The next step up from the kiddie rides?

[Nanseev]

My daughter is 5, turning 6 in October....and on our trip next week, I'm going to try to get her to go on some of the bigger rides with me (Soarin, Matterhorn, Space, Thunder, etc.). Probably the scariest she's done is Pirates.

I've shown her Splash Mountain on YouTube, so I'm hoping she'll do that with me. I also showed her Matterhorn...she wasn't "as" convinced with that one, but we'll see once she's there.

Recommendations on which rides? I really don't think she'll want Space Mountain (it's been years since I've been on that!!!) :-( We'll see though..maybe the magic will inspire her to greater heights! LOL! I've never been on Soarin...no idea even what it's like. I know she'll skip Indiana Jones.

Thanks! 5 more days!!

 

[Cali_Sparrow]

Big Thunder Mountain is a good choice for kids. It doesn't have drops like Splash Mountain (which are what scared me when I was little). Space Mountain is so much fun, but it depends on how brave she is, same with Splash Mountain. Matterhorn can definitely be a scary ride because it tends to feel very fast. I suggest the right side of the queue if you take her, it's a little less intense of a ride on that side!
Indiana Jones might frighten her too, with all the dark and the props, but maybe if you took her on another big ride first and she liked it you could try Indy. Just make sure she knows it's not real! Hehe

Maybe if you saw other kids her age leaving a ride that looked like they had fun, and you asked them what it was like, that would reassure her.

Otherwise, there are tons of fun rides that are not rollercoasters and I'm sure you will all have lots of fun in 5 days!!!!

 

[3Minnies1Mickey]

My DD (at 4) loved the mountain rides (space, splash, big thunder) but didn't like the matterhorn because the snow monster startled her.

 

[Kayla's Mom]

When my oldest was 4 she went on Thunder Mountain and Splash Mountain. She LOVED Thunder Mt and at first was a little freaked out after the drop on Splash. But then she decided that was her favorite too. If you take her on Thunder I would suggest sitting close to the front. IMO it's not as fast of a ride because you are actually already part way down some of the hills before it really takes off. In the back it feels much faster to me. I agree with the other poster about the Matterhorn. Definitely take her on the Fantasyland side if you do it, it's much smoother.

DD also went on Indy at 4 and she hated it. She loved Soarin'. You might also try her on Gadget's Go Coaster in Toon Town. My daughter loved that one too!

 

[DTDkettleCORNfan]

Great idea on watching the rides on YouTube......it definitely helped our 5 year old want to ride the big kid rides. Have a great trip!!!

 

[Anna1227]

My daughter is quite a bit younger than yours (she just turned 3 and is very tall for her age), so your experience will probably be a little different.

DD rode the Matterhorn first, because that has the lowest height limit. We did have her watch the video on YouTube first, and told her to see who could spot Harold first - like a game. We also taught her that Harold speaks in monster language and that Rawrrrr is how he says "Hi". I got that tip from someone on here. So now when you ask her "What does Harold say?" she says "Rawrr!". It's pretty funny. She liked the Matterhorn and we rode it several times. I think it also helps that she can sit in front of me and I can hold her during the ride.

This last trip she was tall enough to ride Splash Mountain - she loved all of it except the big drop - she looked so terrified in the picture! But when we got off, we asked her if she wanted to do it again, and she said yes.
An adult and a child can sit side by side together in the back row, and that's what we did. We just told the CM when she was assigning us rows that we wanted to do that.

DH took her on Big Thunder, but it was after dark and she got really scared. I think she would have been fine on it during the day. Since she wasn't a fan of the roller coaster in the dark, we didn't try Space Mountain.

We also took her on Soarin' and she loved that, although when the seats would tilt forward a little bit, she would grab on tight to the arm rests! I think your daughter would like this one.

There is also a small roller coaster in Toon Town that she could try. It's not scary, but it is a very short ride.

 

[wendypooh22]

This last trip she was tall enough to ride Splash Mountain - she loved all of it except the big drop - she looked so terrified in the picture! But when we got off, we asked her if she wanted to do it again, and she said yes.
An adult and a child can sit side by side together in the back row, and that's what we did. We just told the CM when she was assigning us rows that we wanted to do that.
QUOTE]

I really don't like the last row on Splash... There is only the single seat back in front of you and I felt like my DS was kinda "loose" with me in the back row. When he was a little guy, I would put him in front of me and let him wear my backpack. The seatback was between him and the pack itself.. It gave him the illusion of wearing a seatbelt and the big drop didn't bother him as much... He would have his hands in the air the entire time

 

[Nanseev]

Do you think the kids could do Grizzly? I showed them the videos of the rollercoasters...it might be a tough sell for them... I think i have splash mountain though!

