Kids and rides

[ironlou]

I am not sure if I saw this discussion on here or not but I want to talk about what your opinions are on your kids scared to get on a ride. Do you make them get on or do you skip it?

I rememeber when I was 11 or so (im 34 now) and my sister who was 7 or 8 was in line for Space Mountain. She cried and whined about not wanting to get on the ride to my parents. Well after the long hour (I think) of waiting we rode the ride. After we got off she said "Let's do that again!!!"

So my question is when your child cries about not wanting to get on do you listen to them or have them get on in order for them to see for themselves. I have 2 kids myself a daughter (10) who is not scared of riding and my son (8) who gets nervous but will do the rides. I have said "Chris I skipped a few rides last time at DL with you because you were nervous or not tall enough but this year we are doing them all! Heck my mom got me on the rides I was scared of and I made it and you will be too.

I know this is a touchy subject but I want to hear your thoughts. We all know our kids and know if they are just being a wimp or if they are really scared and when I mean really scared I mean they can't even see a movie without having a nightmare.

 

[wdwrich]

As a parent and grandparent, I would never force a child onto a ride that they obviously don't want to go on. A visit to DL is supposed to be a good experience, so why make it otherwise? Sooner or later, they will try the ride. Let them do it on their own terms.

 

[Dizneydaz]

You know your kids best. If you think they will like it and they are not having a huge melt down before the ride, then I would say do it. This being said, I personally have exited many rides with DD9, even ones she had ridden before. When she eventually does the rides, she loves them. As she know puts it "can you believe that a ride that used to be your least favorite is now your favorite?" This is what she know says about ToT. But we did exit ToT many times before she finally decided she loved it! One time we were even seat belted in and I had to ask CM to release us. She always asks very calmly but I know when she's not ready. Prior to her finally loving ToT the last ride it took awhile for her to get up the courage to ride was Screamin'. It wasn't me who got her to ride it-it was a girl she struck up a friendship with while there and she convinced DD to ride. Now it's another of her favs.

Do what you think is best, just don't be one of those parents who insist their child ride even when they are thrashing around and kicking fellow guest (this happened to me on Soarin'-CM didn't let the kid ride and the mom was mad)

 

[DisneySuiteFreak]

I am not sure if I saw this discussion on here or not but I want to talk about what your opinions are on your kids scared to get on a ride. Do you make them get on or do you skip it?

I rememeber when I was 11 or so (im 34 now) and my sister who was 7 or 8 was in line for Space Mountain. She cried and whined about not wanting to get on the ride to my parents. Well after the long hour (I think) of waiting we rode the ride. After we got off she said "Let's do that again!!!"

So my question is when your child cries about not wanting to get on do you listen to them or have them get on in order for them to see for themselves. I have 2 kids myself a daughter (10) who is not scared of riding and my son (8) who gets nervous but will do the rides. I have said "Chris I skipped a few rides last time at DL with you because you were nervous or not tall enough but this year we are doing them all! Heck my mom got me on the rides I was scared of and I made it and you will be too.

I know this is a touchy subject but I want to hear your thoughts. We all know our kids and know if they are just being a wimp or if they are really scared and when I mean really scared I mean they can't even see a movie without having a nightmare.

