Need advice for my worried 9 year old...

[BranNich]

We are going to Universal for the first time in a few weeks. My DD (9 years old) and I were looking at the rides on the Universal website last night and now she is super worried about "scary" rides. She does great on things like Dinosaur, Thunder Railroad and POC but ToT, Space Mountain and Splash Mountain have totally freaked her out during past trips. Can anyone offer any advice about the rides at Universal (we will be going to both parks)?? We will definitely be staying away from the roller coasters but I'm really wondering about some of the others. Any rides that we should avoid??

 

[frequency]

Well, splash mountain and jurassic park are similar, so I would say she wont do that, but Dudley do right has a smaller hill and may be silly enough to be okay? Popeyes should be fine.

The Mummy is a coaster, but it doesn't have big hills and is inside.I would try to get her on this, its really fun and the theming is outstanding.

And no Dr Doom if she doesn't like ToT.

There is still lots of things she will like. The Hulk is not scary once you ride it once. I know thats the thing because it looks really scary and sounds scary watching it. I took my 9 year old neighbor on it and he was scared. He wasn't going, then he was, then he wasn't. Then he got on and it started moving and he said he wanted off. I told him to scream really loud, and he did. So I watched him the entire ride screaming his head off worried that he was freaking out. But we got off, and he ran right back and got on it again.

The coasters at IOA are much tamer than the ones at the big coaster parks, but super fun.

 

[damo]

Sounds like she doesn't like drops. I would not go on Hulk, Dueling Dragons, Dr. Doom, Jurassic Park and Dudley at IOA. At Universal the only thing I would avoid is Mummy. It has a very short coaster in the dark portion. If she gets really brave I would try it over the other rides.

 

[Purseval]

If she doesn't like drops I would also be careful of the Spiderman ride, it has a huge drop. The good news is it's done by fooling the eyes instead of actually dropping so if you think she'll be scared just cover her eyes. If you've never been on the ride before you get zapped by an antigravity ray which takes you to the top of a skyscraper. Then Dr. Octopus shouts out "Happy Landings" and shoots you again. This is where you would cover her eyes.

 

[donaldduck352]

If she doesn't like drops I would also be careful of the Spiderman ride, it has a huge drop. The good news is it's done by fooling the eyes instead of actually dropping so if you think she'll be scared just cover her eyes. If you've never been on the ride before you get zapped by an antigravity ray which takes you to the top of a skyscraper. Then Dr. Octopus shouts out "Happy Landings" and shoots you again. This is where you would cover her eyes.

Thats true,do ride this and tell her to cover her eyes at that point.Its A not miss ride that after 10yrs I still love.Same goes with the Simpsons.There is parts that make you feel like your realy on A coaster.But they are all sim rides.Hope she has A great time with these.Better yet youtube it and show her!!

 

[BranNich]

Thats true,do ride this and tell her to cover her eyes at that point.Its A not miss ride that after 10yrs I still love.Same goes with the Simpsons.There is parts that make you feel like your realy on A coaster.But they are all sim rides.Hope she has A great time with these.Better yet youtube it and show her!!

Thank you all for the great advice! I will definitely YouTube some of them. I never even thought of that!

 

[Planogirl]

You might also want to look for a you-tube video of the Mummy (Does such a thing exist?) or at least explain it to her. I agree that it's great fun but there are some parts that could frighten her. I don't think it's really much wilder than Big Thunder Mountain but it gives the illusion that it is.

 

[torinsmom]

I am a ride chicken and was fine on Mummy. I have done Space Mountain before, and Mummy was not nearly as intense. I would avoid Dudley's Ripsaw Falls, Jurassic Park and all the other coasters. Spiderman and the Simpson's have simulated drops like Star Tours, so she should be fine. MIB has spinning, but no drops and we did that one over and over(utilize the single rider line and sandwich in the middle. That way they are never without one of you except on the actual ride)

Marsha

 

[poeticdiabetic]

If scary queues don't scare her, then the Mummy will be excellent. If scary queues will actually prevent her from riding rides, then avoid the Mummy.

If big drops aren't her thing, Jurrasic Park, all roller-coasters and Dudley's Falls might be too much.

And if she freaks out on scary 3D, (and if you don't want to avoid Terminator) don't sit directly in the middle of the theater and make sure that she sits in the middle of two grown-ups that she loves.

But here's something that I did when I had to bring someone that I was kind of anxious about: Go at rope drop to Universal Studios. Go directly to the Simpsons ride and ride it FIRST!

It's a simulation roller-coaster where any and everything that could go wrong (and what couldn't possibly go wrong) on a roller-coaster happens on this ride. It's so silly and fun, she might want to go immediately to the most intimidating ride in the park and ride it.