Rides for an apprehensive 9 year old!

[kentman]

My son is very nervous about theme park rides but we don't want him to miss out. Any suggestions for how we can coax him on to the rides? Any suggestions for those that are a little more tame but not too boring for a 9 yr old?

Thks

 

[kentman]

Sorry forgot to say my 9 year old has two younger siblings who are a little braver and want to do some of the bigger rides. Are you able to do child swaps for 9 year olds?

 

[soontobewed07]

My DSis was 9 the first time she went to Disney. We started at MK and did small world and Peter pan first to warm her up. Then we told her we were going on splash mountain and she could watch us come down the mountain well after one ride (we always split in to 2 groups) she decided she wanted to go with the second group. After that she was hooked she didn't want to miss out on anything. She even went on RRC and ToT. Hope that helps. It seems they don't like their parents to have fun w/o them.

 

[Rylee]

Is this his first trip to WDW?

Start out with rides which you know won't scare him. If you start out with something big or scary, you may have trouble getting him to try other attractions.

If your first day is spent at MK, (and I recommend it is) start with like Buzz Lightyear. The Buzz ride is still cool at 9, because it's interactive... shoot laser like beams at targets and rack up your score.

Have him ride Small World, maybe not the most exciting ride for a 9y/o boy, but it will prepare him for Pirates, same idea, just darker. (Talk about the different countries and languages.)

Bring him into some theaters/shows to peak his interest and draw him into the mood and fun. Mickey's Philharmagic (3D movie) is the best! My whole family loves it. Also, Monster's is a good choice.

Let him drive the speedway cars in Tommowland.

Once he is having fun, and gets into it, he may be willing to try other rides.

*Note - my boys ages 4 & 7 found the Stitch attraction to be scary, (and my kids are daredevils and will ride all the big coasters.) That was 2 years ago and they still don't want to see it again.

Anyway, we always tell our kids... we wouldn't take you on anything that would hurt you. If you don't like the ride, close your eyes, hang on and it will be over in a couple of minutes.

(I'm going to try to get back to this thread later, because there are a couple of other rides in the other parks, I would recommend avoiding, at least in the beginning.)

 

[trennr]

My oldest 13 is very timid...but his 2 favorite rides are Space Mountain and Test Track (EPCOT).

Took some convencing to get him on Space Moutntain the first time...at age Twleve...he liked it so much we got Fast passes for later that day and on our 2nd day in MK...he was hooked.


However he truly hates Tower of Terror.

 

[canadianmom2three]

We were there last summer with our DS(10) and DD (7) and DS(4). Of the group, my oldest DS is the most apprehensive of the three. He really doesn't like rides at all, and is very nervous of new things in general. As a family, we don't really care much for the big thrill rides, but DD had really wanted to go on Splash Mountain. That was a tough one for DS 10, he did not want to go on it, but Dh and I really wanted him to give it a try. We watched it a number of times, and I assured him that the drop is only a quicky portion of the whole ride, and that nothing bad would happen, he wouldn't get sick, or hurt etc. Well, we go through the whole line, and at the last minute DS (4) wouldn't get on, and he is usually the one who will try anything, so he and I had to step out of line, but DS 10 decided to get on, and ride the ride. DH told me that he kept his eyes closed for almost the whole thing, and was very anxious, but now as we are preparing to go again, I asked him what his favorite ride was, and I was shocked to hear that it was "Splash Mountain"......
Our philosophy is that if we see people exiting with children under 5, then it is a ride that is fairly tame, and we may "force" DS to give it a try. I do the same things mentioned above, telling him that it will not hurt him, not make him sick, and will be over quickly if he doesn't like it, but explain to him over and over that he will miss a lot of fun rides and shows if he isn't willing to give any of them a try. I think this year we will watch some things on Youtube, like the haunted mansion, which we didn't force last year, and POC, which he HATED last year, but DH and I love....of course we didn't force any of the really thrill rides...no EE, BTM, SM, no Tot, RR, mission space or whatever, nothing like that. But then, DH and I don't really care if we miss those, there is tons of other things to do, and none of our kids really care for them, DD's biggest ride request was splash mountain, so we did that, and soarin, which DS was nervous of, but loved as well. I figure it is as much the kids trip as ours, so we will do what they want, but at the same time encourage trying new things that we think they will like.

 

[Keara'sMom]

No real advice, just empathy! My dd11 is very timid when it comes to rides. We've encouraged her to try different rides by watching them and describing every detail to her, but she continues to be afraid. When she was 9, she rode Goofy's Barnstormer at our encouragement, and she cried the whole way through! At that point, we decided never to push it. She can choose not to ride, and when she does, we don't ride, either! I don't find that I'm missing anything by following her lead, although next time she can hang with her dad while I go on ToT and RnR (dh doesn't really like roller coasters much either).

Actually, this past Jan. dd said she wanted to try Splash Mountain, but it was closed for refurbishment (I'm wondering if she really would have tried it had it been open.... ).

I think I would recommend that you and your dh take turns riding things with your other kids and let your ds make his own decision whether to ride or not. Good luck!

 

[K and K's Mommy]

My middle one is somewhat timid. She liked Splash Mountain, but did not like Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. It is very jerky. She also likes the Barnstormer. There is so much to do in Disney without riding the thrill rides. He'll have fun!

 

[bzzymom]

DS is almost 11 and is a ride enthusiest, so I don't have that problem. We have used the child swap for DD who was 2.5 the last time and liked how it worked. I don't know if they do it for an older child though. Tower of Terror is the only attractiont that bothers him, not the drops (he loves the drops) but it is the crack of lightning before the drops, during the ride. He will ride it usually only once a trip. Everything else he wants to ride over and over again.

He is afraid of 3D movies though,(mickey's philharmagic, muppet 3d, HISTA and Bug's lift) He will go into the attraction but doesn't wear the glasses. It is blurry, but he would rather have it blurry than "in his face".