Rides for three year old?

[Luis Rodriguez]

Hi all,

We are planning to visit WDW this December, with our 3 years old daughter. She is about 39” tall and quite fearless. That being said, I would appreciate any feedback about allowing my DD in rides like Stitch's Great Escape or Kali River Rapids. She just about meets the height requirements but, on the other hand, she is only (at least to his doting father...) a very small girl. Also, have you had any experience with the 3D movies (Muppets, I Shrunk the audience, It's Tough to be a Bug)?

Thanks for your help,

 

[wtpntigger2]

If she doesn't meet the height requirements exactly (40 inches) I wouldn't recommend trying to get her on those rides. Those restrictions are there for the safety of the riders.

From what I have heard, Stitch is pretty intense even for some of the older kids and the harnesses hold you in pretty tight which can be scary in of itself especially to a three year old.

If you want to "test" her fearlessness I would recommend rides such as Snow White's Scary Adventure or Haunted Mansion. Neither of these have height requirements, but can be scary for the younger set. Our three year old will not be going on either of these rides.

I have also heard that It's Tough to Be a Bug and Honey I Shrunk the Audience can again be scary to the younger ones. You just have to use your judgment call on what your dd can handle.

Hope you have a wonderful time, and don't worry, there are plenty of rides and attractions she will be able to participate in that are appropriate for her age and height.

 

[Rella Bella]

I would avoid 'Stich'... my DS is fearless and he was 8 and didn't like it. He also won't go near 'It's Tough to be a Bug'... went when he was 6 and it scared him so bad he won't go back. The other one he hates is Dinosaur... I dont' know what the height requirement is but he will not go again.

 

[the kabuki]

After hearing reviews of Stich's ride, we chose to skip that one. Sounded much too frightning for a young child. Even some older ones were freaked out so I've read.

From allearsnet.com:

Mini-Review: What can I say that hasn't already been said about this attraction in our reader reports? While I was not a huge fan of Alien Encounter, at least it did what it was supposed to do well. The reason for redesigning Alien Encounter was ostensibly to make the show less frightening to small children. In this respect, it fails miserably. All the elements that made it scary before -- the darkness, the screaming, the chaos, the harness that makes you feel trapped and can actually hurt you -- are all still present. The chief difference is the substitution of Stitch for the menacing alien. Having experienced the show once, it's not something I'll be in a hurry to try again.

Muppets 3-d is a good choice, I Shrunk The Audience, well I always skipped that one when any of my three were under 4 yrs old. Same for It's tough to be a bug, but that's just me. If the 3-D starts to upset her, just have her take her 3-D glasses off.

I wouldn't recommend Dinosaur for her , even though she's close to the min. height. It's really loud and very large dinosaurs come right out at you, very dark in there also.

Backlot Tour is ok for this age, can't say about Star Tours as I'm not good with simulators, but they do have to have a parent ride with them if they're under 7 yrs.

Big Thunder Mountain, Splash Mountain, again she's almost at the height req. but I personally wouldn't take a 3 yr old on them. My DS was 5 when he rode them, but he loves that kind of stuff

Only other ones I can think of that may scare a 3 yr old are Pirates of the Caribbean, and the Haunted Mansion. My DD was 3 when she went on both with no problem , but they are dark and loud so some might get scared.

 

[100AcreWood]

Hi all,

We are planning to visit WDW this December, with our 3 years old daughter. She is about 39” tall and quite fearless. That being said, I would appreciate any feedback about allowing my DD in rides like Stitch's Great Escape or Kali River Rapids. She just about meets the height requirements but, on the other hand, she is only (at least to his doting father...) a very small girl. Also, have you had any experience with the 3D movies (Muppets, I Shrunk the audience, It's Tough to be a Bug)?

Thanks for your help,

My dd (3) didn't like the 3D movies but she sat through them anyway. You should definitely check out Goofy's Barnstormer which is a roller coaster for the 36" and up crowd. My dd is also fearless and she loved it!

 

[Jim5150]

Remember, you can always find a way out of the 3D movies, just sit near the exit versus in the middle of an isle.

The Bug's Life and Honey I Shrunk movies both scared my kids at that age and I thought they were fearless. I would definately recommend Muppets and especially Phillarmagic (it is great!)

I would avoid Stitch as just the thought of being strapped in scares alot of little ones.

 

[BlondeAlligator]

We just got back from WDW last week w/ my 3yo DD. She is a little more than 40" tall, so she got to ride some things that most 3yo would not...Soarin', Splash Mountain...she loved them both. Again, the height restrictions are there for safety reasons so follow those guidelines. Before you get in line for something, make sure you know the height requirement...nothing is worse than waiting in line only to have the CM turn you away...little ones hate that. All the Fantasyland rides were great, she did Pirates & Haunted Mansion too & loved them but NOTHING scares my little girl...others in our groups with little ones did not go on those or on Snow White. You need to follow your instincts & not put your child on rides you think will be too scary...I know my DD is not scraed by anything & in fact, LOVES to be startled & chased, so I knew she would be fine.

 

[Luis Rodriguez]

All,

Thanks for your answers. The rides I wrote about are supposed to have a min. height requirement of 38”. Nevertheless, as I said before, she is only a small girl and I prefer to “err” on the safe side.

