"starter roller coaster?"

[disneylaura55]

hi everyone...we are leaving in 2 weeks!

this is the first year my son will be big enough to do the "big kid" rides...including the roller coasters...he is SOOO excited and wants to do them all.....but i dont know how he will handle it

what "big kid" rides are the best/easiest...anything i should avoid that your little big kids hated? thanks

PS -- my hubby and i both HATE roller coasters so i know we wont like any of them!

 

[DisneyBliss7]

My 7 yo boys went on Space Mt, Thunder Mt, Slash, Mount Everest and loved them! They aren't upside down, big drop type roller coasters. They did not go on the Aerosmith coaster in DHS, they were too short but I also don't think they'd enjoy it even if they were tall enough. They were a little nervous for the first ride on each of the coasters I mentioned but defiantly enjoyed them and went on as many times as they possible

 

[KristaMV]

How old is he?

My kids were psyched to try roller coasters (which I love and my husband doesn't really love but will do with me). But I think after having done a few they were a little scared and elected not to do them a second time even when the opportunity came up.

I'd definitely recommend starting with the Barnstormer (or is it called Great Goofini?). Even though this is supposed to be a little kids' coaster, it's similar in spirit to the next tier up and if he likes that, he'll probably like Big Thunder Mountain. That's what I'd do next. Space Mountain in reality isn't really a very much bigger coaster than Big Thunder, it's just different because it's in the dark and you don't get a chance to mentally prepare for curves; for me that makes it a little harder on your body (your body does make slight adjustments when it knows what's coming, so you get thrown around a little more).

I haven't been on Expedition Everest yet (my kids are too small to ride it and we just didn't get the opportunity). And I haven't ridden Rockin' roller coaster since no one in my family but me will do that kind of coaster.

Test Track is also one that my kids kind of weenied out on but if they were just a little braver I think they would have liked it. We insisted that they do it anyway, but they didn't like it.

I personally love Tower of Terror, but it might be scary depending on his age?

 

[M23]

I would suggest Big Thunder as well. It was a hit with all four of the children who were tall enough in our group. Even my son(7) and nephew(12), who hate most roller coasters, decided to try it and loved it.

 

[disneylaura55]

im sorry i should have mentioned his age! he is 6 -- almost 7 -- thanks for your responses!

 

[M23]

After you've tried a few rides with him you may be able to judge how he'll handle the other rides. We had a ride lover (7) try Space Mountain but she hated it because the seats are one behind the other and she wanted to sit beside someone. We also didn't have success with Tower of Terror for the 6,7,7 or 11yr old. I'd suggest Splash Mountain but I think that it will be closed when you're there. Almost every child in our group, that is tall enough, loves Expedition Everest (strange because it's more of a thrill for me than TOT, Space etc).

 

[ilovebassets]

See how he likes the barnstormer first and maybe something reasonably mild like Kali river rapids. That's what we started our 3 yr old on.

 

[squirrel]

For roller coaster I'd do BTMR before Space Mountain. Since Space is dark and the way the seats are one in front of the other.

 

[Annie78]

I think a ride that is out in the open and can be seen before riding is much less scary. I would take your son to watch the trains go by on BTMRR, and ask if he wants to try. If he's nervous, tell him that he can try Barnstormer first, which he can also look at before committing to ride.

 

[4xmom]

We started all of ours on BTMRR. It was also the first ride that I have ever been able to talk my 65 yr old dad into riding.

 

[1000HappyWishes]

Start with Barnstormer. Move onto Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and then Splash Mountain. I say Splash Mountain before Space Mountain since Space Mountain is completely dark and could possibly be a little scary. Then move on to Expedition Everest, and finally RNRC. For the record though, I still haven't worked up the courage to ride EE and I know there's no way I'll ever ride RNRC.

