Rides for 3 year old

[becky_AK]

We will be returning to WDW in December with our son who will be 3 years old. We went to WDW when he was almost a year old, but knew that he would not be able to ride certain attractions, so we never thought much about that.

Now, at 2 1/2 he is 41" tall, which means that by December he will be tall enough to ride some of the "bigger" rides.

Can anyone tell me what rides (Splash Mtn, BTMRR, Space Mtn, Soarin, Dinosaur, etc) would be appropriate for a 3 year old? He'll be tall enough, but not sure if he will be scared or not.

Thanks!

 

[crocko]

Taking our kids in September for their first time. Son will be 5, but daughter will be 3 (turns 3 at the end of this month).

As for "what rides?" we're taking the gradual approach. Our goal is to hit MK on the first day and go straight to FantasyLand. Peter Pan, Dumbo, Pooh...let those be their first experiences to see how they do. If Dumbo goes well, green-light for Magic Carpet Rides and giving Astro Orbiter a try. At ToonTown, Goofy's Barnstormer will be a "test" ride for some of the other rollercoaster type rides.

It's a Small World helps us figure out how they do on the boat rides and "inside/darker" rides.....looking ahead to Pirates ride.

As of right now, though, for whichever kids are tall enough, we plan on tricking them into going on Splash Mountain. The ride is very tame, except for the huge plummet.....the goal is to get that huge drop experience without expecting it.....then, judging from the reaction, we'll know if other "big-kid/adult rides" will be an option or not.

Just some thoughts.

 

[tricia]

My oldest DS was at the world at 3 years and 3 months and was 41". He rode everything that he could and loved it. TT was his favourite also loved T of T, SM, BTMRR etc. Cried because they would not let him ride Kali (I think the req. was 42" at the time)

Then there is my youngest. He is almost 8 years old and still will not ride many of those rides.

Totally depends on the child. If your son wants to try, I would let him. My promise was always that if he didn't like it he would not have to do it again.

 

[sohappy]

My 5 year old (at the time) cried on Dinosaur. He is not a scared kind of kid either. Even as a baby, he loved for you to hide and jump out at him. He didn't like dinosaur or tower of terror. He loved splash mountain, big thunder mountain, test track, soarin, etc.

My 3 year old LOVED Goofy's. I am hoping that he will be tall enough on our next trip in Sept (when he will be 4.5) to go on some of the 40 inch rides.

 

[puffkin]

My DS was just over 40" in October at 2 1/2. He rode and loved Soarin', Test Track, Big Thunder, Star Tours. He liked Dinosaur and Splash Mountain. He wanted to do ToT in the worst way, but due to poor planning on our part, the lines were always too long.

We just returned from our last trip. He was 3 year 2 months. We did all of the above plus Kali (they have a special seat for kids between 38-42 inches) and ToT. He liked them both but didn't care for Dinosaur this time.

 

[cassandrap83]

thank you so much for this thread!

I already planned on trying to convince my 3 1/2yr old to get on some of the more adult rides...haha

Glad I'm not the only one!

 

[allyphoe]

My DD rode everything but Splash and Dinosaur the trip after she hit 40". (No one else wanted to ride Splash, or she'd have ridden that, too.) Dinosaur waited until she was 4, and then she demanded to ride it, too. (And rode twice in a row, then said she'd had enough.)

She's not a daredevil in general, either.

 

[SmallWorld71]

Definitely depends on the child. At 4, my daughter enjoyed Soarin, Splash, BTMRR, Kali River Rapids. Based on our descriptions of the rides, she had no interest in trying Tower of Terror or Dinosaur.