Top Rides to AVOID for Children under 5

[Cmbar]

We are taking our 3.5DD and 5.5DS to Disney for the first time. They are excited about meeting all the characters but a bit afraid of the attractions. They like Disney movies but are afraid of the scary parts and ALWAYS know there will be one. I have a hard time convincing them to turn on a Disney movie because they are afraid. So naturally they think some of the shows (except Bear in the Big blue house) will be scary.

Anyone with kids who are this age and slightly on the scared side have any suggestions on which rides/shows to avoid? I don't want to take them on a ride that is too scary for them for fear of ruining their day or keeping them from trying others.

We already have decided that Fantasmic is not for our kids. Even I was afraid of those "bad guys"!!

Thanks for any input!

 

[lejaf]

I'd stay away from Snow White....We brought my kids at the same age yours will be and although they were "okay" with the ride...they certainly didn't like it. It was dark and scary and I thought it spent too much time on the wicked witch and not enough time on the happy ending! We have never gone on this ride since that first trip with them.

We also went on hounted mansion that year and my daughter who was 3.5 loved it and my son who was 5.5 absolutely hated it and will never ride it again!

 

[Eljay]

Absolutely don't take them on Alien Encounter, fun for the adults but IMHO it should be restricted to over 10 years old. Scary & in the dark! I've seen lots of hysterically sobbing kids on AI.

 

[kilee]

The nice thing about WDW is that they post signs out front of questionable rides. Most of the signs even tell you what sort of action might be questionable.

 

[JetMom]

Be wary of the 3D movies.

Both Honey I Shrunk the Audience and It's Tough to Be a Bug have scary elements.

My DS's loved Pirates of the Caribbean, but it can be scary... especially at the very beginning.

Start with Small World and Pooh to show them that "dark rides" can be fun.

As for non-threatening shows, I recommend Country Bear Jamboree.

 

[patsal]

I'd steer clear of Alien Encounter, Snow White, Haunted Mansion and I'd let them get good and used to the rides before trying Pirates at MK.

At Epcot, I'd steer clear of the 3D movie, and be aware that there are a few intense moments for easily frightened kids on the Imagination ride.

At AK I would steeer clear of Dinosaur, it is loud, jerky and intense as well as the 3D movie.

At MGM You might want to steer clear of Sounds Dangerous (complete dark and scary noises for children), They are probably too small to ride Tower of Terror, but if not that may be frightening. Prepare them for Fantasmic as well--all those scary things they don't like in the movies are larger than life here!

Have fun!

 

[drcmk]

My girls were 3 and 4.5 when we took them to WDW and, like yours, cringed at the scary parts of Disney movies, often fast-forwarding past. I went to Disney with the attitude that we would enjoy the atmosphere and have little expectations regarding the rides. We didn't go on a whole lot of rides, but the ones they really enjoyed were Dumbo, Tea cups, ALladin's magic carpets and the carousel. They really liked the Living Seas and the shows in The Land. They tolerated the MGM shows, but were awfully nervous about them. They really loved the play areas best like Honey I Shrunk the Kids and the Dinosaur play area in Animal Kingdom.

As for the characters--sometimes they were okay about greeting them and sometimes very shy and fearful.

 

[firstmickey]

You are very smart to find this out ahead of time.

My DS age 5.5 was all excited about the rides, but one day at MGM changed everything for him.
He insisted that he wanted to ride ToT and it scared him and my DD age 8. He hated MGM even Little Mermaid because it was dark and he didnt' like the water spraying out at him.
He began to realize that every show was loud, dark and had some sort of "SURPRISE" in it and refused to go to shows for awhile.
We wish we had done MK the first two days to get used to the rides before we started MGM. (We were only there for a few hours the first night and then had PS for lunch at MGM next day).

He finally rode Big Thunder on the last day we were there and loved it. But he refused to do Splash Mtn because he was afraid is was dark and scary.
Also, to warn you, Pirates of Carribean has a loud cannon that goes off.
I would never have taken him to see Fantasmic either.

I would buy your kids a little squeeze flashlight (they sell them at the Disney store) to take in the dark rides. It seemed to help a little bit.

Oh well, looking forward to when we can all go and ride everything together, that is why DH and I are going back by ourselves so we can enjoy everything together.
Good luck.
Donna

 

[dianels]

She is not afraid of the evil characters when watching movies but was still scared of them in rides, shows and parades. She HATED Snow WHite's Scary Adventures (I know- what was I thinking- but she had never been scared but that stuff before). She did okay in Fantasmic but didn't really like it. During the 3pm parade- the villian float stopped right next to her. Maleficant was not 10 feet away and seemed to be scowling right at her while the scary narration played and the evile queen from Snow White did an evil spell. This really freaked her out and she still talks about it. I told her she could stick her tongue out at Maleficent. This was sufficiently novel (that Mommy would say she could stick out her tongue at someone) that it helped her get through. The CInderella's surpise show also has a really scary part in it when all the evil characters are out .

One tip that worked for us was to let her carry a small dim flashlight in dark rides. This gave her control but the beam didn't even reach out of our car so it didn't bother others.

She especially liked at MK- Peter Pan's Flight, Winnie the Pooh, The Tiki Room, Tom Sawyer's Island, It's a Small World, Buzz Lightyear (she didn't get the concept but liked it a lot), the train, Mickey and Minnie's houses, and Dumbo. Starngely enough she liked Big Thunder Mountain and did not like Goofy's barnstormer. (She even put her arms up in BTMRR). I also really recommend Belle's Storytime and The Sword in Stone shows as very safe and interactive- very low key.

AT AK- the safari ride, Lion King Show, Tarzan show, Pocahontas show, Boneyeard play area, petting zoo and looking at animals. The 3D bug show freaked her out.

