How to prepare 7yo so that she won't be scared?

[tboss]

I have a 7yo that is very, very hesitant to go on rides that are fast at all. She definitely won't go on roller coasters, but I would like for her to go on things like Splash Mountain. Anyone have any ideas that have worked for them to alleviate the fears prior to going to the parks? I'm trying to talk to her a lot and show her pictures in the tour books. I just don't want to get there and have her not want to ride ANYTHING.

 

[msr709]

Hi, I'm going this summer with 2 kids, 4yo and 7yo and the 7yo is a little nervous about rides also. I would suggest taking her on the very slow rides first, Dumbo or IASW is a great one to open with, the Carousel, Peter Pan, Winnie the Pooh (I would suggest staying away from Snow White, most of the kids are afraid of it) but after she's gone on these tamer rides she might even ask to get on something more risky! When she sees all the kids that get on she might not be so shy about it. Kids have a tendency to follow the groups. I'm trying to show the children going with me about Haunted Mansion but I wouldn't push them on that. Splash Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain can be seen easily, I would suggest you pass by and look at it for awhile and let her decide whether she wants to try it. Sometimes the weather plays a big factor also, if its very hot, the kids tend to migrate towards the water rides. Just remember there are plenty of things to do without ever going on the more "popular" rides. Kids are very funny when it comes to things like these. Read on further down this Board there are other threads about this very same thing. Good luck and have a wonderful vacation!!

 

[WDSearcher]

My first suggestion would be, if you want her to ride other things, don't take her on Splash Mountain until the very end of the day! If you do it early, that final drop will probably scare her, and she won't believe anything you say for the rest of the day. She'll expect there to be a drop like that on everything, and she may think you tricked her. While Splash isn't a coaster in the traditional sense, that final drop is still pretty scary for kids who don't like coasters yet.

I would start her out on all the calm stuff -- Small World, Peter Pan, Dumbo, Aladdin, TTA ... work your way up to faster stuff like Pooh, Pirates, and Buzz. Then let her watch Splash Mountain from the outside, to see how many kids her age are riding it and having fun. Let her know that the last drop is the ONLY drop, and that it's a water ride like Small World, except for the fun drop at the end. Let her watch families coming off of the ride, smiling and laughing, and then see if she wants to go. If she says no, then respect that.

If you want to talk to her ahead of time ... pick up one of the "WDW for Kids" books -- the one that's written by kids for kids. Read her the descriptions of rides from that book, since they'll be more kid-oriented. Let her decide, but also let her know that whether she chooses "yes" or "no" on specific rides, she's allowed to change her mind once she's at the park and sees the ride. And then just let it alone. Don't keep trying to get her to change her mind or to agree to ride. The more you try to tell her how much fun it is, the more she'll wonder, "If it's that much fun, how come you're working so hard to sell it?"

Bottom line is that you'll have fun there no matter what, right? It's not Splash Mountain that makes the trip special ... it's the family being there and having fun. Not going on Splash Mountain (or any other ride) won't ruin the trip for her unless you let it.

 

[luvsTink]

My girls (4 and 6) were frightened by somethings that I didn't expect, particularly the 3-d movies! As far as coasters, you may want to try the Goofy Barnstormer early on to see how she likes that.

Anne

 

[Karibeth19]

The other posts have great advice, so I don't have much to add, except that the last drop on Splash Mtn. is not the only drop. There are two or three smaller drops during the course of the ride, leading up to the big drop at the end. I didn't know if you had planned on telling her there was just one drop, but I wanted to make sure you knew, so she wouldn't think you lied to her. (You know how kids are!)

In my family, we have a try it once rule. Go on it once, and if you don't like it, you don't ever have to go on it again. Although, my 6 yr old DD is a bit of a daredevil, so we do this because we know she will love some of the rides she says she's afraid of, if she will just try them. Her favorite rides also include Haunted Mansion and Snow White, so really, nothing else should be scary to her. If your child is more sensitive, the try it once rule may not work, and might wind up making all of you miserable!

 

[NMAmy]

One more thing about Splash Mtn! Come to find out one reason my daredevil daughter was terrified of this when she was little and refused to try it was because it looks like it goes underwater once you are down the big drop! I had never thought about it till she pointed it out to me that you come down the drop and disappear! She wasn't sure how long she'd have to hold her breath!

