Kali River Rapids

[MouseEarsJenny]

I have a question regarding the water on this ride. I know you will get soaking wet, and that's cool. But my 6 year old son is very afraid of HEAVY water on his head. A sprinkler is fine, being splashed by waves is fine, a rain - type drenching won't bug him. But when we go to waterparks, if they have those waterfalls that your inner tube goes under that have the really driving hundreds of gallons of water pouring on you, it flips him out and he starts crying and hyperventilating.

I am sure that his older sister, dad and I would like this ride, and it sounds really cool by all descriptions. But if the water is going to be scary for ds, I'd rather skip it. (We're not doing any switching off - if EVERYONE can't ride, NOBODY rides.) Opinions?

TIA!

 

[MareQ]

Please reconsider your stance on the kid switch thing. It's not a big deal to do a kid switch and it's unfair IMO to prevent the whole family from going on a ride just because there's one member that cannot or will not go on the ride.

Having said that Kali can produce a huge wave of water down your back which may go over a younger child's head. This does not happen every time and it doesn't happen to every body. If you want to give this ride a shot I suggest making it the last ride of the day.

My DS went on it when he was 4. He has multiple sensory issues and did get soaked, nowhere near his head though and he loved the ride (but was quick to point out to that he did NOT pee his pants - the ride made his pants wet - lol)

 

[Kapp]

a pretty large wave of water to come over you if you are in the right place. (And it does not happen to everyone and not in every seat.)It could be close to the waterfalls you mentioned. Maybe you all can watch the ride first and let him make the decision.
Have a great time!

 

[lorli]

Only one or two people get really wet, but my 3 year old dd was one of them 2 years ago and would not go on last August because of it. She says she may try again this year.

 

[DKx3]

Have him lean forward (with seat belt on of course) - even though he is shorter if he leans forward the water will just go down his back. My husband and I were the only ones who got very wet and it went right down the back of our pants - nice feeling all day - yuck. Even though we were soggy most of the day , it was a great ride and we did it 3 times in a row.

 

[Brian Noble]

it's unfair IMO to prevent the whole family from going on a ride just because there's one member that cannot or will not go on the ride.

I'm closer in spirit to the OP, though we do sometimes split the family---for example, while Mom and the taller rugrat ride Primeval Whirl, the shorter rugrat and I ride Triceratop spin. That way, the little guy doesn't have to feel like he's being left out of something, but the taller one can ride.

But, I don't ride anything without at least one kid with me. I *still* haven't gotten RnRC because of this...maybe this year!

 

[MouseEarsJenny]

Thanks all! From your posts, it sounds like no water is deliberately poured from above - just splashed, which might cause it to land on your head. He'll probably be able to handle it. We'll ask his opinion once he knows about the trip - on the way, that is! Hopefully, once we go through some of the other rides at the other parks, he'll be game to try.

As to the switching off thing, we were kind of thinking it wasn't fair to the youngest to wait in lines for attractions he didn't even get to ride. That's why we were planning to only ride things that everyone can handle. With how family friendly most attractions are, we were only planning to miss:

Space, Splash and Big Thunder Mountain and Stitch's Great Escape at MK
Expedition: Everest and possibly Kali and Dinosaur at AK
Test Track and Mission:SPACE at Epcot
Tower of Terror and R and R Coaster at MGM

That's not a big deal to us cause most of those wouldn't interest dd anyway, and dh and I are more concerned about making the kids happy than hitting all the big thrills.

Did I miss any majorly scary rides I should be avoiding?

 

[byoung]

Stay off if you don't want to get wet.

 

[Straitlover]

Splash Mountain is not scary, and no water is poured on you, just the splash at the end. Are you skipping it becasue of the drop or because of the splash at the end?

As for Kail, I'm pretty sure they show in the planning video where you get hit w/ the water. If not, I think it's on the Disney website. What about showing it to him and asking him if it would scare him? Maybe if knows about it ahead of time he might be OK w/ it.

 

[cleo]

MouseEarsJenny, the water that goes over his head isn't 'dumped from above' but from what you describe of your son's fears, I would think if he got hit with the full wave it would scare the bejeebers out of him. It's like getting hit with a 'wall of water' from behind, which then crests over your head and dumps into the boat (and your lap!). DEFINITELY a huge wave that pours over your head.

Also, even if he isn't the one to get the full force, he'll be able to see it crest over someone else's head, which might scare him just as much. It's an awesome sight, that wall of water! We love it, but as a mom I didn't want you to think it wasn't going to (possibly) scare your boy just because there isn't anything over his head that dumps on him. The wave has the exact same effect.

 

[ujpest_doza]

DW and me got absolutely soaked on this ride, right through to our underwear.

It took a long time for us to dry.

Same thing happened at IOA on both Dudley Do Right and Popeye and Bluto.

Soaked by an absolute deluge of cold water.

 

[scrapbookworm]

Not trying to criticize, but from your list you are going to be missing out on some of the best rides in the various parks, IMHO. But to each his own, of course.

