How do you get your child to ride?

[goofy4tink]

WE have finally ridden all the rides. It took quite awhile tho. My dd started going to WDW when she turned 6. Actually she arrived in WDW as a 5 y/o and left as a 6 y/o!! That first trip I 'forced' her to do Star Tours. She cried the whole time we were in line. But, she came off it saying she wanted to do it again..now!! Then, for some reason, she wanted to ride BTMRR. To this day I don't know what possessed her. But ride she did, and she loved it. It's still her favorite after 6 years. Then she did Splash. Got off that one quite unhappy, but it had been her idea to ride.

So, fast forward to 18 months later. dh and I wanted to ride Test Track. Dd, then 8, did not. She just stood there, sobbing. But, I know my dd, and I knew she would like it once she tried it. My dh kept saying.."This is not worth it if she's going to be so upset. Let's just not do it." No way. We finally rode it and dd's comment? Can we do it again??!! Same thing with SpaceMt.

Now, it took me 4 years to get her on RnRC. But, now it's right up there with BTMRR. She loves it. ToT is the only one she did and won't do again.And I have to say that I'm with her on that one!!!

You know your child best. You will most likely know what they can handle and when to make a stand. Only one time did I make a mistake in my choice. That was for Dinosaur. It wasn't so much the attraction itself...but it was over the top loudness-wise. Dd can not take the amount of noise. Has always had noise level issues and I just didn't know how loud it was in there.

I did tell her on several occasions that 'Hey, this is WDW. Would Mickey or Minnie have anything bad here? Would they let you get hurt on a ride in their park?' That tended to help some of the time.

 

[Tishke]

She will be seven on our trip. I hope she will change her mind, but hse is pretty stubborn. Thanks for the help!!!!

I didn't know how DS5 would react to some of the rides. Goofy's Barnstormer wasn't a complete favorite, but he still says "It's only 45 seconds long, I'll just close my eyes" LOL. As for the Haunted Mansion...there used to be a site where you could stream the music from the ride. Maybe getting her used to that. DS said to tell her that it's not really scary and there aren't any REAL ghosts....it's just Disney Magic.

 

[zurgswife]

With my 7 yr old it has been flat out bribery and in the case of haunted mansion covering her ears...that seems to help the part where stuff jumps out...she closes her eyes and i cover her ears...team work

 

[Skatermom23]

When we took my daughter the first time she was 9 years and absolutely refused to go on BTMR. She had never been on a rollercoaster before. Now, this is my favorite ride. My DH and DS also wanted to go and therefore we told her that she had no choice because she couldn't sit byself. Yes, we were the mean parents and she cried the whole way in...not sobbing, just tears. I knew she would love it if we could just get her on it. Turns out she LOVED the ride... and by the end of the 10 days there was nothing she wouldn't go on. She even was doing level 5 coasters at DQ and riding them! She barely made the height requirement! We still tease her about all this. She thinks it is so funny now...

 

[Daisy'sMom]

We had the same problem with our 7 year old DD. We went last Dec. and she did all of the mild rides but had a lot of fear for all of the roller coasters and "thrill" rides and wouldn't do them. Then the other day I bought her the Birnbaum's Walt Disney World for Kids by Kids 2005 and that is all it took. It explained all of the rides and why the "scary" rides were scary and what to expect. It had lots of tips and hints and now she is all excited to try everything even Tower of Teror (we'll see how that goes). For less than $13 it might be worth trying.

Tried it. Didn't work b/c my niece10 and nephew8 just went through and if it had the "scary" or "dark" icon they said "no" without even reading the description. I know that my niece trusts my opinion on rides, but my nephew is still skittish so I'm going to tell him up front that I'm not going to ask him to ride any of the big rides i.e. ToT so hopefully he'll trust me and at leasr ride BTMRR.

 

[SamanthaL]

I just read this post to me DD who is 6 and has no fear of any of the rides! I asked her what we could say that would help your DD feel better about the rides. She said,"well if she is there when we are, I will just take her on myself." She is too funny.

I like the idea of getting her the kids guide. Good luck!

