HM & POTC for 4yo?

[baseballnut]

Dd will be turning 4 our next trip in Feb. and we'd like to try HM & POTC. We tried watching on YouTube, like we do for most rides, but can't really get a feel of how scary they are.

Fwiw, there's a street here where everyone goes all out for Halloween, with big displays in their front yards of mummies, moving corpses, etc. and DD enjoyed it. We tried to make it silly for her. Even one house had a cannonball go off while we were in front if it and it didn't scare her.

BUT... In July at WDW the shooting and antics on The Great Movie Ride terrified her. She had to play a game on my phone until we were through.

So, what should I be wary of and keep an eye out for? Any tips? Thanks!

 

[mavadell]

I don't think pirates will be too scary unless she doesn't like dark rides, but Haunted Mansion is probably too scary. We took my grandson when he was 4 and the preshow in the "shrinking" room terrified him. It goes completely dark and everyone screams. We had to leave and never even got on the ride. He refused to ride any dark rides after that, so it was a huge mistake!

 

[ColonelHathi]

When DD was 4 she was OK on POTC, but was iffy on HM and she loves Halloween spookiness too. It was so funny how observational she became park after park. Later in our trip told us that the scary rides all had thunder and lightening before they got scary, and they do! It's hilarious, but you can use that as a guide.

 

[cgattis]

My son rode both at 4 with no issues. We even got stopped near the "fall out the window" part where it's totally dark and he whispers "it's ok--it's just fake" . Totally depends on the kid. It scared me stupid when I was a kid and I had recurring nightmares of the bulging doors. Then when I was a teen, I watched every horror movie ever made, so...? Just give it a shot, I guess!!

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

My 4yo is fine on POTC.

For HM, She has a smidge of trepidation. I just hold her tight in the first room and she snuggles close on the ride. But she is otherwise fine.

She is not a fan of the dark. But does ok and is not fearful or upset from
Riding.

 

[baseballnut]

Thanks for the insight. Dark rides are not a problem. She understands (as much as she can) about pretend stuff; DH will pretend he's scared of things and DD will tell him it's just pretend.

I just never know what will scare her -- like she has had bad dreams about crocodiles after seeing the animatronic one at Rainforest Cafe! So now we have to sprinkle "crocodile magic" on the bed, lol.

What kinds of things happen in HM?

 

[bwang123]

Dd will be turning 4 our next trip in Feb. and we'd like to try HM & POTC. We tried watching on YouTube, like we do for most rides, but can't really get a feel of how scary they are.

Fwiw, there's a street here where everyone goes all out for Halloween, with big displays in their front yards of mummies, moving corpses, etc. and DD enjoyed it. We tried to make it silly for her. Even one house had a cannonball go off while we were in front if it and it didn't scare her.

BUT... In July at WDW the shooting and antics on The Great Movie Ride terrified her. She had to play a game on my phone until we were through.

So, what should I be wary of and keep an eye out for? Any tips? Thanks!

My 4 year old son loves haunted mansion. I just told him they were silly ghosts and he laughed pretty much the entire time. On the other hand my daughter has hated the ride when she has ridden it at any age including 4 and she is 8 now.

 

[ghtx]

I think both should be fine. Great Movie Ride is way scarier than either of them.

 

[pooh4evr]

We took ours on both at young ages (11 months, 2, 3, 4..) each age is a little different. By 4 they know to be afraid of somethings. We always said "look at the funny ghosts, they are silly, ohh look at the dancers"... Keep it light and funny and they won't see the scary, hopefully. But if they do and we did have 1 that was scared- she just kept her eyes closed and her face behind my arm. I always said "Mickey won't hurt you"

 

[clouds]

My 4 year old loves both rides. We prepped him and told him that things were supposed to be scary but it is just a disney ride so it is fun! He loved pointing things out in the haunted mansion and wasn't scared at all. I don't think POTC is scary at all.

 

[Dis703]

We've had our kids at age 2, 4 and 5 on those rides. The only time they had any issue was in the HM when the room goes black in the beginning. And it was only for a moment. I'm big on telling them what to expect if I suspect something might be scary and treating it like it's so much fun. So far it's worked well with all three kids.

Only one ever got really scared on a ride and it came as a complete shock to me. One of my twins when he was 2 (almost 3) on the Peter Pan ride almost leapt right out of our ship when he saw the crocodile in the water. He completely panicked and I could not calm him down. Never saw that one coming.

 

[LSUfan4444]

My daughter is 5 and has been going on both since she was one and never had any issues. She hates the dark and HM isn't her favorite, but she isn't terrified or anything.

 

[Wendy98]

My 8 year old dd hates HM and refuses to go on it anymore. However, she loves Tower of Terror. I can't figure it out. My 5 year old ds loves HM.

 

[baseballnut]

I think both should be fine. Great Movie Ride is way scarier than either of them.

This is good to know, thanks!

 

[baseballnut]

Great tips, we will be sure to make sure things are silly. Fingers crossed!

I really appreciate all the insight. Thanks!

 

[Betty Rohrer]

have a grandson who at 4 rode tower of terror and loved it. thought pirates was okay but haunted mansion was boring and did not like. only part he like was the first room where everyone screamed. now dinosaur he loved right up there with terror. to each his own

 

[Ava]

POTC isn't scary at all. My 5yo DD was a little anxious about HM, but wasn't terrified or anything. We played up the "silly ghosts" angle and she was okay. We also warned her about the stretching room beforehand, that it gets dark and people might scream but it's okay.

 

[IBLarsen]

My DD(9) at age 4 and 5 was really scared of the Elevator part in HM. You go into a room that serves as an Elevator, everyone is packed in tightly, and the voice over tells a bit of a story, the voice is spooky and it gets pitch black for a few seconds, the paintings stretch...it's honestly just the voice that seems to make it the scariest. DD would go with us, but we would hold her and she would cover her ears. Although she each trip she wouldn't want to go again, that was the ONLY ride she was ever afraid of. She was a daredevil at age 3.5 and went on everything (she was tall for her age). Other dark rides never scared her. At 4, I felt really bad for having her go on HM after seeing how terrified she really was once in.
Now POTC she has always loved, never bothered her at all. We just made sure to explain that she would see a lot of skeletons and that it was fake. She never cared. Has been a favorite since.

 

[disneyworlddreaming]

My kids started riding them as little as 15 months, and we never questioned taking them. Just went on and if they were spooked by anything while on the ride, we let them know it wasn't real, etc. we never really told them "this is scary..." Ahead of time.
They are all champs now! DD who's 5 LOVES HM and says it's one of her favourites and all three (2, 5 & 7)will go on pirates with no problem!

 

[Seeker615]

The very beginning of POTC can be a little scary. You have the dark caves and the spiel about dead men not telling any tales then the splash down.

Once you get past that it is pretty mellow and fun.

My daughter was a little nervous until we got past that part then she really liked it.