Is Dinosaur too scary for 4 year old?

[DORISDAN]

My daughters, age 4 and 5 really want to go on the dinosaur ride but I don't know if it would be too scary or too jumpy for them. My 4 year old is just 40 inches so this is the first time we can enjoy any of the larger rides and roller coasters.

I don't want them to have nightmares or have people say "Look at that bad mother taking her two little girls on that scary ride"

Are there any rides a 4 year old should not go on??

 

[SomeSayImGoofy]

It's pretty scary... my 9YO son (while maybe just a little bit sheltered) was terrified and said he hated it... and as a result hated AK (my favorite park).

Kevin

 

[DizGeek]

My 9yr old daughter loves it, my 11 yr old son doesnt....he was so scared he had his eyes closed tight in the picture. I wish I bought it but I didnt want to embarrass him.

 

[AimeeM]

Well, Im one of those bad mothers that took their 4 & 5 year old on it when it was called COuntdown to Extinction. They wanted to ride it, so I let them. It was pretty intense, and its a 'bumpy ride', and its all in the dark, but my girls loved it. My older daughter is my chicken and even SHE liked it and still rides it. ( we bribe her to go on TOT! lol and she just refuses to ride astro orbiter!!) My kids loved it, but my nephew rode it when he was 7 and he hated it.. cried and cried even after he was off of it. I think the scariest part is the very end where its all dark and the big dinosaur looks like its going to eat you! You could always tell them to close their eyes then too, then it wont be so bad. You know your kids best. If snow white scares them, forget dinosaur. If they hate things like dark rides, loud noises, fantasmic, etc.. they Id keep them off of it. If they arent affected by all of the above, then Id say go for it.

 

[Cinderella89]

My sister, who is four...I know, big age difference...But she liked it. We just covered her ears so it wouldn't be so loud, and we told her if she got scared just to dig her face into Daddy's side or my side. But she wanted to do it again. And thanks to baby swap( I have a disabled sister as well) and a handicap pass, she did get to go on...(To anyone who works at disney...You guys rock with disabled guest and there parties!)

 

[craziefortigger]

We took our son when he was 4, well that was the 1st and as of now and ONLY time. Everytime since (3 trips) when we head into AK the 1st words are "I am NOT going on the Dinosaur ride!" He understood the dinosaurs were fake but the cast members that help act out the ride are real and he doesn't like them - they are fighting and running from the dinosaurs and that doesn't go over well for him. Plus it is VERY bumpy and jeerky, he said it hurt his stomach.

Yet this is the child that loves scary action packed movies, loves Big Thunder, but say Dinosaur Ride and he comes unglued!

Good Luck and Have Fun

Patty

 

[POOH&PIGLET]

Last year my 3 year old went on it twice. First with my DW the with me. She enjoyed it!

 

[AladdinsPrincess]

I'm 29 and it scares me! I absolutely refuse to sit in an outside seat! I'm always worried about little kids on the ride (I don't have kids, so I'm talking about kids I see on the ride with me) and so far, in my experience, the kids are always excited and unfazed at the end of it, which makes me feel pretty stupid!

 

[ppony]

My son, a TOTAL thrill seaker even at the age of 3 and a half at that time was tall enough to go on it so we thought we could take him on. Admittedly I was working at the time so I didn't have time to parooze the boards like I had the other trips so I didn't know about how it could be. Didn't even read about it. BAD MOM! It scared him imensely! He still talks about it now a year later and that it was TOO scarey for him and too bumpy he says. There's really nowhere to get off that I could see either so the scareiness started early and he was crying for a good minute or more till the ride ended. Talking about feeling like a horrible mom!! I'm glad I was sitting next to him rather than my hubby in this case.
This is the boy that LOVES to be scared by things. First trip through the Haunted Mansion he buried his head in my side alot but that was followed by more and more trips through, each time burying his head less and less in our sides. He couldn't stay away. AND he loved ALL the other rides he was big enough to get on. NO head burying on any of the roller coaster or the Splash Mountain. It was all a thrill! I'd say that it's really too much for 95% of the kids 4 and under. Probably older too, but not having experience in atht area, I can't say.

 

[hookedup]

If kids (or adults) are scared by the dark, loud noises or big creatures with large jagged teeth then I would not go on it. My ds loves coasters but HATES this kind of stuff. It will b e a few more years before we attempt this one.
I went on it during a private party at AK with a co-worker and it scared her so bad she was freaked out the whole rest of the night.

 

[Dagny]

My now 5 year old LOVES Dinosaur. He has been riding it since he was 3 years old. It really depends on your child if they will be scared or not. My 5 year old is fearless and loves dinosaurs so he thinks the ride is "cool". Personally, it scares the pants off of me, but I "tolerate" it for the kids..... of course, I know when to close my eyes now, LOLOL.

