Haunted mansion with toddler question

[clarkshel]

I will get off my soapbox now and leave the thread.

Thank you,

 

[larina]

...So should we not let them outside on Halloween? There's nothing on HM that can't be found in front of people's houses on Halloween, except the dark part, and that happens every night....

If your child is freaking out and screaming and crying, no, you might want to consider keeping them in that year. I had to do that once. Dragging my daughter around while she was shaking in fear just didn't seem like a good idea. Call me crazy.

....I just find a lot, (not all) parents today don't want to miss out on anything so take their little ones everywhere, including inappropriate movies, and on everything.....

I must be old fashioned too, or old for my age, but I totally agree with this. I am shocked at the places people take young children that I would just never think of taking my kids. To each their own I guess.

WOW, I think you need to chill out. Some kids might like it and some might not. It is up to the parents of those said kids to decide. Not for you to decide. This is one of my 4yr's favorite rides. When we went to WDW last November, he went on it about 5 times one day. He loved it. The stretching room scared him a little the first time, but not the other times.

That's is awesome. I don't think anyone is saying not to take your kid if they like it and/or if they aren't afraid, but if they are, you might consider skipping the ride that visit, not only for the sake of the child, but also in consideration of those guests who are honestly trying to enjoy the ride.

 

[5ofus]

Yes, but if they don't want to meet Mickey, parents usually give up. I am 62, have been a teacher for over 30 years and actually know quite a bit about kids. I would never presume to know ALL toddlers, nor did I say I did. I just find a lot, (not all) parents today don't want to miss out on anything so take their little ones everywhere, including inappropriate movies, and on everything. I just find it strange that we wonder why our young people are becoming so violent then we take them to violent movies, scary rides, and let them play violent video games. I will get off my soapbox now and leave the thread.

You're right about the violent movies and video games, and the ratings on movies in the US continue to confound me, but seriously Disneyland inappropriate for children? And it's not like HM is a new-fangled ride that was brought into attract the teen/young adult crowd, it was one of the last that Walt worked on and family-oriented. Some of the original concepts for HM were very scary and inappropriate for young 'uns, but HM as it stands today is quite tame and more fun than scary.

 

[GagesMama]

The only time he's been frightened or upset is when people scream in the stretching room, but the last time we were there he let out the most horrific, blood-curdling scream right before people usually scream and it jumped the group standing in front of us who had been getting ready to scream too. We aren't screamers and I almost dropped him on the floor, it shocked me so badly. He was incredibly proud of himself.

Oh my word. I'm dying laughing, just imagining this.

I am taking my son for his first trip to WDW in November for his second birthday. HM isn't on our "must do" list, but we'll probably give it a go if we have time. I plan to take the approach as previously mentioned. Be smiles and happy so my son picks up on that. I think he'll actually love most of the effects. The ONLY part that worries me is the screaming in the stretching room.

 

[Aura of Foreboding]

This is exactly what we did with DS, when he was little, at WDW's Haunted Mansion. Lines for the ride may have been short (like 5-10 minutes) at the time, but a CM happily took us through the exit area straight to the Doom Buggy line. I suppose it depends on how busy things are, but it never hurts to ask.

This is a bit different at Disneyland though - at DL, the stretching rooms are an actual elevator to get you below ground and under the train tracks. I don't think you can skip the stretching rooms.

As for the original question, the Haunted Mansion was one of the favourite rides of my 23-month old last year at Walt Disney World. We called it the "silly ghost house", explained that there were silly ghosts having a party, and listened to the full audio in the car (as well as the full audio of a bunch of other rides) for a couple of months prior to the trip. If you ask her why people scream in the stretching room, she will tell you that they are trying to be silly and trick people.

The full audio for HM and POTC are her two favourite songs - even a year later.

 

[Aura of Foreboding]

Yes, but if they don't want to meet Mickey, parents usually give up. I am 62, have been a teacher for over 30 years and actually know quite a bit about kids. I would never presume to know ALL toddlers, nor did I say I did. I just find a lot, (not all) parents today don't want to miss out on anything so take their little ones everywhere, including inappropriate movies, and on everything. I just find it strange that we wonder why our young people are becoming so violent then we take them to violent movies, scary rides, and let them play violent video games. I will get off my soapbox now and leave the thread.

I am a teacher as well, and I think that you have taken an unnecessarily hard line on this.

