Tell me about your toddler on rides.... likes, dislikes, screaming banshees

[Micheme]

We are leave in less than 2 weeks !!!!

I am using the guides and reading about the rides for our 29month old but wanted to get some mom and dad opinions on what your little ones liked, did NOT like and the rides they were totally freaked out over.

I have some reservations about Snow White and Pirates. I have heard snow white has the witch popping out and may be scary. The Pirates with all the gun fire and stuff.

HOw about the land ride with the storms, Ellens Energy ride?

Thanks everyone

 

[shafke]

DD was 28 months for our trip and had no problems at all. Her favorite ride was the carrousel. HM, Pirates, Snow White all no problem. She loved any of the shows with fire -"more fire" (fireworks, car show at MGM). There was no ride that she refused or came off of crying.

 

[jellymanoffspring]

when my first DD was 2 1/2 she did well on most rides..the only one that really scared her was the Norway ride with the trolls.....after that she would not even get into the boat at the Small world ride...

My youngest DD who was 2 1/2 when we went also...was afraid of almost everything!! Including the characters.....it reallly surprised me having taken both of my other children at the same age.....
she did finally love the Beauty and the Beast stage show at MGM and she loved snow white(the character)......

Just be flexible and understanding.........

 

[Suzanne74]

It depends on your chld. My dd did not like Snow White at all but pretty much loved everything else. She was a little hesitant on Buzz at first (so bright and weird to a younging at the first time) but that is now her all time favorite. It is Tought to Be Bug can be scary to young ones too!

Illuminations is SO SO loud and dd hated it. I was even surprised how loud it was. She did fine for Fantasmic (which many people say is scary) and loved Wishes with her hands on her ears. Oh she also HATED Usela the Sea witch during the Little Mermaid show at MGM. Didn't even want to go in the show the next time we went and she was almost 4 then!

If your dd hates loud noises then bring ear plugs just in case. I wish I would have done that.

 

[Livie's Mommy]

Our DD was youger than your DD when we brought her the first time. She was 15 months and we brought her on things like Pooh, Peter Pan, Cinderella's Carousel, Buzz Lightyear, The Jungle Cruise, El Rio del Tiempo, and Kilomanjaro Safari (It's a Small World was closed ) . We had the same concerns you do about Snow White and Pirates so we just skipped them with her (plenty of time to do them with her when she is older). My concern with Ellen's Energy Adventure was the length of it. It isn't so scary, but I think it lasts over a half hour from start to finish with alot of dialogue. Sometimes our DD gets fidgety when we least expect it. We didn't want to be faced with a fidgety toddler on such a long ride. We did Journey into Imagination and DD did NOT like it. She cried at the loud train part.

 

[jellymanoffspring]

Actually all of my kids were afraid of ellens energy adventure at 2 1/2...those dinosaurs are loud and large.......

Of course Dumbo and the Alladin Magic Carpet were big hits this last trip(with the DD who was afriad of everything!!)
The MK train.....seeing the large remote control Nemo....the animals at Animal Kingdom.....the killamajaro safari.....and she loved the play area at the exit of the Mission space ride(you can get there through the gift shop,and it is indoors..cool..etc).....

We used the child swap.....a lot...

 

[Suzanne74]

We used the child swap.....a lot...

we did too for the fun rides. The single line lanes are SO nice too since your dd doesn't actually have to wait in line too. By Mission Space exit there is a fun playground on the inside while you and DH swap. Also by RRC, my dd had a whole crew of "swap" kids playing the drums. It was very cute. I didn't like the Tower of Tower swap - nothing for dd to do - so do that one when there is no line, if possible.

Def do Playhouse Disney Show, Safari, Boneyard Playgroung, Honey I Shrunk the kids playground, all of Toontown, most of Fantasyland, Buxx, Raceway (w/ parent), Jungle cruise, aladdin carpets, Imaginaton exit area (if not doing the actual ride - there is fun kids stuff in there.) Also Epcot has those Passports now with lots of fun stations to color, "decorate" mask etc.. even a 29mo old can get into some of those fun stations - they are located all over the place.

Keep in mind, when dd just turned 3 most of the things she really liked were not rides. She loves the water spurt fountains at Epcot, the donald waterboat in Toontown, Chef Mickeys, swimming at the resort, Ariel's Grotto, holding her balloon down mainstreet, parades, eating Mickey Mouse ice-cream sandwiches, the playgrounds at AK and MGM. So the little things can be just as fun - even if she can't go on some rides.

