Space Mountain, Big Thunder Railroad for 6 year old? Advice please : )

[frijolefrito]

Well it's important to push your kids but in a healthy way. Space is the scariest so I'd try that one last. My sister pushed her kid to go on it and she hated it. So it's how you talk em into it. Showing them what it's like is a good idea and pointing out things like. Lets go be jet pilots or rocket men or whatever. Very important to get them to do it on there terms. Also you can say stuff like mickey (or any of their favorite toons) rode this ride and he says it's fun.

 

[kiwitravel]

When we took my 5 almost 6 year old, we started with the smallest rollercoaster and worked our way up. First we did Gadgets, then Matterhorn, then Big Thunder, Space, and lastly Screaming. His favorite ride was Screaming, he cannot wait to go back this summer to rde his favorites again. So I would try BTMRR first, then Space, you never know, he might like Screaming too.

We did the same... Have him sit in your lap on Matahorn and do the FL side as it is a little slower, then BTMRR from the front, it is way slower at the front, then Space from the back, Space only seems fast because of the dark, at the back you can see where the car is going to go and it makes the ride a lot tamer...

If you have time then take him on BTMRR from nearer the back, if he is feeling brave then take him on splash but sit with him at the back on the side by side seat. Leave Cal Scream to last and do it from the back...

 

[Mama Who]

My son did BTMRR over and over at that age but did NOT like Space for several more years.

 

[jessredrabbit]

Like people have said before I would try BTMR first and if he likes it then give space mountain a go. Personally I think Indiana Jones is scarier for little kids than space mountain because of the snakes, skeletons, etc. but if he is excited to do that then I think everything else should be fine.

 

[pixiewings71]

When DD11 was 6 we went to DLR for the first time. She did not do Space but she loved Big Thunder, Indy, ToT and she LOVED Splash...she rode in the very front of the log and she LOVED it!!! lol She rode Space the following year and said she wished she'd done it the year before.

 

[taaren]

DS4 wants to go on Space until he looks into the dark tunnel then chickens out at the last minute, but is okay on Big Thunder. Still trying to talk him into Splash but he doesn't like the look of the dark entrance to that either. He wants to go on Screaming and Grizzly bc they are out in the open and to him speed/heights/upside-down is great as long as you can see where you're going so hoping he'll meet the height requirement soon. Great as the switch-pass is, I'm looking forward to riding all together again in a year or so ...
It really depends on what your child's fears are if they have any. If speed is a fear, probably stay away from Space and Screaming. If height is a fear then your culprits are Space/Splash/Screaming/Soaring. If darkness is the fear then its Space mainly. Big Thunder would be if they don't like being whip-lashed, if they don't have any of these fears you should be fine on all.

 

[starshine514]

We took our (then) 5-yr-old to WDW last year. She rode BTMRR, SM (twice), ToT and Dinosaur. She loved BTMRR and SM, but hated both ToT and Dinosaur. I think ToT was just too spooky for her and that she didn't like the dinosaur in her face. So, I'm not sure if she's going to like Indy next month (next month! Yea!) since people have compared it to Dinosaur.

 

[danceanddisney2010]

When i was 6 i LOVED splash mountain. like wanted to ride it OVER and OVER again kind of love. Big Thunder was okay .. i loved the ride until we hit that one section where all the walls are shaking. But overall i enjoyed it . I don't think I rode space mountain yet... but indiana jones ...um i HATED that ride. It scared me SOOOOO bad. all the visuals and the jerkiness made me not want to go back on the rest of that trip!!

 

[jacs1234]

My boys LOVE Big Thunder Mountain RR. It's soooooooooooooo fun. Dh and I love it too, especially at night, and we love to do the goat trick
My dd will be 5 this year and is 41 1/2 inches so she'll be tall enough to ride. I think she'll love it because she loves the matterhorn. My boys aren't too fussed on space mountain though. Maybe they'll like it better this year.

 

[PineapplePrincessCA]

My kids were 5 1/2, 4, and just under 3 the first time they went on Space Mountain. The older kids liked it, but the 3 year old didn't.

They were 6, 5 1/2, and 3 1/2 when they went on Big Thunder for the first time. They all loved it.

 

[starshine514]

My boys LOVE Big Thunder Mountain RR. It's soooooooooooooo fun. Dh and I love it too, especially at night, and we love to do the goat trick

What's the goat trick?

 

[eblarios]

Yeah...I want to know too. What is the goat trick? I'll be there in 2 days and after all the replies on this board I am surely going to try my 6 year old on the BMTRR first.

 

[Piglet99645]

It's so crazy how all kids are different. When my son was 5 he would not even consider rides like space mountain or anything even remotely fast or scary or high!!

My daughter is now 5, and she can't wait to do all those rides at Disney! (We'll see in June how that works out...)

I would suggest warming up with some smaller rides first and make sure they go ok.

 

[KTR]

I just got back from Disneyland and took my 4 year old on Space Mountain and Big Thunder. She absolutely loved them! We did Ride Switch so she went on them back to back. She did Tower of Terror too and loved that as well. The only ride in the park that scared her too much was Haunted Mansion. My 2 year old did Matterhorn and loved that too. I was actually more surprised that he handled Matterhorn than my 4 year old loved Space Mountain.

 

[eblarios]

Okay I am back from Disneyland and wanted to let everyone know that my 6 year old absolutely loved, loved, loved Space Mountain and BTMRR! He rode them each 3 times and he even got on California Screaming, but he did not really like that a bit too scary for him. Thanks for all the great advice, I did start him out on BTMRR first and since he loved it he wanted to try the Space Mountain ride. We had a blast! : )

 

[summer0407]

My son has been going on all the rides since he was 5 1/2 he loves coasters so once he was tall enough he was all for it. We did Screamin for the first time in Dec. and he loved it. It is his favorite now. I think each child is different glad he had fun!

 

[frijolefrito]

Oh wow, splash mountain and tower of terror at 6! Even I am scared of tower of terror. Okay I will definetly start with Big thunder mountain if he does well on that then we will go for Space mountain.

Thanks for the advice everyone! Hearing many others have taken their kids on these rides makes me think mine can handle and like them too.

LOL It was the Tower of terror remark.

 

[frijolefrito]

OH I think the goat trick is look for the goat?

 

[starry_solo]

Both should be fine. I first went to DL when I was 5 years old (many years ago) and rode both BTM and Space Mountain.

 

[cheesemouse]

This is all very helpful! Can anyone tell me what the seating arrangement is for Space Mountain and Matterhorn? I think this will be a big factor in determining whether my DS5 rides each of those rides. If he can sit NEXT to me either side to side or front to back then it will probably be fine. But, if they are front to back but physically separate, then we'd probably have a problem. You know what I mean???