You're asking for it! Prepare to duck! LOL! The last time we had a thread like this, it got closed because of all the sniping and nastiness that crawled out of the woodwork...So I'll tell you my unpopular take on this situation...
I had a similar experience with my son as you had with your sister. He cried the entire time we were in line for Duddly Do right --a water log ride at UIOA like Splash but bigger, better! We finally got on the ride, and at the end he was laughing and said, "Let's do it again!" He loved it and we ended up riding it several more times that same day! And since then he goes on crazy rides I can't handle.
I wouldn't lie to get my son an a ride. I would tell him the truth and if he could give me specific reasons like, "I don't want to ride the Tea Cups 'cause it makes me dizzy and nauseated," then I wouldn't make him go one the ride. But the kind of fear he had was an irrational fear born out of I don't know what. I didn't want him being scared of everything his whole life. Yesterday's fear of Splash Mountain might turn into tomorrows fear of driving, or worse, FCOL. I wanted him to understand that it was an irrational fear and one that he could conquer. And he did.
My DS was like yours in that he was too scared to try the big rides. (He was very small as a child and yeah, I can admit it -- a mama's boy, hence the irrational fear and babyish tendencies???) He carried on like this all over WDW afraid of everything and crying and carrying on like it was the end of the world if we got anywhere near Splash or any rides he perceived to be big and have big drops. And when we went to UIOA, we finally said enough. You have to try something first in order to know if you will like it or not. Once you formulate your opinion, then I can respect that opinion, but how will you know if you don't ever try? He was 9 at the time.
Like I wrote, he's a daredevil now. I wouldn't torture him though. If he was freaking out and screaming, then I probably wouldn't have pushed him to ride the ride. (I may have however made an appointment to see a therapist when we got home because obviously his irrational fear would have had deeper roots to something else...) He was only crying, not screaming and having fits, not throwing himself on the ground having tantrums, just crying tears in irrational fear. Of course I got the looks of death from other parents waiting in line. But boy I wish they could've seen him after the ride! What a transformation! After that one experience, he realized he could trust me and that I wouldn't put him in a situation that I knew would be harmful to him. You have to use your judgement; you know your own kid best. After UIOA, we went back to WDWMK and conquered Splash! He loved it!

 

[Kayla's Mom]

I agree with Dizneydaz, you know your kids best.

For me, I would not force my girls to go on. DD7 can be very sensitive and I know that to force her to go on something, even if I know she would like it, would not be good for her. She chose to go on TOT earlier this year, even though I told her I wasn't sure she would like it. She HATED it, cried and everything. I was SO glad that I didn't push her at all to go on it or I would have felt horrible. She did try it again on our most recent trip (because her little cousin was going on it), she still didn't like it much, but she handled it well. She still refuses to try Space Mountain and even though I think she would love it -- I don't push it.

 

[Brady's Mom]

My sister and I differ on our approach to rides.

She tells her kids that they have to try the ride once - when they are tall enough - and then if they hate it or are scared or whatever, they don't have to ride it.

I have a very timid 7 yr. old (his b-day is today!!) who didn't want to go up into the pilot house on the Mark Twain even though his Dad was with him and so were 2 of his brothers. He was very disappointed when he saw them at the top of the boat and waving to us and pulling the whistle and driving everything. We had to have a little talk about his choices and him being scared before he even knows what he is missing. That being said, I hate all things creepy/scary. I won't see scary movies, I don't ride Snow White or Mr. Toad, I hate Haunted Mansion in any form. Any ride that has a prolonged scary effect. I love the theming in ToT and the ride and it doesn't scare me. So I don't make my kids ride something that freaks them out. We do talk about rides and what will happen and if it will be dark or fast or whatever, so they know what to expect.

Our DS 12 rode ToT when he was 10 and was totally freaked out by the theming and the video and the people disappearing in the hall. He has tried to go on the ride again and just can't bring himself to do it. He has even stood in line all the way up to boarding and then just ended up waiting for us to be done with the nicest CM. I don't think it is the ride per se for him, but the theming.

Just my 2 cents, but you know your kids best and what they can handle and what they can't. Personally, if my kid is freaked out enough to be having a meltdown, the ride and my sanity are not worth it. I also don't want them hating a place I love so much because they are afraid I am going to make them ride something they don't feel ready for.

 

[ironlou]

LOl Im not afraid of a good discussion. Dizneydaz said that "You know your kids best. If you think they will like it and they are not having a huge melt down before the ride, then I would say do it." Which I agree with 100%, if you know your kid can handle it and they are just unsure then go for it! If they are falling apart at the seams then of course not.