 

[DIS~n~JAN]

Hi

I agree with scrapebookworm, if you worry about the water you'll be missing out BIG TIME. Buy some cheap ponchos at a dollar store, I even seen people with garbage bags cut out. I regret not going on Atlantis @ Seaworld for fear of getting wet as it was cool that day!
Disney does sell ponchos beside Kali Rapids, but very $$$. Good luck

 

[mickeyholic]

Let him wear his poncho while on the ride and he will not get as wet and will be able to enjoy it more this way!

 

[jtdl]

As to the switching off thing, we were kind of thinking it wasn't fair to the youngest to wait in lines for attractions he didn't even get to ride. That's why we were planning to only ride things that everyone can handle.

The non-rider and second parent don't have to stand in line for a switch off. At least we didn't for all the rides we did it at last year. Tell the CM who is standing at the end of the line, usually where the height ruler is, and he will give you a "pass" which is similar to a fast pass. If there isn't a CM at the end of the line, the first riders stand in line and tell the first CM you come to that you will be doing a switch off and he/she will give you the pass. The non-rider does not have to stand in line. There isn't a time or anything on the switch-off pass so you meet your party afterwards and then the next riders go through the fast pass line.

My ds3 went on Kali last year and he loved it. He had to go in a special seat because he was under the height limit. We didn't get splashed with any water but we did wear our ponchos.

 

[blessedby3]

I agree with the other posters that I wouldnt sacrifice everyones fun time because one child does not want to ride certain rides. This is not fair to the others. Only the small one is making out good at the expense of the others. I have 3 kids and not all of them will ride the same rides. If one does not want to ride, then we parent swap or one parent will sit with the other while the rest of the family has fun on a "bigger" ride. You have listed some of the best rides as ones you are not going on. Take the little guy and get him a special treat (ice cream or popcorn, etc.) and let the others have fun on a ride. Trade off and let the other adult take him on a more age appropriate ride or a character line while you and the other kids ride again. Disney is for everyone and everyone should get to try and experience the rides- not just the ones that one small child likes or accepts. This is just my opinion.
Also, your child has a good chance of Heavy water coming over his head on Kali. This ride either gets you drenched or you somehow come out dry. The last time we went in November, me and DH got totally soaked and we had on ponchos. We leaned forward when that huge bunch of water came down on us and our backs were soaked down to our underwear. Very uncomfortable. At least it was toward the end of our park day, but we felt very yucky for the rest of the time. We have ridden this before without getting wet, but SOME people will get VERY WET on each ride vehicle!

 

[DCDisney]

Personally, I'd hold out a wait and see attitude. My kids were 4 and 6 when we last went and my 4 year old was/is "scared" of rides. She went on test track, Big Thunder (multiple times), and Splash Mountain. None of these were really scary. The drop on splash mountain doesn't seem that bad if you aren't in the front looking down, most of the ride is just a boat ride with a theme. Test track only has 1 fast part. I'd plan to go and then do the chicken out option (available on any ride) if you need to. My 6 year old son wen t on everything but was very nervous about the characters You just can't predict kids....

Yvonne

 

[scrapbookworm]

With my DD, she does not like the shows. While she did like Mickey's Philharmagic, she hated It's a Bugs Life and Honey I Shrunk the Audience. She LOVES the rides.

When we took her at age 3, it was about 3 months after my back surgery. I really couldn't ride anything then, but was ecstatic at the great time she and DH had riding everything. When we went in May 05, the grandparents went. I would say we rode 50%-75% of the rides together. My stepmom didn't want to get wet one day (white shorts), so she had no problem waiting on us to ride water rides. On Space Mountain DD was too short then, so the grandparents took her to Stitch while DH and I rode. We found that the little breaks in the party like that helped, and gave the grandparents a chance to make some memories of their own with DD. If we stayed together 24/7, we got stressed and snappish.

If the child isn't tall enough for a ride, or is scared, then let him go explore a more appropriate ride with another adult. I don't know the size and ages of your party, but if you have older kids and they want to ride something like ToT, but aren't allowed to, then be prepared that there might be some anger and resentment from them. Believe me, tempers can flare in WDW even with the best of planning. JMO.

 

[phantom728]

We went on this ride back in 2002 and all but 1 in our party wore our poncho's. This was a fantastic idea, because my DH who decided not to wear his, got soaked and then suffered for many hours after. Those of us with poncho's got minimally wet and the rest of the day was great

I highly recommend these for this ride, just remember to bring something to put the wet poncho in when your done.

I also agree about potentially skipping "It's a Bug's Life", my DD and I are both afraid of spiders and didn't know that fake ones would be dropping from the ceiling. They really don't get that close, but the fact is they were there My DD was not appreciative of that, but now we know.

 

[MouseEarsJenny]

Splash Mountain is not scary, and no water is poured on you, just the splash at the end. Are you skipping it becasue of the drop or because of the splash at the end?

Actually, we're skipping that one because my dh hates it. *shrug* Dunno why - he usually enjoys coasters, etc. For some reason, though, that Splash Mountain drop does him in! I have a great picture of his first and last time on it - he looks agonized, and I'm giggling like a maniac next to him.