Haunted Mansion with a 2 year old?

[BbearRosenfeld]

We are going in December and there are a few rides that I'm wondering would be okay for my daughter. She will be 2.5 by then and I would think she would be okay on this ride, I think the beginning would be scary when people scream to the hanging scene, but after that the ride with her parents should be fine.
I'm also curious if anyone 2 year olds found the Pirates scary or okay?
Thanks in advance for any comments on this.

 

[dzneelvr]

Thats too young imo for POTC or HH. Those attractions are extremely dark from beginning to end and there are many effects to "frighten" you. Look at it from a child's perspective You can do the parent switch out so that both of you can go on and one will always be with DD. We've see kids as "old" as 6 get extremely frightened on these rides. It's just not worth it.

 

[bluejasmine]

My DD and DS have loved POTC since they were both 2. My DS at 11 is still scared of HM but that is just the way he is, he doesnt like anything to do with ghosts or scary stuff my DD loves it and she is 8 she even loves TOT, I was real doubtful about her getting on that but my DH insisted we let her if she wanted and we explained everything to her and she loves that too. You know your child and maybe a short explanation would be a good idea but HM is just so whimsical to my DD she doesnt find anything to be scared of..

 

[amyrenek]

We just went last June and my youngest daughter was 2 1/2. She couldn't ride tower of terror becouse you have to be 40"(she's only 36") . She absolutely loved everything she could ride though including pirates of the carabean and the haunted mansion.
amy

 

[ReggieB]

My DS4 hates Haunted Mansion. It is dark, and we find that it's really loud. He is happy as anything on Splash & BTM, but I think just finds Haunted Mansion too scary. Now my nephew at 4 decided that this was his favorite ride, so it's probably down to your kid. Though 2 1/2 might be a little young, if your kid is not fearless!! Go through it yourself first, with the intent to look at it through her eyes, then decide if it's for her. DS4 doesn't mind Pirates, not his favorite ride, but is happy enough to go on it.

 

[becka]

I wouldn't do HM with a 2 year old. In fact I am pretty sure we will be skipping it again with DS this next trip and he will be almost 4. I think even if the ride does not scare them the "pre-show" stretching elevator thing will.

Pirates is a harder decision. We decided to skip it when DS was not quite 2 but I think we will give it a go on our next trip but only because DS studied pirates in his daycare class about a month ago and loved everything about them. I think since he is familiar with the concept he will not be scared. If your DD will not understand what pirates are then you might skip it this time. JMHO.

Hope this helps.....

 

[abacobaby]

We took DD (18 months old at the time) on POTC and HM and she loved both of them. She thought HM was so funny, she was laughing the whole time. Then again, she was scared of all the characters and cried her eyes out. She also loved all of the 3 D movies we went to, but hated any "play" like shows like the little mermaid etc. with real people in it. Interesting, I know, but I'd say it's worth a shot. Your child might have a good time.

 

[ThinkTink!]

The first time my DS (who was 4) rode HM his face was buried in my lap. The queue inside can be scary and even though they may be fine outside, once inside the HM it gives them plenty of time to change their mind as it is dark and, well, haunted looking! My DS now loves the ride, we have watched the Disney movie Haunted Mansion with Eddie Murphy and DS now looks for the flying spirits and dancing instruments. He loves the singing heads! Good Luck with your choice!

 

[JodyLynC]

Our girls will be 2 1/2 when we go. We are planning on going on HM with them. We are undecided about POTC. We are going to see how they do on other rides. Our main concern with POTC is the loud gunshots.

 

[homer424]

My DD enjoyed both HM and PoTC thoroughly at 1, 3.5, 4 and she is looking forward to it again at 5.5. I think it depends a LOT of the child. Jamie is very laid back and loved to shout back at the ghosts and sing along with the pirates(she especially loved the drop in PoTC). But if she was a little timid and would seem to be afraid of it, I wouldn't do it. She is a real fearless, take things head on child-whereas I am not. LOL I cringe at going on Dumbo (I am wondering how I will fare on Soarin')

I remember I was scared of HM's ride building, even, when i was a kid so my mom decided not to bring me on it. My first ride through-hesitantly-I was 21 and I loved it. (It is now my favorite ride in all the World.)

 

[minkydog]

I would think twice about taking very young kids on HM. It's a very dark, loud , suspense-filled ride. We tried it with my 10yo, who is mentally handicapped(he functions at about a 1-2yr level). Big mistake! I did not remember it as being so spooky and he could not be consoled. When we got off the ride, he took off running straight into the crowd. THAT scared ME to death!

