How do you prepare your kids for Disney?

[Susie22]

The last two times we have gone to Disney we have had a 3-4 year old who has been scared of almost every ride. We have had to talk the child through anything even remotely dark or loud to keep them from screaming. However, as soon as they hit 5, they aren't scared of anything anymore. I've decided it just must be the age. On our next trip in September my twins will be 3 1/2. The other day I put on Aladdin for them to watch, and they started telling me how scary it was. I thought, oh no, here we go again, and this time it's two of them! So I decided I need to do something to prepare them so they don't get too scared, or it will be awful for the whole family.

I think I will take them to some movies so they can get used to things that are loud and dark, and also show them some of the rides on the travel channel specials and disney vacation planning videos so they know what to expect. I also thought I would try to familiarize them with some of the movies so they know the characters and stories. Any other tips?
TIA!

 

[karemore]

Ummmmm, maybe I'm missing something here, but why don't you skip the dark, scary rides for the little ones?

There's more than enough to do in WDW for everyone. Use the baby swap, use fastpass, and take turns going on the rides that are too intense for the little ones.

It's supposed to be fun for everyone. One of the few things that spoils my time at WDW is seeing parents taking kids on rides or attractions that are too scary for them.

 

[NHdisneylover]

I have to agree with the previous poster. There are tons of thigns to do that are not scary to kids. My 10 year old still does not like "jump" rides/shows. She gave haunted Mansion another try last year and decided it was still not what she enjoys at all. So, she does not ride HM, Bugs Life, Honey I Shrunk the Audience, Dinosaur, etc. Our 8 year old loves all of these, but is afraid of speed rides. He doesn't do any of the coasters or Star Tours or Mission Space. We still find PLENTY to do all together and occasionally break into pairs so my odler one can ride thrill rides while my younger one does jump rides/shows. We actually find they really enjoy the chance to do a few things one on one with my husband or myself.

If you don't know whether a ceratin style of ride is going to bother them or not, here is somehting we learned when ours were little: We would do things we knew were very "safe" until right before lunch. Then try an "Experiment ride" (like the least scary dark ride, one coaster). This way they had all through lunch to recover if they did not like it , and we would promise not to put them on any other such rides if it was something they did not like (and kept our promise). We found if we started right off with something that turned out to bother them, they would assume everythign was like that and resist getting on any other rides at all.

 

[Susie22]

The thing is, that in Disney, nearly every ride is a dark scary ride. It's not just Haunted Mansion, etc., but it's a small world, Mickey's Philharmagic, Peter Pan, Winnie the Pooh, Pirates, Buzz Lightyear, any sort of indoor show, universe of energy, Turtle talk with Crush, fireworks, I could go on and on. If you really think about it nearly every ride at Disney is indoors, and at least part of it is in the dark or loud. It doesn't have to be scary, but any darkness or volume above a whisper frightens the living daylights out of my kids. Plus, usually by the end of the trip my kids are having a great time. The problem was just that they weren't used to so much stimulation. They just need to get used to it.

Also, I have a lot of children, and I don't think it's fair to all of the others to miss nearly every ride and just go to the parades simply because two of them happen to be a little unsure. We're there to go on a family vacation where everyone can have a good time, not just the 3 year olds.

What I am asking for is suggestions for preparing them so that they are not scared in the first place and can have a good time along with everyone else. We've been to Disney more times than I can count, and the two year olds have a great time, the fives and up have a great time, but there's just something about that 3-4 year old range where they get scared at absolutely everything. Surely I'm not the only person who's had this problem.

I'm not trying to get them on Dinosaur for heaven's sake, I'm trying to get them on Spaceship Earth.

 

[NHdisneylover]

Sorry, from your OP I took it as being scary dark rides and also noisy ones. Here are a few tips which may help:

For noise, my daughter is very sensitive to niose. She brings earplugs to WDW (has since she was 3). I let her carry them and put them in any time she feles she needs to. This gives her a sense of control which I think she likes.

For darkness--try doing some things which happen in the dark while still at home and talking about how fun they are (movie theaters, planetarium, reading stories by candelight at home, etc.). Get them used to dark as not always scary ahead of time. Also, get them light up tennies they can wear on the rides to make their own little bit of light. They may be so excited by the shoes they don't notice the rides, but they'll be happier. Also, dress them in white which will "glow" on many dark rides since most kids love that.

I stand by my earlier post to not start off with something that might scare them. Try progressing through rides like this (it will give the kids a chance to get used to one element at a time instead of overlaoding them with ride vehicle, music, darkenss, scariness, etc. all at once):

Rides that are not at all dark: Tomorrowland Speedway, Teacups, Toontown houses, Train, caurosel, Dumbo, Small World, Tom Sawyer's Island, Magic Carpets (Magic Kingdom), Pocahontas, Flights of Wonder, Kilamanjari Safaris, Triceratops Spin (Animal Kingdom), etc.

Shows/Rides with darkness (or a dark theater) but without scary elements or music: TTA (also goes inside Space Moutnain and Buzz Lightyear--which makes for a great preview of comming attractions), Caurosel of Progress, Mickey's Philarmagic (earplugs!), Spaceship Earth, Turtle Talk, Mexico's ride, etc.

Shows rides with darkeness and a smidgen of scare factor: Poohs Honeypots, Peter Pan's Flight, Buzz Lightyear, Jungle Cruise, Festival of the Lion King, etc.

Shows rides with more "scare" to them: Tiki room, Little Mermaid show, Snow White, etc.

Things meant to scare: Bug's Life, Haunted Mansion, and the like.

 

[justwinnie]

Susie, I'm with you... But I don't have any advice b/c I'm in the same boat.