I concur on the Dinosaur comments. It seems to be a little intense for small children. Also, I won’t even try to get her on rides where she is “almost the height”. If she is not tall enough, that’s it!!.

I have visited WDW several times (about 12), although the last time was a about six years back. Nevertheless, someone on this list sent me a wonderful Excel spreadsheet with all the rides, shows and attractions updated, INCLUDING the height requirements.

Thanks again to you all,

Luis Rodriguez
http://www.disboards.com/newreply.php?do=newreply&noquote=1&p=10505941#
wave

 

[Sleeping~Beauty]

Just wanted to concur about the Stitch ride, my nephew and niece 7 and 6 were pretty shaken up by it.

Things that my 2.5 year old loved:

Buzz Lightyear (it's interactive and so much fun)
Spinning Teacups
Winnie the Pooh ride
Peter Pan
Small World
Magic Carpets of Alladin

My 2.5 doesn't like darkened theatres, or loud banging noises so we didn't do the 3d shows or firework shows.

 

[BevS97]

If you want to "test" her fearlessness I would recommend rides such as Snow White's Scary Adventure or Haunted Mansion. Neither of these have height requirements, but can be scary for the younger set. Our three year old will not be going on either of these rides.

My 8 year old won't do either of those rides, or It's tough to be a bug, or quite a few others with scary themes, but she LOVES pirates - not sure what the difference is, but she has never had a problem with pirates and it is now one of her favorites.

She has loved Goofy's barnstormer since she was tiny though, and now also loves Splash Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain -

there are two types of scary, 'emotional' scary, and 'physical' scary - my dd is fine with physically scary things which are fast, tall, bumpy etc, but she hates anything that makes her feel worried, such as witches or ghosts.
When you work out which it is that affects your child (or it could be both, or neither), then it's easier to see which rides will work for that child.

Bev

 

[SqueakyMouse]

We've been to WDW several times over the past year. Our last trip was just a couple of weeks ago. I noticed a real difference in our 2.5 yo dd during this trip. Back in May, many things scared her, 3-d movies in particular. During our Oct. visit, she viewed them repeatedly. During MNSSHP, we went on HM (at her request!!) several times. For the first time, she rode the Barnstormer...again and again. I can't wait to see what interests her in December!

Back to Stitch: When we visited in May, our almost 5 yo was so excited to see Stitch. We tried to talk him out of it, but he was determined. Finally, at the end of our trip, dh gave in and took him. Ds didn't scream or cry, but he's now certain that he doesn't want to visit Stitch again!

 

[Ava83]

We just took my 3 year old girl to WDW in Oct. She was 40' with her shoes on, (she got very good at walking up to the measuring stands to get checked) She loved....

Soarin' (the second time she did WHOOOO almost the whole time, I am apologizing to the people around us here, this was her favorite ride and asked to go on it this past Sunday)
Test Track (loved it the second time we were up front and she did the WHOOO)

Big Thunder/Barnstomer- Loved them once again the Whooo's on BtMR the adults behind us were laughing that she handled it better then they did.

Kali- she liked but got shocked when she was in the wet seat..her 1st words after that were, I got wet and the whole raft said, so did we and she laughed, so it turned out okay.

We went to 3-d's and she loved them (she had to figure it out first) it was confusing for her, but she never cried, just took off her glasses and everything was fine, we saw It tough to be a bug, Mickey's Phil etc she started asking for glasses at the end.

We did all the fantasyland and adventureland rides not problem. HM scared her at the very end.

But Ava is fearless and a spirited kid that does not get scared easy. Oh and she was 3 years and 2 months when we went.

 

[HillPete]

We took DS on Kali when he was just shy of three (and had just hit 38 inches the week before our trip). He had the time of his life and we rode it twice just for him. They have a special seat for the kids who are between 38 and 42 inches tall. They'll give your child a special wristband at the beginning of the queue and the CMs at the dock will check for it and know to give you a boat with a 'Captain's Chair'. My son loved that he was the Captain of the boat. It made his day.

--H

 

[Diz-Mommy]

I went with my nieces in 2003 . I think they were 3 and 4 years old. Amazingly the 3 year old was more adventurous with rides. She would go on things and report back to her older sister if she thought it was fun. Anything that went around and round and up and down (outdoors) was a hit. IE: the Triceratops Spin at AK, the Magic Carpets at MGM, Dumbo at MK etc! We rode those over and over and over (well you get the idea). They did okay on the Kilimanjaro Safari even though they both got on it very reluctantly. For the most part, they enjoyed the play ground stuff above all. I think the character meetings were more fun for them than the rides.

The 3-D movies for the most part were too real and scary to both girls. Anything that was also inside and got dark freaked them out. But I would see the same size or smaller children doing the attractions with no problems. It’s really all in the child's adventure appetite. I haven’t gotten to enjoy Stitch yet, but I went on Alien Encounter several times, and if it’s still anything like that, unless she is a HUGE Stitch fan, I would think it would be too scary. We never tried to take the girls on the Kali River Rapids or anything with a height requirement come to think of it.

I have to admit my DH and I ruined it for the 4 year old and for her very first ride in Orlando, we took her on Spiderman at IOA. We sort of forgot the scary factor of it since it had been 2 years since we were there. After that, the four year old wanted absolutely NOTHING to do with indoor rides. I'd say start out with the small tame things and work your way up. Your little one will quickly tell you what she likes and dislikes, trust me!