Opinions needed - how old for roller coasters?

[babygarrettsmom]

OK, I need some opinions. My son just turned three. I am trying to find out some opinions about when you let your kids go on the bigger roller coasters. He's been riding Goofy's Barnstormer since he was 18 months. He's been on Splash Mountain and loves it. So.....

1)Would you take your just now three-year-old on Big Thunder Mountain? DH says yes, but I'm not too sure.

2)What about Test Track. I think he'd have a blast, but would he be tall enough to see anything over the sides?

Many thanks for your opinions!!

 

[disneychick05]

Our DS will be turning three during our trip. I was planning on taking him on BTM as long as he is tall enough by then. I haven't been on Test track so I don't know about that. DH and I will check it our on our upcoming anniversary trip and see if we think its ok.

 

[Stimpy]

My DS is now 4 and his favorite rides are Test Track and BTMRR! He rode both for the first time when he was a month shy of his 3rd birthday.

Just make sure when you ride TT, you put him in between you and DH if you can. This way "IF" he hits his head, it will be on you instead of the side of the car. PLus if he does get scared he can hide his head easier on one of you. We never had a problem with his banging his head, but I like to be cautious.

BTMRR is a really tame roller coaster in my opinion. To me, it seems like just a longer Goofy Barnstormer ride with better atmosphere.

Now our little daredevil is aiming for Space Mountain in December, but he has to grow another 1/2 inch for that.

 

[ChiTownZee]

Well my DD was 40 inches just before her 3rd birthday and we let her go on Tower of Terror. After a minute to recover from the shock she asked to go on again LOL, even at 2! Of course this is the girl that went on Barnstormer 18 times in a row when she was one, she's a speed freek this one, and loves the coasters....finally got to go on Rockin' Roller coaster this past Oct for her 6th birthday, she's waited a long time for that one.

 

[Barb D]

My 4yo went on Splash and Big Thunder at 3. She did ToT at 4 and did NOT like it.

 

[Katd52]

My son turned 3 on our last trip and went on BTMRR, Test Track, and Splash Mountain. He enjoyed them all. A few years before that though we took our other son who was 4 on TOT and it was not good. I did fine through the ride but I could tell he didn't enjoy it.

Katie

 

[treesinger]

My little girl, a daredevil by definition, went on Barnstormer when she was about 2.5 yrs old. Scared her to death! I didn't think it would bother her, but boy were WE wrong! Truth is, you never know what they will like until you try.

 

[Selket]

My son (now 6) is just the opposite. There is not much daredevil in him! He has a reasoned approach to rides and has to feel it is o.k. before trying. He did Splash M and to my overwhelming suprise he wanted to do ToT last trip. He LOVED Splash Mountain but hated ToT. He wasn't upset after ToT however - he just said he didn't want to ever do it again! **edited to add that he won't touch a roller coaster. I ride all the thrill rides at WDW but by myself! (DH won't do them either! LOL!) DS won't ride TT, Dinosaur or Mission Space but loved Star Tours.

I think it depends on your child! If they are tall enough and want to do it then why not? After the one ride they'll know if they want to do it again!

 

[SheDaisy0088]

Son has been going to Disney ever since he turned 3. Has loved all the rides. Although we don't really like the water rides. LOL!! We did do Splash Mountain. He absolutely loved it!! He is turning 7 next month. We are going for his birthday. We went at the end of last month and he was big enough for the Rockin Roller Coaster. Well, i hate that ride. Don't like coasters that go upside down. So I told him that he could go with Daddy and if he liked it we could go on it again!! Sure enough he LOVED it!! So we ended up going on it 2 more times!! He would have done it the rest of the night if he could have!! LOL!!

So to answer your question. Depending on how daring your child it (Chris was jumping off the back of the couch before he could walk!! LOL!) will say alot. Chris loves all the Coasters and begs to go on them every time we go. I don't really think that BTMRR is much scarier than Goofy's Barnstormer. He loved Mission Space also. I was feeling a little green after the 3rd time on that!! LOL!!

 

[Jaimee]

I have another daredevil. DS was tall enough on his 3rd birthday for ToT, Splash Mtn, BTMRR, and Test Track and he loved them all. Last year at 4 we went on SPace Mtn 6 times in a row (there was NO line that day ) He did his first upside down roller coaster this summer at Six Flags and loved it. He has been asking to be measured weekly to see if he's 48 inches so he can go on RnR. Lucikly he's now 50 inches and doesn't know about our surprise birthday trip next week. I'd give it a try if you DS isn't intimidated after looking at the ride in person.

 

[Blackunicorn]

Our last trip to DL was when my daughter was 3, and she loved BTMRR. We spent an entire day running between BTMRR and Pirates of the Caribbean. To this day, when you talk about DL she says

Big....Thunder....Mountain....RAILROAD!!!

Sorry, we haven't been to WDW yet.

Dawn

 

[llp479]

My dd, now 7, rode BTM and TT when she was 3. BTM still her favorite ride, followed closely by "Rocking Coaster", as she calls it. She also rode ToT at 3, and loved it. Talked her dad into going on with her, and he'll never go on it again - GO FIGURE!

 

[GaryWT]

On our first trip our littleone was 3 but could not ride anything. He went on the barnstormer about 12 times, he can not wait to do the othersalthough none of them are bad compaired to other parks we have been to. All of my kids have ridden any and all coaster since they were tall enough.