Our daughter watches 2 hours of TV a week - Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Doc McStuffins, she has never been to a movie or played a video game. We do take her a lot of places with us, including many restaurants so that she can learn to navigate in an adult world. She likes Haunted Mansion - we prepared her for it and she enjoyed it. If she would have acted timid or fearful, we would not have made her go on it.

I think it is very much a situation of know your kid and watch their cues.

 

[bumbershoot]

If your child is freaking out and screaming and crying, no, you might want to consider keeping them in that year. I had to do that once. Dragging my daughter around while she was shaking in fear just didn't seem like a good idea. Call me crazy.

The problem is that you're seeing the reaction to the outside of the building and then to people screaming. You're not seeing the reaction to the RIDE.

My son once had a very negative reaction to the LINE at Peter Pan. We'd been on the ride during that trip, he loved it. But the line felt bad to him that day, it was too early, we'd gotten too little sleep, and I think we were hungry, too. (we're much better at getting sleep and food now but this was early days) He loves the RIDE. That morning he really disliked the line. At the time DH and I were on the bigger side where getting out of a narrow line like that was incredibly difficult (downright impossible for DH), so we would have to go through the whole line anyway and then exit.

We did indeed cajole him into getting on the ride, and he did indeed LOVE the ride, just like he always did. But if you were far away from us where you couldn't hear us talking about it, you wouldn't have known that it was the line he was worried about, and would have thought we were awful.

The ride for HM is different than the line. Or the screamers. I have never once felt the urge to randomly scream at something that wasn't actively scaring me at the time, so I just don't comprehend it.



(DS went on WDW's HM once with his cousin, and did just fine. I was in the doombuggy with them and they were laughing. He likes the reality of the ride itself (though he doesn't think he does). He hates the idea of it, though, and the screamers. If only there were a way to just beam him into doombuggy, darnit)

...the last time we were there he let out the most horrific, blood-curdling scream right before people usually scream and it jumped the group standing in front of us who had been getting ready to scream too. We aren't screamers and I almost dropped him on the floor, it shocked me so badly. He was incredibly proud of himself.

That's pretty funny.

I read it to my son, who is 9 and still hates HM, and thought "hey, that's a good idea", but then I realized then WE would be part of the problem. (you weren't, you were holding a small child who had a righteous scream moment...you weren't coaching him or practicing it) If a big part of my son's problem with HM is the screaming of fellow guests, and we become screamers, then we are absolutely no better than the people we want to be quiet. Darn, thought I had a solution there for a minute.

Heck, I have to wear earplugs in the stretching room b/c people physically hurt my ears with their noise.

They essentially do force their children on and aren't willing to skip the ride or take the "chicken" exit even if the child is crying and obviously terrified.

It's good then to know that the chicken exit is pretty scary, too. First time the ride was open during our first trips we thought DS (at 2) could handle it. And then the other adults started screaming.

We tried and tried to help him along as we walked, but the adults kept screaming.

When we finally found a CM before seating, I asked for the chicken exit. It's a long, long LONG hallway. At that time (maybe now, I do not know) the walls were painted BLACK. There were no signs. It was a LONG, turning hallway.

Then when you're finally at the end of it, it lets you out where the FP machines are (were?) at Halloweentime, which is a very SPOOKY area if you're a child who was spooked by the screaming of adults and the dark line.

Worse? It didn't take that much longer for DH to ride the ride than it did for us to get out of there. It likely would have ended up being better to just ride it than walk all that way without any clue how much longer it would be.

But I think i've already established that I have a questioner who doesn't blindly follow what he's being told, which is great in some ways but very exhausting in others, like when you're trying to find your way out of a ride (and I should mention that I have problems in low light places, and that black-walled hallway wasn't what I would call well lit) and you have no idea where you're going or where it will end.

So in the vein of being prepared, be prepared for the fear to not end if you take that chicken exit!

 

[Mickeybell]

My six year old still hasn't been on HM. He was sure he wanted to go on it during our trip when he was 4. Then we went on Snow White and he wanted nothing to do with HM! He didn't want to go on it on our next trip when he was 5 either. I honestly don't think he will want to go on during our next trip at Christmas time either. He is not fond of the dark at all. I think it really just depends on your kids.
Heck my DH has never been on it and refuses to go! I guess me and my DS12 are the only brave ones. Foolish mortals. Hee Hee!

 

[swiftjennifer]

i used to be terrified when i was a kid but now it's my absolute favorite ride. just approach it gently and if it's too much, there is an exit. find a castmember and they will help you out.