As far as rides that make you sick like the teacups or spinning things and not wanting to is another thing all together. I dont do the teacups because I get sick and my son does too and so I understand that. I am talking about when a kid is scared but not yelling their heads off and having them make the ride anyways.

 

[Huff]

Never make your kids go on rides they are scared of. They are scared of the unknown and should be introduced to various rides on their own terms.

I just got back from DLR with 2 11yr old girls. One had been to fairs etc and would ride anything. The other had never been on any ride other than a carousel and a very small kids coaster.

She was very nervous about any ride with a large drop but had no interest in the small kiddy rides. We arrived at Disneyland and our first ride was Indiana Jones. No drops, just fun. She loved it. After promising her that there are no huge drops she went on Big Thunder and loved it and wanted to go again and again (Luckily there was only a 5 minute line).

After she got bored with Big Thunder I took her to Space Mountain. Again I promised no really big drops. She loved that as well, same with Matterhorn. She went on all the major rides at Disneyland and loved them all except for Spash Mountain. The drop was too much for her but at least she tried it once. She was ok with the drop on Pirates but both girls thought the ride was boring. Jungle Cruise was also boring to both.

We then went to California Adventure. She refused to go on Tower of Terror or California Screaming. I told her she didn't have to go. She went on all the other rides and had a ton of fun. Oddily she loved Grizzly Rapids and didn't mind the drop there.


So all in all she avoided only 2 rides and we all had a blast. I told her I was proud of her for trying almost all of the rides and working her way up. Next trip she may try the last two she avoided.

All I can say is to start with tamer rides, see how the kids do and go up one small step at a time. Explain each ride without any pressure and let them decide.

 

[ironlou]

I remember when my son decided he wanted to do the ToT even though I knew he would not like the dropping effect. However I didnt say anything and instead showed excitement and ran to get in line. During the ride I watched his expressions and he had the scared look and looked at me with that "what the heck is this" and I smiled back and laughed about it and afterwards he came out all happy and wanting to do it again.

 

[Brancaneve]

My best advice is to warm up to those scarier rides. Start off with the light ones and as they build confidence, you can ask them if they would like to try something more daring.

You will have a terrible day if you take them on something scary FIRST and then they will never trust you for the rest of the day. You can swear up and down that this ride is not scary, but they won't believe you. That makes the day exhausting.

My DS is 4 and refused to go on Peter Pan. We tried convincing him and he just wouldn't do it and even threw a big fit right out front. We figured out later that it was because he is terrified of flying(we flew to WDW from CA) and the ride reminded him too much of the take off on a plane.

What also helped was we watched footage of the Haunted mansion on Youtube befor we left and the kids could see it wasn't that scary. They were excited to go on the ride and loved it!

 

[pixiewings71]

I think you should listen to your children. If they don't want to ride it please do not force them. The best way is to start easy and work your way up, tell them what the ride is about, stand by the exit and let them see people coming off all excited. But please don't force them.

 

[ArielAdventurer]

I agree with most posting here..Never force a child to ride a ride..This is supposed to be a fun vacation for everyone in the family..not only those who like scary rides...We have had to split up and wait for rides many times due to the little ones being afraid..
Even if you THINK your child might possibly like it if he/she tries it..it might backfire...why make Disney be a painful memory? I remember as a kid..I was scared of going on the Snow White ride..my parents forced me to go with them telling me I would love it once I was on it..I didn't..it ruined my whole day.(we used to only go for one day back then..even though we lived 3 hours north of Disney)....Even after I grew up and began to like Snow White..to this day..I still remember the fear I had as a 5 year old..when the rock the witch was rolling toward the cliff..came at me...yikes...

 

[bumbershoot]

That sort of thing worked for you and your sister, but it might not work for your own kids. Hopefully you know how they will do, but kids sometimes surprise you.

