Rides for a 3 year old

[poohpcgirl]

I am going to Disney in October of next year. My son will be 3 and a half.
What rides are good to take him on? He is pretty tall for his age and fearless (unlike his Mommy...LOL). Currently he is 40 inches at 2 and half years old.
I have only been once myself, and I did more looking around than really riding when I went.

Any suggestions would be great.

Thanks!

 

[Suzanne74]

Well my dd is 3 tomorrow and 40 now. When we get there I will let her decide what she wants to go on. Anything but Space Mountain or Run Away Train - I think they are too scary for her age. Everything else is fair game in her height requirements. There are so many rides for his age - you will love them too.

Winne the Pooh
Snow White
Teacups
Goofy's Rollercoaster
Carosel
Small World
Buzz Light Year
Raceway
Peter Pan
Jungle Cruise
Swiss Family Tree House
Tom Sawyers Island
Pirates of Carribean
Country Bear Jamboree
Dumbo
Aladin Carpets

there are so many more and that is just Magic Kingdom!!

Believe me, it is a great time to go. He will love it!!

 

[KathyPem]

Depends on your child. I have two that are 11 months apart. My son (the older) was almost 3 last time we went. He LOVED the Barnstormer Roller Coaster in Toon Town. They both loved the dumbo, tea cups, carosel, SMall World, Grand Prix, Buzz LIghtyear. My younger daughter wasn't scared of anythign except illuminations. My son didn't like anythign dark except Buzz. he hated all the characters, he didn't even wan to wathc the parade so he stayed with my sister in law in a store while we watched. It really depends on your child's comfort level. He says he wants to rid eTest Track this time but still won't go on Splash Mountain or any dark rides so we will see. Jungle Cruise is cool for little ones and Dumbo is a favorite as well. In Epcot we spent over an hour at the living seas looking at the sea life there.

 

[Lollipop Mom]

My oldest DS was 3½ for his first trip. He's also tall; he met the 40" requirements. He's a HUGE train fan and was positively insistent that his first ride by Big Thunder Mtn Railroad no matter how much I tried to coax him onto something more low key first. We walked over there and watched several rides. I pointed out that it went fast, that people were screaming etc. He didn't care, he was ready to go! He did great on the ride but when it was over he was very ready to get off. He said it was a little too fast for him. We didn't try anything else "big" on that trip. We went again just before he turned 4 and though he wouldn't get on BTMR again he wanted to ride Splash Mtn. He was fine on the big drop but totally lost it over the 2 smaller drops in the dark. We had been preparing him for the big drop and didn't even think to mention the others. If they hadn't been in the dark he'd have loved it but since they were, he was in tears. He also thought Goofy's Barnstormer was too fast on that trip. My 2 year old however LOVED that ride and rode it about 3 times in a row giggling and grining the whole way. We carried him kicking and screaming away from it b/c he wasn't ready to leave.

We had good luck with our boys by just letting them know if there was something they should expect. If it's dark, goes fast or makes a loud noise we tell them in advance and let them decide. The CMs that greet you are great about telling the kids what to expect. We bring penlight flashlights they can have with them on dark rides but they have instructions to only shine the light on their shoes or the floor of the vehicle so as not to disturb other guests. The favorites for my then 3 year old were:

In the MK:
Jungle Cruise
Peter Pan
Dumbo
IASW
Pirates (made sure to warn him about it's drop in the dark! )
Teacups
Tomorrowland Transit Authority
Astro Orbiter

At AK:
Safari
Kali River Rapids
Triceretops Spin (like Dumbo)
the Bone Yard
the train to the affection station (it could be a train to nowhere and it would rank among his favorites though!)

At MGM:
meeting Buzz and Woody and that is absolutely it

At Epcot:
the river ride in the Mexico pavillion
Journey into the Imagination
Living Seas
Universe of Energy

 

[poohkinandpiglet]

My DD just turned 3 and she rode everything except Splash MTN and Space MTM.

