Info on loud/scary rides for ADHD/Sensory Issue Child

[kteesmumma]

I did a search and wasnt sure where the best place to find information on what rides are loud or may be considered scary for a child who has ADHD or Sensory Processing Disorder. My dd is 7 and has ADHD as well as Sensory Processing Disorder and I wanna make sure while I am making our daily tour plans that I get info on what to expect from the rides we pick to put on our top list as well as rides to just totally avoid.

TIA

 

[JUJU814]

I did a search and wasnt sure where the best place to find information on what rides are loud or may be considered scary for a child who has ADHD or Sensory Processing Disorder. My dd is 7 and has ADHD as well as Sensory Processing Disorder and I wanna make sure while I am making our daily tour plans that I get info on what to expect from the rides we pick to put on our top list as well as rides to just totally avoid.

TIA

My son has ADHD and Sensory Processing Disorder and basically, all of WDW was too loud for him. Every day he wanted to go back to the pool. He'd live underwater if he could.

Try the DISabilities board. They have some great info.

Also, with an ADHD child, especially that has SPD, be prepared to be VERY flexible in your planning. So many things I thought ds would have no problem on turned out not to be the case. We sat a lot of things out with him while other family went on.

Not trying to scare you away, just sharing my experience. Every child is totally different.

*Definitely* stay away from Dinosaur. There is a really loud bang in the Figment ride that freaked my son out. "It's Tough to be a Bug"...forget it...*extremely* loud and scarey scene if you think he'll have trouble.

Julie

 

[GraceLuvsWDW]

Please go to the DISabilities board. There are lots of threads there with this info.

As a starter, many of the 4 D movies would probably be no-nos, as well as fireworks such as Wishes and Illuminations.

 

[Manda]

My son is very sensitive to loud noises (as am I). There's the obvious stuff, I guess - fireworks, etc. I'm just going to list the less obvious ones. My son will ride *most* of these rides now, but there are parts that I have to prepare him for and warn him they are coming and he carries his own ear plugs in his pocket so that he can wear them when he thinks he might need them.

(Spoilers below, if that's not obvious)

Pirates: One scene with pirate ship shooting cannons - you hear the shot and the the "explosion" as they simulate the cannonball hitting the water. It's brief though and he's okay with covering his ears and riding through because he likes the rest so much.

Great Movie Ride: Very loud and seemingly never-ending gun fight section. He practically curls into my lap during this part because it's so loud. He's ridden it a few times, but last time seemed to bother him more. I don't know if he'll ever want to try it again.

Soarin': Two parts bother him. One just after you enter the canyon scene, fighter jets come out right from the right. Very loud and startling. Then fireworks at the end. With the big BOOMs.

Journey into Imagination: Very loud. Big finale is just BAM and very loud. He liked it so much though, that he did want to go again and again - just with his earplugs. I hadn't expected it to be so loud, so hadn't prepared him for it. If he'd been warned, it would probably be okay.

Backlot Tour: Stuff blows up. Gun shots. He liked it though and it was outside, so I think it was easier to deal with.

Test Track: Hard ride for him because he loves every bit of it except one part where they make it seem like a semi is heading at you head on and it blows it's horn really loud. That sound is so overwhelming for him, that it almost makes him not want to ride. But he's always glad afterwards. Fortunately, I know the ride well enough to warn him right before so it doesn't startle him as much.

Many of the shows are too loud for him without ear plugs. I'll add if any of the other rides come to mind.

 

[GraceLuvsWDW]

I second the advice on Figment, there is a burst of air that is unbearable for my dd.

Dinosaur-don't even attempt this ride.

Indiana Jones and Lights Motor Action have loud noises and fire.

Great Movie Ride also has loud noises.

Do not do Stitch's Great Escape.

Fantsmic might be ok if you sit in the back.

Some of the character meals have loud parades around the restaurant.

Think about using a stroller, it can really help "insulate" your child from the bumping into other people.

 

[kwitcherkicken99]

Snow White's Scary Adventures has been known to scare the pants off of kids.

Do you think your LO would have trouble with the cannons on POTC?? There are bangs and water spurts up as you ride along.

Winnie the Pooh uses blacklights in part of the ride. Have you ever had trouble with those?? The car also "bounces" in spots (rises and falls like you are bouncing with Tigger).

The Indy cars have loud motors.

Thunder and Lightning in the Tiki Room.

Lights, Motor, Action! Loud booms.

That's about all I can think of right now.

 

[kteesmumma]

Thank you everyone for the tips...I guess whatI should have stated in the first post was is there a book, website or something that will list the different rides and how loud or scary they may be??

 

[GraceLuvsWDW]

Who needs a book when you have the DIS?

Seriously, the DISabilities board will give you far more info than any book out there!



Please do a search for "Sesnory Processing Disorder" on these boards and tons of good info will pop up.

 

[kwitcherkicken99]

Honestly, I would get a guidebook (the Passporter is my personal favorite) and then compare what the book says to the videos on YouTube.

 

[beth_cam]

That is a hard one since loud and scary ar a bit subjective. I didn't understand why my son hated fireworks - we were very far away and couldn't 'feel' any booms so I just didn't understand. My friends dd (ADHD and some other issues went with us. She rode Dinosaur and definitely didn't enjoy but didn't freak. She was practically crawling on top of me in the great movie ride. She was so excited she kept standing up on splash mountain, after refusing to go on several other rides. I sat out of honey I shrunk the audience, the haunted mansion, and several others. She expects dark to be loud and startling. She gets through what she likes by holding her fingers over her ears. And panics otherwise. Would you believe the Snow White ride is the scariest thing at Disney World for my children?

