How Young is Too Young for Tower of Terror

[jewjubean]

My cousin who turned 4 on our trip LOVED the ride. She went on it three times and enjoyed every minute of it. I actually had more trouble in the pre show of the ride. Where you see the mirrors and stuff, and I'm 20 years old!

 

[carmie3377]

DS will be 3 and 9 months when we go in Dec and I've been trying to decide if I want to take him on it. I guess because it's the only ride at WDW that I get a bit nervous riding. I will ride ToT once each trip, but that is enough for me. I'm also afraid that it will freak him out so much that he will refuse to get on other rides. I guess I'll see how he does on his other "firsts" such as Splash, BTMR, and Dinsosaur.

 

[OmahaNEDad]

My 4 year old daughter loved it. Right up until the BIG drop when she got alittle scaried for a few moments. She started to float up in her seat. We had to hold her legs down. But after the big drop she was fine.

DD wanted to go again. Her twin brother didnt even get in the line. He stayed with grandma while sister went on the ride.

It all ready depends on the child. I would recommend talking to your DS about the ride and ask him if he wants to give it a try.

 

[ReneeA]

Both of mine were on it at 3. DS hasn't went on it since (we've been back 3 times since then) - didn't seem traumatized and was fine going on all the other thrill rides during that trip.

DD went on it when she was 3 and then again when she was 5. She always tells me she doesn't like it, but then asks to go back when we get there...I guess it can't be that bad.

 

[nancyjo1998]

I have taken my DS when he was 3 1/2 to the one at Disneyland and he loves it. Thats all he talks about wanting to go on. He is a brave boy, gets mad when we tell him hes not tall enough to go on some of the big boy rollercoasters.

I think each child is different and you should talk to your child about the ride and let them make the decision on weather or not to go!!

 

[Tir na nOg]

In our family it seems to be around 40 years old

 

[WrightFamily06]

I was just creating some maps, and I noticed that the Tower of Terror only has a 40 in height limit. So, with that said...is a 4 yr old (almost 5) well equiped for this ride? My DD is getting so much braver, however I don't want to scare her to death! Just thought I would pose the ?, as I am sure there are quite a few of you out there that have brought their kids on it....just thought I would see what their reaction was

I think it's really up to the child . My DS is 5 and he doesn't want to partake in any thrill rides ,this may be because DH and I are not thrill riders but if he really wanted to go one of use would take him . I did however show him the big rides on utube.com which you could do with DD , may tell you if she will be willing to ride or not , my son said scary to most .LOL Hope this helps and have a magical trip

 

[Nikisha421]

my dd rode @ 4 but said she wouldnt domit again

 

[xXBelleXx]

I rode TOT for the first time when I was 3 years old and I loved it, but i think it really depends on the kid.

 

[brocklesnar69]

My 6 year old sister rode it and loved it. She went on it multiple times.

 

[Mrs.Toad]

All kids are different, so it really depends on yours. My older dd was 8 the first time she rode it and while she loved the motion of it, she was still pretty freaked out at the darkness and the storyline and hung on to me for dear life from the queue to the end of the ride. My younger (now 6) has not ridden it yet, and probably won't want to for quite a while. Just like her sis, I know she would love the up and down motion of the elevator, if the theming was different.

 

[kim_d]

My DD turned 4 on 10/28 and rode it on 11/15.

My DS was tall enough to ride at 3 and wanted to ride when we were there, but the line was too long and no FASTPASS available. So he didn't ride it until he was 4 either.

 

[elleherself]

This time we were in a group of teens, who of course being obnoxious (and I have three of them now so I know they can be! ), were screaming at the top of their lungs. He totally freaked out and didn't even want to ride it again when we came back 2 years later because of that.

So my advice is that if you DO decide to try it with her, and you're with anyone who is being obnoxious in the line, ask if you can wait for a different elevator. Doesn't mean someone won't scream anyways, but there's a difference between the "startled" scream and the intentional, turn-purple one!

I went on this for the first time last October. I screamed the entire time like someone was murdering me. I was truly, truly terrified. My sister was laughing hysterically-- and I mean that literally, she was in hysterics. Neither of us were expecting it to be that intense! I think it was the weightless feeling that scared us so horribly. This was the first trip that I did any big roller coasters, but the night before I rode Sheikra at Busch Gardens TWICE, so I wasn't being wussy.

