Kids and "extreme"rides.

[RllngRckBrw]

I have a soon to be 5 year old and I am a ride fanatic. I was at DW last year and did not have my son ride anything extreme at all (except the Barnstormer, but he was not intimidated about it even in the slightest). This year I want to have him ride as much as possible. He is over 40 in so is able to ride all but a few rides, and he seems to be able to ride everything I have ever put him on in the past, but I dont want to scare him. I saw a parent last year drag his fearful son onto Dinosaur and I said I would never do that, but I want to see if our family can enjoy some of the more exciting rides like Test Track, and Big Thunder Mountain. I was wondering if anyone else has had a similar experience or advice of what to ride. I want to have my son enjoy the rides, but I dont want to leave Disney with him traumatized.

 

[disney_fan_fam]

I think BTMR is a good start for a 5 yo that has already braved Barnstormer and liked it. Then if he likes it you could try Space Mountain. My son's 5 & I described Space Mountain like a dark version of BTMR, he wanted to try so I think you just have to go with the flow, on his cues. I just let him know that's it not really a BIG deal if he doesn't want to. I think my son would enjoy the Dinosaur "ride" but all the effects, knowing my son, it would freak him out.

 

[WDWorBUST]

My DD will be almost 4 when we go this September and we plan on her doing them all....well any she is tall enough and wants to go on. She is very brave and LOVED Barnstormer our last two trips. We've been talking up Splash Mountain and BTMRR and she is excited. We've talked about Dinosaur and as of now she wants to ride it. HOWEVER....with all that said if she changes her mind and does not want to go on something then she won't - end of story. Now I don't plan on starting her off on Dinosaur - I actually think that one is the most likely to be scary for her (or TOT) - but if she doesn't react well to a tamer one then our gameplan may change. I think if you let the child take the lead - maybe encourage them - but let them know that at any point (up to being on the ride itself) if they don't want to go on it they don't have to and following through on that they should be fine. My plan is anything she thinks she wants to go on letting her go through the line with us - if she decides she doesn't want to then one of us will go and the other will take her out - if at that point they would allow us the babyswap option (I think some they have to know at the start of the line?? We've never done it since we've always went slow times of the year and haven't done much of the bigger stuff - basically if she couldn't do it we didn't except for a few exceptions) then we'll do that. Good luck and have a great trip.

 

[RllngRckBrw]

Thanks for the imput...my biggest fear about Disney is him getting to scared on a ride. I appreciate all of the help.

 

[SqueakyMouse]

My younger ds could not wait to ride ToT. He was 4 1/2 when he first rode it -- and LOVED it. During that same visit, he later tackled BTMRR, Splash, and Dinosaur. A couple of months later, he rode Space Mt and EE. He is WAY more of a thrill seeker than either my dh, older ds, and me. We have a hard time keeping up with him. Our younger dd (4 1/2) is hoping to follow in middle ds' shoes. She cannot wait for our upcoming May trip.

 

[bartleby1]

I think splash mountain and big thunder mountain are good beginning "bigger" rides. My two older kids did them at 3 and were fine with them. My DS tackled TOT at 4 but DD not until 6. My 4 yr old was tall enough for Space mtn last year but I held off. I don't think he was ready for that one. DD6 did expedition everest and walked away with a headache so we won't try that one again. My kids don't like scary stuff, so I never attempted dinosaur.

 

[WDWorBUST]

In regards to him getting scared on a ride. All I know is to reassure him that you will be with him and will always keep him safe. That seems to work with DD - of course I have stressed to her a lot that my #1 job is to keep her safe. I also reassure her that the rides are all for fun and that it is all pretend. The only thing to this point I have been really worried about was Haunted Mansion and I held her in the stretching room and then when we got in the Doom Buggies I assured her it was all pretend and if those mean ol' ghosts tried to scare her to just say "Ha, ha, ha ha - you don't scare me" and made a game out of it. There were several times we were laughing and saying "Ha ha ha ha you don't scare me" - (so if you were on there and heard a mom and toddler telling the ghosts they don't scare them - sorry if it deterred from your experience and that was us). We've had good luck so far - I'm really excited for her to ride Soarin' this year but I'm actually a little nervous about that one. She isn't big enough for Space Mountain but due to the seating I wouldn't go for that one yet if she was even. I agree though that if he likes Barnstormer that BTMRR is a good next one or Splash Mountain. Those two are good also because you can sit and watch them before you ever get in line. And then you can build up from there if he likes those.

 

[TheDizMom]

Try getting him the Birnbaums kid edition and have him see what other kids say about the rides and that way he will have a heads up. There are still a lot of things he won't be able to do as you have to be 44 or 48 inches on them. My 7 year old niece didn't get to go on several rides because of that, she's just under 44. If she had higher soled shoes she got on if not it was a no go. She's a real dare devil and was really bummed. The book will tell him things from a kids perspective and then he can decide it he thinks he wants to try it and it will give you all the height requirements. It will tell him if kids think it scary or creepy or whatever and I think it's a great resource. Once you get there just play it by ear and remember if he gets to the front of the line and decides he just doesn't think he wants to do it, there is an exit for those who chicken out so to speak. As for dinosaurs, my DS doesn't so much like rides that have the drops like roller coasters, but most other things don't scare him and he didn't like dinosaurs. It creeped him out.

 

[cuppycake]

Our DD was 3.5 in Sept when we were there and she braved Big Thunder Mtn, Splash Mtn and Test Track. Of all those, she loved TT best and ended up riding it about 4 more times.

Having said that, she HATED splash mtn (not a big fan of the DARK) and tells me that even this year she won't go on it

She wants to do BTMR again this time, though.

Also, tried TOT, but she chickened out just before we got in the elevators....again TOO DARK for her.

I think it depends on the kid...go with the flow, and don't force it. Be honest about what the ride is like and follow his cues.

 

[lillygator]

My DD is 4 and loves Big Thunder, Exp Everest, Test Track and Splash - she doesn't like getting wet. She wants to try Rockin' Roller Coaster and TNT but I still think she is a bit young yet.

 

[Navywife508]

My DD was 4 last time we went. She loves Splash Mountain,BTMRR, but hates the Haunted Mansion. Thrill rides she does, but not that one

 

[NotUrsula]

I've found that darkness is the key scare factor for most kids. Zoomy in the light is OK, but even slow in full darkness isn't.

SpaceM is a mixed bag; it's lighter in there now than it used to be, so kids generally don't feel the darkness as much, but it could still be an issue. Splash isn't really dark at all, and neither is BTMR or TT. ST should be fine, too. HM and Dinosaur depend heavily on startling light effects in the darkness, so I'd be careful with those.