 

[DenMig]

Hi,

My family and I took our first Disney vacation last week. My 4 year old son is fearless and a dinosaur fanatic. He wore out the Aladar movie on VHS so we now have the DVD. I was so excited to take him on Dinosaur. Turns out, it scared him. He didn't cry or freak out, but he would not go on it again. I had a fastpass to go on again in an hour but he and our 9 year old daughter would not do it again. Of course on the way out of the gift shop he chose a huge Carnitore as his souvenier. Now that we are home he Says Dinosaur was his favorite ride. I think he enjoyed Ellen and Bill Nye's ride through the dinosaurs at Epcot more.......less scary.

 

[KayakDaddy]

My son had not been 4 years old too long when we rode it earlier this year. He was not scared but he did get quiet during the ride (rare for him). He is a theme park veteran and loves dinosaurs, so I didn't expect any problems. He did want to do it again as soon as we were finished, but that was our last ride at AK before heading to MGM that day. It was one of his favorite post-attraction gift stores in all of the world though. It was hard to get him out of there.

I think he was wary because he did not know what to expect. After seeing it was not that bad he was ready to try it again. I wasn't really what I expected either. I kept waiting for a big scary rollercoster style hill or drop, but it mainly just jerks you around.

PS: I liked it too, but it terrified my wife. Fear of the unknown I think - she would do it again.

 

[KayakDaddy]

PS: The only time I felt like a "bad" father was after the Tower of Terror. He immediately called it the most stupidest ride ever, and I could tell he didn't have a good time.

He loves all of the big thrill rides he's big enough to go on in all parks, but the combined effects of the ride and the psychological scaryness were too much for him. It didn't help that he was tired at the end of a long day (fastpass was for 10:05 PM) and his mom's hysterical screaming didn't exactly inspire confidence.


Funny thing is though, he still talks more about ToT than any other attraction. He loves watching the ToT preview from the free Disney vacation planning DVD. We even play a game in which he sits in my lap and says in his spookiest voice "This time it's opening for you" and then he fake screams when I drop him off my knees.

 

[wdwobsessed]

I would try the EPCOT Universe of Engergy ride first. Then if they do not seem scared at all think once, then twice about the ride. I think for a 4 year old ... if they are timid at all .. it would scare them! It's dark, SCARY looking dinos popping out at you and the ride is very, very jerky. So jerky it threw my DH back out.

I tend to be a "suck it up" kind of Mom and even I shy away at this one.

WDWO

 

[mjmcca]

This summer i put my turning 4 year old on any ride he ws tall enough for. He was afraid but not hysterical and he didnt want to ride again ( we did a baby swap for his younger sister so he could have ). He did not have nightmares. The only rides that we didnt get on was TOT and Test trask didnt have the time. He loved Splash mountain and big thunder mountain. Wasnt too thrilled with star tours. he liked journey to atlantis in SW too.

 

[palmtreegirl]

It depends. My 8 year old is still scared of the ride, she'll go though but that's only because my 4 year old DS rides it now. We bought the pic from the ride because in it she's hiding and DS is just hanging out, as soon as we were done he wanted to ride again.

 

[Tigger&Belle]

My 4yo son went on Dinosaur. He told me that he liked it, but that he did not want to go on it again (translation: he was scared ). He wasn't traumatized by the ride and will probably ride again when we go in December (he'll be almost 5yo then).

If your children want to go, give it a try. They might not want to go again, but they should be ok. Just explain that it's loud, looks like a dinosaur is going to get you, but that it's all part of the "Disney Magic" and is pretend.

T&B

 

[AdventurerKat]

My 4 y.o. went on it twice this past May. The first time, he was all excited to go and then buried his face on me most of the ride but then we we got off I got the "that was soooo cool!"

THEN he begged to go on again the next day. Well, I had him and my 6 y.o. niece who very much wanted to go on. Right before we were getting on, he freaked out! My niece was looking at me pleadingly and my son was was just like "nooooo" finally I am just like o.k., you went on before and lived...I picked him up and put him on the ride. People must have been nominating me for worst mother of the year. By the time we got off... well, it was SOOOO COOL again.

Not sure that will help but that's my 4 y.o.'s story. Now he has his heart set on Spiderman and Jaws at USO. Let's see how that goes.

 

[robinb]

Originally posted by wdwobsessed
I would try the EPCOT Universe of Engergy ride first. Then if they do not seem scared at all think once, then twice about the ride. I think for a 4 year old ... if they are timid at all .. it would scare them!

ITA

My 5 year old is a wuss and I am a roller coaster junkie. Go figure. She won't try Big Thunder and won't do Splash Mountain again. I got her on Test Track in August, but she said she didn't like the fast part and we own a Saab 9-3 convertible! There is no way we will do Dinosaur as she is still somewhat afraid of the Universe of Energy. I would also try the Haunted Mansion and Snow White to gauge your 4 year old's "fear factor".