"Must do" rides for a daring 5 year old?

[mom2jpw]

We are taking our first trip for dd's 5th birthday in August. She is both tall and daring when it comes to rides but I certainly don't want her on anything inappropriate.
What are the "musts" for this age. She will turn 5 on our trip.

Thanks!

 

[lady_hlh]

My DD was just about to turn 5 on our trip last year; she is also a daredevil and pretty tall. She loved Splash Mountain, Kali River Rapids and Thunder Mountain. She decided to go on Tower of Terror and it totally freaked her out so that she wouldn't even try Test Track later in the week. She also was afraid of falling out of Soarin because she thought that she was really flying. When we go back this year she told me that she would try Soarin again but she doesn't want to go back on the Tower of Terror.

 

[Cinderella2004]

We took a "mommy and me" trip the month before my DD turned 5. Also daring and tall. We left WDW with her having ridden everything except the Haunted Mansion.... . She's since ridden it but it still freaks her out!!

Her favorite at 4 was the RnR. I think it's still her favorite, that and Splash Mt.

 

[dahrjo]

My DS was 5 1/2 our last trip. We didn't get to Soarin', but he did everything else. He liked Tower of Terror and Test Track. He is pretty adventurous-if his big brother can do it, then so can he.

 

[sk!mom]

My DD celebrated her 5th birthday on her first trip. She rode everything that she was tall enough for and she's tall so she only missed out on the "tallest" rides like Space Mountain. She loves thrill rides so really nothing was too scary although she still only rides TOT once on each trip.

 

[gris gris]

Don't miss Dinosaur!! My DD was 4 when we went in Dec and her favorite ride was Dinosaur. She also loved Thunder Mountain and Test Track. She was petrified of Snow White and the Haunted Mansion. My DD has been a "the faster, louder the better" type of kid since she was an infant! Love those daredevil kids!!!

 

[rie'smom]

Let her ride everything that she wants to try.

 

[loopner67]

My youngest son was 5 last year and he loved everything except for Tower of Terror. If she wants to go on and is tall enough, I say go on everything!

 

[fabumouse]

Big Thunder is just about the best at that age!

My DD will be 6 on our next trip and she's checking her height daily to see if she's made the cut for Space Mountain.

 

[all4fun]

Let her ride everything that she wants to try.

I agree. My ds hit 40" before our trip last September (age 3.5yrs) and we did all the 40" limit rides w/him: Kali RR, BTMR, SpMtn, TT, ToT...am I forgetting anything? The only one he didn't want to do over again was ToT but I think the other people on the ride screaming bloody murder freaked him out more than the drops did. Now, every time we drive by Hollywood Video he starts talking about how he wants to ride "the elevator ride" and we did not make that correlation for him!

If you want to let her get an idea before hand of what the rides are about, you might pick up the Birnbaum's WDW For Kids, By Kids book. We bought that for our 12yr old nieces to read before our trip with them a few years ago and I thought it was pretty well done. For a 5yr old though, you'll probably be the one doing all the reading...but just thought I'd mention it.

hth

 

[Narcoossee]

I have a tall daring daughter who just turned 6.She road test track at age three and tower of terror at age 4. She road Expedition Everest last year at age five. The first two times she road Everest were pretty intense for her. But after ride number three she was begging us to go again. She LOVES Space Mountain. Her biggest disappointment on our last trip was that she was too short to ride Rockin' Roller Coaster and Primeval Whirl. She was not the slightest bit afraid of Soarin'. We will be on all of the coasters in just a couple of weeks. The only thing she really would rather not do again is the Dinasaur ride at Animal Kingdom. It really is all very dependent on your own child and just how much adventure she can handle. We are hoping to take my daughter parasailing over Seven Seas Lagoon this trip. It's just a matter of how to fit it into the schedule. I would suggest you start with the low key Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Test Track, and Soarin'. See how those are tolerated and then perhaps advance to the faster coasters. I thought my daughter would have an issue with Space Mountain being all in the dark so we held off on it even though she had previously met the height requirement. Boy was I wrong! She thought it was fabulous on our last trip. She has also been on Mission Space. She rode it a couple of times but did not seem to be quite as impressed as with the other rides.