Preparing younger kids for Disneyworld rides...

[PrinceOfPeace]

Wondering if anyone has introduced your smaller kids to rides on YouTube so they know what to expect? Did it work? I will be preparing them this way because they do not enjoy dark or scary imagery. Thinking like pirates, dinosaur, etc.

 

[murmer]

I had a really timid son who at 5 was tall enough for most of the scarier Disney rides (btmrr, splash ect). We did YouTube videos and he now loves the rides and was excited to try them. So I say go for it! It totally worked for us.

 

[NYMommy80]

Yes! Youtube point of view videos were so helpful. They helped me because I wasn't familiar with the rides myself and I could show them to my then 3 year old to prepare here. Do it!

 

[Betty Rohrer]

Wondering if anyone has introduced your smaller kids to rides on YouTube so they know what to expect? Did it work? I will be preparing them this way because they do not enjoy dark or scary imagery. Thinking like pirates, dinosaur, etc.

what are the ages of your kids? one grandson had watched YouTube but was upset rides where not same size as YouTube. he was about 3 at the time. I would plan a trip to local park before your trip to help younger ones with this.

 

[DisneyRegulars]

I don't understand why people would want to watch rides on YouTube. One of my favorite things is my memories of my first time in rides. Seems like watching YouTube videos ruins having these amazing first time experiences.

We just talked to my son. Told him which rides we thought would scare him, and then let him decide. He rode dinosaur at age three or four and declared it was the scariest thing in the world and he was never ever going to ride it again. We had warned him. It didn't ruin the day because we had been honest with him about the ride. I think if you start with tamer rides, like Pooh, dumbo, Peter Pan, under the sea, and then warn them about the scarier ones and give them a choice, that's all you need to do. I wouldn't ruin the magic of those first time on rides by showing them ride videos.

 

[bostonminnie]

YouTube videos helped my 3 year old who is fearful of rides. The only thing it didn't prepare him for was how loud most rides are in WDW.

 

[PrinceOfPeace]

I don't understand why people would want to watch rides on YouTube. One of my favorite things is my memories of my first time in rides. Seems like watching YouTube videos ruins having these amazing first time experiences.

We just talked to my son. Told him which rides we thought would scare him, and then let him decide. He rode dinosaur at age three or four and declared it was the scariest thing in the world and he was never ever going to ride it again. We had warned him. It didn't ruin the day because we had been honest with him about the ride. I think if you start with tamer rides, like Pooh, dumbo, Peter Pan, under the sea, and then warn them about the scarier ones and give them a choice, that's all you need to do. I wouldn't ruin the magic of those first time on rides by showing them ride videos.

You might have a point there....then again....there is no 'one size fits all family'. For us the magic is being together more then where we are at. So if Youtube helps with addressing/minimizing the fear we are open to that method. I think it is a good suggestion to start with the tamer rides. So thank you for that.

 

[Habbott]

It really helped my guy. When I was starting to do trip prep I showed him all sorts of pictures and YouTube videos of rides. It was a do it or he will refuse kind of thing. On our first trip he wouldn't go near characters, and he was too short to ride anything more thrilling than an everyone allowed ride. While he did great with those, I wanted him to be prepared for everything he could ride for our second trip. He also decided it would be cool if he could eat with the characters. So, all my prep helped my guy get the confidence he needed. We had a fabulous trip. Oh, and seeing his face when he actually road the rides the first time was still magical. Real life beats video any day.

 

[Pesky]

Really helped them, particularly with HM. I also talked them through that one and it worked great. Some didn't work as well. They weren't ready for the feel of the speed of RSR. Sad because we all loved it but the kids didn't. I'd say we had a good 80-90% success rate with showing some of the dark rides and other rides before we went. You can't entirely duplicate the experience with the extra 10-20%.

 

[DisneyParkLover]

I didn't, because sometimes the anticipation of something creates fear that wouldn't have otherwise been there. We just took him on each ride and mentioned at the beginning "this is a roller coaster", "this has some dark spots", or "this squirts water", etc. He did great with everything. However, he was not tall enough for Dinosaur or Tower of Terror, which I would have had reservations about if he had been tall enough. They are just too scary for most preschoolers.

