How scary is POTC?

[mommyof2boys1girl]

So, I realize that it isn't really a little kid ride, but I do think there are parts of it that my middle ds will love. He's only 3, and usually not scared of anything as long as mom or dad is there. However, having said that, I strictly censor their TV and movie watching - he's never watched any of the Pirates movies, or anything else even remotely scary, or anything that isn't shown on Playhouse Disney or Treehouse TV!

So who thinks I should sit this one out with ds2, while ds 1 and Dad ride together?

Also, can my 19 month old come on too?

 

[Mommy2PrincessAbby]

DD has never watched any of those movies either... but has watched Peter Pan I and II... so I told her that the pirates are from Peter Pan... she was 3 and wasn't the least bit scared... I think she was actually a bit bored... but she says she liked the ride...

--Lisa

 

[avalon451]

DD5 hadn't seen any of the movies, although she had seen pictures of Davy Jones around on advertising and stuff. We watched the video on YouTube, and she said she just wouldn't look when you see Davy Jones projected on the screen that you go through. She said because it was on a screen she wouldn't be that scared, anyway. She did just fine and loved the ride.

 

[dmked]

We took DD (10 mo. at the time) on it and she was fine, we pretty much took her on anything she was allowed to ride. As long as Mom and Dad are with her she feels safe.

 

[DLR29]

All three of your kids could ride it, but if they are not good with the dark, I don't recommend it for the younger ones. There is a small drop (not that large, but for kids, anything in pitch black can seem scary) in pitch blackness. The entire ride is very dimly lit. There are skeletons (not moving or popping out or anything) and simulated gunshots/cannons. But that's the scariest part. Most parts really aren't that scary.

 

[scooter15]

That used to be my kids favorite ride until they changed it. They will not go on it unless we carry them in. They are 6 and 4.5. They are deeply afraid of the mist screen of Davy Jones just before you exit the cavern into the battle scene.

 

[RainyDayPixie]

DS went on it when he was 9 mo and 16 mo and did fine. I would just explain what the ride will be like ahead of time.

 

[DesertBell]

DS went on it when he was 18 months, and DD went on at 3.5 years. They both loved it.

 

[Dukland]

The first time we went to DL, my older ds was 19 months, and that was his favorite ride. The next time we went, it made my dd nervous, because of the Davy Jones mist screen. But, we would tell her to close her eyes, and when to open them, and she was fine. She was 5 at the time.

It's now been 2 years, so we'll see how they do in June. I think my youngest ds will love it. He will be 21 months, and this will be his first Disneyland trip. I'm so excited for him!!

 

[bumbershoot]

Eamon didn't mind it at 1.5 (nursed the whole way through and fell asleep, LOL). Didn't *really* mind it at 2.5, but sat in between us, sucking on my shirt, one eye covered, one eye looking at everything.

But at 3.5, whoa boy...he went on it once and REFUSED to go again.

Over this year we've talked more and more about why he won't. He thinks he's being eaten by Davy Jones (projection in the mist). That's pretty much his problem with it.

Now he's almost 4, and I did let him start watching the first movie. Why? Because he begged and begged and begged, and then he hurt himself or got sick, and I am a SUCKER for when he hurts himself. (I think if there's one more occasion of "E hurts himself and gets to do something formerly forbidden" I might be dealing with some pretty bad Munchausen syndrome situation, or at least some hefty hypochondria! kinda joking, kinda not...) He hurt himself, or he was sick maybe? And we let him watch it. And he LOVES it.

Now he can't wait to go on it again.

Somehow, I do NOT know how, he has found out a ton about the other movies. It's as mysterious to me as how on earth he figured out who Hannah Montana was, while walking by Libby Lu in December where there was a cardboard figure of her. We watch the Disney Channel for about 5 minutes at a time, once in a blue moon. Yet he knows HM, and he can recognize Ashley Tisdale from HS Musical ads and posters at DLR b/c she's on Suite Life of Zach and Cody, a show he has NEVER watched. I do not understand.

