Pirates of the Caribbean with 3-year-old?

[bangzoom6877]

DS will be 3 and a half when we go to WDW in July. Our younger son will be 14 months when we go. Is Pirates of the Caribbean appropriate for them? Anyone know height requirements for this attraction? What is the ride like? Tame ride or mild thrill ride? Long lines? Fast pass?

Thanks,
Bonnie

 

[carmie3377]

There is no height requirement for this ride. DS rode it when he was 9 months and again at 22 months. He seemed to enjoy it and nothing scared him on it.

The line can be long, but it can be short. There is one small drop on it, nothing much at all. There is a chance you'll get a tad bit wet if the "cannon balls" land right beside you.

I think they'll be fine on it. I've seen lots of babies and toddlers on that ride.

 

[pim]

Small children/toddlers are usually fine on the ride.
Like said, there's no height requirement, anyone can ride. There's a small drop, nothing huge, but just make sure you're holding them tight so they feel safe, and everything should be fine!

 

[vicki_c]

No Fast Passes for POTC.

 

[stacym]

We took my son on it when he was two and he wasn't scared at all.

 

[mamaLori05]

We just took our recently turned 3 yr old dd and 9 month old ds and they both loved it. I don't think there is anything really scary on it.

 

[SmallWorld71]

While I agree that they will likely be fine (DD4 enjoyed it last year), it can be a little spooky at the very beginning and some easily unnerved kids may be frightening. In fact, the queue for the line is spookier than the ride itself and DD was starting to get nervous waiting in line. The very 1st part of the ride is the scariest part as well with the big ship with the "cannons" shooting. If you can make it through that O.K. the ride becomes rather upbeat. My suggestion would be to try your 3 year old out on some other rides 1st and see how he does before trying out POTC.

 

[MNWDWMANIAC]

You know your child best . That being said.... My youngest was 1 year old and we took him. He LOVED it .

My other boys were taken at ages 2 and 3 in 2003 and they two have loved it since.

Have Fun.

 

[PA Princess]

We also have had babies and toddlers on POC and they have all been fine, but we have prepped them before hand that some of the parts would be like this....etc.

One thing to know is that at the beginning there is a small hill. The hill itself is not that big of a deal, but you go down in complete darkness. If you have a child freaked out by the dark, you would want to prepare them for this very brief area.

Most of the themes of the ride are rather dark and adult, so with young kids we usually play up some of the more comical parts. We really enjoy looking for the various animals...kittens, dogs, pigs, etc. and seeing how their actions evolve as the ride progresses.

 

[wils]

DS (2) was bothered by the drop in the dark - takes after his Mum!

 

[BamaFan121s]

No need to fastpass this one, the lines are generally pretty minimal. (I don't even think they have a FP option for this ride?) It's not a thrill ride. It is dark and a bit loud in places. My DD has been riding it since she was 11 months and it never bothered her. (But again, that was MY child, not neccessarily the case for YOURS. )There's lots going on in the ride for wee little ones to look around at in amzement.

 

[LittleStinkerbelle]

We took dd on this when she was about 1 yr and it didn't bother her at all. When we went back at age 2.5 yrs she got really scared. It was one of the last things we did that evening (probably a bad idea right there) and she actually woke up in the middle of the night saying something about pirates--so i think it gave her a nightmare.

 

[pilgrimr]

We took our son when he was 2 and he liked it so much that he fell asleep both times. It dark and cool. It was relaxing enough. We tried it with our daughter when she was that age and it did not work with her. My kids don't think it is scary, but then again they laugh in Scary Snow White Adventure.

 

[Abharmagic]

Both my kids rode it last trip- ages 3 turning 4 and age 18 mos at the time- both loved it!

 

[Belle72]

We just started taking my dd on this ride when she was 4.5. Prior to that I skipped things like Haunted Mansion and Pirates. We just didn't want to freak her out and ruin the other rides. It isn't too scary but it is dark and there are cannons shooting at the beginning- very briefly. The Davy Jones scene can be spooky, too. There is a 'town on fire scene' that could potentially be frightening. It really depends on the child. DD was 5.5 on this year's trip and she enjoyed everything- I took ds17 mos. on it but he didn't really understand and fell asleep in Haunted Mansion. I may skip it with him for a few years now just because I really don't want to risk dreams and they really can't understand fantasy v. reality at that age. But plenty of other children the same ages of your children seem to like it. You'll probably have a better idea how they'll react if you try the Pooh ride and Peter Pan- Pooh has darkish parts as does Peter Pan. At 3 1/2 I thought that was as far as dd would/could go.

 

[purvislets]

We took DD on POTC when she was 18 months and she loved it. The drop is minimal and didn't seem to bother her at all.

We'll be taking her again this year and she'll be 2-1/2.

 

[fairestoneofall]

DS, at age two, loved it! DD, at age almost five, did not. She doesn't like the Davey Jones part. But she is easily frightened.

 

[teedisney]

My son loved it at 2. He enjoyed the queue area as well. I'm sure we'll do it again this fall.

 

[nessz79]

While I agree that they will likely be fine (DD4 enjoyed it last year), it can be a little spooky at the very beginning and some easily unnerved kids may be frightening. In fact, the queue for the line is spookier than the ride itself and DD was starting to get nervous waiting in line. The very 1st part of the ride is the scariest part as well with the big ship with the "cannons" shooting. If you can make it through that O.K. the ride becomes rather upbeat. My suggestion would be to try your 3 year old out on some other rides 1st and see how he does before trying out POTC.

I agree. My 3 year old son went on with me (couldn't get the then-4-yr-old into the line- it looked dark enough for him from the outside). He's pretty adventurous and he was fine, but he did really clutch to me in the beginning. There's the part where the "scary guy" is imaged onto what looks like rain and you ride right through it...that was a little scary for DS. And then there's the sound of the wind, skeletons, cannons all in the beginning. It doesn't last very long and then the rest of the ride is very upbeat as someone else said.

You may want to prepare your children for it ahead of time and don't force anyone on that doesn't want to go. The ride shut down for about 10 minutes when we went and I think it was b/c this little boy was totally freaking out on the ride. He was about 3-5 years old and his dad had forced him on the ride.

 

[Mouse House Mama]

Our kids have been riding it since 6 months old. Our 2 year old has ridden it more that Jack Sparrow himself! He loves POTC. It is his favorite ride in the whole world. He would ride that thing for 10 days straight if he could!