Maelstrom with small child

[SandrainNC]

I have never been on Maelstrom. My son will be 4 in January and I am wondering if this would be too scary for him. I am planning on taking him on Pirates of the Caribean and The Haunted Mansion because I think he will be fine, but since I have never been on this, I'm not sure about it. I went to a site that has a video of it, but it was hard to tell from the tape. It looks a little scary to me on the video. Thanks! Any help would be appreciated!

Sandra

 

[POOH&PIGLET]

Maelstrom is very tame, one small drop and nothing too scary for a 4-year old. If he can do Pirates of the Caribean and The Haunted Mansion, this will be a breeze.

 

[SandrainNC]

Thank you so much! Of course, he hasn't been on Pirates or The Haunted Mansion yet, so we shall see! I appreciate it. Sandra

 

[Kevenswife2]

I thought the troll was scary! Glowing eyes and all. Didn't bother DD5 though.

 

[JESW]

Just a tip....my DD is 5 and is not afraid of much. BUT..she will not ride Maelsrom again after the first time - she did NOT like going backwards! And she doesn't like Pirates due to the drop in the dark in the middle of the ride (right after they say something about rough seas ahead...) But she LOVES Haunted Mansion...you just never know what they won't like and for what reason..

Good luck!

Jill

 

[BevS97]

Jill is right, you can't tell. My dd (7) loves Pirates - won't even try Haunted Mansion and has done Maelstrom once but didn't like the troll (she was fine with the backwards and the drop but not the troll)

 

[SandrainNC]

Thanks everybody for the info! I am a little worried about Goofy's Barnstormer too, but I will have to wait and watch it in person to decide whether or not to try it. Decisions Decisions. Thanks again! Sandra

 

[swilshire]

My 5yo ADORES the barnstormer!

Sheila

 

[tjmw2727]

My girls have been riding everything without a height restriction since they were about 2yo and loved them all. For things like pirates or malestrom we would just say "look at that silly troll or wow that priate is acting mean" and they would laugh with us. In fact when my youngest was about 15 months she spent that vacation saying "more boats" which meant lets ride something!!

I when I am worried about the reaction of the kids they sense that and when I am excited and anticipating fun they are also. Of course you know best and if he dosen't ride any of those rides there are still soooooo many things you can do and see.

My girls have always loved the barnstormer, its just like a kiddie coaster at other parks and you can see the entire ride so you can decide first hand.

FWIW we just went with my kids and my very timid nephew in October and he loved malestrom, pirates and rode barnstormer 3x.

Start with things Dumbo and the Carosel and then hit the brighter dark rides like WTP, PP and Small world if its open and work on from there.

TJ

 

[TinkBoo&ElliesMum]

DD loved Maelstrom, but she's also the munchkin that's still throwing the fit about not being able to ride Tower of Terror.

DD and DS LOVED the barnstormer - we went with my cousin who's 3 and easily over-stimulated, we did it 5 times in a row, we had to pry them away from it in the end!

 

[Disney Pal]

Wow! I totally took the title of your post the wrong way! LOL!

 

[3MouseMom]

I also think it depends on the child. My older kids love the thrill rides and have never been nervous on anything (ok, except my 12yo who freaks out at the bug's life 3d movie--bug phobic from being swarmed by a bee hive as a toddler).

But my 4 yo dd does not like the dark rides, even though she is wild and seems fearless at home. She did not like the troll in Maelstrom, and wasn't crazy about the drop. SHe much preferred the Mexico ride...loved the dolls. She did POTC 2 year ago, but refused this time. And she really wanted to go on HM, but she was too terrified and I said no. She'll watch Fantasmic, but she hides her head at certain parts.

On our most recent trip we saw 4 year olds hysterical with fear at PhilharMagic (after loud, banging part), parents had to leave. Same wtih Fantasmic.

It sounds like your 4yo will be fine...

 

[kaydoggy]

I took my 2 1/2 year old son two weeks ago and he loved it. "We rode a big boat"......

 

[NotUrsula]

DS, who loves SpM and RNR, won't go near it. He has
been terrified of that troll for years, it really scared him when he was 2, and he hates the ride for that reason.

 

[KimR]

My DD was almost 3 the last time we went to WDW. She is afraid of just about everything, and she did ok with Maelstrom. It wasn't her favorite ride by any means but when given a choice between riding or sitting it out, she chose to ride every time (my 6-year-old loves this ride so we went on several times). She still talks about the 'troll ride' and I think she's quite proud of herself for being brave enough to ride again and again.

 

[Kevenswife2]

Originally posted by NotUrsula
DS, who loves SpM and RNR, won't go near it. He has
been terrified of that troll for years, it really scared him when he was 2, and he hates the ride for that reason.

This reminds me of my son many years age. He was also 2 at the time. We went to Universal and Jaws terrified him. Next day we visited the Magic Kingdom. He was fine getting into the boat at It's a Small World but screamed the whole way through . Poor little guy was just waiting for the shark to come up and get us.

Mental note: Never take grandchildren (when I have any) on Jaws first.

 

[ErinInCT]

dd4 & dd1 did fine on Maelstrom, in fact dd4 found it a bit boring. But she still asks about the ride with the polar bears. I am guessing this is Maelstrom. Not sure what I was looking at but I don't remember the bears or the trolls!! Personally I thought Barnstormer was "scarier" then Maelstrom & BTMRR & Barnstormer is supposed to be the "baby"one!!!

 

[SandrainNC]

Thank you all for your replies! I guess we will just see when we get there how he reacts to things. He has been watching the Disneyland Fun Singalong Songs video and I cannot wait to see his face light up when he recognizes some of the characters, Dumbo, etc!!!

Sandra