Have you taken small kids on the Great Movie Ride?

[Jackie H.]

They still have the gansters, but only half the riders see it. I can't remember which way it goes...but the front sections of the "train" goes to see the gansters (or cowboys) and the back sections sees the other.

But this ride has changed. The Alien part used to be a lot more intense. It used to be that as you got to the Alien section the Alien dropped down from the ceiling almost to touching you (or so it seemed) and it 'breathed' hot breath on you and generally attempted to terrify all riders. It doesn't do that anymore -- at least not the last few times we've gone. I am sure this is the version that terrified the OP when she was 15!

That being said, I think your child would be fine if you warned her beforehand about the potentially scary parts. Tell her there is a shootout that it will be either pretend cowboys or pretend gangsters. And warn her about the loud noises and kind-of dark areas. And when you enter the Alien room, grab her up close and cover her face. That is what we used to do with my daughter. But if she doesn't want to go after the warnings, please don't make her.

I would also suggest buying her a very small flashlight on a necklace (at Walmart or somewhere) if you think she is mature enough to handle it. I told my kids they could turn it on anytime they wanted with 2 rules: 1-they had to shine it in their laps or at their feet 2- they were never to shine it at anyone or out into the ride. This helped my kids a lot! They seemed to feel more 'in control' of their environment and I never had a problem with them disobeying these rules. They knew I would take the light away if they did. It only took them a couple of days to realize they didn't need the light after all!

 

[disneyfreak74]

DS (6) has been riding since he was 2 and DD (2.5) has been on it several times. when we hear alien coming up we just talk to them about it and they know that NOTHING will get them, touch them or anything like that at Disney.

 

[joshsmom]

One of the strangest (and kinda sad) moments for me on this ride was two years ago. There was a family sitting in front of us with two children--a boy who looked to be about 6/7 and a girl who looked to be 4/5. When the little boy heard the gun from the shootout start, he screamed, grabbed his sister and told her to "duck and cover." They would not get off the floor of the ride until the area where you see all the movie clips. The parents were trying to reason with both of them, but the little boy just kept saying he didn't want to get shot.

I've taken DS9 on it since he was 5 and he's always enjoyed everything but the Alien. But he doesn't like dark/noisy either. He left Stitch through the chicken exit after pre-show. He won't even consider Dinosaur.

 

[oogie boogie]

How bout you parents? Did any of u like it? This was one of theones we missed last year byt are going to ride this year? Should I prepare to take a nap on this ride or will it be fun?

 

[joshsmom]

How bout you parents? Did any of u like it? This was one of theones we missed last year byt are going to ride this year? Should I prepare to take a nap on this ride or will it be fun?

IM(VERY)HO, some of it is corny (the shootout), some of it is really neat (Wizard of Oz and the Movie Clips at the end). It's a fun, relaxing ride with a few "thrills" in it (Alien). Sometimes we ride it because we just like to sit in a boat with a whole bunch of other people!!! We enjoy doing it and it's kinda nostalgic at this point!

 

[shellybaxter]

I'll jump on the "it really depends on the child" bandwagon. My niece rode it at 4.5 and loved it - she calls it the Wizard of Oz ride - no fear issues for her. We went with two other children (5 and 6) and they were scared to death!!! They didn't like the loud noises from the gun fights, hated the snakes and mummies by the Indy Jones scene and weren't terribly fond of the Alien scene. They didn't want to go on any of the dark rides at the MK after that, we really had to work with them to do rides I knew they would enjoy

 

[SqueakyMouse]

I took my 5 yo and 2.5 yo in May. They weren't too excited by it. Thus, we didn't repeat during our Oct. trip.

 

[afcgirl]

My 4 year old son who is scared of many rides had no problems on this one. It was hard for him to even tell what the alien was, since of course he has not seen the movie. He had no problems with the noises either. I am a scaredy-cat too, and believe me this was very tame.

I enjoyed the ride a lot. It was better than I expected and I will definitely do it again.

 

[goofy's friends]

Spoiler ahead****My kids DDs 7 and 9 and DS4 did not like this ride--different parts bothered each of them--The alien was easy to cover eyes, so they didn't even see that part. What bothered the girls was the IndianaJones part where the tour guide gets turned into a skeleton before your eyes and the part that bothered DS was the shootout--he's not used to seeing and hearing guns, so familiarity with the sound might make a difference. Not our favorite ride to take kids on. Love the Mary Poppins scene though and really wish the whole thing would be abuot Disney movies.

 

[SorcererDonald16]

It took me until my trip when I was 22 (aka this June ) to get up the nerve to ride GMR after hearing about the Alien scene. I also saw a video of it online back in March that helped me figure out what to do. I hate, hate, HATE things jumping out at me, and the same goes for being thrown into darkness (both things can give me panic attacks, which I prefer to not have on a vacation, LOL). The gunfight scene wasn't a big deal at all; as others have said, it sounds more like a pop than a bang when the guns "fire." The Alien scene-- if you close your eyes and cover your ears (which I did), you don't even know what's going on really. The man turning into a skeleton was kinda gross, but it didn't bother me really. If I had been little, I can bet it would have. But, you know your child better than any of us, so it's up to you. Sometimes it can come down to them actually riding the ride before you know for sure if it's right for them or not. That happened to me with ITTBAB over in AK. Yeah, that was definitely not for me. I guess to me, the 4 year old might be okay, but I dunno about a 1.5 year old... I think it would scare a child that age, based on the noise alone.

 

[garada3]

It took me until my trip when I was 22 (aka this June ) to get up the nerve to ride GMR after hearing about the Alien scene. I also saw a video of it online back in March that helped me figure out what to do.

Can you give me a link to this video? IT might help my yougest DS to see it ahead of time!


Thanks

 

[SorcererDonald16]

I know it was on a Disney message board, but it wasn't this one. I'll poke around on Sunday and PM you when I find it (assuming I do).

 

[agotta]

I worked at GMR and can tell you we have had kids who love it and kids who were terrified. I would reccommend going through the gangster line, just ask when you get there. The only reason I say this is because in the western scene, the bank blows up and I think the fire/explosion would be worse. The alien does come out, from the ceiling, but it's not really scary. After the alien scene there really isn't anything scary and going through the Wizard of Oz is worth all that other stuff!! PM if you have any questions.