 

[quagmire0]

Youtube definitely prepares them for a ride, but they also need to just get on one and do it. I think we've always just worked to expose our kids as soon as possible. Oldest daughter went on Tower Of Terror our first trip when she was 4, ended up being a roller coaster junkie on her next trip when she was 7. Our oldest son was the only one that forced us to bail on a ride - it was Haunted Mansion. But on the same trip he road Big Thunder and Barnstormer and liked those a lot. And this year he's determined to go on Haunted Mansion to make up for last time.

I don't think watching it on Youtube 'spoils' it at all. It's a whole new ballgame when they actually get to the ride and get on it. Watching it ahead of time shows them that people have ridden it before and may get rid of some of that initial fear. Usually, you just need to get them on there once. They may close their eyes the first time and hang on to you, but (at least with our kids), they usually end up wanting to go again.

 

[Annadesu]

My mom always attempted to downplay things. For example:

"A rollercoaster is just like riding in a car, except there's no roof on the car so you can feel the wind!"

It worked on cowardly little me, so give it a shot. lol

 

[Atilley]

We had family time watching you tube on just about everything around our first trip two years ago. They got to see the resort, the pool, restaurants, and the rides. As for the rides it gave them a good idea about how the ride ran but they were able to wait to decide whether to ride or not that day. My more timid DD did everything but Everest. I really think the videos helped because she knew what to expect.

 

[MouseMama11]

Last year my (then) 4 year old wanted to try roller coaster for the first time and since she had been nervous/timid about heights in the past, I showed her YouTube point of view videos before our trip. She saw commercials for 7DMT and really wanted to go on it so we did that one, Thunder Mountain RR, and Test Track. I thought it would scare her but she wanted to go on them even more!! And once we actually went on the rides she wanted to go on them again and again!

 

[Meeko5]

Definitely! my 6yo hadn't ever been on a coaster of any type and was obsessed with youtube videos of all the disney rides for months before the trip. He knew exactly what to expect this way, and it even helped him not be scared in the Haunted Mansion which I thought for sure would freak him out.

 

[Merx]

I don't understand why people would want to watch rides on YouTube. One of my favorite things is my memories of my first time in rides. Seems like watching YouTube videos ruins having these amazing first time experiences.

We just talked to my son. Told him which rides we thought would scare him, and then let him decide. He rode dinosaur at age three or four and declared it was the scariest thing in the world and he was never ever going to ride it again. We had warned him. It didn't ruin the day because we had been honest with him about the ride. I think if you start with tamer rides, like Pooh, dumbo, Peter Pan, under the sea, and then warn them about the scarier ones and give them a choice, that's all you need to do. I wouldn't ruin the magic of those first time on rides by showing them ride videos.

As a first time visitor, I really have no other way other then YouTube to gauge how scary the ride is for my son besides watching them myself. I wouldn't show my son those ones that I know he'll love like the PeopleMover and Walt Disney Railroad (he loves trains and buses) or Dumbo, but I sometimes show him the "marginal" ones like Test Track to see whether he likes it or not, and I'll definitely not show him the roller coasters like "Expedition Everest" because I'M the one too scared to ride on those haha.

But having said that, very hard to gauge my 4-year-old, sometimes he's braver than me, and sometimes he's scared of me driving at 40mph!

 

[emij]

For DLR Matterhorn I showed the yeti to the kids on YouTube and connected it to monster's inc and the yeti offering snow cones. I didn't think the ride would bother them, but the yeti would! Being prepared, we all just waved at him and said "no time for snow cones!" Worked like a dream.

 

[Knoxsanne]

I showed my kids (6 and 9) point of view videos of a few rides (notably HM, 7DMT) at their request. The 6 year old in particular was very interested in seeing them. She wanted to watch Fantasmic on YouTube but I drew the line there. But my husband thought even watching the ride videos is a terrible idea and would spoil the trip, so I think it's an individual preference.

 

[DisneyArie]

My kids are very visual so yes, I have shown YouTube videos of rides (and resorts, pools, character dining, etc) to get them excited about the trip and so they are familiar with Disney World. They love it and so do I. The videos really let you know what to expect.