Maelström

[Thierry444]

My 9-year old boy is a big chicken !! Just wanna know if I could consider riding Maelstrom from Norway with him...
Thanks a lot

 

[remmy_7]

It's a pretty tame ride, and very fun. (although short). He will most likely love it

 

[Leota]

The ride is tame, but if he is nervous about darkness or scary looking Trolls (who look very like monsters to a nervous child) it might be a tough one for him. Depends on what scares him.

 

[Disney Planner Mama]

we took dd3 on it this last trip. We had warned her about the trolls. Our strategy for scary things on rides is to tell her that part of the ride is that whenever something scary shows up she has to yell "boo!" at it. That seems to distract her from the actually being frightened. Her response at the end of the ride -- "that was so cool...can we do it again?"

 

[jj13]

That is soooo funny! We do the same thing with the "boo". My kids went all through the Haunted Mansion their first time yelling "boo" at all the ghosts!

Great minds must think alike!

The Norway ride (although not wild, and fun) is indeed dark as stated above...if he hates thunder, dark places, trolls, it might be good to avoid. Either that or save it until later in the day when it won't scare him out of wanting to go on anything else.

Best of luck and have a blast!

 

[dixiedizfan]

My then 11-year old daughter was fine with the trolls, etc., but that dip the boat took at the end completely freaked her out. (She used to hate coaster/log rides, and we didn't know this was coming.)

 

[Slapster]

It's dark, and LOUD, but not terrifying.

 

[bleeps]

I am a big chicken, even at 44! I was fine on Maelstrom -- the trolls and darkness are fakey-fakey compared to Dinosaur, and the dip that the boat takes is small and over instantly. DS 7 loves it -- but he's a thrill seeker who loves coasters and all the big rides that I wouldn't even consider.

The key is always to offer but not push -- one person's tame is another's terror, and it's always important to respect that.

 

[Thierry444]

The problem is not dark places... he doesn't care about it. The problem is motion sickness... what about it ?

 

[4theloveofdisney]

My son is a huge chicken as well but he rode this ride and was just fine. It does have some dark parts but it's not that bad. I would try it and if he just doesn't want to go, take the chicken exist.

 

[bishop1989]

No problem with motion sickness.
It is very tame. I love that ride, not sure why, maybe it's the North Sea.
I love vikings LOL. My daughter first rode it at age 2 and LOVED it!!
Her first "water roller coaster" she called it.

 

[Robo]

The problem is not dark places... he doesn't care about it. The problem is motion sickness... what about it ?

Even though the "viking ship" ride vehicle does go backwards, its only for under a minute (and quite smooth and straight).

The "drop" is maybe 15-20 feet and not very "intense" or stomach-churning.

But even if the REALITY is no biggie... some people can "work THEMSELVES up" into state that makes the anticipation much worse than the actual "event".

You'll need to make this determination yourself.

BTW, it could actually take longer to READ THIS THREAD than the actual RIDE lasts.
Its very brief.