Have you had a child freak out during a ride?

[larina]

My son cried through POC (he and I should have skipped it, I don't even like the dumb ride, lol). It was horrible. As we came in at the end, I told the CM they should let our boat ride again because my son ruined it for them and they did. The other people in my boat were thrilled. I'll never do that again.

 

[KY Girl]

Our daughter absolutely freaked out on Honey I Shrunk the Audience when she was about 9. She was climbing onto my head to get away from the mice. She is 27 now and is still deathly scared of all rodents. Our rule was that everyone rode and could put their head in my lap if they didn't like it. I really had no idea about the mice in that attraction, it creeped me out too!

 

[MermaidHair]

I have always let my kids decide for themselves when they are ready. I have shown them videos and prepped them for the loud music (space), darkness (potc), etc. DD is a thrill seeking adrenaline junkie, oh help me as she gets older. Loved space, Matterhorn, etc. from he first visit at 5. DS is younger and much more cautious. He chooses when he wants to ride. Took him a couple of visits to get on Space and Splash. Finally rode Screamin' at 10 and ended up loving it.

At age 11 DS turned to me and stated that he was ready to try TOT. Said he was totally scared of it but that was the way he felt about Screamin' the year before and now he loves it so he was ready to give TOT a shot. BTW, I do not like that ride but I sucked it up and all 4 of us went on. The ride picture is priceless. DD with a big grin on her face, DS grabbing onto my arm for dear life with his head buried in my shoulder, me gripping the armrests with my eyes shut, and DH looking almost bored! After that DS knows what to expect and rides TOT whenever he wants to. And I, thank goodness, do not have to go along for moral support and can wait it out with a Mickey head ice cream in the shade...

 

[MermaidHair]

Sorry, double post

 

[allsaintsatx]

Our DS9 was casually talked into going on Space Mountain, and his ride photo was him screaming with tears rolling down his face. Needless to say, he didn't trust our opinion on any other "new" rides for the rest of the trip! Every new ride he would say "well you told me space mountain wasn't that bad and that was the worst ride in the world!"

Now we watch on ride POV youtube videos so he can get an idea of the intensity of the ride. He can then tell us which rides he thinks will be too crazy for him. We now, 2 trips later, have a pretty good idea of his scare level and can usually gauge what he can handle.

Letting him "choose" the rides gives him more control and I think it makes him more confidant to try rides that, in the past, would have been too much for him.

Now his favorite ride is BTMRR!! And hey, you ARE at Disney after all - even the "slow" rides are fun! We now have to beg him to go on the tame rides like the canal boats and Casey jr!!

 

[MadMim]

Awww! First off, THANK YOU for not forcing your kids on a ride. That never ceases to offend me. There are so many amazing suggestions here, but Im going to add my two cents anyway. I think your enthusiasm can make all the difference. I would let them choose the rides, prepare them ahead of time on what to expect, and stay excited & immersed with them throughout the ride. When my child was very young, we would make fun of whatever scared her, to lighten the mood. That usually did the job. And of course, tons of praise on how brave and "big" they are! Have a great vacation!!

 

[Midnightred]

One time at Disneyland, my son begged and begged to go on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. He was about 9 at the time but has autism, as does his brother (who doesn't talk so couldn't really give his two-cents). Anyhow, I finally said O.K. Well, they were both terrified of the ride and were holding on to each other and to me and crying the entire ride. I felt terrible for them. My son is now almost 13, and still says he hates roller coasters! I never would force a kid to go on a ride either, although I think many kids would love HM if they gave it a chance. Hopefully the boys will ask to go on roller coasters again someday!

Midnightred

 

[Xenorye]

What a great thread.

I took my daughter at 3.5, and she is/was fearless. I'm looking forward to taking her again at 5.5 or 6 or so next year, and riding some scarier rides like Space, Splash, and ToT. I know for a fact that she would have ridden every single ride if there were no height restrictions.

 

[Swtonscrappn]

But alas, this did backfire on us once. My oldest (10 at the time) totally freaked out on Splash last time. We thought she would love it. She loved other similar rides so we assumed this would be the same. Well, after much convincing, she agreed, not too willingly, to try it. She did fine until we approached the final drop... which is when she decided she did NOT want to go any further and she STOOD UP to get out . Thank God I was able to grab her shirt and pull her back down before we crested. I do not ever think about what could have happened if she stood up a few seconds later or I wasn't behind her with lightening reflexes.... needless to say, she looks back on that now and shakes her head at her thoughtlessness (maturity will do that to you) but we learned a lesson that day for sure.

This exact same thing happened with our 6 year old. Scared the living daylights out of me.

My kids are now older elementary aged stage. They have tried all the rides at least once, and there are only a very few that my oldest wont ride. We let her make that choice. When they were smaller we had them try once...cause how do you know you dont like it otherwise. My youngest daughter went through a phase where she didnt want to try anything that looked like it "Might" be scary. There isnt a ride she doesnt love....so I dont know what she was fearful of.