 

[manchurianbrownbear]

I would agree with others who have said start slow and work up the rides that might scare her.

On our recent trip our DDs had a couple rides they weren't sure about. When we actually got to the time to decide to ride, or not to ride, it helped when a CM assured them that they would enjoy the ride. A CM at Splash Mountain asked DD4 what she had already ridden and then told her she'd do fine on Splash Mountain. For some reason, it was easier for DD to believe a CM than Mom & Dad!

 

[texas8891]

DON'T RIDE SNOW WHITE'S SCARY ADVENTURES!!!! Also, if you ride the Pirates of the Carribbean, distract her while you pass under the talking skull at the start. Mickey's Toontown Fair is a good start for kids to get them comfortable. Also, the Country Bear Jamboree, the Buzz Lightyear Ride, the Enchanted Tiki Room and the Jungle Cruise work well to eliminate fear.

 

[tjmw2727]

Try and find out exactly what she is afraid of, falling, crashing flying out of the ride etc. With my oldest she was afraid of falling out so I simply showed her how the restraints worked and if possible how the rides worked. We started out slow with fantasyland and then worked our way around MK - by the end of the vacation she tried SplMtn, SpMtn and even TOT and loved them all. Sometimes the ads make the rides look lots scarier than they are (RnRC comes to mind) these are more influential to kids and could make them leary.

Its hard with kids sometimes to really figure out what they mean -if you can address the fear then she may be reassured. Even if she never rides Splash you can have a terrific vacation. If she does decide some of the rides are not for her you can always use the child swap for the others so you don't have to wait the line twice. My 9yo really dosen't like the big drop at SplMt but the rest of the ride is so great she is willing to "deal with the drop" (her words!).


TJ

ps - I know there are lots of sites with videos of the rides and even pictures of ride vehicles that may help reassure your dd. If you post a specific question to that affect you may get some links.

 

[dawgsgirl]

Sometimes it is really hard to tell what rides kids will like or dislike. I took a 7 year old to WDW last Sept. At AK, the Bug 3-d show scared her to death. She tends to be a bit high strung and anxious, so we left AK and went back to MK to calm her down. Well, she refused to go on Pirates or HM, and we had to drag her on Jungle Cruise. Wouln't go to Fantasy Land, which was our intention. Said they were baby rides. Then she asked to ride Splash, loved it, and rode it over and over. Go figure! This was a kid that was prepared, but just seemed to make up her mind as she went along. Good luck--with kids you ALWAYS get surprises!

 

[tjmw2727]

DG - great point on the 3 d- my 9yo really, really dislikes them. She will see Mickey's philharmagic but frankly I am surprised. We knew my dd's would not be into Honey I shrunk or Bugs life but who know the muppets 3d would totally freak them out!!

If you can get hold of a planning video or even Disneyland Fun (real kids sing along at disneyland but shows lots of the rides at mk) you may get an idea of what she will like.

My neices got a guide book I am sorry I can't remember the the complete name but something like "WDW for kids by kids" with lots of great information. Maybe you two can go through it together and try to make a plan? Sometimes being in control can be very helpful to a child.

TJ

 

[MichiganMommy]

If you see the 3D movies, have her sit cross-legged (pretzel style) on her chair. There are some tactile effects that really frighten some kids. Honey I shrunk the Kids comes to mind...

 

[tzvdmd]

My son was more afraid of the people screaming than he was the ride itself. We went through the Haunted Mansion in May and had a great time. But when we went back in Nov. of the same year we had alot of screamers go through at the same time. He didnt like it one bit.

 

[manchurianbrownbear]

tjmw2727, we got the WDW For Kids, By Kids book for our kids before our recent trip in an attempt to calm the fears of our DDs.

For each attraction, the kid authors rank the "scariness" on a scale of 1-10 I believe. They made no distinction between a "1" and a "10". They went though the book and picked up that EVERY ride was scary, even if it was a "1" on the ten point scale!

I don't know if they ever did comprehend the scale, but they did try just about everything!

 

[xlstacey]

We were there in January w/my dh, and 3 girls 12, 10 and 7. My 10 yr old was very upset when I was talking to her about 3 months b4 the trip. She did NOT want to go on Splash Mountain and thought we would make her go. We were at WDW 2 years prior so she had seen the ride and choose then not to go on it. It took me days to ease her mind and let her know that she did not have to go on any ride that she did not want to. I did not want her to be so upset especially months b4 our 2 week trip.