For my guy, the loudness of rides along with not knowing what to expect (Dumbo is just fine b/c he can see it all, but Peter Pan has a dark line where you can't really see what's going to happen, for example) cause problems. So we have to take it easy and try to figure out ways to help him. When he first rode the Matterhorn, I had him sit with hubby b/c I was wearing a sundress (I love wearing sundresses at the parks, but on some rides it's difficult) and felt that including DS would make things more difficult for me. But then they sat in the front and hubby didn't talk to DS during the ride, and DS hated it. A year later hubby sat in the front seat, we sat further back, and DS sat with me. I made it a game of making loud noises, and managed to luck ourselves into roaring *just* as we rounded the corner to Harold. It was great, and though he didn't want to go again, he was happy with the ride.

I think the key to keeping threads like this civil is to, um, not post pictures of an upset child afterwards while kinda borderline sorta making fun of that child... So don't do that, if you misjudge and your kiddo has a bad experience b/c you forced an issue. I've misjudged a few times with DS, but take it as a learning experience for the future, and I feel BAD about it (and apologize to Eamon); I put blame on myself, without thinking anything negative about my little dude.

My dude wants to ride Screamin' and Indy, but it took 3 trips for him to go on Soarin', b/c he can see all of Screamin', desperately wants to watch Indy (we don't let him watch the movie...alas he's only 2 inches from being tall enough for the ride!), but Soarin' is entirely inside a building and he had NO idea what was in there. Kids have very unique ways of thinking of rides, and sometimes you don't find out for months, if not longer, what exactly bugged them about something...

Lastly, youtube is very good. DS now is willing to go on Haunted Mansion, since we showed him the youtube videos AND we're going to bring earplugs if it is too loud for him. But of course if he gets spooked while in line, one or both of us will just take him outside...DLR will be there, we'll be back. I don't want the Roger Rabbit line experience I had with him on our second big trip (after he'd enjoyed the ride during our first big trip).

 

[marvel]

I think this is a really good discussion but with no definite answers. We have the same issues with our kids DS8 and DD10. They were both a bit timid in terms of rides even though they have been to disney twice already. DS10 tried Indy and Space with her eyes closed a few times, but only because she insisted on going on, but my son refused both which was fine.

However, he also refused to go on splash but we did insist and although he never cried or was really scared, just nervous we went ahead and put him on and he loved it.Going on it again and again. It is really hard to know, it just depends on reading how upset the kids are.

We know with ours they are scared by Haunted Mansion, even when discussing in now for our trip in Sept they are saying no way, but I might show them the youtube video as someone suggested, that's a good idea. But I still wont make them go on it. Don't want to freak them out and spoil the day.

In the end it is no big deal if they ride it in a few years time, just enjoy whatever they do like to go on. That's the disney way i suppose.

 

[avalon451]

I love the way this discussion is going. No flaming and lots of positive encouragement to do what you judge is right for your child.

Like everybody else, all 3 of mine are different. DD13 went on a rollercoaster at the state fair with me when she was about 8, and loved it. When we pretty much talked her younger sister onto it a couple of years later, she hated it. She didn't freak out, but she jokingly said, "Mom, I'll never forgive you." So since then, we just don't force it. At DL, she loved Indy. But she simply did not want to ride Space, so we didn't make her. (She was 10 yrs. at the time). BTMRR I almost had her talked into, and she went all the way up with DD5 and I, but once on the platform, she turned to me and said quietly, "Mom, I really don't want to do this." So I said, "No problem," and the CM told her she could go through the cars to the exit platform on the other side and videotape us, instead. Which she happily did. DD5 loved it, but DD10 was happy she didn't go after all.

DD5 is turning out to be a daredevil, and she wants to ride Space and Screamin' when we go next time. However, figure this one out: she didn't like Splash, because that last drop was just too much for her-- she couldn't even enjoy the whole storyline leading up to it, she was dreading it too much. But she LOVED GRR! I think that was simply because we were with a really nice chatty family on the raft, and also because her back was to the one big drop and she couldn't actually see how far down it was! DD10 loved that one, too!

