Small Children on Splash Mountain

[Woodmnky]

My son just turned 3 and he is 42 inches tall (without shoes on), so he is well over the minimum height requirement for Splash Mountain. However, I am very nervous about taking him on it. I'm worried that I won't feel secure with him on the ride. I have heard parents making the same complaint about BTMR. For parents of other tall younger children, did you feel secure with the situation? A 3yo doesn't have the same muscle control as a 5 yo and physically is not as well developed reguardless of height.

I am only considering this because DS is asking to go on the ride and we plan to try Barnstormer first to get a better idea, but he generally is very fond of things that go fast.

 

[rapunzels]

Just hold on to him if it will make you feel better. As a mama bear, I still lay my arm on my girls when on BMTR ride... they hate it, and I have to wait till the actual fast parts, when they are too giddy to notice.. Sometimes, I still do it on the big drop on SM. He will be fine, especially now that they have added the lap bar. Your 3 year old will be fine.

 

[CoreyGirl]

My daughter rode BTMR when she was 3 1/2 - she was well over the height requirement and loves fast things. She saw it and was excited. I was a little nervous as the train was pulling out of the station, wondering what I had been thinking! But she LOVED it! I did put my arm around her to hold her a little more securely. I also scooted over so I was taking up a little more of her room, to try to give her less room to wiggle around. She ended up riding 7 times over the course of that visit and still lists it as one of her favorite rides.
She rode Splash Mountain the next year, at age 4 1/2 and loved it as well. Once again, I did try to brace her a bit on the drop, just for peace of mind.
Do what feels best for you, though!

 

[ibela]

Yep, ds4 last summer had a bunch of firsts and every ride I put my arm across him. He was too busy having fun to notice or care. I still put my arm across dd7, have a picture on SM from last year where I'm holding on with 1 hand and have my other hand in front of her while she has both hands up in the air screaming and laughing.

 

[CoreyGirl]

Yep, ds4 last summer had a bunch of firsts and every ride I put my arm across him. He was too busy having fun to notice or care. I still put my arm across dd7, have a picture on SM from last year where I'm holding on with 1 hand and have my other hand in front of her while she has both hands up in the air screaming and laughing.

That's what our picture looks like, too! DD screaming and so happy, and me making sure she's safe. That's what moms are for, right?

 

[3Gsandme]

I make sure my Skinny Minnie four year old tucks into me, meaning she snuggles in under my arm and I keep it around her the whole time. I think she's fine, but that's for my peace of mind. I think if you're nervous, I'd tell the kiddo he's not big enough yet and let it go.

 

[Woodmnky]

I make sure my Skinny Minnie four year old tucks into me, meaning she snuggles in under my arm and I keep it around her the whole time. I think she's fine, but that's for my peace of mind. I think if you're nervous, I'd tell the kiddo he's not big enough yet and let it go.

We may try the snuggle technique. Being that it is just the one big drop I'm not nearly as nervous about Splash as I would be about BTMR. I really just needed some reassurance from other parents about how it went.

 

[rapunzels]

That's what our picture looks like, too! DD screaming and so happy, and me making sure she's safe. That's what moms are for, right?

tehe, I have a picture of my daughter and I on ToT, she was screaming with excitement and fear at the same time,.. I was holding on to her, and she had a grip on my arm and shirt... when we went to look at the photo, she had been holding my shirt soo tight, I had a wardrobe malfunction. Of course, it wasn't so funny then, but now years later,..

 

[dc1969]

That is a tall 3yr old, wow!

I sat my 4yr old down and let her watch the video's on youtube of the rides she's tall enough for and asked her if they looked scary or not. Of course, standing in the park next to the HUGE ride is definitely different, but at least I can gauge what she may & may not want to go on. I'm definitely tucking her into me too, more for my own peace of mind and the mama bear in me!