 

[Sharon Esch]

I guess my kids (DD 6 and DS 4) are dare devils. The were so ready to go Barnstormer, SM and BTMR after seeing them on the Disney video. There were the right height requirement and Mom and Dad were sitting right next to them. They weren't affraid. On Barnstormer, my kids had their hands up in the air, like the big kids.

 

[cruisnfamily]

I have alot of trouble getting DS9 to ride. But, his fear is different. He's not scared of "scary" stuff or dark stuff, it's the motion that gets him. He doesn't like things that go fast or spin or bounce. No rollercoasters for him! There are alot of really tame rides that I know he would like but he won't try them.

It's really a challenge but we've given up fighting with him as it ruins the day for everybody. We just go on what we want and he either goes with us or he doesn't, no more arguing, we leave it to him.

 

[cra-z-4-dizney]

I bribed my DD (8 at the time) to go on Rock n' Roller Coaster...she was really into the pin collecting, so I told her if she went on, I would buy her the Rn'R pin and any other pin that she wanted...well, she agreed, and we went on about 6 times that day....she loved it...she almost chickened out when she went into the room and saw the "limos" taking off, but I told her I would hold her hand and she was fine. I also tell her that I would not take her on anything that would hurt her, and she seems reassured by that. Good luck!!!

 

[Local_Girl]

Ice cream is our bribe with DD, now 9. She's asking for ice cream as soon as she sees the first cart (even at 9-10am)...so we tell her we'll have ice cream if she rides "X" ride...We always have a treat in the parks anyway, so sometimes we have it a little earlier than planned...

We don't force her on any rides, but encourage her to try them. She's done TOT (hated it, came off crying), RnRC, Space Mtn (hated both, no crying, but said "never again!"). She also won't do Test Track or Mission Space again. She'll reluctantly ride HM and Dinosaur. On our last trip, she VERY reluctantly tried Splash again after she was splashed in the face with cold water on a previous trip...this time we prepared her and she LOVED the ride! I agree that sometimes they just need to try the ride and they come away loving it. DD will probably get braver as she gets older...darn, then what will be my excuse to skip the scary rides??

 

[julia & nicks mom]

BRIBERY!

Julia is a little daredevil and can't wait to be tall enough for ToT - but we also have a general rule in our house - that you have to try something at least once - if she doesn't like it she never has to go again but we have yet to have this problem! We just let her know that mommy and daddy are with her and would never let anything happen to her!

when my nephew was 5 he REALLY wanted to ride ToT - hejust couldn't bring himself to do it - I told him we would buy matching ToT t-shirts (we were best buddies) if he rode it - that is all it took

My kids collect pins so i also know I can always say - if you don't ride - you can't get the pin!

 

[elf]

DD was very cautious 6 yr. old (7 now). But we had one of the Disney singalong videos which sings zip it dee do da while riding splash mountain and showing Thunder mountain. So she wanted to try those and loved it. Got brave and wanted to try ToT didn't love it. She actually loved the ride itself but was very afraid from the music and ghost family. I think I got her a pin from ToT for her brave deed. I'm not sure she'll do ToT again, but she can't wait for splash and Thunder Mountain.

I'm glad I didn't force her to try ToT gave a little caution without trying to scare her. I think if I forced her or lied she wouldn't have trusted me for other things I want her to try.

 

[jsfein]

Do nothing is my suggestion. On our first trip, two years ago, then DS5 and DS4, freaked out on POTC and were terrified of just about everything else thereafter and we made the mistake of putting them on rides we should not have ... ITTBAB, for instance. On last year's trip, then DS6 and DS5, DS6 decided he wanted to ride all of the Mountains and loved them, but still wouldn't ride POTC or HM. On the trip we're taking in November, now DS7 claims he will ride everything and I think he will. His little brother is likely to follow.

Based on my personal experience, I'd suggest not pushing the issue or trying bribery. There's so much to do and see that the Disney experience will not be diminished in the slightest if a few attractions are skipped. I have learned that the last thing you want as a parent is to cause a child tears over a ride. Just my 2 cents.

