How To Get Scared Child Onto Rides!!!!!!!

[sully7]

I agree with the poster who suggested the video "Disneyland Fun." My kids(3,5,7,9) love that video and can't wait to go on the rides! They feel as if they know the rides already. They sing the songs! We'll see how they do in Sept but I think they'll be fine!

Prepare your child and then let her decide when the time comes! But remind her of the songs and other fun things that go with the rides, too. And always be positive. Say stuff like "This will be fun!" Try to avoid "This won't be scary!" She might not think about being scared until you bring it up!!

 

[all4fun]

I didn't read the responses so forgive me if I am repeating something. Possibly she was just scared because you weren't with her? We had this experience at Knotts Berry Farm (CA) in Camp Snoopy. Almost all the rides in Camp Snoopy are kiddie rides and they had to stop one ride so we could take our ds off because he wouldn't stop crying. It broke my heart! But at Disney we have NO problems. He loves all the rides at Disney - POTC, Peter Pan, even Snow White, which I have always thought is one of the "creepier" kids rides in Fantasyland.

You can also get WDW planning DVD's (free) from disney. If you haven't done that already, then order them off the official website and let her watch them. Maybe that will help prepare her for the parks.

I hope this helps and that she will be fine when you take her trip. There are lots of things to do there though so hopefully even if some things scare her still you will be able to quickly figure out what it is she likes to do and have a wonderful trip anyway.

hth,
Cheryl

 

[kandb]

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you for all of the GREAT advice. You guys are great. We will go in September and have a great time no matter what. If she really doesn't want to ride too many rides, my dh and I will take turns with my son (her twin) and make the best of it. Linda

 

[DeeDeeDis]

I havent read above post but we did experience this in some form or another with two of our three boys.

I suggest you dont make a big deal of this, get in the line for the rides but assure your child that if they do not want to get on the ride - no big deal would love them to experience this with you, but hey maybe next time. When you get to the end of the line and they don't want to get on the ride, then if they are old enuf have the child wait for you at the "child swap area (CM will show child where to wait and you meet them as you get off the ride,if your child is not old enuf then just child swap.) Just dont make a big deal of your childs choice NOT to ride, and DONT try to "talk them into it", but also DONT deny yourself the pleasure of enjoying all the park has to offer.

Have a great trip

 

[freckles and boo]

Another vote here for not forcing the issue. Our older daughter, now 6, adores racing with her dad on a jet ski but we couldn't persuade her to set foot on a stationary pontoon boat two years ago. Our younger daughter (4) is autistic and is fearless when it comes to almost all amusement rides but won't go near boats. We made the decision to simply respect their fears and are willing to wait until they are ready. It isn't worth the trauma or the tears.

 

[disney09]

I think it's kind of hard. You can't force your kid, but (as the mommy in the Star Tour said) if you know he/she can take it, you may try to convince him/her. This is our first time to WDW with the kids, so they don't know what they're going to see, only been in Six Flags before. There, my DD6 was so frustrated since she's very, very tall for her age, so she couldn't ride almost any of the kid's games due to height restriction, and the games for adults were too much for her... We ride in a small roller coster with a nice lady bug in front, and it was sooo fast! she was so scared that she wouldn't try anything that seemed fast! So, maybe Space Mountain will not be for her, but I know she'll love Splash Mountain, and we've talked so much about it and how fun is it to hear the song and watch Brer Rabbit, that she's conviced now, even though we've also talked about the looong drop.
Also, DS4 ride with us in Six Flags in a "haunted mansion", which was veery dark and spooky (nothing at all like the real Haunted mansion of course), but at the end of the ride he was so excited that he wants to go to Haunted Mansion first of all!

 

[dreamer47]

Is the DisneyLand Fun video a singalong? I'm a Grandma who will be going to Disney next week and I'm afraid this is also going to be an issue for my 7 year old Grandson. Can anyone help with where I could purchase this video in a hurry? I found a Disneyland Fun video online at Target but it is a singalong. I'm wondering if this is the one referred to here?

 

[RockyMtnMaria]

Is the DisneyLand Fun video a singalong? I'm a Grandma who will be going to Disney next week and I'm afraid this is also going to be an issue for my 7 year old Grandson. Can anyone help with where I could purchase this video in a hurry? I found a Disneyland Fun video online at Target but it is a singalong. I'm wondering if this is the one referred to here?