Well, to make a long story short, she felt better after she realized she did not HAVE to go on Splash Mt. We arrived at WDW and after talking, talking and talking to her ... she finally said she would try Splash Mt. She was hesitant even at best and we had to keep talking to her through the line. She was frightened and curled up a bit on the ride. I held her to me and tried to console her as much as possible. We had a cm (good luck for us) that was not on duty yet who rode in the very back of the log. He told us when all the smaller drops were coming. That helped some. Getting off the ride ... she wanted to ride again. Okay. Lesson learned from how my 10 yr old operates. She is frightened of most rides until she rides (test track, mission space, big thunder mt railroad) once and then watch out she LOVES them.

My 7 & 12yr olds loved all the rides and the faster the better. The 7 yr old hated the 3d's and fussed and fussed about them. Go figure. All was well and what a super trip!!

 

[dizagain]

Hi! Here are some experiences we had with our DD's 7 and 9...

I laughed when I read an above post - my younger daughter thought we'd go under water on Splash Mountain too!! She did end up riding it once, and it wasn't a favorite with either girl. The "what will happen next" factor is pretty strong on this ride.

The 7-yr-old's FAVORITE ride was Thunder Mountain and she NEVER rides roller coasters - not even kiddie ones. I think it was because there are no big dips but it feels fast and bumpy - very grown up!

Both girls went on all of the 3-D attractions except Alien (which is closed now anyway I think). They were a little scared of all of them but no tears or anything, just not high on their list.

For "Big Thrills", they both loved Test Track, BTTMRR, the simulator rides like Star Tours and Body Wars, and the older one liked Space Mt. We almost had them on Tower of Terror, but ran out of time!

The above mentioned WDW for Kids by Kids by Birnbaum is a great book to look through - the girls still look at it 9 months later!

 

[rhazz]

We just got back from a brief visit and my 4 y/o was terrified because of seeing others going down the big drop on splash mountain and then dissappearing. He also thought that you had to go underwater...poor kid didn't tell us that's what he thought until after the ride.
Also believe you should build up to the big rides. We made the mistake of going on the Tower of Terror first thing at MGM. His 6 y/o sister had been talking nonstop about going on that before we got to the park he felt like he wanted to try it as well. Despite our attempts to discourage him from trying he insisted and was absolutely hysterical during and after the ride. We should have just known better and not have brought him on. The hysteria pretty much set the tone for the remainder of the day....

 

[SpaceMounatin]

The way I see it. if she doesnt want to go on, dont let her go on. Splash Mountain has no restrains so she can get out of the log and you wont be able to do anything. That happened to a full grown man, and he was ht by a log and fell 52 feet to his death.

 

[Reginak]

My son is the most cautious person that I have ever known. He is scared to climb higher than three feet up the tree at his grandparents house.

This is the trick I use with my son when we go to Six Flags: I start out in the Looney Toons area and I let him choose the first three or four attractions to ride to build his courage a little. THEN we began to take turns. I am always careful about my choices and slowly build to the more exciting ones.

For WDW, I tell him that Mickey makes special rules that there are no rides that can hurt anyone who follows the rules and that all "bad guys" (characters) must be nice even if they don't like it.

He is much braver at WDW because he trusts Mickey Mouse so much. We have been taking him since he was three-years-old and it works every time.

Regina

 

[Terry S]

Mine started going on rides very early on since they are both really tall. They are now 6 and 7, and can go on anything in the park, but could both ride things like BTMRR when they were 3. I always did as others suggested when they were younger and started out with rides like Its a small world, then went on to Pooh, Peter Pan, and Snow White. After doing these we go to Pirates and Haunted Mansion which are both dark and Pirates have a bit of a rollar coaster dip to it. If they can handle the dip on Pirates, you can try BTMRR. The main thing we do is talk to them during the rides, especially the darker ones. You can talk about what is going to happen as well as what is happening. When the Witch is there on Snow White, we encouaged the kids to "yell" at her and tell here the drawfs would "take care of her". We do the same thing at Haunted Mainsion, we tell the ghosts "they can't scare me" and we laugh at them.