No No's for sensitive 5 yr old?

[decbysteph]

Slightly off-topic, but may be applicable. We took our daughter for the first time in December 03, and the only thing that *really* unnerved her was the self-flushing toilets! To this day, when we go, she asks that her mom or me hold our hand over the sensor until she is finished and has moved away from the "device" before removing our hand, allowing the potty to flush. Guess she thought she was gonna get sucked down the drain. They *are* pretty loud...

~YEKCIM

Many, many times my daughter is freaked out by flushing toilets, whether automatic or not! Loud cars, and even silly things like the noise that a hula hoop makes!!?? It does make me laugh a little now, when we are in a public restroom and she is on the toilet with her hands over her ears!

 

[KinderTchr]

Youngest DD who was 6 at the time loved Rockin Roller Coaster and Tower of Terror. We went to MGM first on that trip. When we went to MK she was completely terrified of the Haunted Mansion and refused to even walk near it later in the trip. Stitch's ride in tomorrowland might be scary and I would definitely avoid Snow White's Scary Adventures.

 

[samano]

Slightly off-topic, but may be applicable. We took our daughter for the first time in December 03, and the only thing that *really* unnerved her was the self-flushing toilets! To this day, when we go, she asks that her mom or me hold our hand over the sensor until she is finished and has moved away from the "device" before removing our hand, allowing the potty to flush. Guess she thought she was gonna get sucked down the drain. They *are* pretty loud...

~YEKCIM

LOL! I specifically opened this thread to make sure someone had warned the OP about the toilets!! On my DD's first trip when she was 2, those toilets were our biggest 'surprise'.

decbysteph - Welcome to the Disboards, hope you have a great trip!!!

 

[jj1403]

I just bought my daughter some peltor ear defenders for that exact reason. She loved fantasmic but didn't like the loud noises. She cried and clapped her hands threw the whole thing.

Anyway for our next trip I bought the ear muff type sound guards. I find most of the rides at Disney to be very loud.

Also my DD didn't like Spaceship EArth because it was loud. dark and when you desend you're backwards.

 

[krissyh]

Sleeping Becca had a great idea with the hat.

Some other thoughts...
If you catch or can Tivo one - have her watch some of the shows about WDW and the rides (Modern Marvels had a nice two hour show that explains how a lot of the rides work and I think there is a show coming up on the History Channel.)

I would go through some books and park brochures with her.

Have several talks about the parks:
- WDW is magical. Some of the rides and shows might look scary but at Disney, nothing bad really happens - there is always a happy ending.
- Some rides are dark BUT you are always safe because you are with me and because nothing bad happens at Disney
- Some shows are 3D so you get to wear really cool glasses that make everything look up close. But since nothing bad happens at Disney, if you don't like it, you just take the glasses off! How cool is that?
- Sometimes the rides are loud. Disney does this, not to scare people, or because something bad is happening but to make sure everyone can hear it. I might also suggest some earplugs that are on a string (like you see musicans wearing) that you can keep in your purse and let her pop in if the ride seems loud.
- Disney is magical. That's why the original park is called the magic kingdom, after all. And since it is all make believe, if you don't like what you see, you can make it go away by closing your eyes and saying the alphabet slowly (that's a good 30 seconds) and when you open your eyes, it'll be over.

My nephew used to be the same way - the easiest way to get him over it was to make sure he knew EXACTLY what to expect and to convince him that it was "so totally cool!" "you are going to love this!" and anything that was iffy was "so totally cool! BUT you might not like it because it is dark/loud/insert description here" 9 times out of 10, he'd want to try it and love it. But if she is hestitant, don't push since there is so much magical stuff to do.

Have a great trip.