Yes, it is the same one. We really enjoyed it. They also have specific ones for Blizzard Beach and the Fort Wilderness areas. We bought ours at Toys R Us when they were on sale for $5, but the regular price of $10 is still better than what a lot of stores are charging. At 7 he might also like watching some of the Travel Channel shows on Disney, or the Modern Marvels episode. The behind the scenes stuff and seeing how things work may be reasuring.

Thanks to the OP for starting this thread! I have a 3 yo girl who is afraid of a lot of things (I don't know why, she is a tomboy with 3 big brothers) and I am worried that my husband is going to try to make her do things she isn't ready for. This thread has been reassuring. I still think we shouldn't take her into ITTBAB, because she panics over a housefly!

 

[dreamer47]

Thank you so much!

 

[RockyMtnMaria]

Thank you so much!

Your welcome. And welcome to the DISboards!

 

[2poohbears]

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you for all of the GREAT advice. You guys are great. We will go in September and have a great time no matter what. If she really doesn't want to ride too many rides, my dh and I will take turns with my son (her twin) and make the best of it. Linda

The Disneyland fun sing along video is great! I bought it and showed it to my boys before we took them in JAN/FEB 2006. They were 2 1/2 y/o at the time. They enjoyed all the rides, but one of the boys (they are twins) refused to sit through the 3-D movies and Fantasmic. I think the sound was just too loud for him along with the effects. I just took him out and dh stayed with our other son and enjoyed the shows. I had a blast with my son just eating a mickey ice cream bar, or looking at characters, surroundings while we waited. It was actually kind of nice to have some "one on one" time since they are twins. It didn't ruin our trip at all. We just went knowing we might have a few instances like that. We gave everything a try (everything that we felt was age-appropriate)...if someone didn't want to do it we didn't force them. By the end of the trip I finally got my son to watch Philharmagic and he LOVED it! It just took him a while to "warm up" I think. I'm sure you'll have a great time!

 

[calena]

My son was 7 years at our last visit and he went ballastic during "It's A Small World", much to our dismay and those riding with us. By the end of the ride, he was fine, but did not want to do it again.

He'll be 10 years this time and tells us he's going to ride everything this time so we picked up a small fan with lights on it to wear around his neck. If he gets afraid of the darker rides, he can turn it on and watch the lights as a distraction.

I'm also thinking of ear plugs to soften the loudness of some of the rides.

And if those things don't work, then we'll be spending quite a bit of time people watching.

I love the suggestion of the light. DH just bought me a tiny light for reading at night that you put onto a book... I think I'll tuck that in my fannypack for DS6 who had major freaks in 2005 at WDW and Universal. The year before - 2004, DS9 who was then 7 had a major freak on the line to Pirates... and he had been so excited about going on it. (That year his little brother was 4 and would go on ANYTHING! I told people he did not know enough to be scared.)Well, we sort of coerced DS7 him to go on pirates anyway which was probably not the best, but he did love it in the end... wanted to go three times that trip to Pirates! That is the thing, we knew he would love it. He had seen the movie and I think he thought those characters would attack us on the ride, which we knew would not happen. I think it depends on the child and some rides are not worth it. He also did not want to go to Haunted Mansion or Tower of Terror or.... etc. and we said fine.
I love WDW!

 

[MosMom]

We buy my DD a pin for that ride and call it a badge of courage. Worked like a charm (except for the ToT ). If she isn't interested after we offer a pin, we don't push the issue.

 

[YayDisney!]

We have a fearless daughter who has always loved the rides....all of them. We have met others that have had problems with children who do not want to ride anything. Some had luck with getting the Disney planning video or checking out the attractions online so that they know what to expect. I would have to agree with not forcing a child onto ride. If they have not ridden may rides before this will make it negative and every time after that will likely be the same. Another tip I have heard from other families is to purchase the kind of shoes that light up when the child walks. Then on the ride, (the dark ones) they can stomp thier foot and have a safety light. I am sure it is in the presentation but I think that explaing what each ride is like ahead of time is the best tactic. Start now before your trip and GOOD LUCK!

Our daughter as I mentioned is fearless on rides(even 300' plus roller coasters) but is terrified of automatic flushing toilets. If you have this problem take some small "post it" notes and cover the dark sensor eye before your child sets down. This stops the toilet from flushing while they are still on the potty. After they are finished remove the sticky note and the toilet flushes.

 

[mshrm]

Lots of great advice here. I really like the bribery with a disney pin. My 6yo is picky about what he will ride but I think for another disney pin(which he is totally into) he would ride anything!

Good ideas, thanks.