Rides too scary for my almost 4 year old?

[ksheridan14]

My family is going on our first WDW vacation in October. My kids will be 8 (boy)and almost 4 (girl) years old. My girl is pretty tall for her age- she will be 40 inches". This is great bc she will be able to ride a lot of rides, but I am wanting some feedback on if some rides will be too scary for her... In general, she is pretty adventurous, but I don't want to freak her out on a ride especially since this will be my 1st time and I don't know what to expect.

Opinions needed on the following:
Soarin
Test Track
Maelstrom
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
Great Movie Ride
Pirates of the Caribean
7 Dwarfs Mine Train

Thanks for your input!

 

[Robo]

My family is going on our first WDW vacation in October. My kids will be 8 (boy)and almost 4 (girl) years old. My girl is pretty tall for her age- she will be 40 inches". This is great bc she will be able to ride a lot of rides, but I am wanting some feedback on if some rides will be too scary for her... In general, she is pretty adventurous, but I don't want to freak her out on a ride especially since this will be my 1st time and I don't know what to expect.

Opinions needed on the following:
Soarin
Test Track
Maelstrom
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
Great Movie Ride
Pirates of the Caribean
7 Dwarfs Mine Train

Thanks for your input!

Speaking in the most general terms...
All of the above should be just FINE for most 4-5 year olds.

Only you know your kids, but of the list above, nothing is so outrageous that it
should be of major concern.

The Great Movie Ride has a scene from Alien that can be
somewhat stressful.
Some parents tell their kids to "close your eyes and hold your ears"
during that scene (it runs about 60-90 seconds) and that's that.

Have fun!!

 

[matheke]

You never know how any child will react to any ride. I saw a 9 yo boy balling his eyes out in Tomorrowland because his mother took him on something that scared the daylights out of him. Stitch? no. SM, no. Buzz Lightyear was the culprit.

The only ride that may get scary is the Maelstrom. My friends daughter got scared by the Big Troll and the ride can be very dark in places.

I would explain to your daughter that it is OK to get scared and that can be part of the fun. I also would let her know that you are there and wouldn't let anything hurt her and that she can always hold you hand if she is scared.

Most times a little reassurance is all that is needed.

 

[FutureDis]

This was my son, when he turned 4:

Soarin - Loved it
Test Track - Loved it
Maelstrom - Scared
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad - His first coaster. Held on for dear life. Liked it, but didn't LOVE it.
Great Movie Ride - Didn't go on it.
Pirates of the Caribean - Liked it. Some parts scared him a TINY bit, not used to dark ride.
7 Dwarfs Mine Train - Would think if ok with BTMR, great with this (maybe do this first to see how it goes?)

 

[lauraleh]

My daughter is 3.5 but almost 40 inches. If she grows enough in the next few months, we are thinking about doing Soarin and Splash Mountain with her. We will definitely do Pirates, Maelstrom, GMR, and 7DMT. She's done Pirates and GMR before and wasn't bothered at all. We have watched a few Youtube videos (including Dinosaur even though we aren't planning on riding it) and discussed that it is all pretend.

 

[bdcp]

The rides that I have seen the most under 6 year olds have problems with are It's tough to be a bug in AK and Stitch's great escape in MK. In both we have seen/heard 4-5 year olds screaming and brought out. The ones you mentioned should be fine.

Soarin-fun shouldn't be an issue
Test Track- fast in one spot, but not scary
Maelstrom-not scary, just one little surprise
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad -fast, might be an issue for some
Great Movie Ride-very benign
Pirates of the Caribean-my boys at 3.5 and 5.5 loved it
7 Dwarfs Mine Train-no idea. opened after our last trip but it seems pretty benign too.

 

[Robo]

Great Movie Ride-very benign

Are you considering the Alien sequence?

 

[DisneyFoodieFan]

My daughter is 3.5 and 40 inches and loved ALL of those rides! But, she does not scare easily at all. Only you know your child best, so it is hard for any of us to say, but I think she should be fine.

 

[poooh]

The Great Movie Ride has that alien scene that still stresses me. There's also a shoot out mafia scene that might scare a young one.

I wouldn't think Soarin' wouldn't be a problem at all. Even if they're afraid of heights you can't really tell how high up you are.

A lot of kids can be scared by Maelstrom because of the trolls but I rode it when I was 5 and loved it.

 

[ses1230]

Out of your list the only one that scared my DDs at that age was GMR.