AT MGM- liked the live shows (especially Bear) but did not like the 3D muppet one. (For the 3D shows she doesn't really believe the stuff isn't going to hit her.)

Her favorite part by far was meeting the characters. We filled a whole autograph book in 4 days. She REALLY loved the character interaction. (It seemed a little silly as an adult to stand in these lines for a couple minutes with a character- but for the little ones it's pure magic).

 

[pointandshoot]

Goofy's Barnstormer scared my 4 year old DD. If achild has not been on many amusements rides, the quick turns might upset them. Starting with the simple rides like Dumbo is a good idea.

The flashlight tip worked very well. We were able to get her to go on all the dark rides with it. Gave her some control. We even got her on the Haunted Mansion. We told her it was like Scooby Doo;-)

 

[dahess]

Alien Encounter, Tower of Terror, RocknRolllercoaster.

 

[grinningghost]

1) Alien Encounter
2) Snow White's Scary Adventures
3) Great Movie Ride
4) Tower of Terror
5) Dinosaur

 

[Terry S]

Our kids are 5 and 6 now and have been to WDW 6 times. They were both also like yours and went through a period where they could only watch Bear in the Big Blue house and Blues Clues because every Disney Movie had a "Bad Guy" I thought I could get away with Bambi, but it has that scary scene where Bambis Mom gets shot. Anyway, the best thing to do is start out in Fantasy Land with ride like IASW, Peter Pan and Winnie the Pooh. If they make it through those, try Snow White, BUT first tell them that a PRETEND wicked witch will be in there and she is not the real one, she is just a pretend one. This worked for us, when we went in there, we would also kind of talk them through the ride and talk to the witch and tell her that we wern't afraid of her because she was pretend. Telling them what to expect in the rides really worked well for us and the kids favorite ride is now Haunted Mansion.

If the above does not work, avoid Alien, Dinosaur, Haunted Mansion and all the 3-D movies, the thrill rides are a different experience all together.

 

[travelbug24]

Alien Encounter is by far the scariest. I did explain to my 5 year old dgs what was going to happen and I held his hand the whole time and it was the 11 year old cousin of my dgs who was so scared, it brought on an asthma attack!

 

[Boo Mc]

Our DS 6 loves all coasters - even ToT but the 3D Bug's Life movie and, to a lesser extent, the Honey I Shrunk movie sort of freaked him out. We've never gone back to those two. Food Rocks at Epcot is a show (not a ride) but our kids like that and the "couch ride" at MK (I think it's called Tomorrowland Transit Authority). We went on the couch ride for the first time this year and they loved it - go figure - had to go on 4 more times that trip!

 

[Cmbar]

Thanks so much for all the responses. I had no idea Snow white was going to be that scary. To be honest my DH and I are a little dissappointed to hear the 3D ones are scary for the kids,although it makes sense. We love to watch them ourselves, but realize that Disney with the kids is a whole different trip!

Thanks for the idea of Scooby Doo in the haunted mansion because they are big Scooby fans. Somehow they understand that those monsters are pretend while, the Disney villans are just plain scary. I will also be off to the Disney store for some flashlights!!!

Unfortunately we have to start with Mgm due to our schedule. How are the "little mermaid" and "beauty and the Beast"? Also has anyone ever taken kids to the show about how cartoons are made? I cant remember the name. Is it still at MGM and do you think the kids would enjoy. My DH and I loved it when we were there a few years back.

Thanks for all the input!! And Firstmickey, I am so jealous you are off for your romantic getaway. HAVE FUN!!!

 

[Tigger22]

I had to comment on this thread - cuz I'm not a kid, and I still get nervous on some of the rides/attractions. DH laughs at me - but I don't like things that jump out at me...and every time I go into a dark ride, I think things are going to jump out at me. My first Alien Encounter was my last - even though, I KNOW nothing will happen to me! I even cringe on the Great Movie Ride when I know the bandit shoots - and the last trip, a baby on the ride (under a year) was less anxious than I was.
So I sure can identify with the kids!

Tigger22

 

[eeyore0062]

I will list the things I think they would like instead:

Dumbo
Aladdins Magic Carpets
Winnie the Pooh
Small World
Cinderella's Golden Carousel
Country Bear Jamboree
Tom Sawyers Island
Tiki Birds
Swiss Family Treehouse
Playhouse Disney
Beauty and the Beast Stage Show
Triceratops Spin
Kilomanjaro Safari
Festival of the Lion King
Pocohontas and her Forest Friends
Rafikis Planet Watch
Living Seas
Journey Into Your Imagination with Figment
Food Rocks
El Rio Del Tiempo

Questionable:
Jungle Cruise
Peter Pan
Tea Cups
Goofy's Barnstormer
Buzz Lightyear
Little Mermaid
Great Movie Ride
Spaceship Earth
Kali River Rapids
Tarzan Rocks

 

[TDC Nala]

I once shared a trip with some friends and their 3 year old, who was afraid of anything that contained fire. He got nervous about the guy who juggles fire in the Lion King show and at Illuminations. He couldn't have handled Fantasmic at all. I was with a couple of older kids who weren't thrilled about the fire either, but they were old enough to understand that the fire was part of the show and would would stay out in the show area.

This same 3 year old was thrilled about the Barnstormer and really upset that he couldn't ride the Primeval Whirl, though. Go figure.

 

[firsttimemom]

Might I also add the It's Tough to be a Bug show at AK. I had to carry my 4 yr old out screaming her head off. This was on day 2 of our trip and def. put a damper on her interest in any other 'show'.

I think someone mentioned the parades. The little ones always seem to be sitting right at the front and then Ursula or Maleficint gets a little too close for comfort....

Start slow and easy with them for the first day or 2.

Liz