Have you taken small kids on the Great Movie Ride?

[Minnie824]

And if so...how did they do? DDs will be aged 4 and 1.5. DH wants to go on Great Movie Ride...he doesn't however remember the alien and shoot-out parts of the ride, and I'm not so sure about taking DDs on it (I remember when I was 15 I didn't like the Alien part!). Anyway...just wondering if anyone did take kids on this ride, cuz I know there are a lot of cute happy parts as well.

 

[MareSINY]

I went on with my family and my niece who had just turned 2. She had no problem on the ride, but this is a girl who loves riding roller coaster (kiddie ones) and can go on POC over and over with a smile on her face. My 4 year old niece would definitely be frightened by the alien part of that ride.

 

[jlcbshaw]

The alien isn't really ever seen and it is more of a sound thing if I remember correctly. Maybe you could just kind of hold your hands over their ears in that part. The shootout is really poorly done and it sounds more lke a bunch of cap guns if you ask me. I would say just prepare yourself to talk to your kids or hold them close if it gets too bad. My kids first rode this when they were about 6/2 and neither one of them had a problem with it. If they like the Wizard of Oz, you may be able to hold off their fears by telling them that the Munchkins are coming up.

 

[The Sweetness]

DD14 has rode this many times starting at age 2. We just sat her between us, so that nothing *scary* would be too close. The only things that have scared her at WDW were Catastrophe Canyon (fire), Big Thunder (she was afraid she'd fall out) and one time getting lost in a huge incomming throng of people while waiting for the Monorail (hold onto even slightly older kids here, trust me)My DD was never afraid of the dark though

 

[iwantahemi]

My 2 year old rode it in Sept and absolutely loved it, especially the Wizard of Oz scene.

 

[Frantasmic]

My daughter went after having just turned 5. She hid under my windbreaker during the alien part, which is visible from the ceiling (you are likely to get slimed as well.) otherwise, she enjoyed the ride.

At age 11, she is now just as likely to hide from the alien on our upcoming trip.

 

[drusba]

It really depends on the child. When my oldest was four, she had no problem with rides potentially scary to kids (such as Snow White, Great Movie, Haunted Massion) and always wanted to do them again. When my youngest was four, she couldn't handle any of those.

 

[Daydreamer]

We have taken our children on this ride at about that age and had no problem. The first time with my DD who is now 6 we tried to shield her from the Alien. The next trip I just played the tought dad and acted like I was scaring the Alien away. She loved seeing a big tough Alien afraid of her dad and, heck, it made me feel like a hero. Now she's 6 and I still have to "save" her from the Alien when we ride.

 

[bleeps]

It really depends on the child.

I couldn't agree more -- it depends on the child! My DS is 7 and he HATED this ride. He loves roler coasters and thrill rides, but finds 'most' animatronics creepy. He tried (but hated, and refuses to ride again) Great Movie Ride, Snow White's Scary Adventures, and Dinosaur. I would say, as a movie-loving adult, that I could appreciate that the ride was long and alternately disturbing/boring for my son. Unless you have other animatronic experience under your belt, I would say that DH should ride it while you're doing something else ---

 

[SandrainNC]

My son was almost 4 and the only part he had trouble with was the fake smoke (I think it was during the alien part). He hated anything that was letting out that fake smoke including Mickey's float during Spectromagic.

Sandra

 

[massielovesdisney]

I took my young kids on if the funniest thing my DD did when she was % during the shoot out scene she ducked down the whole time> I guess she thought she would be shot. She dident cry but we still laugh to this day when we watch the home video of it. Uneventful for the rest of the ride.

 

[TLC371]

We rode it 2 weeks ago and my 2.5 year old niece was on the ride with us. We let her parents know that there were parts that might scare her, but they took her on it anyway. She did fine until the Alien part and then she started crying and telling her parents that she had to go home now. She calmed down when we were done, and she really liked the Wizard of Oz stuff until the Witch came out, and it scared her again, and she started crying again.

 

[LaLa]

We just returned and took both DS7 and DD4 on it. They had no problem with it. We sat towards the back and I don't know if they even knew a shootout was taking place. It's pretty brief and if you're not up front, you don't get that great of a view of it anyway. With the alien part, neither one of mine got scared. DS thought it was "cool" simply because it was an alien, and DH just distracted DD while we went by the alien. She was sitting in the middle so it was pretty easy to do. They LOVED the Wizard of Oz scene and the Tarzan scene as well. They should do fine.

 

[Dustin]

it worth seeing all the other parts of the ride. If you think it my be too loud or scary, get some earplugs and cover her eyes. of course i don't have kids.

 

[figmentfan1]

I agree it totally depends on the kid. We just keep reminding ours that it is all pretend and it is ok. I covered my DS and neices eyes during the alien part! I love it... one of my favorite rides!

je

 

[luvsdiznee]

I agree it depends on the kid. My DD rode it when she was 5. The shooting part did not bother her - told her it was pretend. I told her to cover her eyes during the alien part because I knew she would be afraid. She is 13 now and will probably still cover her eyes! I am almost 39 and duck from the alien!

 

[Terry S]

My childen have been riding this since they were 3. The only part that scared them then and still scares them now is the alien part. They just hide as soon as we enter that room and tell me to let them know when it is over.

 

[CBear]

10 years later, we can laugh about this, but the Great Movie Ride almost ruined our first trip to WDW in 1995. Our daughter was 3 1/2 and this was the first ride we went on. We thought she was pretty fearless about most things.

Well, she was terrified by the shootout (mostly the noise I think) - she cried and moaned through the whole thing - and we had great difficulty getting her to go into ANY attraction that was indoors for the next few days. We had to bribe her onto POC, Small World, etc. We bought a lot of stuffed animals We couldn't talk her into any of the 3d movies - not even the Muppet one! She wouldn't even consider the Little Mermaid show. It was frustrating and disappointing, because she missed so much that we know she would have enjoyed. We tried to explain that it was all fun and make believe, but she was too traumatized.

When we finally went again back last May (it took ten years before she had any interest or desire to go back), my DD who is now 13, thought this story was hysterically funny. And she went on everything - Mission Space (by herself because I was too scared I would get sick), ToT, Space Mountain, Dinosaur and yes - the Great Movie Ride.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

We rode it last month and it's changed. There was no gangster shootout scene. Instead there was a brief "cowboy" holdup type scene (and the switch of drivers, etc..) but it was nothing like the old gangster shootout (which scared my kids when they were younger too). Maybe they realized it was too scary for all the youngsters who ride TGMR?

 

[mmcguire]

We took DS when he was 3, and later at 5, and he was fine both times. DD rode when she was 1, but really too young to understand, but still OK with it.

With DS, I prepared him for what to expect just before each segment of the ride ("When we get up there, a man is going to shoot a pretend gun and then pretend to take our car, but it's just make believe." "Ok, now this big icky thing is going to pop out of the ceiling, but it's just pretend, it's just to surprise us.")

Once he got the idea that we'd done it before and I knew what I was talking about, he trusted that it was OK, and all in good fun.