 

[KimBean]

My family is going on our first WDW vacation in October. My kids will be 8 (boy)and almost 4 (girl) years old. My girl is pretty tall for her age- she will be 40 inches". This is great bc she will be able to ride a lot of rides, but I am wanting some feedback on if some rides will be too scary for her... In general, she is pretty adventurous, but I don't want to freak her out on a ride especially since this will be my 1st time and I don't know what to expect. Opinions needed on the following: Soarin Test Track Maelstrom Big Thunder Mountain Railroad Great Movie Ride Pirates of the Caribean 7 Dwarfs Mine Train Thanks for your input!

Yes to Soarin, maelstrom, great movie ride those for sure.

Haven't done 7DMT so don't know about that.

If she isn't scared of dark pirates is fine.

Wouldn't do mountain or test track at that age.

My DD went at 3 and 4.

 

[KimBean]

Are you considering the Alien sequence?

Great reminder here. Make sure you know when it is, have your kid look down, have to look up to see it.

 

[HM]

My DD turned four before our first trip. She tried every ride.
The ones she didn't want to do again or said she didn't like were: Haunted Mansion and Tower of Terror. She loved BTMMR and Splash Mtn.

 

[Robo]

Great reminder here. Make sure you know when it is, have your kid look down, have to look up to see it.

Actually there are TWO "jump-out scares" in the Alien scene.

One coming at you from the CEILING.
One coming at you from the right SIDE.

 

[Ochio]

It all goes back to "knowing" your kids. My kids/grandkids did fine on all of those rides(not including the new 7DMT they didn't experience). But on our trip earlier this month we had three cousins, 3 and 6 years old, with us that seemed frightened of anything with a villain or darkness in it. I'm wondering if they had been more familiar with the movies if it would have been less frightening for them.

 

[sparkylauren]

My two year old son rode Pirates and loved it last week. I felt he would be scared of Maelstrom and the Alien scene of The Great Movie Ride so he opted out of those and did character meet and greets during that time instead with my husband. He wasn't tall enough for Soarin', but my niece was also tall for 4. She rode Soarin', Test Track, The Great Movie Ride (but was TERRIFIED of the Alien scene), and the mountains.

You know your girl better than we do. Be straight-forward with her and let her decide if she's up to it.

 

[jtowntoflorida]

As others have stated, every child is different. Even my own two kids are scared of different rides for various irrational (IMO, from an adult's perspective ) reasons. On our last trip, my 3 (almost 4 year old at the time) only did two of the rides on your list: Soarin' and Pirates. With Soarin', he was nervous at first, but seemed to enjoy it until the fireworks sequence at the end, but he's not a fan of fireworks in general. Pirates is one of our favorite rides and we do it multiple times every trip, so it wasn't an issue at all.

As for the others...Mine Train wasn't open yet, we never got around to Maelstrom and The Great Movie ride (FP+ and MBs had just been rolled out to all the resorts, but legacy FP was still in place and everything with FP/FP+ was pretty glitchy that week, especially at Epcot and DHS, and there were super long lines for both Maelstrom and the Great Movie ride, so we just skipped them), and when he saw BTMRR he refused to go on it. Now, I think his refusal was due to my oldest telling him it was scary (she's not much of a thrill rider), but I think he would have enjoyed it had I been able to get him on it.

 

[tink20]

I know this isn't on your list, but Dinosaur at AK can be scary to some.

 

[SillySallySews]

When mine was four she loved everything. I think for an adventurous kid most of these are fine. I can't comment on Test Track or SDMT since I haven't done either. But I wouldn't hesitate to ask her if she wants to go on all the rest.

One thing we find very helpful is watching videos of the rides on YouTube. I have yet to find a ride at Disney that someone hasn't video taped from start to finish and shared on YouTube. Sometimes the husband and I watch and make the call ourselves, and sometimes we let the kids watch the whole thing or just a clip and decide on their own. And heck, sometimes we just watch the videos together when we're missing our favorites!

 

[grimley1968]

- Soarin': not scary at all, but the effects of it can be surprising. A little information before the ride could be needed, but she should enjoy it.
- TT: also not scary, except for a slight thrill during the fast part. I always told my kids when they were younger on this ride that we drove faster on I-75 coming down, which seemed to help a little bit.
- Maelstrom: not very scary. Some kids might be bothered by the trolls (my girls always loved them). When it seems like you're going to go backward where the boat backs up to that opening, it might be good to have her eyes facing forward.
- BTMRR: in my opinion, this is the tamest of the mountains. If she can handle the Barnstormer (or whatever it's called now), she can handle this. Both my DDs were tall for their age and were riding this at about that age.
- GMR: I'd echo what others have said about the Alien scene.
- POTC: the drop in the dark can be kind of scary for first time riders. A little forewarning can make this much easier. Otherwise it's a great ride for all ages.
- 7DMT: haven't been on it yet.