I hate to ask ANOTHER ride question....

[Adam&Alex's Mom]

but here I go....

I have two twin boys... age 4... they will be 4.5 when we go to DL next month. They are adventourous and tall for thier age... one is 42 inches the other 43.5... after doing som reading I added 4 rides to our probable list:

Splash Mountain
Space Mountain
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
Grizzley River Run

I had asked a ques earlier about GRR and I think the kids will be OK.... on the other three... the boys ride a little jerky coaster here... it looks similar to the one in Toon Town... but smaller I am sure... and they love it.... they ride with thier hands in the air! They haven't ridden the bigger one here... it has big drops...

The boys have seen the vacatuion planning video and some WDW shows on the travel channel and they get excited by the roller coasters.... am I NUTS for considering Splash, Space and BTMRR?? My plan was to start in FL and see what they like... see how they respond to the dark rides... let them see BTMRR and Splash and if they want to try.... then go for it... if they do well then try Space.... am i out of my mind? The folks in my office say i am... that it is too risky for 4 year olds... that people die on those rides etc.... it's kinda taken the wind out of my sails!

Let me know your thoughts on these rides for this age group if have a sec. I appreciate your opinions!!

TIA!

 

[CalGal]

My DS rode BTMRR and Space Mtn at 4 1/2. He also rode Splash when he was close to 5. He loved the roller coasters, but Splash's big drop was a bit much for him. Mind you, he did try it again about six months later, and soon it became his favorite ride.

I would advise you start with BTMRR. If they are cool with that, and I bet they will be, try Matterhorn. If they loves both of those, and they are comfortable with the dark, try Space Mtn.

Splash is quite different from the roller coasters. You can watch the canoes coming down the big drop, and talk to the boys about whether want to try it. It's really fun! The big drop is the only thing very scary about the ride. And you are likely to get wet. I'd probably do GRR before trying Splash out though. It's a bit wilder throughout the ride, and you are likely to get wetter than on Splash, but it doesn't have the "big drop".

 

[snoodledoo]

My DS is 5 now, but the last 2 times we went (in '05 and in March) BTMRR was his fave! He hasn't done Space or Splash yet.

 

[JadeDarkstar]

my ds wants to try spalsh as long as my dfionce hold him..he sayd it looks fun..but mind you this si the kid that wants to go upside down..and i wont do screaming lol

 

[beckanoah]

Just make sure that on BTMRR you are holding on to your kids. It is a lap bar only ride, and if you are large, the bar doesn't go down so far for the kids. (speak from experience... PLUS it was dark)... It was a great ride, just something to think about!

DD 6 LOVED it!

 

[JadeDarkstar]

lol took me a min to figuer the ride out lol you dont understand his..2ed time i think to dl was where he wanted to go on it and he stood tipy toes to go. lol he loved it and says this time he dosent have to stand tipytoes lol

 

[abby]

My dd who is very timid, tolerated Matterhorn at 4 but hated BTMRR. All depends on the kid. My theory is to not push a kid who is afraid. See how it goes. My kids problem last time with splash (when she was 6 and 1/2) was watching the big drop, she just refuses..........

 

[silence]

my DS loved BTMRR (still does) and also enjoys Space. However, the Materhorn freaks him out and is far to jerky.

 

[blackerbys17]

Well, if it helps any, we are going in less than 2 weeks and my 3 year old, yes, 3 year old will be going on SM, BTM, and the Matterhorn. He is just over the 40" height minimum. I don't think I'll let him do Splash, even I don't like the big drop. BUT, if he really begs me, then I'll do it. My thinking is that Disney is very serious about ride safety. If their experts say 40" is tall enough, it's tall enough. I don't know about your 4 year olds but my 3 year old doesn't scare easily. Unless there is a huge ferocious monster involved, he doesn't scare at all!

p.s. as for rides deaths at Disney, people die all the time, all over the world, even children unfortunately, that doesn't make it Disney's fault.

 

[BraMax]

When we went this past Feb my youngest just turned 4 that January and well he went on all the roller coaster that he could and loved everyone of them. The only 2 he didn't do was Splash because it was closed(and boy was he mad) and GRR because he was 1/2 inch too short. We are going back in 8 days and he has grown that 1/2 inch and will be going on all of the ones that he is tall enough for. But my son has no fear and loves rides to the max. He is still upset that he can't do California Screamin' lol. So start small BTMMR and Matterhorn are good starter ones.

 

[Adam&Alex's Mom]

Well, if it helps any, we are going in less than 2 weeks and my 3 year old, yes, 3 year old will be going on SM, BTM, and the Matterhorn.

If you get a chance please post a trip report and let know how it goes!!! I hope you have a blast!

 

[joeysmommy]

I think they would be ok on everything except maybe Space Mountain, especially the dark factor.
You could always look on Youtube and see if there is any video of the Space Mountain ride to show them. If it freaks them out..skip it.

I showed my 3 and 5 yr old the inside footage of Splash Mountain on Youtube and they said they would try it this time.
They thought the whole ride on the inside was like the big drop!
I bought the DVD set "All of Disneyland" but of course the Splash Mountain footage doesn't work..skips and starts over.

 

[Blackunicorn]

If your boys are adventurous, I don't see why you would have any trouble with any of those. I do want to re-iterate that the restraints on BTMRR won't go down very far if you have a larger person on it. I'm very pooh-sized, and riding with my daughter--even now that she's 8--gives me a heart attack every time. I make my teenage son ride with her, which just thrills him.

My daughter is very adventurous, and she loves *all* of the rides you listed. She wasn't tall enough to ride when she was four, but very much enjoyed riding them when she was five.

 

[SunDevilDaddy]

GRR - No problem mon'

Splash - I have mixed feelings about this one. My DS5 loved it and had no problem riding all by himself in the front seat (although it scared the living **** out of me that he was up there unrestrained). However, my DD5 was intimidated to ride it to begin with and didn't like it when all was said and done. She never would have rode without the double seat in the back of the log. I would recommend it if they are really brave and if you have 2 adults going as well so that one adult could make sure to wrap their arms around the seat back and hang on to a kid.

Space - No idea...

BTMRR - Both my kids (even my wimpy girl) loved GRR and we rode it 2 maybe 3 times. If they like going fast it won't be a problem at all, there is no significant drop. Again, no problem

Good luck!

 

[SunDevilDaddy]

my ds wants to try spalsh as long as my dfionce hold him..he sayd it looks fun..but mind you this si the kid that wants to go upside down..and i wont do screaming lol

Make sure they ask for the rear seat of the log. Otherwise there is no lap riding and your DS will have to sit in his own seat.

 

[JadeDarkstar]

ya i learned about that on the boards but ya for sure my fionce is ready to hold him becouse he said daddy wont let me fly out..hay he has same fears as i do..what if when going down they go up and out the ride..scary i hate how im parinoied