So is Snow White scarier than the Haunted Mansion for my child?

[noopy]

I learned a lot from the advice I received after asking about taking my daughter on the HM, but I also read that the Snow White ride is scary, too. What makes it so? Would it be more frightening for my 5-year-old than the HM?

 

[meeko_33785]

Having never ridden either of these rides a child I'm probably not the best judge of this, but as an adult Haunted Mansion still creeps me out. Snow White I would assume would be very frightening for a child as well. I know at that age I wouldn't even watch the movie the witch scarred me so much. I can't imagine what I would do if I was riding through a dark room with her popping out at me when I was 5.

 

[janette]

It's really hard to guess what might scare them. Try to prepare her for rides, kids really don't want to be suprised. Tell them when it's going to be dark.

A friend helped my youngest DD by giving her a small glow in the dark bracelet. Told her when she got a little scared to look at it and know that it everything wasn't all dark. Worked like a charm and she was able to get over her fear of dark rides.

 

[Zippa D Doodah]

I am the father of two young children, one of whom doesn't like SWSA and will not ride HM. Objectively speaking, HM is longer, louder, darker, and more intense. My 6yo DD loves it, but 4yo DS wants nothing to do with it

 

[winniedapooh]

For me my kids all loved HM but youngest DD, when she was 4 hated Snow White, it was that darn witch that scared her! She went back at 5 and did fine. I think as can be seen by previous posters it depends on your child.

 

[dvcsully]

My 4 year old DD loved the HM. She was laughing and smiling when she got off of the ride. She was crying when she got off of Snow White. That was last year. She will be 6 when we go this December and all she can talk about is riding Snow White because at 6, you won't be scared anymore.

 

[Shooby doo]

As the posters above have said it depends on the child,we found that the ones we expected our son to be scared of he wasn't but then was terrified on rides like Pirates!HM is quite loud,so if she doesn't like noises then give it a miss & as for SW iwouldn't say that it was any scarier than the film.
SD

 

[Disney73]

I'm 30 now and still remember being petrified of Snow White when I was 4. I remember towards the end the witch is above us and it looks like she is pushing a huge rock right on top of you..... I still remember the feeling back then and hated it. I had no problem with HM then.

 

[Kevs mom]

We just returned from WDW last week and our friends that were vacationing with us have a 4 year old DD who was scared every time we entered a ride or 3-D movie (she would cry hysterically) but the funny thing is she got on all of those rides and saw all the movies and ended up liking everything, I think it was just the fear of the unknown that frightened her. She told me just yesterday that Peter Pan and Snow White were her favorite rides! She did not ride HM however.

 

[beattyfamily]

My 4 and 7 year olds have done both and have feared both but are fine with both now.

HM is dark, long, and creepy. The stretch room was the worst for my 4 year old but once she expereinced that part once, she was fine after that. She went on it 4 times for the very first time this past December!

SW is dark and has the old hag a lot and that is the reason my DDs gave for not liking it. But there are nice parts too like seeing the dwarfs and Snow White.

Like I said they have no problem with either now but I'd say HM was more scary for them when they were afraid.

 

[mommyflower]

Here's my description of Snow White. It's dark. You ride through the scarier parts of the movie, the queen turning into the witch and making the apple, snow white in the woods, the dwarfs working in the mine then rushing to save snow white, etc. I think there may be scary sound effects. They also show snow white asleep on the wooden bed and her and the prince riding off together. I took my DS in december. He was 2 1/2. We got on it not sure what to expect. Myself I thought it was scary, so I started to talk to my DS to let him know it was just like the movie and in the end snow white would be ok. He ended up loving the ride and wants to go on it again. But when we say the parade and the evil queen came close to him he was afraid, but I think that is because she was real to him.
I hope this helps you decide. Also if I just couldn't decide whether my child would get upset I would skip this ride. It isn't one of the best in the park. Of course if your DD really wants to try it then tell her about it and go for it. You never know with kids.

 

[tink2]

DD4 was so excited the morning we rode Snow White- not about the ride in particular, but about being at WDW. We rode this and it ruined about 2 hours of our morning. At the beginning of the ride, the witch is facing away from you and right as you get to her- she turns around with a cackle- scared the mess out of DD. The witch makes many appearances in this ride- add the darkness and sound effects and it can be pretty scary. My 7 year old niece didn't cry, but she hid her face a lot- and she's ridden it before. DD4 was crying hysterically by the end of this ride. Yes, it ends happily- but by that time she was crying so hard and hiding her face she missed it- and didn't care. We had to ride small world with her about 5 times to get her on anything else. She wouldn't even talk to Ariel when we met her- still had a dazed look on her face. I know all children are different, but unless she really wants to ride this particular ride- I would skip it. She may do fine- but is it worth it? It really ruined the first morning of our trip for DD. We felt so guilty for putting her on it. After that, we didn't even attempt HM. We had to convince her that Mickey gave us a list of all the scary rides when he saw she was crying. We're going back this year, and she still says she never wants to go on that ride again. Several of our friends have gone and made the same mistake- not one of their children liked it and most came out crying. Your DD may do fine- but we sure learned a lesson about our DD!

 

[FatCow]

I remember very clearly that when I was 10, I find HM to be entertaining but SWSA just way too scary for my taste.

Something about the decrepit old witch sending major chills through my spine.

 

[dizagain]

Here's our experience from last May...DD's 6 and 8 were so into the magic of it all. They LOVED HM , even though the 7-yr-old was nervous going in. They didn't even THINK about going on Snow White for some reason. They read the WDW for Kids by Kids book and decided before we ever got there that they weren't riding it! They've never been fond of the Disney movies with witches, so I guess that's why they steered clear. They took HM for the humorous ride that it is and LOVED getting the ghost in their car. Good Luck....Have Fun!

 

[wdw_writers]

Well, when I was 12 years old, I went to WDW for the first time. My mother dragged me onto Snow WHite although i complained I didn't want to go. As soon as the witch popped in front of you, my eyes snapped shut. I refused to open them until the end, when Snow White rode off with the prince. I AM NEVER RIDING THAT AGAIN!

 

[Puffy2]

I have never understood this one. The haunted mansion definately could scare a young child. It's "chilly" and creepy and dark and has scary things in there.

Snow White is rather lame ...it is cartoonish - much like a "haunted ride" for little kids. I didn't think it was a big deal and neither did my young children.