 

[puffkin]

My DS is very tall (off the charts). He was 40" on our trip when he was 2.5 and he rode all the 40" rides (even ToT) with no problem. On Splash he was fine (I think I did put my hand on his knee by instinct) and that was in the pre lapbar days on that ride. On any type of roller coaster, he tends to just let his body whip around (he is truly a daredevil) so usually one of us rests our arm behind him so if he whips his head back he doesn't hit the seat. That is about the only extra precautions we take with him though, and BTMRR isn't nearly as bad as some of the local coasters he was riding at a really early age.

 

[BuckeyeBama]

Both of my boys rode Splash before their third birthdays - not a problem. One was a bit heavier, but one was super skinny. We din't hold on to them - just watched to make sure that they remained seated.

BTMRR was tougher because of the sharp turns at speed. Had to work not to squish them when they were on the outside on those curves.

 

[jtowntoflorida]

Our son was 3 on our last trip and had just hit 40 inches. His first ride on Splash gave us a priceless picture...it was excitement yet pure terror wrapped into one. We got off the ride and he was totally breathless. We asked him if he was OK, and she said "That. was. AWESOME. Let's go again!" LOL.

I don't have any fears that my kids are going to go flying out of any rides. They're engineered and over-engineered to make sure that doesn't happen. Like some of the others mentioned, I do tend to snuggle with my little one on rides that whip around at all (TSMM is one of them) just so that he doesn't hit his head because none of those ride vehicles are padded.

 

[lovemy4sweeties]

tehe, I have a picture of my daughter and I on ToT, she was screaming with excitement and fear at the same time,.. I was holding on to her, and she had a grip on my arm and shirt... when we went to look at the photo, she had been holding my shirt soo tight, I had a wardrobe malfunction. Of course, it wasn't so funny then, but now years later,..

Wardrobe malfunction hahaha!

 

[rapunzels]

My dads cousin was one of the imagineers for SM, when it opened at Disneyland in 1989. He showed us some of the videos they took while building it, testing the logs, ect, .. some of the funniest was seeing how many men (for weight limits) it would take to tip the log, if someone was rocking it.. so funny. Anyway, if everyone saw all of the testing, retesting, confirming, ect, that went on for all of the rides, they would feel safe on all of the rides. Trust Disney that they have the height requirements in place for a reason, and that all will be good. (..cept I still don't like riding RnR)

side note - my dads cousin video'd the ride right before they opened it to the public.. it's a neat memory to see that video.. as he came up on the big drop, and came through the tunnel, you could see the enormous line of people waiting for the ride to open. It was neat to "ride" the ride through the video, especially knowing the public had not seen it yet, while he was filming it.

 

[Mousemommy1]

You can easily wrap your arms around your little one to make him feel more secure.

My youngest is teeny tiny and has done even Space Mountain, where she has to sit alone and she is fine with it.

On Splash Mountain, even though I am "holding" her....she always throws her arms up in the air on the big hill!

 

[DebbieB]

Think about it this way - no kid has ever fallen out. If it was possible, it would have happened in the over 20 years it has been in operation. The reason they added the lap bar was because people were intentionally getting out of log.

 

[3Gsandme]

We may try the snuggle technique. Being that it is just the one big drop I'm not nearly as nervous about Splash as I would be about BTMR. I really just needed some reassurance from other parents about how it went.

I hope I didn't sound snarky! The snuggle move should keep your little one from whipping around too much.

 

[ibela]

That's what our picture looks like, too! DD screaming and so happy, and me making sure she's safe. That's what moms are for, right?

I have an even funnier pic on TT. After several of the "big" rides, ds couldn't get enough so I figured let's go on TT, dd7's favorite ride. Since it's a 3 seater row, the kids asked to sit together and dd7 said (on her own) that she'd put her arm across him. I told ds4 to sit in the middle seat and dh and I sat behind them. On the big turn, the single rider in their row threw HER arm across the bar too, then apologized when we got to the end and said it was just instinct since he was about her son's height. My ds didn't notice or care about that either, loved all the rides that were new for him that trip and we're looking forward to this summer for sure!