Back to POTC, there was that one day I was picking something up at Circuit City, the day before the third movie came out, and they were playing 1 and 2 side by side on massive TVs, right next to the pickup counter. And we had to wait 20 minutes.

You can pick up quite a bit in 20 minutes!

So it's really freakish how much he knows about the other movies, which means he knows about Davey Jones, he knows something about Calypso (do not know how he started talking about her, but we do answer him), he knows that DJ has a broken heart so there's a reason for him to be bad...and now he's not as terrified of going "through" DJ.

I've also told him that it's just like a TV show but instead of on a TV it's on water steam, and that we are NOT being eaten by Davey Jones.


That's a LONG way of saying...watch out for the 3 year olds!!!


I'm so weird...thought he would watch Sesame Street and reruns of Mr Rogers and that's it, b/c that's what I watched (and, um, Saturday Night Live from the beginning of the show ). Turns out I HATE the new Sesame Street, Mr R is shown long before we wake up for the day if it's on at all, and I love the Sprout channel, and there are just lots of really excellent shows on for kids, that I find to be so much better than Sesame St. (Blue's Clues helped him over a hump into more speech right before I started to worry, yay! Lazytown's Sportacus showed him how to do somersaults! and it's from Iceland which is just cool beyond words)

But on top of the carefully chosen (wide and varied, but careful) shows...he's has seen POTC 1, Harry Potter 1, and DH let him watch Dodgeball about 10 times before I refused to let it be shown anymore (dh didn't notice the language and some scenes...DS just notices people being funny and silly). Star Wars got the Dodgeball treatment, too, his behavior got to be too violent with SW.

Spongebob is NOT allowed EVER. But POTC is fine.

We are weird.

 

[twinspluscade]

I haven't ridden the one at DLR yet, but we've taken the kids a few times on the WDW version.

It's really varied with my kids as to whether they were scared or not. My twins rode it when they were 4 and 5. When they were 4 they didn't like it; although they weren't scared to the point of being terrified. When they were 5 they did like it, although the mist part with Davy Jones that others have mentioned made them a tad nervous.

We didn't even try it with my son (MAJOR ride chicken; even Peter Pan made him nervous) when he was 2.5. However, he rode it at 3.5 and was then fine with it--although it wasn't his favorite.

I'd say to wait and see how they do on the other dark rides first. If they like those, then try POTC. One thing I've been doing for our up-coming trip is showing my kids the You Tube videos of the rides. So that would be an idea too, just to show them what it's like.

 

[Kirabird]

My DS who just turned 6 was deathly afraid of it before he even got inside. The talking Parrot and the music freaked him out. We tried 3 different times and he wouldn't do it. He had no problem with Space Mountain, Star Tours, Indiana Jones, but wouldn't do the Haunted Mansion or the Pirate's island either b/c you have to walk through that cave.

 

[chickybanky]

We just took our DD (4.5) on it last week, and she liked it! She's not very fond of the dark, and scares fairly easily (um, Peter Pan freaked her out ), but she wasn't afraid on POTC. Go figure!! Her favorite part was the crab in the sand, and all the coins and jewels in the treasure chests. We did warn her about the small drops, and she was fine.

 

[honeymom]

When my kids were younger, we took them on as son 3.5 and daughter age 6.
The 3.5 loved it, the 6 year old was scared.

 

[amyamya]

. One thing I've been doing for our up-coming trip is showing my kids the You Tube videos of the rides. So that would be an idea too, just to show them what it's like.

This is a great idea and I have been trying this as well with my 3.5 year old. Although it is nothing like the real experience, it does give them an idea what to expect...I tried it as well as I am REALLY afraid of heights and have avoided SOC. I think I might try it this time!

 

[oldenewguy]

If he can handle the fantasyland dark rides or HM then he will be fine. As long as he dosen't mind the drops.