Too young for Splash Mountain?

[sydneysmom]

Our DD was 4 1/2 when we went last Sept.... on a normal day, she's a prissy girlie-girl who generally is kind of not "death defying". Fast forward to Disney.... that kid rode every thrill ride there was with her arms in the air. It was hysterical !!

I think it depends on the child, but we stood on the walkway and watched the flumes come down to see if she'd like it.... she saw the first one come down and said " I wanna go on THAT!!!!". So off we went. We had to do Space Mountain 7 times the week we were there ! You never know what kids are thinking.... they may just surprise you ! It's totally worth a try.

 

[Dizneefamily+4]

My dd6 went for the first time at 5 and again this year. My ds10 went for the first time at 4 - they LOVE it. The drop doesn't really bother them - thus the reason that they're constantly trying to convince me to go (I don't ride the steep drop rides - EE and Splash.) Of course, this is 2 kids that would be content to ride Splash at MK and EE at AK all day long and nothing else. They're both adrenaline junkies and thrill seekers when it comes to Disney!

 

[4orm]

All I have to say is when I was trying to get enough courage to go on it I watch it for a while, my husband pointing out all the extremely young children in each boat that went by. I swear one kid looked like he was under 3.

I did it. Would I let my young daughter? Probably not unless I knew she was good with rides like this - starting small and working her way up.

 

[LSK]

We took DD when she was 5. She loved Big Thunder Mountain, Space Mountain, Rock n Rollercoaster, but HATED Splash Mountain. The drop at the end was too scary for her.

 

[jeremiahsmom]

We took ds to Disney for his 5th bday and I think that was his first ride. As we got to the end he turned around and looked at me and said "That was soooo coool! Can we ride it again?" That was my first teary-eyed moment of the trip. Of course when he said he wanted to ride it again I didn't know he meant again, and again ... and again. I counted- we rode sm 32 times that week.

 

[cuchu2005]

DD5 loves everything about the ride (movie, characters, songs, theme, merch - hey, she even owns a t shirt) except riding it. She hates the drop. With everything else, she is fine. She rides it once each vacation. That's what it takes for her to remember how she hates that drop.

I love that ride and hate not to be able to go with her.

Maybe some day...

Mx

 

[2Pirates2Princesses]

The drop, as you witness it from the bridge, is deceptive. It looks much more extreme than it actually is. The slope is only a 45 degree angle in reality. That's not really that steep. It also goes quickly.My daughter is also tall for her age (same reason as your niece and nephew, tall father.) She rode Splash and everything else she was tall enough for as soon as she was able to ride it. (She's not all that scared by anything and seems to trust the rides and trust us if we tell her she'll be safe as long as she follows the rules. I would not have done this with a fearful child.)

I agree with this. We just got back from a trip last week and all my DD4 talks about is how much she loved Splash Mountain! She is the timid one out of the family and going on big rides on this trip was a first for her. She is 41 inches tall and did very well on Splash, BTMRR, Test Track, and Soarin. I also don't think that drop at the end was too thrilling for her. It looks more extreme than it is and it ends very quickly. DD4 wanted to ride this and BTMRR over and over again

 

[bobbiwoz]

DGS was 5 when he tried it, but he didn't like it at all! He wanted to get out at the top of one of the hills. I felt bad, we thought he was ready. Now, this past June at 7, he was its biggest fan!

 

[furb & dez]

Probably not too young... though you may want to make sure they go to the bathroom before getting in line!!

 

[Schleprok]

I took my 5 year old daughter (15th percentile 41") on Tower of Terror last year and loved it.
I did not want to take her on it, but she had said she wanted to ride ever since she saw it on the WDW planning DVD.
I thought she would bail at the last minute but there was another little girl that she sat next to and they held hands during the ride. We ended up riding it 3 more times in a row until she had to potty.

She would not ride Splash Mtn because she didn't want to get her hair wet.
She is such a priss but her favorite rides are Thunder Mtn RR, Tower of Terror, Test Track and Soarin. I was hoping she would be tall enough for Expedition Everest but she is just 43".

 

[delmar411]

All I have to say is when I was trying to get enough courage to go on it I watch it for a while, my husband pointing out all the extremely young children in each boat that went by. I swear one kid looked like he was under 3.

I did it. Would I let my young daughter? Probably not unless I knew she was good with rides like this - starting small and working her way up.

The kid was likely under 3. My kids were tall enough by age 2 and ODS went on a daddy/son trip when he was 2.5 and he rode everything and loved it. I have tall kids though. It's not even a thrill ride as I'd define one.

As to the OP, at age 5 my middle two were on RNRC and loving that. My YDS is my shorty and made height at EE shortly before 5 and is in love with that ride, he's dying to get on RNRC but he's still a few inches away from that one. I can't imagine holding a tall enough child back from a ride just because you don't know if they'll like. There is only one way to find out!

 

[MickeyKC]

I agree with the other posters that say go with what the child wants to do. My DD3 (very tall for her age) rode in May for the first time and had a blast, wanted to do it again & still talks about how it's her favorite ride. I took her and her older sister on BTMRR next & they didn't like it at all. Didn't cry or fuss, but informed me at the end that they didn't want to do that ride again! So, it depends on the child.

It's just funny because I'm the opposite of DD3, I don't like drops - in fact in the photo from SM I look like I'm about to hurl on my SIL! But, to see that smile afterwards it's worth it!

 

[HersheyKisses]

my son went on splas when he was 2 years old ....no big deal op.

 

[NLD]

Another vote for letting the kids take the lead.

I made a BIG mistake talking my daughter into Splash at age 5 1/2. She had been on the log flume ride at Hershey several months earlier and was fine with that (she was also okay with Big Thunder, Soarin', and Mission Space), so... I really felt like she'd end up enjoying Splash.

WRONG. What I failed to take into account is that in those few short months, she'd developed a fear of floods/water. And the fear was much much worse than I realized.

She cried the WHOLE time through the WHOLE ride. That is a long, long ride when you've got a sobbing, hysterical child. It wasn't even the drops... it started when we got splashed, at the very beginning of the ride, by another log coming down the flume.

I felt sooooooo bad... primarily for my dd, who really was absolutely terrified... and secondarily for the people in our log, who had a sobbing and hysterical child.

Poor dd. Still makes my mommy's heart hurt to think about it.

Follow the kids' leads.

 

[8lovesmickey]

To me one of the advantages of Splash Mountain as a "thrill ride" is that the biggest hill is outside for all to see. I would let the kids watch a few logs come down the hill and see what they say.

My son said he was nervous but "wanted to try it" so we went. He ended up being a little freaked out by the drops in the dark (even if they're relatively small - you still can't see what's coming) but he was proud he did it. HOWEVER, he said he doesn't care if he ever does it again because it was "kind of scary." So overall I'm glad we let him choose - I think if I had forced him on it he would have been really scared, but since it was his idea, it was fine.

Another option is to take a "virtual ride" on YouTube. There are plenty of videos of the entire ride-through and that can take a lot of the unknown away.

All kids are different, of course... My other son is 16 now and he still hates heights. He will do Test Track and Mission:Space but has only been on Splash Mountain once. You just never know...

 

[SnipsNSnails]

My DS was tall enough last Dec at 4y 3m but it was FREEZING out so we skipped SM. He loved BTMR. When we go in a couple of weeks, SM is one that he is looking forward to (he turned 5 last week). Of course he's grown 5.5 in. since Dec and is now tall enough for EE which he is very excited about!