TOT - how scary?

[Lovetherodent]

My 9 yo is scared of her own shadow. Seriously, EVERYTHING gives her nightmares. She won't watch the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh because the Heffalumps and Woozles are frightening. So anything that might have a ghost in it is on my questionable list. I think we'll try Haunted Mansion at MK, but what's your take on TOT? Too scary for the timid?

 

[lrodk]

ToT can be very scary, especially for a 9 y/o who's timid as it is IMHO. Also the first-time factor makes it even more intimidating. The special effect portions of the attraction are very cool, not scary at all. But when everything goes black during the elevator shaft sequence towards the end, and you come to a complete stop, that's when things can get a bit hairy. It's almost like the psychological play that goes on at Alien Encounters, where you're sitting there in teh dark not knowing what's going to happen next. The drops are unexpected and very sudden. And with recent enhancements to the ride's computer program you'll never know what sequence you'll be experiencing(there are many variables it seems). You literally fall down, then back up several times at speeds faster than gravity. I was terrified the first time.(It's pretty pathectic to hear a grown man scream at the top of his lungs). Each time after that the experience was much more settling. I'm at the point where I go on there with no problem now because I basically know what to expect(I haven't previewed the ride yet with the recent enhancements). I'd have to say that the first time will be the worst of the lot. If you can get through that then it becomes much more fun for chickens like me who are afraid of heights. With regard to your daughter, that's a decision that you'll have to make as a parent. I'm fairly confident that others will share their experiences on this thread and hopefully make your decision that much easier.

 

[KittieKat]

if shes scared of the dark, id skip it. Personnaly i dont think the spookyness of the ride is that scary..but im a 16 year old. But i think the ride itself would scare her..especially since its in the dark. If shes scared od her shadow, you might want to rethink haunted mansion..i know it doesnt look all that scary to grown up people, but to little kids horrifying..i know that i was really scared when i was younger..my parents had to drag me on it..but now i love it!

 

[GarrettJD]

This ride can be really scary for a first-timer, no matter what age. My GF and I ages 28 and 26 did this ride for the first time this past tuesday. Really, the worst and scariest part of this ride is the whole build-up, when you know you're going to get dropped but don't know when. The whole psychological aspect of the ride is really what makes it scary.

The drops weren't really as bad as I thought they would be- they are very smooth.

 

[KHuntress]

My seven year old DS loves it. However, he's pretty fearless. If it is the Heffalumps and Woozles that scare her, however, I don't think I'd do it unless she's ready. DS NEVER had a problem with the "ride" portion of the ride -- he likes adrenalin rides. However, the preshow with the "Twilight Zone" feeling is a little creepy (Lightning strikes and plunges you into total darkness -- GREAT ride theming). I find that it lacks the "tongue in cheek" nature of Haunted Mansion -- but then, that is why I like it so much. If you have doubts, there is a Disney movie about the Tower (starring Judge Reinhold). You might preview it and then watch parts of it with her -- just to check it out.

 

[mouseketeerwannabe]

My daughter went on it when she was 9 and HATED it so much I've never been able to talk her into going on it again. She's almost 14 now and we've been back numerous times. She will ride Rock'n Roller Coaster, Kraken at Sea World, Alien Encounters, EVERYTHING except TOT. She refuses. For her it is the dropping elevator. I would say wait until your daughter is older. I wish I had because I think if my daughter rode it today for the first time, it would be fun for her.

 

[Lovetherodent]

The lights go out? You drop in the dark? Scary build up? THere's no way I'm taking my 9yo on this one (although her 7yo sister would have no problem). She'd have nightmares for certain. Really, thank you all so much for the information.

 

[JoNo]

Here's my honest opinion... I love the ride... my fiance USED to love the ride until they added the 4 drop sequences. Now she hates it... I still love it; but getting to the point, I think you are safe on letting your 9yo skip it

 

[NomadFamily]

I am scared of this ride. I am 35 y/o and love the scariest roller coasters, love haunted houses, etc...i love to scream and laugh hysterically at the same time.......BUT, ToT is frightening to me! The build up is so scary because you don't really know how/when/where you will drop (if you are a newbie), so you basically spend the entire ride anticipating the terror of the drop. I recently read that they replaced the lap bars with seat belts only, which seems even more scary! My 5 year old watched the Disney vacation planning video and came to tell me that she wants to ride ToT when we go........#1, I am not sure that she is big enough to be allowed on #2, I am not sure that *I* want to ride



Hi ho, Hi ho, We're Off to Orlando.................

 

[house_of_princesses]

So, let me get this straight. They turn out the lights, raise you straight up into the air at some unknown Gforce thing, then drop you at who knows whose whim, only to bring you back up a little bit at a time and free fall drop you again?

My feet are stayin' on the ground!!

 

[DebbieB]

FYI - Contrary to the Disney video, where they show everyone standing, you are actually seated with a lap bar or seat belt.

My 9 year old niece went on and hated it. She swears it went upside down! I think she got dizzy, I remember her head hitting my shoulder.

I love this ride! It's hard for me to make a choice of my favorite ride at WDW - ToT or RnR.