 

[kmb584]

I would start with either BTMR or the Barnstormer. Last summer my DD was begging to go on a "big people ride" when we were at Hershey so I opted to take her on the Trailblazer, a coaster somewhat similar to BTMR. She loved it. Hands up and giggling so hard and loud that our fellow train passengers were in hysterics. BTMR was her first Disney coaster and it elicited the same reaction. Thankfully it's my favorite ride because we did endless loops of exiting to riding again in October.

 

[Manders77]

hi everyone...we are leaving in 2 weeks! this is the first year my son will be big enough to do the "big kid" rides...including the roller coasters...he is SOOO excited and wants to do them all.....but i dont know how he will handle it what "big kid" rides are the best/easiest...anything i should avoid that your little big kids hated? thanks PS -- my hubby and i both HATE roller coasters so i know we wont like any of them!

I would start with barnstormer. Since you don't like them either I would start with that one. Our last visit DD was 4 and she loved barnstormer. She wasn't tall enough for BTMRR but we know she would of loved it. She's a thrill ride junkie like me and her only issue is she is short for her age. She's 6 and just over 40 inches.

 

[clutter]

Start with Barnstormer. Move onto Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and then Splash Mountain. I say Splash Mountain before Space Mountain since Space Mountain is completely dark and could possibly be a little scary. Then move on to Expedition Everest, and finally RNRC. For the record though, I still haven't worked up the courage to ride EE and I know there's no way I'll ever ride RNRC.

This is the same sequence I used with my coaster-loving dd. She did the first two at 3 (tall kid), then we added the others. She was ready for RNRC before I was!!!

 

[JillianLeigh]

Barnstormer or BTMR. I'd suggest trying to get one of the seats closer to the front of the trains. The sensation of being dropped over the hills is less (or at least feels that way to me.) In fact on BTMR, on the larger drop, the front cars are half-way down the hill before the train is let free to roll down the track.

Hope he loves them all!!

Have a great vacation!

 

[MarciaBrady]

It's my personal opinion that anyone who wants to ride coasters should ride the smallest one available first. Did you like it? If not, don't ride more. If you did like it, great! Next go ride the biggest one available. Now everything else will be in between and you'll be able to handle anything. Just my two cents.

So...I think he should ride Barnstormer first. Then Rock'n'Roller Coaster. Then whatever. (Yes, I know RnRC is at a different park than Barnstormer, but anyways...)

P.S. RnRC is NOT that 'scary'. The only even remotely 'scary' part is the launch. If you're nervous, don't stand in line and watch the trains before yours launch. Just turn around. And you can barely tell you go upside down.

 

[brekken1]

On our trip last September, my son turned four and was finally tall enough for some thrilling rides! We started out on the Barnstormer, which is a very short ride, but lots of fun. My son immediately wanted to ride again and then we moved on to BTMRR. He loved it as well, but found it to be fast, so that let me know to not try EE or RNRC on that trip. We also passed on space Mountain since it is a dark ride and I could not sit beside him. At EPCOT, he jumped right on Soarin and Test Track and nearly cried when we had to get off of Test Track. he wanted to keep riding! We just took it slow and tried the less intense rides first.

 

[PlutosMommy]

My 3 year old, just barely 40 inches, loved Barnstormer and rode it over and over. He says his favorite rides were BTMRR, Soarin, and Test Track though. We kind of worked up- Barnstormer, then Soarin, Test Track, and ended with BTMRR.

 

[CaraBoo]

We started with Splash Mountain when my son was 3 (he is really tall for his age). I thought it was a little less intimidating because there was a fun ride before the big drop so once we were down the big hill it was over and if he liked it, great, if not at least it was over. Luckily, he loved it and we immediately went on Thunder Mountain. This was when Barnstormer was closed for the fantasyland expansion. He finally rode that one last year on his 4th birthday and told me it was "boring"…HA!! I am thankful that he is a thrill seeker, unlike my husband, so I will be the proud momma riding all the big ones this year now that he is 44"! I think it's all about your child…let them watch videos or see pics of the options and then let them decide.