Haunted Mansion - Ok for a 5 year old?

[Frozen2014]

HI,

I have a few books on Disney, but I like to ask first hand on here how your kids like the rides. At the moment, I have Haunted Mansion marked only for DS9 and me for FP. I'm thinking it'll be too scary for DD5 (who until now, gets scared easily), so I have her on Its a Small World for her instead with a FP. BUT...when I went to Disney when I was 6 years old, the Haunted Mansion is the only ride that I remember...I loved it (but then again...fast forward to today and I love horror movies )!

Is the ride too scary for a 5 year old? Perhaps I should just get a FP for both kids (well, all of us), and when we're there she can either say yay or nay.

 

[ericstac]

my 5 yr old loves it... even all through his younger years..

even my 12 yr old who is scared of everything likes the ride. I'm sure she will be fine.

 

[tinkfan160]

Personally I was scared of it until my teenage years (seeing the HM movie was a bad choice as it was kind of scary and gave me a bad impression of the ride) and wouldn't even ride it, but when I did I realized I had nothing to be scared of! There are lots of ride POV videos on YouTube...maybe you might want to watch one of those with your 5 year old and see how they react when you can stop it!

 

[ErinsMommy]

We made light of the ride as DD went through it laughing at the ghosts/scary part. That seemed to help just enough for DD to not completely wig out. DD was just under 5 at that time.

 

[bc7ate9]

I never realized the Haunted Mansion was supposed to be scary till I was much older. As a child, I just thought it was meant to be silly. My little brother got totally freaked out when he was about 5 when it got totally dark and somebody yelled "boo!" - he was fine with the rest of the ride, though. I guess it depends on the kid and how you present it to them.

 

[999DoomBuggies]

not only is it great for a five year old, it is absolutely perfect for a five year. I must insist that you take your child on the ride at least 2 or 3 times. At the 3rd point your child's life will be changed for the better.

 

[shoppie]

DD loved it at 3.5 years old!

 

[Travelgrrl]

The stretching room can be scary for a little one. I agree to watch a video or two and talk about it so she's prepared.

For small kids, a tiny (they're about 4 inches long) glow stick can serve as a 'magic wand' to bring on dark rides. Bring a few with you from the Dollar Store.

Start with mild rides, then work up to mild dark rides like Peter Pan, then work up to Haunted Mansion.

 

[mom2rtk]

When my daughter was 5 I had to leave with her screaming while the rest of the family rode. It's one of her favorites now. They're all different.

 

[JoeyEmmaMomma]

We end up at Disney most years. Usually the kids are fine, but some trips we have to say over and over how it's just pretend, etc.

 

[nuzmom]

We made light of the ride as DD went through it laughing at the ghosts/scary part. That seemed to help just enough for DD to not completely wig out. DD was just under 5 at that time.

We do something similar. Our DSs starting going on it at 3.5 years. We explained the ride beforehand... the whole "ghosts aren't real" and talked about a few things to look for. We also talked about some parts being "silly".

For instance, in the first room our job is to try to find the alligator when the pictures get "long". Also, that there will be a moment of darkness where we get to hug each other extra hard (I held the youngest DS each time we rode) and the pretend scream tells us when it's over and we get to go to the ride. We did NOT look up during the scream!
We also TRY to hang back a little when walking to the ride, but that can be hard. But, it can be a little scary being in the middle of a large crowd (even though I was carrying DS). We try to stay excited when the stretching room is over so that we can get to the "fun part".

During the ride, we look for the books, the skinny dog, light up footprints, (dead) flowers, dancing ghosts (ballroom), singing ghosts, etc. I still find the knocking doors to be a little concerning... we would "get" to count the knocks - one, two, threeeeee... one, two, threeeeee...
We also talk about how we "hope" to have a pretend "silly" ghost in our car at the end.

The stretching room IS scary and not a good indication of the actual ride. Best to be prepared for it, so you can actually get to the ride!

Wow, my oldest DS is getting ready to head off to college in a week... time sure does fly! This thread brought back some fond memories.

Personally, I'd get the FPs and decide when you get there. But, if she doesn't want to, or chickens out after the stretching room (the CM can help you to the exit), just let her skip it. It will be there when she's older.

 

[ruthies12]

My dd turned 5 last December and during our January trip the Haunted Mansion was her favorite ride. She absolutely loved it. We even had to go to the store and buy a hitchhiking ghost antenna topper so she could take a ghost home with her.

On the other hand, I could see my 11 year old nephew being totally freaked out by it. So I think it really just depends on the kid. I second the suggestion of watching youtube videos with your 5 year old to help make the decision.

 

[MartDM]

My DS7 has been riding it since he was a baby. The only part that ever seemed to put him on edge was the moment in the stretching room when the lights go out and there is thunder and a scream. I simply hugged him & covered his ears for those few seconds and that worked fine, but I know that you can request to skip the stretching room if you like.

 

[tarak]

In my experience, it completely depends on your child. My oldest (now 11) went on it at the age of five and she loved it. My middle daughter absolutely refuses to go on it. She's now ten and I still don't imagine we'll get her to go when we're there later this month. My son (6) still isn't sure which of his sisters is right about that ride.

 

[lizard1]

It depends on the child. We just got back and my 4 year old loved it and my 7 year old thought it was too scary.

 

[harrowgirl]

My daughter loved it at 4 1/2 and was terrified of it at 5 1/2

 

[Altoqueenkelly]

We made light of the ride as DD went through it laughing at the ghosts/scary part. That seemed to help just enough for DD to not completely wig out. DD was just under 5 at that time.

YES! When my DD was little we made Haunted Mansion into a game. She loved to tell me all about how it was just pretend. The only part that bothered her was the hallway with the knocking doors. Otherwise it is ooddles of fun

 

[DaughteroftheKing]

My then-6 yr old enjoyed it and rode twice.
My 4 yr old would have a hard time with it and won't be riding when we go in Nov.

Do some other rides first and then trust your instinct on whether or not your child will enjoy it.

 

[ness0905]

So my now 4 year old son who use to cry on a carousel has been on it twice in the last two years and he is fine I agree that the stretching room is the scariest part of the ride and I also talk about the silly things that shows in the picks and tell them right before it gets dark I am holding him for this part once we are on the ride we point out silly things like a piano that plays by itself and dancing ghost he has fun it is not his favorite but we get to enjoy it as a family

 

[Susan C]

So my now 4 year old son who use to cry on a carousel has been on it twice in the last two years and he is fine I agree that the stretching room is the scariest part of the ride and I also talk about the silly things that shows in the picks and tell them right before it gets dark I am holding him for this part once we are on the ride we point out silly things like a piano that plays by itself and dancing ghost he has fun it is not his favorite but we get to enjoy it as a family

ASK THE CM to skip the stretching room and go right to the buggy..