MK Rides for a Four-Year-Old

[dwheaton]

My daughter rode both 7DMT and Big Thunder Mountain when she had just turned 4 and loved them. With that said, it's going to depend on the kid. I don't think she'd be traumatized by either one, so you'll likely be good.

 

[kwdw]

Definitely work "UP" on the coasters - you don't want to terrify her. Start with Barnstormer, then 7DMT, then BTMRR. She how she does.

Four is old enough to have an opinion after a few rides. I think BTMRR is MUCH more of a coaster than the first two -- so I'd only venture there if she was TOTALLY thrilled on the first two. Little ones slide around in the seat a lot more on BTMRR and that feels less secure - so unless you have pretty good confidence based on her love of other rides - don't push it.

Definitely a "per kid" decision. You will see tall four year olds on Space Mountain having the time of their life. And you'll see 9 year olds sobbing in line about being terrified to go on 7DMT.

 

[YesterDark]

FWIW my 4 yo daughter loved the Barnstormer and her younger brother was jealous she was just tall enough to go on.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

Every child is different, but I'd FP both (1st) 7DMt and (2nd) BTMRR. I wouldn't start the day with either, but I would FP them.

You could do Barnstormer before those two, but 7DMT is pretty tame and very smooth. I don't see much difference between the two, and 7DMT has much better theming. the advantage of Barnstormer is that it usually has a relatively short line, so you can ride it without a FP.

What I suggest though is letting her get to know the characters first. A few parts of the SW movie are a little scary though , so start with a book. Maybe see parts of the movie, but skip of fast forward through the scarier parts. The ride doesn't have the scary parts, but it DOES have some of the songs. If you just read the book, your 4 year old won't know the songs.

There's no movie for BTMRR.

Every kid is different, but the two most intimidating rides in MK are HM and Splash. If you start with rides like ItSW, Pooh, Tiki Room, Dumbo, the Carousel, Princess character meets...she'll get off to a great start, especially if she knows the characters/songs.

We love Jungle Cruise, but we kind of do it in our tier 2.

It might also be good to talk to her, though I wouldn't talk about rides being scary too much. Maybe feel her out indirectly. Let her tell you what rides interest her the most.

You know her best. If you know she doesn't like loud noises, heights, spinning, birds, or ghosts, or something specific then we can help with specific rides to consider/avoid.

Philarmagic is super for little kids, but it is LOUD. She can cover her ears and earplugs are options. Some other rides can also be a bit loud.​

The only other rides- outside of MK - I'd caution about are in AK: DINOSAUR and It's Tough to Be a Bug. Some kids love both, but some kids are scared of both.

I also like the idea of giving kids some suggestions and tools. Like knowing you can always cover your ears or close your eyes on rides. That won't help every kid 100%, but a few tools can be rather helpful.

 

[moose81]

My daughter was a few months shy of 4 on our last trip and just made the height requirement for Barnstormer so we tried it out. She loved it! We ended up going every single day that we were in MK. I would definitely have let her try Mine Train or Thunder Mtn if she had been tall enough. I probably would have held off on Splash Mountain but mostly b/c I personally do not like the drop or getting wet (ha). I also would have held off on Space Mountain b/c I find that one intimidating for a little one (I recall my first time going on, I think I might have been 7 or so but I was a small kid and I was terrified the entire time and didn't enjoy it at all).

 

[Chrislovesdisney]

Do you have a local small amusement park you can take her to, to gauge her interest in roller coasters? My daughter wouldn’t go near them last summer at age 4, but now she went on a bunch at age 5 and loves them. The guts to go on them is just emerging and it may be worth it to run to a local amusement park and pay $20 in a pop bracelet or some tickets and see what she likes!

 

[ADS2508]

Do you have a local small amusement park you can take her to, to gauge her interest in roller coasters? My daughter wouldn’t go near them last summer at age 4, but now she went on a bunch at age 5 and loves them. The guts to go on them is just emerging and it may be worth it to run to a local amusement park and pay $20 in a pop bracelet or some tickets and see what she likes!

I agree that this is a good idea. However, I will add that I took my daughter to our local six flags to try out rides before Disney. She refused to ride a single thing. She was scared to get on anything except the tea cups. We were prepared to meet characters, eat in fun restaurants, and walk around Disney without stepping foot on a ride. However, once we arrived at The parks it was so different. She got so caught up in the theming and surroundings she forgot to be scared and she had a blast.

At three she was 42” tall and her favorite rides were mine train and splash, but she got scared on Pooh because Tigger jumps out at you and Mission Space because of how enclosed it was. We know that the elevator part of haunted mansion would not work for her This year at 4 she is well over 45” and will ride Space, Everest, and Slinky Dog and I suspect have a few new favorites. However, we know that the back and leg restraints will make Flight of Passage a no go for her.

One thing we did do is watch a ton of YouTube videos and talk a lot about what she was going to do and see. She was ready to ride because she knew what to expect. However, that is her personality. I would have loved to have done a surprise trip with no countdowns, but it would have majorly overwhelmed her and led to a really difficult time for all of us.

Like many others have said this is so child specific. One of my daughter’s friend went to the parks a few months ago at age 4 and still talks about how awful mine train was and asks to never do it again.

My 2 year old is over 38” and we are going to try mine train with him, but I’m not sure how that will go over.

I think the best advice is to FP the hard to get ones and if you find those don’t work modify them for something that fits your groups taste/temperament day of.

Sorry for the book. I didn’t mean to be so long winded.

 

[ttintagel]

Yeah, one reason the Barnstormer is a good starter coaster is that you can see while you're in the queue how much fun other kids are having on the ride.

 

[gumbo1009]

One thing we did do is watch a ton of YouTube videos and talk a lot about what she was going to do and see.

I think ADS2508 gives great advice - if your child knows what to expect, she may be better able to cope and recover.

I also agree with other recs - start SMALL - because if she gets scared on a ride she may balk at everything else. The advice above about trying Barnstormer first is worth considering (after Barnstormer, you can make adjustments from there, depending on her reaction). Maybe save Splash as a 4th FP if she was OK with the "coasters"??? (But I'd wait until day 2, in case the final splash down freaks her out...)

One final warning - my DD's FAVORITE ride at age 4.5 was the Speedway... think I went on that sucker 8+ times during that 1st trip... I wonder how those poor CMs handle working there?

 

[dtaylor98]

My daughter was 4 when she first rode BTMRR. She was a little nervous in the line, but after we got off she said she wanted to ride again. She loved it! That was before 7DMT.

 

[DWillowBay]

I've been thinking about swapping out Jungle Cruise for Splash Mountain, though my wife worries about scaring my daughter on the first ride on the morning that we arrive.

Nothing could have scared my kids more...on our first trip 20years ago...than taking them to Alien Encounter for their very first ride. It was awful. They were crying...I was crying. Now...many trips later, I don't think they remain too scarred.

 

[soccermom54]

Our daughter was 4 the first time we took her to WDW. As has been mentioned, you know better than anyone what your child can handle. There is no way our daughter could handle Thunder Mt or Mine Train. She was a Small World, Jungle Cruise, Pirates, Peter Pan kind of gal which was fine for us and kept her happy and enjoying her MK days. She loved Dumbo and Tomorrowland Speedway and lots of character interaction. Our daughter is grown now and a doctor but she still has such fond memories of our family WDW trips and of course I have a photograph of every move she made on every trip. Have a wonderful time!