So, my point is. While we can give advice as to our individual children's reactions, we or the author of a book can't actually give you an accross the board scare rating. While volume might be easier to rate, it is still subjective as to what is a bothersome noise. Some kids it's all noises, other kids it is certain types of noises.

Your best bet is to check the disabilities boards, amazon.com and the like for disney with disabilities books (browse in the bookstores). Several of the regular tour books do give this kind of rating - but from the view of a person with no issues. My regular book is the Passporter Walt Disney World Resort. Mine is several years old. However, I did use it for hints on things to avoid especially with the friends child. And I haven't looked at a recent one to see if this has changed. The book rates many of the things from several points of view. Rides are rated from each the husband, wife, and child's point of view. There are also hints for the rides about what ages the ride is geared for. I do see some that note the ride is loud, dark, scary, etc. I have purchased 3 different books, and this is the only one I still own.

 

[roomthreeseventeen]

Skip Honey I Shrunk the Audience. I don't have sensory issues, but I almost did after that one.

 

[bumbershoot]

Soarin': Two parts bother him. One just after you enter the canyon scene, fighter jets come out right from the right. Very loud and startling.

Even I have problems with that one. Strange situation with tinnitus and some hearing loss, but extreme sensitivity to really loud noises. I have now learned to just cover my ears when I see that the scene is about to have the jets.


I only have the info from Disneyland and DCA, but someone else on this thread confirmed it...Disney is just plain old loud and overwhelming even just walking from place to place. My son is sensitive to stuff when he eats the wrong foods, is tired, or when we've forgotten to eat (it only happens at Disney!). He had a huge meltdown in Tomorrowland where it is just so loud, just the ambient noise is pumped so high that it caused a huge problem with him. After making my husband stop tantruming "back" (this was a problem caused by it being nearly 9 and we hadn't had dinner yet WHOOPS, so DH was having problems, too), I was able to remember that I'd put my own earplugs into my purse for some reason. Pulled them out, let DS know he could wear them if he wanted and it would quiet the place down. He wanted to wear them, and as soon as things got quieter for him, he felt much much better. (and then we ran to get food, he ate, he passed out in his stroller, and slept so hard we saw Fantasmic at DL and he didn't even stir)

So have ear protection available at all times, b/c dampening the noises really seems to help. Or, at least, it *can* help.

 

[momtwoboys]

noise reducing headphones work wonders also! In years past my son would just sit on my lap and I'd hold my hands over his ears, but he's getting to big so we will bring his "headphones" as he calls them.

 

[burberryplaid]

The Disabilities boards are great..but in addition, I would check out www.wdwautism.com and check out their podcast Mouse Travel Tips. It's a new podcast, very short (about 15 minutes each) and has great info as the couple who run the site and podcast have a son with Autisim.

Hope this helps!

 

[isk8]

My son is terrified of the blow dryers in the bathrooms! So we try to find the single family bathrooms when possible. He also does not like fireworks, but was able to watch them wearing headphones in September. For our trip this month, we will be avoiding all fireworks though. We did try Philharmagic our last trip, and it was a disaster. My son has no visual processing problems, but as soon as the stuff starting flying toward his face, he freaked out.

My son is a vestibular sensory seeker, so he loves Big Thunder & anything that spins (Teacups, Dumbo, etc). Depending on your kid, you might want to start with these type of rides and work up to the dark rides like POTC.

If you have any questions about specific rides, feel free to PM me. I've given A LOT of thought about which attractions to do with my son.

 

[princesskenziesmom]

We too are dealing with the same issues only throw in Autism too. We just recently purchased these as we found out that Sea World is very painful for him and this will be our first time to WDW so we wanted to be prepared. We used them for the first time last weekend at Sea World and it calmed him down so much. We got a lot of stares, but I don't care.

http://funandfunction.com/noise-reduction-ear-muff-p-1256.html

 

[2Tiggies]

Thank you everyone for the tips...I guess whatI should have stated in the first post was is there a book, website or something that will list the different rides and how loud or scary they may be??

I have the Unofficial Guide. One of the most valuable parts of the book is the young child fright factor which explains how rides can potentially upset young/sensitive children (or adults) and explains exactly why, which is great because you can then assess whether it is an applicable caution for your child based on the info provided. Also, google any of the ones you are unsure of on YouTube and see for yourself what you feel.

 

[Schmeck]

My son is terrified of the blow dryers in the bathrooms! So we try to find the single family bathrooms when possible.

The single-stall restrooms at WDW are actually labeled 'Companion-Assisted Restrooms' on their official website, not family bathrooms.

 

[flipflopmom]

Just wanted to add that for my 9 year old adhd child, you tube was invaluable last year. It really, really, really helped her prepare, we watched videos of each ride. I also bought her the Birnbaum's book for kids, so she could read on her own. Unofficial Guide is great, as is the Complete Walt Disney World. The second had lots of pics, which also helped her prepare.

 

[cassie58]

The unofficial guide to wdw details each ride, and will tell if it might be loud, scary etc.(not specific to sensory problems, but does give you a good idea of possibility) - they put out an updated one each yr., but you could also borrow older one from your library. Also birnbaum's wdw for kids by kids has kids who rate each ride as dark, scary, loud, etc. and it has a lot of nice pics. for kids to get a preview - this is also at the library, but you might want a new one for him to be able to keep and flip through in prep for your trip.
Good luck!

cassie58
11/08-ASMo & Timeshare
8/09-CSR