 

[poohpcgirl]

Wow. I hope Matthew doesn't want to ride too many "Big" rides. Cause Momma cannot handle them...LOL. Daddy will have to step up. Although, he is not a big roller coaster person either.
Thank you so much for the good ideas. I was worried there would not be too much he could do at his age, but it looks like it is wide open. Thank you so much to everyone.
I will drive you all crazy by the time October gets here next year.

 

[NotUrsula]

I'd add a few more: at Epcot, Journey into Imagination w/ Figment, the boat rides in Mexico and Norway, Test Track, and Universe of Energy, which will let him get in his dinosaur fix (this one *is* loud, and also has some pitch darkness for a while, but DS loved it at that age.) Star Tours was DS' favorite at MGM at that age; if your kid is daring, he's tall enough for TOT.

 

[ahutton]

At MGM: At that age the Playhouse Disney show is usually a big hit, very familiar if they've watched any of the shows on TV. My older DD (4) is a fan of "big girl" rides and loved Star Tours, but at 3 the queue area scared her so she wouldn't ride it then. We found they will ride just about anything, but if the waiting area scared them then we would just let them walk through and pass on the ride. If DH and I still wanted to ride we could then do the baby swap, the cast members were very helpful.

 

[poohpcgirl]

Thank you very much for all the replies. This is really helped me allot. Now I am getting so excited how can I wait until next year? How do you all stand the wait? LOL
(But TOT- no way for me. I talked into that ONCE...never again)

 

[Mainebound]

Just wanted to add that my 3 year old son loved the kidcot stations in Epcot's World Showcase. The masks he and my younger son (age 2 at rthe time) made are their favorite souvenirs from the trip!

Also, they loved the Honey I Shrunk the Kids Playground in MGM (but other than that and the Playhouse Disney show and eating in Pizza Planet, they did little at MGM. They did not want to do the Muppetvision movie a second time on our second trip). We are skipping MGM on our March 05 trip to focus on MK and Epcot.

Have fun!

 

[POOH&PIGLET]

I would suggest going on whatever rides your 3-year-old wants to go on. Why not buy a WDW guide and read about each of the rides in the parks.

Before our last trip, we bought the Birnbaum's WDW for Kids by Kids book (that may not be the exact title). Every night before bed, we read a few pages. After we finished each park, we made a list of at least 10 "must do" rides.

The first "must do" ride my then 3-year-old DD went on at MGM (the second we entered the park) was TOT! I would never have suggested this to her. Kids are very opinionated, they'll let you know what they want to do!

 

[JessetheCowgirl]

Just wanted to say that 3 is such a FUN age to take to Disney--everything is so "real" to them.

Have fun!!

 

[MissionMouse]

Wow! Some of your kids are really tall...probably over the 100% profile put out by the CDC for age and gender.

We let our 3 year old daughter make the decision on rides. Each child is different and will have their likes and dislikes.

Our daughter had a problem with 3-D shows like Honey I Shrank the Audience and The Muppets...it was the things flying out, right at her that did it. Typically one of us immediately took her out and away from the show when this occurred. After the Muppet incident - we stopped her from anymore attempts this trip.

She loved:

FAVORITES

MAGIC KINGDOM
It's A Small World
Peter Pans Flight
Cinderella's Golden Carrousel
Dumbo Flying Elephant
Mad Tea Party
The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
Snow Whites Scarey Adventures
Goofy's Barnstormer
Toontown
Buzz Lightyear's Space Spin
Tomorrowland Indy Speedway
Tomorrowland Transit Authority
The Enchanted Tiki Room
Jungle Cruise
Pirates of the Caribbean
Treehouse ?? (closed)
Country Bear Jamboree
WDW Railroad

Character Encounters

<edit spelling>

 

[kimwim8]

I am going to Disney in October of next year. My son will be 3 and a half.

Welcome to the DIS!! You will find so much info here, you'll be a professional by next October!

Also, check out www.allearsnet.com TONS of info there! Keep asking questions here on the DIS, the people here know so much! I thought I knew a lot about Disney until I came here! But since being here, I've learned SO MUCH more!!!