 

[DisneyMomma81]

My DD will be 6 next month ~ she's been doing every ride in DL for our last few trips except Indy ~ she's still not tall enough. Her fave is Splash! She still is a little nervous about HM but that's it. Over in CA she loves Mulholland Madness (that one gives me the willies) and Grizzly, she's the only one who will go on TOT with her Gma, but when it's just the 3 of us we skip that ride.

 

[Kayla's Mom]

Do you think the kids could do Grizzly? I showed them the videos of the rollercoasters...it might be a tough sell for them... I think i have splash mountain though!

My DD went on it as soon as she was tall enough (I think she was 5?) -- she LOVED it!

 

[Brady's Mom]

My kids love Grizzly and Mulholland Madness. Our 7 yr. old decided that he was willing to give Space a try again, even though I reminded him that it was completely dark. It is now his MOST favorite ride! Because he rode it, our 4.5 yr old decided that he needed to do it and he loved it, too.

We haven't pushed rides on our kids. If they want to do it, we will and if they are hesitant we don't push it. As we have been more frequently in the last year or so our normally hesitant 7 yr old has been more and more adventurous and is finding that he really likes the rides. He was bummed that 2 weeks ago he was about an inch too short for Screamin and can't wait until he can try again in November. We will watch some of the rides on YouTube, but they have been enough to remember the rides and decide what they want to ride before we go.

Gadget's Go Coaster is a waste of time IMO. You wait a super long time in line for a super short ride.

 

[imjen]

My dd was 4.5 the last time we went. She will just have turned 5 this next time. She's been on everything she is tall enough for and loves most of them, in fact Splash is her favorite ride. Soarin' is very tame, probably the easiest of the "bigger" rides. Mulholland Madness is a good first bigger coaster and my kids have never been scared on Grizzly once they were big enough. Matterhorn she's been doing since she was about 3. It's nice because you put the little ones between your legs so they usually feel pretty safe. We always tell her to wave hi to the Yeti and make up some little story about him so she's not scared. I would suggest doing Big Thunder Mountain and Splash Mountain before Space Mountain. I think that's the scariest of the three because it's in the dark and goes really fast. She only went on it once and didn't really want to go on it again but may do it this time. The other one that was pretty scary for her was Tower of Terror. But, even though she was holding onto Daddy like her life depended on it, she wanted to go again the next day. Go figure! I would leave that for last, if she's fine on the other rides.

 

[S. S. Columbia]

I also showed her Matterhorn...she wasn't "as" convinced with that one, but we'll see once she's there.

My DD rode the Matterhorn when she was 4.5 -- it's one of her favorites.

My DD rode ToT when she was 4.75. She's undecided about ToT. Some days she says she likes ToT, and other days she says it's too rough.

 

[Saskiwi]

Ha! - love the "undecided" child line! - my DS 6 only went on Haunted Mansion once during our 6 day visit and spent the rest of the trip either saying it was his favourite ride, or that it was too scary and he wasn't going on it again! (He never did - so I guess it was !)
Similar deal with Tower of Terror but he rode that several times - he was also a bit scared by Snow White's witch too.
BUT loved Indiana Jones - (scared but loved being scared!), Splash was his absolute favourite, also Matterhorn and Space Mountain.
Just depends on the kid I guess....
But I would say Splash isn't that scary really - and the drop is over really fast, and followed up by fun animals and songs, so....
On Grizzly you aren't as aware of the drops I don't think, as you are at Splash - and as you are turning around as you float you can easily go over the drop without seeing it - i.e. no anticipation/terror!
And DO try and get her on Soarin' - my DS6 thought it not scary at all (unless you had a really bad fear of heights )- I'd explain that really you are not high up at all - just a few feet off the floor, and you are watching a big movie (like IMAx if she's ever been..) It is so much fun and very gentle.
Have fun!

 

[abouley]

My 5 year old is scared of the dark and very timid about rides. But, he has been on at least once everything that he's tall enough for except space mountain. Matterhorn is good because of being between your legs. Soarin is his fav of the big rides and has been riding it since he was 3. Doesn't like the drop on splash so that isn't his fav and doesn't like the dark on thunder mountain. Indy wasn't too bad but I think the big boulder coming at us scared him. He says he's not going on that one again until he's 13...LOL! We did Grizzly in Feb and he seemed to enjoy it although he didn't want to try it again this time. You just never know. Take it one at a time. I'd probably try matterhorn first but make sure to prep her for the "monster".