him when it was okay to open them. He started EVERY ride with his eyes closed.

 

[DawnMarie]

My DS does not like any ride with a drop even small drops. It had been a while since I been to Disney and this was his 1st trip. I did not remember the drop on POC. He heard the water splash from the previous boat. He then said I'm getting out of here he tried to stand up in the boat I had to grab him and wrap my arms around him. Of course he was fine after that and we laugh about it now. But he still we not ride POC and he's 12.

 

[stacylm]

My 2 & 1/2 year old freaked on Mickey's Philharmagic also . She hated the glasses and the volume was to loud for her. She was fine at the Muppets 3-D but she woulndn't wear the glasses.

 

[glass slipper girl]

Our middle son is the thrill seeker of the family. He isn't afraid of anything, characters or rides and has been that way since his first trip at age 21 months. Our oldest is "the big chicken." On his first trip he was concerned about anything dark or fast. Of course he INSISTED that his first ride be Thunder Mtn. b/c it was a train. We tried to talk him into something else but he was insistent. He did fine on it but it took 2 years to get him back on again. On our 3rd trip DH managed to talk him in to riding Splash Mtn. We watched the big drop for a good 30 minutes talking about it before he decided to go. DH promised to warn him before the big drop and he knew it would only last 5 seconds. What DH and I forgot about were the smaller drops in the dark part of the ride. They COMPLETELY freaked him out. I was on the bridge with our youngest (at the time) and saw him when they went around the little curve outside. He was happy and waving and excited. After they came down the drop and we watched them through the curve after the drop he was screaming bloody murder and trying to climb into DH's lap. DH looked mortified. He said DS started with that in the middle of the ride saying "IT'S TOO DARK AND TOO MANY FALLS!" He was trying to get out of the log at one point. Fortunately the other people on the log were very understanding.

On the next trip Splash became his younger brother's favorite ride. With his little brother loving it he goes on it now but has a death grip on my arm the entire time and always wants to have his flashlight with him (even during the day when it's not really all that dark). It will be interesting to see what he does this trip since we will have to baby swap it (first trip with baby #3)...will he ride with DH then with me or will he help babysit his little brother while our middle son goes on the ride.

Our oldest has already been telling us he WILL NOT ride Everest and our youngest always asks "can I have your fast pass then?"

 

[starbox]

DD8 is a ride-freaker-outer and has been since her first trip at age 3. Trouble is, I can never tell which ride is going to freak her out. On the last trip, she got freaked in Haunted Mansion and had to exit the ride once we went in the first room. She's ridden it many times without freaking.

Sometimes, Splash Mountain freaks her out - other times, it's her favorite. She loves EE. Tough to Be a Bug is hit -or miss. Great Movie Ride is hit or miss. She generally loves the roller coasters.

When she was little, we just stuck a pacifier in hr mouth when she started to freak. I miss those days.

 

[allyn]

my 3.25yo girl freaked out in the little mermaid show in the studios. after that she would ask "is ursula going to be there?" "is it going to rain?" for every attraction. also loud attractions started to scare her after this and we started to notice that a lot of shows (like beauty and the beast) are very loud.

 

[Marmstrong]

Oh well. I thought HM would be OK because the ride motion is not scary, no drops, etc. But she did NOT appreciate the atmosphere. Unfortunately the ride stopped more than once when we were on it. I just talked to her quietly and drew pictures for her on my Palm Pilot.

WE thought our children would LOVE HM....big mistake! They were 10 and just turned 7. They love Scooby and watch other programs with ghosts, but when the ghost appeared in the seat with us it was all over! Total freak-out! They still talk about how scary it was!

Next trip (late Feb/early Mar) we'll skip HM and Dinosaur. They liked Space Mtn, one thought it was loud, so we'll take earplugs. They want to do RNR...earplugs for everyone on that one I expect! They want to do TOT, I hate that sort of stuff, but will go along I guess.

 

[JKMJ441724]

My two year old son freaked out coming down one of the family waterslides at Blizzard Beach, but as soon as we got off the raft, he was jumping up and down wanting to ride again. So we did!!!

 

[DVCJones]

We had to walk out Its Tough To Be A Bug. Both kids DD3 and DD1 freaked. After that, they cried at any movie type attraction. I think they are scarred for life

 

[fairestoneofall]

Both DD 5 and DS 2 freaked in the new Nemo the Musical. Granted, DS had been stung by a bee earlier, so he wasn't in the greatest mood. But DD just went ballistic when Bruce came out. I had to take both of them out, and there were other parents leaving too.

DD also freaked on Jungle Cruise, which I never dreamed would be scary. But at the point where the warrior guy is to the left (which was right behind us), she went nuts and then hid the rest of the ride. The skipper felt horrible and kept apologizing. What really stinks is that she was in the seat to be picked to drive the boat.

She hid behind the stroller during the parade when the villains came out. She also refused to go into Philharmagic until a CM assured her that there were no villains in it. I don't know what her problem was. Normally, she loves the villains.

 

[thebells_Dallas]

My little girl will be turning 5 the day after we get to Disney. She is well over the height limit at 48-49" I'm 6' 7" so she's built like me. Anyway, my wife has her thinking that she is too little for rides and she doesn't want to go on them. granted she's never been on any rides. My point is, if she is over the height limit, i'm thinking she is not too little to ride. my wife doesn't ride any of the bigger rides (splash mtn, space mtn etc) and doesn't know what the rides are like. she pictures everything as damaging your back. So what are your opinions out there? I'm trying to convince my little girl that she can ride anything she wants, and doesn't have to ride anything she doesn't want to. but i want to encourage her to try and to trust Daddy....if he's riding it then it's going to be okay.

in regards to freaking out, i don't know that she will, she's never been on a ride. my wife has wussified her a little bit.

 

[starbox]

My little girl will be turning 5 the day after we get to Disney. She is well over the height limit at 48-49" I'm 6' 7" so she's built like me. Anyway, my wife has her thinking that she is too little for rides and she doesn't want to go on them. granted she's never been on any rides. My point is, if she is over the height limit, i'm thinking she is not too little to ride. my wife doesn't ride any of the bigger rides (splash mtn, space mtn etc) and doesn't know what the rides are like. she pictures everything as damaging your back. So what are your opinions out there? I'm trying to convince my little girl that she can ride anything she wants, and doesn't have to ride anything she doesn't want to. but i want to encourage her to try and to trust Daddy....if he's riding it then it's going to be okay.

The rides are not going to hurt her, but they might be scary because of the themeing. I'd start her with Goofy's Barnstormers to give her a trial and see if she likes the "fast" roller-coaster style movement. Then, Thunder Mountain and Splash Mountain. If she's loving them - try Space Mountain.

I'd probably avoid Everest and Disnoasur for now because of the monsters-in-the-dark elements.

 

[thebells_Dallas]

i was planning on skipping the rockin roller coaster, tower of terror, everest, and dinosaur for sure. i just have to convince my wife that they aren't going to hurt her. i didn't start riding until i was about 14 at six flags here in texas and wish i had rode when i was little. i was wussified as well. thanks for the input.