On the other hand he loved POTC;It's a little better lighted. He has seen it on a video a bazillion times, recognized the music and liked the "wind' blowing in his face, although the "cannon fire" near the beginning was pretty upsetting to him.

 

[Blueeyes101817]

i went with the kids i babysit for in february--we took the 2 year old on both haunted mansion and POTC..he was a bit nervous,,but he ended up likiung them...

 

[vacationsareamust]

I didn't take my dd who is 4 yrs old. My brother took my niece who is 8 on it against my advice and she came out crying.

 

[unixadm]

I think it depends on the child.....I made the mistake of taking our 2 1/2 YO onto POTC.....and I KNOW that we would have had the same problem on Haunted Mansion.......this is something I posted back in May when we got back from our trip:

Don't take a 2 1/2 year old to "Pirates of the Caribbean"! They WILL be scared! (At least mine was) It just happened that it was the first ride we encountered after getting into the park and going to Alladin's Magic carpets. My 4 year old wanted to go on.....sure, no problem.... I didn't even think about it as scary....I always thought it was fun....oops....I guess it isn't to much fun to a toddler

He was terrified.....and once we got off, he would not go into any Disney ride (even the buses or trams) without screaming at the top of his lungs

This was Saturday the 7th.........and it wasn't until Thursday the 12th that he would even go on anything. He wouldn't even go into ANY show without a LOT of crying and "I don't wanna go in there!"

We still had fun.....spent a day at the "beach" in Disney's Beach Club where we stayed and the kids had a great time there. My 4 year old had a ball on lots of things as well. We just didn't see as much as we would have liked....but we have annual passes that are good until May of 2006 and will be going back soon, and hopefully, my youngest won't remember those scary pirates!

If your child scares easily, doesn't like the dark or loud noises, I would stay away from these types of rides.

 

[tmarquez]

My DD has been on both of them many times starting at 10 months and she'll be 3 in November. She has loves POTC everytime, it's one of her favorites (much to DH's dismay, she just seems to have a thing about pirates...Capt Hook, Capt Feathersword, anyone wearing a bandana , etc.) and has never been scared of the gun shots, they aren't nearly as loud as some of the sounds on other attractions. She is scared of the noises that the fireworks make, so who knows.

Even a month seems to make a difference in how she deals with them. She was 2 1/2 on our last trip and on HM she hides her head for most of the ride. I felt really bad because I knew she was scared. Then, when we were getting off she started crying, now I feel like the worst mom ever until between the sobs she says "I don't wanna get off I wanna ride again!".

So you never know with kids that age...I'd just say feel them out when you are there, see how they react on different things.

 

[BbearRosenfeld]

Wow, lots to consider here. One thing seemed to be the same advice, every child is different, just like with potty training, I guess I'll have to listen to her and see what she thinks and whether she is ready. I would definitely not want to ruin her first disney experience with anything she is not ready for, so I guess I will see when we are there and if she asks to go I will let her. At least this is my only fret about our upcoming disney trip, I would much rather be worried about what rides to go on with her, than whether I can even get to disney! Thank yall so much for all the advice, I needed it all!

 

[Debby7]

Out of consideration for other guests, please be very sure of your child before going on the ride. It is no fun for anyone on the ride with you if your child is frightened and crying.

 

[flexsmom]

Took my 20-month old son on both POTC and HM last December and he had no issues, as long as we held him close and made jokes through HM. We just went again in July, and I would say he was a little more alarmed with HM this time (POTC was again no issue), but in both cases, we held him close and talked to him through the ride and he was fine. If anything, HM was more "scary" to him than POTC - other than the loud cannon shots, he didn't find anything to be unnerving.

 

[owtrbnks]

Took my 20-month old son on both POTC and HM last December and he had no issues, as long as we held him close and made jokes through HM. We just went again in July, and I would say he was a little more alarmed with HM this time (POTC was again no issue), but in both cases, we held him close and talked to him through the ride and he was fine. If anything, HM was more "scary" to him than POTC - other than the loud cannon shots, he didn't find anything to be unnerving.

There's an idea. Hold him close and distract him so that he doesn't realize he's on the ride. Maybe you should just stay home until your child is old enough to enjoy WDW without your megastroller! - IMHO. I agree with Debbie!

 

[HopperFan]

You know their personality. One DS has been on the HM, POTC etc since 12 mos old, one DS since 3 years old (his first trip) and DD since 4 mos old, again at 10 mos, 14 mos, and each year since......12 yr old now. None of mine have been scared of anything except DD does not care for the 3d shows. So she goes in, does not wear the glasses and just keeps her eyes shut. What a trooper - goes so we don't miss it !

No right or wrong answer, just depends on individual child.