Rides too scary for a 5 y.o.?

[serenababy]

I have a five year old who is quite daring. But I also don't want to traumatize the poor girl (years of costly therapy for what mean old mom put her through...!!). So, what rides are too frightening for young ones? Tower of Terror, etc?

Thanks for any help.

 

[gshoemate]

My 5 year old DD is terrified of everything, that is probably why AK is her favorite park, more shows less rides. If you DD is daring, I guess I would explain the rides to her and exactly what it does and let her decide to ride or not. You might want to pass on the Snow White ride at MK, that one scared me.

 

[aprilzw]

As soon as my son hit 40 inches (which was at about age 4) I put him on everything - including ToT and Dinosaur! He is very daring also. He was SO proud of himself. This next trip he will be tall enough for Space Mountain and he can hardly wait! While I agree to explain the ride to your daughter, I also believe in giving kids a little nudge, especially since you know she has a daring personality. I doubt she will be traumatized! Have fun!

 

[JessTwilight]

We just got back and our kids went on every thing they were tall enough for, our almost 4 y.o. even went on TOT and liked it.I would srtonglysuggest not letting her on Extraterrestrial (sp?) my very brave son who turned 6 on our first day at the parks came out of there crying and I prepped him for it. I didn't want to let him go but, he is very determined when he wants someting. I would say everything else she is tall enough to go on would be fine. My 3 yo wasn't scared on HM or Pirates and he is afraid of the dark sometimes. Big thunder and MS were a huge hit too. Good luck and I am so sad our trip is over.
-Jessica

 

[CRCrazy]

Depends on the 5 year old! My youngest was 5 on our first family trip. She was physically a little daredevil, but had developed some funky fears at 5! She wasn't crazy about the dark rides - but could handle them okay, but she developed an absolute phobia about fire! We unknowingly brought her to see Fantasmic - OOPS - the whole lagoon catches on fire at one point! After that, even the thought of fire freaked her - she lost it on Kali River Rapids during the little forest fire scene!

Coasters she could handle - loved Space Mountain! but chickened out of Tower of Terror in the queue. Not worried about the drops - just didn't like the ghost story scenarios!

We went back when she was 6, and seems like she had moved on. She was scared of NOTHING - in fact - Rock N Roller Coaster is her favorite - she is tall for her age!

So - let her take the lead - encourage her to try things - but if she has a specific fear - allow her some dignity to back out of it!! If you do - she'll get there when she's ready!

 

[Msslaydbug]

Last year my son had just turned 5yo when we went to DW for the first time and really the only problem we had was when he wasn't big enough to go on RNR and Space Mountain. He wasn't a bif fan of ITTBAB but then again neither was I

 

[pintrader]

I say let the child choose. None of us know what is going on in their little heads. We have no idea what sound or vision will trigger a negative memory, dream or nightmare. Age alone does not determine scariness.

You know your own child, If they draw away or announce discomfort with a ride, honor that. I wish more parents would ask that question.

Hope this helps

 

[tjkraz]

Obviously it depends on the child. But it wouldn't hurt to try and mentally rank the more intense rides to gauge her reaction.

Goofy's Barnstormer is the prefect introductory rollercoaster. It is very short, but does accellerate to a brisk pace and has some tight turns. If she likes that, move on to Big Thunder Mtn Railroad. Space Mountain and RNR should only be attempted if she passes rounds 1 and 2 successfully.

I think Test Track is also one of the tamer "E Ticket" thrill rides, aside from the fast accelleration at the end.

Star Tours is a fairly tame motion simulator by today's standards. If she's familiar with Star Wars, the theming may help put her at ease. The other motion simulator--Body Wars--is MUCH more intense.

Splash Mountain--many can't stand the thought of that huge drop. Let her decide.

Tower of Terror is also a tough call. As an adult, I think it's a blast. And it really isn't all that intense. But, as CRCrazy said, the ride theming is very intense. You can give it a try and still dash for the exit before you ever get into a ride car.

Dinosaur is, IMO, a VERY intense ride. Fast starts and stops--frightening theming. This is the one ride that I would arbitrarily cross off my list. My son will probably be 8 before I let him on that one.

Take it slowly and don't force anything. That's the one way to guarantee that you will traumatize her is if you force anything for which she is not prepared.

 

[Mickeyluver37]

I think it really depends on the child. My just turned 4 y.o. ds is very daring. We made sure he wore his sneakers so he was exactly 44" and could ride both Mission Space and Space Mountain. He loved Tower of Terror. My 6 y.o. dd is the complete opposite of him. She was terrified to go on Haunted Mansion.

