Spider Phobia

[KristiB]

I have a son with a sincere phobia of spiders. He is quite nervous about even visiting the state of Florida because the deadly brown recluse lives there. We will be at WDW for three days in mid-October.

I would like to avoid spider encounters (real or fake) at the parks, if possible. Are there certain attractions where spiders are featured or shown? Any general advice about steering clear of them?

Thank you!

 

[pooh4evr]

Animal Kingdom- Tough to be a Bug- avoid avoid avoid. There are HUGE fake spiders that drop from the ceiling.

I can't think - There might be some on Haunted Mansion.

 

[Mousemommy1]

Animal Kingdom- Tough to be a Bug- avoid avoid avoid. There are HUGE fake spiders that drop from the ceiling.

I can't think - There might be some on Haunted Mansion.

This! It's Tough to be a Bug has huge spiders!!! Even my kids who are not spider phobic scream and cry!

And have him not look in the trees....we saw several giant spiderwebs (with their residents) in the trees in some of the parks.

 

[Skrabadoo]

I'm extremely spider phobic as well. I did see some on the boats from Wilderness lodge to the MK. The smaller boats were the worst. They keep everything neat an swept for the most part in the parks. You may want to avoid atom Sawyers Island though

 

[msmama]

I think there might be some spiders in Animal Kingdom. In the buildings on the trails and there are insects (probably spiders) And maybe pictures of spiders at the conservationist station.

I have a spider phobia too, as does my son and we have never really had any problems at WDW.

 

[KristiB]

Sheesh - It's Tough to be a Bug sounds like a NIGHTMARE. Thanks so much! I am really praying he doesn't look in the trees and see them, as someone mentioned. I'm hoping there will be so many fun things to do once we're there that this worry will fade into the background.

Thanks everybody!

 

[momto3pirates]

We saw a big banana spider a few years ago when we were running around Tom Sawyer Island. I hate spiders and it freaked me out.

 

[KristiB]

Oh, man, REALLY?? I wanted to have a picnic lunch on Tom Sawyer island...

 

[ToddyLu]

My DH has a phobia of spiders also. Yes, Its tough to be a bug does freak him out a little but he keeps his eyes closed so I can watch it. I keep my eyes closed on Haunted Mansion--the attic and bride are my phobias. There is a small house with several snakes and spiders in glass cages ( like at most zoos) on one of the trails in the to back of AK. Just ask one of the CMs before you enter Pangani if that is the trail with the spider house. DH just looks up and walks right through. You HAVE to go through this house to get to the other side of the trail. Also there is a brightly colored spider in Buzz Lightyear according to DH--since he is my expert. You hit several of the targets on the spider to get points.

Both Haunted Mansion and Tower of Terror are going to have spider webs on the lighting and stuff.

 

[HopperFan]

Fake tarantula in a box just before you load the boats on the Jungle Cruise and also more in the "tunnel/cave" part of the cruise.

 

[ToddyLu]

Fake tarantula in a box just before you load the boats on the Jungle Cruise and also more in the "tunnel/cave" part of the cruise.

ooooo yeah I forgot about him...would the CM maybe let you go through another line if you told them about his fear. I mean they could see where you would start in line and when those people got on you could come in from the side. Just let them know you do not mind waiting and he really wants to ride it.

 

[ToddyLu]

Whoops, didnt read the whole sentence I guess that one is off the table then....DH has never made a comment about those in the tunnel....hmmmm

 

[ToddyLu]

Are there any spiders in that scene in The Land where there are other big bugs are on the leaves in the rain forest? I just remember beetles and butterflies.

 

[KristiB]

I think Jungle Cruise is okay because we went on it 4 years ago. However, I don't remember the tarantula in the box, but maybe we can avoid that.

 

[GOOFY4DONALD]

I think Jungle Cruise is okay because we went on it 4 years ago. However, I don't remember the tarantula in the box, but maybe we can avoid that.

the tarantula in a box is so over the top fake looking that I was able to coach my ds on how it's just a fake puppet so by the time he saw it face to face he was laughing. Yes it's hairy and yes it moves but it's not very realistic.

 

[Bluegrrl]

RE: spiders in hotels and such
I have never seen a recluse or anything like that in the hotels. They keep the rooms very clean, and to see a recluse or other is difficult.

Most of those guys live in nooks and crannies of closets and stuff. They do like to live in shoes, hence most bites are on toes and stuff. (So very reassuring, right?!) One tip: leave your shoes in the room, not closet, and if you are really scared, put your shoes in zip locked bags. Always shake out close-toed shoes, especially if you left them in the closet for an extended length of time.

But recluses, widows and others, while ground dwellers, are not inherently agressive, just defensive.

But those wolf spiders - man, those puppies scare me! And the palmetto roaches (flying roaches) are much more frightening!

 

[2005michelle83]

Oh man...this is something I never even considered until now!

 

[quakechicago]

My kiddo has a lot of fears, but hers are mostly SPD sound related, and my DH is scared of heights so I understand when you say phobia.

I'd avoid Stitch too if a trigger is something touching you. And probably the Haunted Mansion and possibly Pirates for the cobwebs if that's part of the fear.

I hate bugs. They squick me.

And they adore me.

I'm the one who ALWAYS gets bit. Was bit pretty bad a couple of months ago in bed, luckily my kiddo who cosleeps with me was not but I had a terrible allergic reaction to the bites that lead to an asthma attack and then extra time visiting my allergist. Sigh.

We have both wolf and brown recluse plus the black widow here in Chicago and they're common. Our condo is currently covered in spiders because the current person in charge reset the outdoor lighting so it's completely lit up and there's lots of buzzing night bugs for them to eat. It's like a gauntlet for me to walk inside. Or out. I try to keep calm so I don't pass my horror to our 3 yo but it's really hard to do. They suspected it was a brown recluse that bit me.

So for me, the only good thing about a long brutal winter that is projected is we'll have months free of them.

You might want to get a blacklight flashlight to check out the room for your son before you check in so he feels it's safe (I do this anyway because of the possibility of bedbugs. I swear bugs LOVE me and I'm not bringing that nightmare home!). You can also pick up one or five of those bug noise plug in things that are supposed to keep bugs away. Not sure if it really will, but he can believe it, right? And peppermint scent is supposed to repel spiders so if it helps him, maybe a scented spray? Worst thing is you'll have a minty-scented kid who feels secure.

Fair warning, we saw several random spiders at Animal kingdom with pretty impressive webs when we were walking around.

And also 2 snakes at Epcot. My 3 yo was most impressed with them all. Good luck to you. I know fears are super hard.

 

[hsmamato2]

I would honestly say this(and I have a spider phobia also) spiders live EVERYWHERE. Don't worry overmuch about spiders in WDW vs. other places in regular life. Try to be as 'cool' as possible about things yourself, and hopefully your son will learn to let things roll off his back also.... Just let him know there are no worse spiders at WDW than pretty much anywhere(my backyard deck,YEESH) and avoid the rides that highlight them, like that bug movie thing,which is skeevy for bug haters.....

 

[MandiC]

Ditto HSmama, my girls are scared of bugs, I wouldn't call it a phobia but we honestly so rarely saw any real bugs anywhere on WDW property and we often went off the beaten path because they loved the little lizards on the plants. I didn't do It's Tough to be a Bug because of the reviews, I knew that would just be too much for us and it doesn't sound pleasant anyways
You definitely aren't any more likely to see any kind of spider there than anywhere else