Scary ride strategies

[violentlyserene]

What are your strategies for handling rides that are potentially scary? My twins will be 2 1/2 when we go. For the most part, I think theyll love everything but I'm not sure what to do about rides they are nervous about or ones that I know might scare them. Do you save those for last? Go on them early and follow with a loved ride? What rides have your little kids been scared of? Any weird surprises I should be prepared for?

I guess this also goes for characters. One will have to be dragged kicking and screaming away from Minnie, Olaf and the princesses after an initial adjustment (we've tested this on giant characters at a Halloween maze) and I have no idea how the other will respond. He's more nervous about new things. We're planning a character meal for sure, would you recommend to do that early in the week or later? We're planning either 4 or 5 days just for DLR so plenty of time

 

[Pesky]

YOU.TUBE. It is your friend. Use it for rides, both safe and scary, and to show characters meeting people. Things that are familiar are less scary and gives you an opportunity to say "oh, we saw this. This is where we go for a little drop and whee! That was fun." to help alleviate any rising panic. Also you can fish out if something is going to bug them. Like turns out DS HATED getting wet. Not empirically but just because he didn't like his clothes getting wet and wanted his swimsuit on instead. Easy fix that I wish I'd known before getting him onto DLR's version of Kali River Rapids.

First off, at the park, I'd definitely start with a dark ride that is safe and non-scary. Peter Pan, IASW, the Honeypot ride and the like. Be sure they know it is dark but explain that is so they can see stuff and kind of turn it into an "I spy" game. As long as you are relaxed, that should help them too.

Scarier rides like HM -- I'd consider finding a youtube video and seeing how they react. I kept reassuring DS that it wasn't too scary and I thought he would like it. I did warn him that as we went down in the stretching room, it was really a big elevator but people didn't know that and then they would turn out all the lights and try to scare people but I would hold him and it would be okay. I did and laughed when they turned out the lights. I think my enjoying it and showing him it was funny and not scary made it okay (he loves it now).

I probably wouldn't force them on really scary rides and follow their lead -- they aren't interested, don't push it. Have fun!

 

[StirlingSilver83]

I did lots of you tube with my older so last year for the scarier rides. This year he's older and he's mr macho and not scared of anything (rolls eyes) lol. But I do find myself again doing the you tube thing with my younger son who is only 18 months but I am doing it for the character meet and greets.

Even though he's only 18 months he's obsessed with Anna and Elsa and Mickey lol. So A&E is a must do and talking Mickey is also another must do. He gets so excited when I put you tube on and show the meet and greets specially the A&E ones lol. My worry with that meet and greet is he's not going to want to leave and I am going to have to carry him out kicking and screaming. That's how much he loves them. Anyways definitely check out you tube it's your best friend to check out everything Disney lol

 

[tina.tina]

You Tube is definitely the way to go.

While you're actually at WDW, a lot depends on how you present it. DS(5.5 then) rode POTC with DH and was scared to death. They were in a different boat and I had to holler at DH to cover DS's ears and calm him down.
DS rode Snow White with me and I told him every time we saw the witch we had to laugh because we knew Snow White & the dwarves would defeat her in the end. He looked forward to seeing the witch rather than having it be a scary thing. He giggled during the whole ride, but DD(10) rode with DH and didn't like that one because of the witch.

DS was never afraid of Chuck E Cheese or any other mascot type of thing. But, he did not warm up to the characters until closer to the end of our trip.

 

[Feberin]

We started with a ride we knew my son would love TSM. He is obcessed with Toy Story so we knew he'd enjoy it. We watched some videos before the trip but not for all the rides. We also watched the free Disney DVD that showed bits and pieces of some rides. My son was nervous with just about every single ride before we rode it. For the most part he loved them afterwards. We didn't push any of the rides with height restrictions even though he was tall enough for Soarin', Test Track and Splash Mountain and we'd originally planned to do them with him. Before a ride we calmed him down as best as possible and offered to hold hands. The only ride that he ended up really not liking was Maelstrom. At four we knew he wouldn't have issue with the characters and that proved true except for Chewbacca (we went for a Star Wars Weekend).
My daughter was just under two years old for the trip. We did nothing to prepare her for the rides and she loved them all. She was nervous about meeting characters but having an autograph book helped since she really wanted their autographs, which got her up next to them for a picture. We did a character meal the second day of our trip but it was more based on when we could get a reservation then picking that day in particular. We sat her so her back was to the characters as they walked around just incase she got scared. She only really was bothered by Goofy and even then she didn't actually start crying just wanted nothing to do with him.

 

[violentlyserene]

You tube is great. I've showed them a few clips. When it gets closer, I'll show them the rides so we can talk about it. I'm hoping the characters appearances will be familiar by the time we get there but how much that will help is a wild guess. The more nervous of them does better with familiarity so it's worth a shot. I have. feelings most of his pictures will be on playgrounds and trains.

 

[msmama]

Just remember that's there is plenty of stuff to do at Disney even if you don't ride lots of rides. That's my mantra to myself with my son who is afraid of his own shadow, lol.

Like someone else said, it depends how you present things. I never presented anything as being scary. The ghosts at the he haunted mansion are cool! The Pirates are super fun. I find if I act happy then my son is less likely to be scared.

We actually have the problem that the has ridden everyThing once and now he's built things up in his mind so much he thinks they are scarier than they are. I also found that as long as I could snuggle my scary he was fine. Good luck!

Also, I found crystal palace best for first characters. Who could possibly no like pooh and friends?

 

[Thing 1]

Be careful not to plant any idea that something might be scary, when your child may not have even considered it could be scary. U-tube can be helpful, but it can also backfire. Sometimes the video can be a bit dark and really make the ride seem scary and sometimes you hear people on the rides making reaction noises that you child may interpret as fear. Two is just at the cusp of relating fear with things like ghost. If they know ghost are suppose to be scary, they might be scared of HM. If not, its just going to be another ride. I found a quick description of the ride just before we boarded worked well. "We are going to see some pirates doing all kinds of exciting things. We might even see some pretend fire but of course we are completely safe in our boat." As the boat starts out. "Now in just a minute our boat is going down a little hill, it's really neat and we might even feel a little spash!". Sometimes kids are afraid of things you would never have thought of warning them about, like the woozels on the Pooh ride. Yep.....that was mine! Just keep taking and reassuring and it will be just fine.

 

[DisneyRegulars]

I personally don't really like the idea of watching YouTube video of rides. There's something magical about your very first time on a ride, and I think that would be diminished by having seen the ride and all the surprises before experiencing it in person.

When our son was 2.5 he went on everything and the only things that scared him were the carousel (bizarre fear of ride on toys) and Mickey's Philharmagic. Every 3-D thing that jumped out at him scared him to death. Other than those two things, everything that he was tall enough for he really loved. It's only now at age 4.5 and 5 that he has started to get scared of things.

My son also hated the characters until almost age 4. So I think scheduling your character meal for later in the week is definitely a good strategy.

 

[AlexisMaxMommy]

You need to think about what is best for your kids. YouTube will give them a better idea of what to expect, and if they are acting apprehensive, find something else to do. There are plenty of options that aren't "scary."