 

[dgaston]

My DD and youngest DS are totally different people. Alyssa loved Space Mountain from the beginning--even when placed in the front seat on her first ride, and Dan went through a phase where he refused TOT, RNR and Splash Mountain (age 9). At 12, he reluctantly went on Splash so I could get a family photo, and rode Kali over and over and over. At 13 he fell in love with everything, and is counting down to October, and his chance to ride Mission Space.

For younger children, I think Dinosaur can be too intense (of course explain it's dark and dinos are chasing us, but Mickey won't let anybody get hurt). I always worry about the young children I see going into Alien Encounter. All of the screaming people could scare anyone, especially in the dark theater with "warm breath" on your neck.

 

[Cindy B]

My daughter is 5, and we just got back yesterday... She rode everything that she was tall enough for..

She rode Tower of Terror, Big Thunder Mountain, Splash Mountain, Space Mountain, Alien Encounter, Test Track, Mission Space (loved MS!), Dinosaur, and Haunted Mansion.

We actually got stuck on Dinosaur and had to be escorted out... and she was fine.. she liked to see the metal rods and stuff that held the dinosaurs up.. (they turned the lights on!)

 

[eeyore0062]

Children vary in their tastes in attractions. I will list the attractions that my DD found scary at that age:

Alien Encounter (of course, I find that one scary!)
Space Mountain
ToT
RnR
Dinosaur
Body Wars
and had it been there when she was 5, she wouldn't have liked Mission:Space, either.

I don't think there is very much that a daring 5 year old can't ride, as long as they meet the height requirements.

 

[crisi]

Mine will be four and five for the next trip. My five year old is a little tentative, my four year old a thrill seeker that pushed the five year old to do things. My four year old is JUST 40 inches.

BTMRR will be closed while we are there. I'd let them do that. Splash will be open, and I'll ride that with them (might even get their "I hate thrill rides" dad on that one.

ToT will be closed as well. I was going to take a wait and see (and probably discourage) that one. Its tucked back in a corner of MGM that we don't get to, so its easy just to never walk by the entrance.

Same with Dinosaur. Its back off the beaten track we usually take in AK. I think we will end up on this one, but I'll save it for late in the trip. I'm not thrilled about it - and I think it will spook my son more than he thinks it will.

Body Wars and Star Tours they will be big enough for, and I think we will let them do both of those, if they want.

They are looking forward to the HM, but I have a feeling they are going to chicken out before they get on it. Even "pretend" ghosts are very real to my kids. Lots of kids do this just fine.

They were a little spooked by Pirates and Maelstrom last time (they were 2 1/2 and 3 1/2) and I expect they will be a little spooked again, but "its just pretend"

 

[jessiesue]

Alien Encounter, Dinosaur, Body Wars, Haunted Mansion, etc. might be scary because of the visual part of the ride.
TOT, RnR, Space Mtn, Test Track, Spalsh Mtn, etc. might be scary because of the physical part of the ride not visual.
Depending on your child's type of fears, will depend on what you might let her ride.

 

[izzy]

This reminds me of a funny story. We went with my brother's family when my nephew was 6. He was fine with everything but the Haunted Mansion. When they took us in the first room, he started crying "Why are you making me do this?" Once he got out of that room and onto the doombuggies, he was OK until the end when they said that a ghost would follow him home.

Unfortunately, that's all the poor kid talked about the rest of the day. He was terrified that a ghost was following him around the park and he kept turning around and looking, regardless of us telling him that the ghost did not follow him out. (And yes, "mean" relatives that we were, we kept trying not laugh. Even my brother and sister-in-law were having a hard time keeping it in.)

Thankful to say that he's now a normal (?) 13 year old boy who would probably scare the heck out of any ghost that dared to follow him around. To this day we still laugh about it and even he thinks its funny.

The moral of this long-winded story is that you never know how your child might react. Here's a kid who could do Alien Encounter and laugh about it, but the Haunted Mansion freaked him out. Just listen to your child and you'll be fine.

 

[stacy6552]

Stay away from Alien Encounter!!!!!!!!!

Aside from that, when in doubt ride it first. Give her a flashlight and let her hide.

The only thing that might look scary, but you must drag her onto is the BuzzLightyear ride.

 

[CamColt]

We are just back with 4 boys, 3, 4, 6, & 6. Some of these kids are pretty daring(1 went on Space, 2 went on TT) and none of them are afraid of bugs. All 4 of them were traumatized on Its Tough To Be A Bug. We ended up having to leave. It was the first thing we did(after only the Safari), so maybe they werent used to all the effects yet, but they all hated it.