Also - you can make any ride fun, dd thinks the Haunted House is "cool and fun" not scary because we didn't make it that way. We always laughed and giggled and made it fun.

 

[Colinsmom]

At 2.25 years, DS didn't like the graveyard part of the Haunted Mansion. We didn't go on Snow White. He liked Pirates and all of the shows and 3-D movies that we saw (didn't wear the glasses at the movies but still giggled).

We skipped Ellen's because of the length of the show.

 

[100AcreWood]

Our 2 1/2 year old (at the time of the trip) liked Pirates! I was worried it would be too frightening but she walked out singing Yo Ho Yo Ho!

The tea cups are a huge hit and Pooh's honey pot ride is awesome!!!

 

[Destination Disney]

My son from 2yrs. on has loved pretty much every ride!
He is now 3 and his "Most favorite" ride is the Barnstormer in Mickey's Toon Town!

This last trip we was so sad and cried becasue the cast memebr denied his entry to "Big Thunder Montain Railroad!" (He missed the height requirment by 1/2 inch!) All he wanted to do was ride the little train! (He likes trains!)
So we opted for the Big train to take us around the park.

My son is pretty fearless and will pretty much try anything. You will know what your child likes, and what may be scared of, call it mom's intuition!

 

[Jakesmom504]

Just wanted to say your DD is absolutly ADORABLE!!!!

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

My girls LOVE everything....the oldest will cover her eyes for things--but it is her choice to go on the rides. She rides everything she's tall enough for...and comes out wanting to do it again.

They've been going since they were each a baby.

My youngest just wants to do everything her older sister does...and has yet to cover her eyes on anything..including snow white.

 

[Brina]

We took my boys when they wre 34 months. At first any dark ride spooked them, even ones based on stories that they loved (ie Pooh). They adored the teacups, the carousel, dumbo and one of them loved Goofy's barnstormer. They liked but were not crazy about IASW. We rode it a number of times (my worst nightmare come true) and that seemed to acclimate them to dark rides and afterward they loved pooh and peter pan. They also like Jungle Cruise a whole lot and Kilamanjaro Safari

 

[mommystieg]

On our first visit DD#2 was 26 months old and she was bothered more by loud attractions than the darkness. She enjoyed POTC and HM but hated Ellen's Energy Adventure (TOO LOUD!!). She didn't mind the fireworks as long as someone covered her ears. One of the guidebooks suggested ear plugs for kids who are bothered by loud noises so that might help. The cool thing with kids that age is they are probably more influenced by your reactions to things than anything else. We were laughing the whole time on HM so she wasn't scared at all.
Her favorites at that age (and now, too) included:
Playhouse Disney
IASW
the Pooh ride
Living with the Land
El Rio del Tiempo
She was permanently scarred by the 3D attractions -- of course, the first one we chose was HISTA. To this day she will sit through Philharmagic and Muppetvision but she will not wear the glasses. We have not made it through ITTBAB yet.

 

[KristiKelly]

I haven't read all of the responses yet but I'll tell you our experiences. We have been going to WDW almost yearly since DS was 2-1/2. We now have 3, DS8, DD5 & DD 3 months. Haunted Mansion would scare them when they were little but I would put them on my lap, facing me and they would just close their eyes or I would cover them or they would just put their face down on my chest. They were never really afraid of Pirates but to this day NEITHER of my older ones will ride Snow White. All I remember is dark, dark, dark, wicked witch, wicked laugh, wicked witch, wicked laugh. Personally, I would skip that ride. DH & I love the Haunted Mansion so we've always pretty much made our kids ride it and just covered their face when they were small.

 

[Bella]

My 20 month old liked every ride we tried (including Snow White). But her absolute favorite was Its a Small World. We went on it 5 times!

I know she doesn't like rides that go up and down so I didn't attempt Dumbo

 

[mjh8955]

Our first family trip we went straight to the Barnstormer and rode with our 3-year-old and 6-year-old. Didn't talk about it, just did it. Pretty much ruined the 3-year-old's day. We misjudged how she would handle it. My advice is to start out on the tamest and don't go on anything when they seem afraid.