I have one daughter, and we started going to Disney when she was 1. Over the past 4 or 5 trips until she was 3, nothing scared her. She liked all of the age-appropriate rides, including Winnie The Pooh, Small World, Peter Pan, Spaceship Earth. And she liked the shows such as Country Bears, Playhouse Disney, The Little Mermaid, and stuff at Epcot.

This year, we've gone 2 times since she's turned 3 and suddenly, every ride is too scary for her. She doesn't like the volcanoes in Small World and Peter Pan, doesn't like Zurg in Buzz Lightyear-- doesn't even want to ride the people mover (always forget the real name) because it goes through Buzz!

Villians are especially scary to her. She won't sit through whole parades and the part of Wishes where Maleficent or Evil Queen speaks scares her.

The only thing she likes to do now is meet characters and wear princess dresses. Oh, that and go on the Dumbo-like rides. So, Tricertops Spin, Dumbo, Astro Orbiter, and Magic Carpets is about all we ride now.

Trying to prepare her for the rides is fruitless. She knows what to expect. She can tell me in great detail about the different things you see on Small World although we haven't gone on it in a year. It's like that for many rides.

At home, we go to the movies often, we watch Disney movies, look at photographs from past vacations, watch Disney sing-a-longs. She was still scared of stuff in February.

On the other hand, she has cousins about the same age that aren't afraid of anything. Could be the age, most likely the child.

I almost don't want to go again in October! Then again, she'll be 4, so maybe she'll be different.

 

[Colleen27]

The last two times we have gone to Disney we have had a 3-4 year old who has been scared of almost every ride. We have had to talk the child through anything even remotely dark or loud to keep them from screaming. However, as soon as they hit 5, they aren't scared of anything anymore. I've decided it just must be the age. On our next trip in September my twins will be 3 1/2. The other day I put on Aladdin for them to watch, and they started telling me how scary it was. I thought, oh no, here we go again, and this time it's two of them! So I decided I need to do something to prepare them so they don't get too scared, or it will be awful for the whole family.

I think I will take them to some movies so they can get used to things that are loud and dark, and also show them some of the rides on the travel channel specials and disney vacation planning videos so they know what to expect. I also thought I would try to familiarize them with some of the movies so they know the characters and stories. Any other tips?
TIA!

Earplugs. DD was 4 on our last trip, and the volume more than anything else scared her. We bought a pair of soft silicone swimmer's earplugs for her and all of a sudden things like the Bug's Life show weren't scary any more. She still wears them for movies and such, even though she's not so easily scared any more.

Movies and watching the video are good ideas! YouTube also has videos of many of the rides, some better quality than others, that might help if the unknown is part of the problem. DD thought Haunted Mansion looked scary when she was there with my inlaws at 3.5 and refused to go on it, but after seeing the planning video segment about it and an online video of the ride, she decided it looks "silly" and tried it on our last trip, only 6 months after she'd refused.

Having them get familiar with the characters might help too; DD was nervous about Haunted Mansion, but didn't even hesitate to get on Pirates of the Caribbean or Star Tours, because she likes those movies.

Something else that helped us was the "big brother" factor. If DS wanted to go on a ride and talked it up to DD, she trusted his assurances that it wasn't scary even when she was skeptical of us telling her the same thing. She's his little shadow anyway, and Disney was no exception to that.

And I do think it is just the age. DD went though a period of being very frightened of loud noises, the dark, and the unknown from about 3.5 to 4.5, and then it was just gone. Now, at 5.5, she's fearless.

 

[Ladyw/theTramp]

My kids are watching rides on youtube to get ready.... this way, they see anything "surprising" first on the computer and we talk about it and laugh at how silly it is and then they decide if they want to try it. So far, they are wanting to try everything!!!

 

[Susie22]

Thanks everyone for all your great suggestions! I'll definitely bring earplugs, and try to work my way up on the rides, starting with dumbo and moving up from there. I'll also try Youtube, hadn't even thought of that, and all the other great suggestions. I really appreciate it! I hadn't even thought either of having their older sisters talk up the rides. They adore their older sisters and want to do everything just like them, so that's a great idea too. You guys are great.

 

[jagruti6]

Last year DS2.5 rode everything he was tall enough for,and loved a lot of the dark loud rides, its tough to be a bug was one of his faves. What we did was talk alot about different rides before we went. We told him that sometimes the rides may seem scary, but are fun be because its only pretend. Mum and dad would never put you in danger ect. With 3-d movies like its tough to be a bug, we had him sit on DH`s lap. We figured to many senses all at once, once DH started laughing, he got that it was fun and laughed too. We saw it about 4 times, we started out sitting near the back, and got closer to the middle each time. By then end he was happy to sit on his own. I would also explain the story of each ride in a way you child will understand, for example we explained the haunted mansion to him as Mr Ghosts house so he was able to relate to it better. When we got off the ride ride I asked if it was scary, and he replied, mama its suppose to be scary, its fun. This really seem to work for us, he had no problem with any of rides. We also got the Disneyland sing-a-long DVD so he was familiar with the characters and not scared of them either.

 

[jagruti6]

Oh we also took him to the movies a few times, to get him used to sitting in a loud theater.

 

[pl'smama]

We took our DD for the first time to WDW last year when she was almost four. This is the age of awareness, as my DH calls it and we realized more so than ever at Disney. I think children need some time to get used to an idea, even if they have seen or heard it before. I think many of the other suggestions are great, like going to the movies, planitarium etc.. and trying out ear plugs. It would be hard to have many kids and have to choose rides based on what each can handle, but that is the nature of the beast. You want all the children to enjoy themselves.

Perhaps trying out a local amusement park first would help. Do some little pretend adventures at home, using blankets over chairs and turning off the lights. Have a picnic by flashlight. Anything to make them have fun while in a different enviroment.

Good luck and enjoy!