DD13 swore up, down and sideways that there was no way I was getting her on ToT. But she LOVED everything else! The front row of Screamin' was the high point of our trip! So when I was about to go on it alone, I just told her, "You've loved everything else, and nothing has been to scary for you. Are you sure you won't go home wondering if you missed a great ride?" At which point she changed her mind... and when it was done, she was like, "Awww... that wasn't bad at all! That was kind of fun!" and she went on it again the next day and liked it even better.

You just can't predict. I say gauge it according to your child's personality, suggest and describe the ride, watch youtube videos, and leave the final decision up to them.

 

[tinkerbelt]

My DD will pretty much try anything once, and then after that, if she says no, then we don't go on it. There's not much she won't go on, really. The only thing that I haven't taken her on is ToT, because I don't think she'll like it. I think she'd love the ride, but not all of the Twilight Zone stuff.

 

[MoniqueU]

We started all our kids off on coasters at DL from the time they were old enough or tall enough and sometimes with platform tennis shoes. They have never been scared of any coaster. The exception being my youngest daughter didnt want to go on california screaming because it went upside down, her choice and i would never embarrass myself or disrupt other guests with a crying child.

My oldest son would ride any coaster but waterslides were real rough on him. One time we got in line for a family raft ride at Six Flags waterpark, I got in line he was fine til we got up to the thing then started pitching a fit. I got everyone else loaded in and then tossed him in too. There was no other way for the rest of the family to ride it and no exit and he was too young to just go back down the stairs on his own. Had it not been a raft ride where he wasnt even going to land in water I probably wouldn't of done it. Looking back I am still not completely sure I made the right decision. It took him years to get over his waterslide fears and many trips and I never told him what rides to ride after that. He didn't freak out at the end but neither did he say he wanted to ride it again. My oldest dd got scuba certified at 10 and my husband was all excited thinking he might do it to. My son said to me please dont let dad make me do that and I definetly won't. He has very valid fears of the water and the fact that he will swim at all is enough for me.

 

[marvel]

I just had to add this. One problem I encountered with my son was that he was way advanced with his reading. So when he was 5 and we are waiting in line for a ride, he is reading all the warning signs about injuries, and that the ride may be extreme etc etc and this put him off many a time. He would be ready to go, and by the time we get half way up the queue he says no, this is too rough and dangerous : The sign says you can get hurt !!

He will be 10 when we go in Sept so it will be interesting to see how he goes.

 

[Mugglemama]

it's a great idea to follow the advice of some of the posters here and let your son see the rides on youtube!

i wouldn't force my own kid onto a ride, but you know to be honest i haven't had to deal with the issue because my own kids have been going to DLR since they were babies and love everything there. they've literally been riding things like POTC since they were infants.

if you decide to go ahead and have him ride some things he's nervous about, i would really just continually reassure him that there's nothing on the ride that can harm him, that's it's really all meant to be fun, and that if he hates it, to know that the ride only lasts for a very short amount of time.

good luck! i hope you all have a lot of fun!

 

[paperdoll1986]

I agree that you know you're kids best.

My goddaughter agreed to try the Matterhorn. Covered her face with her blankie during it, cried a little after that "she only liked the parts that were outside" and didn't like "the dark voice" (the yeti). She said at least he tried and didn't want to do it again.

She called me a couple weeks back to inform me she "liked the Matterhorn now." She and my aunt went with a friend and her daughters and she decided to try it again.

Same thing with Mohullond Madness in DCA. We let her watch it, she said no. The third time we tried, she agreed. And we went on it twice that day. Last time I went with her, we went on it three times in a row.

Sometimes, it helps to talk to them. I would ask why she wouldn't want to do a ride and we'd talk about it. And that kid is freaking stubborn!

It all comes back to knowing your kid.

Just don't be the parent in the Haunted Mansion with a SCREAMING toddler while you're yelling above the narration "Look, honey, it' fun!"