Tower of Terror is terrifying! Look at the name, people!

I will probably ride it again but I will scream and scream. I don't know what I would have done to my parents if they tried to force the issue when I was younger though. I wanted NOTHING to do with that ride.

Also, I laughed when someone above said the drop was "unexpected". It's funny, you hear all the screams walking towards the ride, and you KNOW the deal, you know it's coming-- and somehow it still surprises you.

I would say only the most freakish daredevil kids in the world could handle this ride at age 3 or 4. If a kid rides this over and over at that age, I would watch that one, because a kid like that isn't scared of anything!

 

[NuttyDisneyMom]

My DD6 rides BTMRR and TT, but I would never let her on ToT this young. Though she does meet the height requirement, she's 43", she only weighs 42 lbs. I LOVE ToT and would ride it over and over again, but she's just too tiny. Regardless what Disney thinks is safe, motherly instinct will always win out with me When ToT first debuted, it was just ONE drop, they shot you up, held you, and you came right down. Now, they bounce you up and down about 5 times, which I like better, but that's a lot of weightlessness for a tiny little child IMHO. Ultimately, it comes down to what YOU are comfortable with your child doing. Mom knows best right?

 

[fan1080]

Age has little to do with it.

It depends on how you think your child can handle dark, scary rides.

The pre-show can be scary too. Dark room, themed scary music and a movie that essentially tells you that the elevator you are about to go into is going to fail.

And, once you board the ride vehicle it doesn't just simply go up and fall, there are other scary moments prior to the fall that someone who doesn't enjoy a dark, scary environment, may find it uneasy as well.

Search youtube for some on-ride videos and judge for yourself.

 

[disneynut67]

My two youngest went on for the first time at age 3. My dd loved it and my ds didn't like it. But both want to do it again. It depends on the child, I wouldn't force it but show/tell them how it is going to be and let them decide. When my nephew was younger he really wanted to ride BTMRR, we took him to the back, we showed him how fast it goes, how high etc. He still wanted to try it so we took him on it. Pretty quickly he gave us that look, had his hand over his mouth and fortunately never did puke!

 

[Tisha_PA]

I took my DD4 on this in March and she really liked it. The only thing she didn't like was the screaming cheerleaders we were riding with. Their constant screaming bothered her but the ride itself she liked. She can't wait to go on it again when we go back in September. However, next time I plan to make sure we aren't stuck in an elevator with a bunch of screaming teenage girls.

 

[housetomouse]

My son rode it at age 4.5. I didn't care for it, but he wanted to get back in line to ride it again (and did). My other kid went on for the first time at age 7.5 and was a bit freaked out by it but recovered quickly. There is no way he would have liked it at age 4.5. It's a freaky ride. I'll ride almost anything, but this ride freaks me out.

I didn't think the restraints were that great. I can't even remember what exactly they are, but that was my feeling both times I've ridden TOT. They must be sufficient, since I've never heard of anyone flying out of this ride, but they still make me nervous. I practically sat on the 4.5 yr old, though.

 

[Lynne G]

My DD did it last year at 6 years old, and loved it. She's really petite, but thought the view at the top was fun. Though once was enough for her. She loved Everest in AK. Wanted to ride that numerous times.

I agree with all. If your child is a great thrill rider, then see if he/she wants to ride it. My kids, DS 11 and DD 7, both love thrill rides. At a local flume park, my kids ride in the front seat all the time. People ask who are those kids. Well, yeah, their ours. The DD was also the one, at age 4, who drove a gokart and outraced all the other kids older than her.

 

[Mikailova]

The Travel Channel did one of those Disney Behind the Magic things a couple of years ago. They rerun it all the time in the spring and as summer comes around and they're doing all of their Disney advertising. It has a great segment on TOT. It shows pretty much how the whole ride works and some great video of what the riders look like in the car. If you can catch it on tv or maybe even that segment is on YouTube, it will give you and your child a good idea of what the ride is like.

One thing that helps some kids is to tell them this is how Astronauts train to be weightless in space. Which is pretty much what they do, but instead of an elevator, they put a plane in a nose dive at faster than the speed of gravity, which is how the elevator creates weightlessness.