 

[sleepyone]

I told my dd that she didn't have to ride anything she didn't want to. She decided she wanted to ride Splash Mountain so we got in a very long line because on previous days when our fast pass time came the ride got rained out. As we got closer to the front of the line she got more and more nervous. When it was our turn she had tears going down her face; I told her that she didn't have to ride but, she was the one who wanted to ride it and we wouldn't have another chance this trip to get on. The CM told her she could take a little while to decide and maybe catch the next one. We stepped aside so as not to hold the ride up. She said I want to ride but, I'm scared. I knew she would be so disappointed if she didn't ride because she had wanted to ride Splash Mountain ever since we started planning the trip. I told her again she didn't have to ride but asked her to just try it and we could get her a pin (she collected pins from everything she rode) from the shop. My dd got on the ride the next set and the couple behind us cheered her on through it. While we were ate MGM Studios, SHE wanted to ride ToT. Well the same thing happened as Splash Mountain but, this time she chickened out at the last minute WHEW, I was glad I couldn't ease her onto ToT; although I did try...really I did!

 

[Desiree]

Just bumping this up to subscribe to this thread so I can show my dd that she's not alone in this! Maybe she'll actually even try it now!

 

[dismom9761]

My Ds9 was not scared of anything and loved everything. My DS7 and DD6 were scared to get on everything. We had a deal that they would try all but not ever get on anything For a second time unless they wanted to,. Also they liked the pins sow used them as bribes. They were pleasently surprised by alot of things. They will never get on TOT again but my DD6 loved RcNRc and my D7 loved Missin Space. We made a big deal about being brave. Now they Know what to do next time

 

[LynnTH]

We went last year when my son had just turned 5 and my daughter was 2-1/2. Both of them were too short for many of the big rides but they both loved Goofy's Barnstormer and I think we had to ride it 3 times in a row. My 2-1/2 year old was unphased by the haunted mansion but the 5 year old didn't like it too well. (so of course my 2-1/2 year old had to rub it in to her older brother).

 

[twinklebug]

The key is to make the child (or adult) think going on the ride is their idea. Sometimes colorful pictures of the inside of the ride, or positive reports from other riders can persuade a hesitant rider to try it out, other times these same things can increase anxiety.

My 7yo son will try ANYTHING. He even did ToT, had nightmares about it for a week, said he'll never fo on it again, and now, 9 months later is saying he wants to do it again. Joke's on him... I doubt anyone will go on with him

DD (11) is a true chicken through and through. She was nervous about TMR, but as we went to get in line I ignored her humming and hawing. She LOVES it now. Mission to Space, however, gave WAY too many warnings about getting sick (I started feeling ill just from the warnings!) and she never made it on. DS and I loved it though

Good luck!

 

[eileenkeeney]

There was a time, when it would really bother me when I saw someone making their kid ride something the kid seemed afraid of.
I used to think that the grown ups were being selfish, and because they wanted to ride, and didn't want to hassle with a "child swap", that they were forcing the child onto the ride.
I based this, on my own childhood fear of many rides, and the fear that my parents would force me to ride. Even though my parents did not make me ride the matterhorm, I remember being really afraid that they would.

I have since changed my view.
Each person probably knows thier own child.
My nephew loves Thunder Mountain railroad. He would have never even tried the ride, if his father had not made him.
I realized that my brother knows his children well enough to know what he just needs to push them to try, and what will terrify them.
My brother's other son is very different. He wants to try everything, and my brother has to decide to not let him ride something, that my brother knows will terrify him.

I don't have many hints for getting a kid to want to try something that they are afraid of. I think it helps if the wait in line (the anticipation) is as short as manageable. I know this helps me.
If there is a fast pass option, this is where I would use it.

 

[NeverlandClub23]

When we went in July once there was a little girl in line in front of us for the Haunted Mansion and you could tell she was a little hesitant about getting on, so her mom took a small water bottle (the kind with a spray nozzle that had the words "protecting spray" written on the outside) out of her back pack. She sprayed the girl all around and said "now you're protected from anything bad or scary happening to you". We thought it was really cute and the lady told us she has to do it before almost every ride but her daughter never gets scared and it cools her down in the hot July sun. I thought it was a cute idea!