 

[NomadFamily]

It's not that simple. I was on it about 8 years ago (and I was terrified and closed my eyes a good bit) But, here is what I remember.....

You board the "elevator" after being sxcorted on by someone who looks like an old fashioned bell boy....pill cap and all. Then you climb just like you would in an elevator...adn I thik the elevator stopped at several floors. The "elevator" actually moves out onto the various floors and twist and turns through scenes in the hotel on the various floors (like riding through a haunted house on steroids!) VERY creepy becasue at each floor you know you have climbed higher and higher......then you reach the 13th floor and the elevator, once again, moves forward onto the floor (I think, this is the part where I was REALLY scared and I am not sure if my memory is right here) but I think the elevator moved out onto the 13th floor and a few creepy things happened and then it moved into a different elevator shaft (maybe I have this part wrong) and things went completely dark and quiet as you heard creaking and suddenly you heard the cable snap and .........well.........you know the rest.......I can't reacall when the doors in front of you open to the outdoors and you see that you are 13 stories up over the park, but that happens at some point.......and after you drop once, you are whooshed back up and drop again and maybe again..and again.......and since you can't tell how far you have dropped you might think you dropped all the way and the elevator stops and you think the ride is over and you are ready to get off and you suddenly drop AGAIN!!! UGH!!!! When I was on it (not sure i they still do this) you could see a picture of yourself when you got off...not sure when they took the pics...but it must have been when the doors opened on 13 and the light was shining in. In my pic I was making a horrified face and had my head burried in dh's chest while my arms were literally wrapped around the lap bar from underneath.

 

[jaret]

My 11yr old is scared of things and she rode tot with no problem.it was not her favorite ride but she survived.Her uncle sat with her and held onto her the whole time(I had my 5 year old (who loved it)and DH had our 7 yaer old who is a thrill seeker.I always stressed disney magic and that you will always be safe on rides(following rules of coarse)Plus we stressed the ghosts live at that attraction and do not leave it!!Hope this helps.

 

[Kaycee]

My 11 y/o rode TOT in December. He loves thrill rides, RocknRollerCoaster is his favorite, but he said he doesn't want to ride TOT again until he's older. He said it is a bit too much (direct quote from him).

I just asked him what he found scary about the ride. He said "the drops." I asked him what he thought about the storyline. He said it was "creepy, but I like creepy."

If your daughter doesn't like "creepy", I wouldn't recommend TOT for her.

 

[laurie31]

You may also want to rethink the Haunted Mansion. I was sure my timid dd woud love it once she got on, it seems so harmless to me. However, we were one of the lucky ones to get a Disney Vacation planner DVD and it has a clip of the HM on there, so I let her watch it, thinking if she knew what to expect it wouldn't scare her. Well....she watched this video on a fairly small TV in her favorite chair in our well-lit family room...and was in tears after 30 seconds or so. We had to turn it off. No way will I try to take her to HM now! The clip wasn't even of the "scarier" parts!

I am sad that she won't get to do HM this time, but I'm glad that I didn't talk her into it and then have her be terrified the whole ride. It could have ruined her whole day at MK.

I just realized I was her age when I first went to WDW and my parents didn't even mention HM. I wondered how we'd missed it when all my friends came back from their trips talking about it and I loved it when I rode it when I was older. Now I realize my parents knew I'd be scared of it then so they just didn't even take me over there.

There's plenty to do at WDW without making time for the stuff that scares your kids (and of course what scares one child may be another child's favorite thing ) We will do HM as a family maybe next time. This time, DH and I will either trade off or skip it. And...none of us will be on ToT (shudder)

Laurie

 

[Virgo10]

I wouldn't take your daughter on the ToT. It is intense for all ages especially the first time you ride it. It took me 4 years to get up enough courage to go on. That was when it just went way up and way down. After that one ride, I wouldn't go on it again for another two years. By then they had changed the drop sequence and it magically became my favorite ride of all times.

Now they've changed it again and it's even better then before! But your little girl is telling you she's not ready. Let her do the pre show, if she's willing, and then use the chicken exit.

Just a FYI: not all the cars are seat belts only. At least one still had the lap bars when I was there in May.

It's a fantastic ride but it's not for everybody.

Roberta

 

[Lovetherodent]

Laurie31 - we did the same thing with the DVD of haunted mansion--let the kid watch it and then asked her if she wanted to try. The first time she thought it looked scary but asked to watch it again. She thinks she can do it at long as she gets to sit with Mom or Dad. We're fully ready to use the chicken exit, though, if she gets to nervous while we're in line.

 

[laurie31]

Thanks, lovetherodent We will continue to let her watch short bits and see how it goes. We still have over 100 days to prepare, so I won't totally give up on it yet...but we won't force her to do it, of course.

Laurie

 

[Ursula]

I was pretty shocked to find my DD (7) was terrified on HM, TOT, even the Snow White ride. She is normally pretty fearless and will go on anything at our local amusement parks, but for some reason these "dark" rides really scared her. She even cried at Fantasmic so I guess you just never know how your kids will react.