Tower or Terror and Haunted Mansion how scary are they?

[sponica]

HM is not super scary. More "spooky" as PP said.

TOT isn't scary either, but the drops may be scary depending on how they feel about that. The pattern of drops is unpredictable, which is why I don't like it. For example, if I knew there were only four drops I might be more likely to ride it. Not knowing when the drops will stop/start isn't fun for me.

I haven't been on the ride in forever, the first time the pattern of the drops was thrilling. The second time, it was a different pattern, that didn't have the "oomph" for me. It's not a must-do for me, as my husband doesn't like it and my kid who is tall enough for everything with a height requirement hates all rides with a height requirement.

 

[Jennasis]

I'm 46 and their are still some parts of HM I don't like....too creepy. The aging portrait in the hall before the stretching room. The zombie pictures on the wall in the hallway of many doors. The malnourished caretaker's dog. Haven't liked those since I was a kid. But otherwise it's just silly fun. How easily creeped out or scared are your kids?

 

[wilkydelts]

I'm sure people will judge us but I have taken 2 kids both around 3.5-4 years old (yes my kids are tall) on ToT and will take my youngest who will be about 4 on it in Dec. We have a simple rule in our house, if everyone is riding it you have to ride it once per trip. After you do it once if you didn't like it you can opt out next time.

At 3.5-4 years old one kid loved it and once was enough for the other.

In my opinion kids won't know if they actually like it until they have experience doing it.

 

[SG131]

So, the only part my 5 year old was scared of was the stretching room in haunted mansion, but I warned him about exactly what would happen so he could be prepared. When we went at age 3 that room was closed because of covid. If you watch the video and decide that part seems a little scary, you can ask a cast member to skip that part. The rest of the ride is pretty mellow.

 

[sponica]

I'm sure people will judge us but I have taken 2 kids both around 3.5-4 years old (yes my kids are tall) on ToT and will take my youngest who will be about 4 on it in Dec. We have a simple rule in our house, if everyone is riding it you have to ride it once per trip. After you do it once if you didn't like it you can opt out next time.

At 3.5-4 years old one kid loved it and once was enough for the other.

IMO opinion kids won't know if they actually like it until they have experience doing it.

I actually think the ride videos on youtube backfired on my kid. But after she came off space mountain in tears and had the look of consternation on SDMT, I didn't push her to get on anything. Seriously she was crying her eyes out on MMRR. But Alien sliding saucers were her favorite.

 

[DeeBee3]

While we are on the topic, can someone answer this for me: does the ToT ride give your legs the wobbly feeling at the end? When I ride regular elevators, I sometimes get wobbly legs. Like in NYC when I had to go up to the 50th floor, I would get off and it took me a minute to adjust. That's the main reason I have stayed away from ToT. I don't want to get all screwed up for the rest of the day. I'm really interested in trying the ride, however.

 

[sponica]

While we are on the topic, can someone answer this for me: does the ToT ride give your legs the wobbly feeling at the end? When I ride regular elevators, I sometimes get wobbly legs. Like in NYC when I had to go up to the 50th floor, I would get off and it took me a minute to adjust. That's the main reason I have stayed away from ToT. I don't want to get all screwed up for the rest of the day. I'm really interested in trying the ride, however.

I haven't ridden ToT in years, but I stayed at some hotel on a high floor in NYC and it would definitely give me vertigo when I got off (especially going up). I think the alternating between up and down might be different though. Maybe ride it closer to the end of your day?

 

[godfather927]

Well, Haunted Mansion is like theatrically scary.
Tower Of Terror is theatrical and also a thrill ride.

Both are pretty much an integral part of WDW, imo. You're supposed to be scared, by the way. That's part of the experience. You're supposed to be scared, and thrilled, and then laugh about how scared and thrilled you were afterwards while eating junk food and bonding on vacation. One the great experiences, imo, is seeing how your kids react to such things and becoming better because of it. They'll either figure out they don't like it, or figure out they LOVE it, and overcome fear with a smile. One of them might even tell you they hated it, but then ask to go on it again later. Being "not a family that does scary stuff" is totally fine. But imo, there's something to be said about being a family that takes chances to overcome fears, as well. It's ok to be scared, you're supposed to be. And then you're supposed to laugh about it, since it's a theme park ride for fun.

This actually brings up a good point and I think you touched on something here. In my case, my 10 year old was terrified of ToT as I described earlier, but when we were all joking about it later at the hotel, she said she kinda wanted to ride it again the next day if we couldn't get a LL for slinky dog because she wanted to see how her mom and sister would react to it. So I think there's some truth in your point about a family "wanting to overcome fears together" that seemed to be implied by what my daughter was saying.

 

[Kate_45]

I was 8 when I first went on HM. I remember closing my eyes for most of it and wondering whether a ghost had really come with us. I tried to pretend I wasn't scared.

When I was 10 we went back, ToT had opened, I went on both with no worries at all as they were just a bit of fun (as long I was next to a family member of course). I may have closed my ears and thought about something else at points during ToT but was happy to ride it over and over as I loved the drops.

My daughter is nine and so keen to go on haunted mansion after the behind the attraction episode. Her seven year old brother is too, though I think he will be less certain on the day.

 

[fla4fun]

I went on HM the first time at age 8. The only thing that really scared me were the figures that pop up from behind the tombstones in the party scene. I think it was being startles more than anything. Since our party was two adults and two kids, each of us had a parent to hang on to, and it was fine. HM is my favorite MK ride.

I don’t like thrill rides, so I have not been on ToT. I doubt I will ever ride it.

 

[georgina]

Going to depend on your kids. My youngest DD loved thrill rides at age 5 and had no problems with ToT. Her older brother didn't like it quite so much. It is one of my favorites rides and I could ride it over and over. I don't remember any particular reaction to HM from them.

 

[GPC0321]

While we are on the topic, can someone answer this for me: does the ToT ride give your legs the wobbly feeling at the end? When I ride regular elevators, I sometimes get wobbly legs. Like in NYC when I had to go up to the 50th floor, I would get off and it took me a minute to adjust. That's the main reason I have stayed away from ToT. I don't want to get all screwed up for the rest of the day. I'm really interested in trying the ride, however.

I know what you're talking about with elevators and high floors. It's been a while since I've ridden ToT, but I don't remember wobbly legs. You're sitting during the dropping in ToT and you stand on a normal elevator, so maybe that's the difference.

 

[kwdw]

I think most 9 year olds can handle HM. It’s spooky, but the ride is totally tame. TOT is more about their tolerance of thrill rides. Big drops, unknown rhythm. I’m terrified of drops, so TOT basically causes me to have all the physical symptoms of a panic attack. Takes me some time to recover afterwards. If they have ever ridden any of the chair ride rides at lots of amusement parks and liked them, then yes, they could handle it. But if they won’t go on one of those, don’t push TOT.

 

[nolatravelgirl]

We took a different approach and just talked about each ride as it would so fun cool rather than get them all worked up and scared. At 5 yrs old he was a little scared while doing it but now talks about how cool it was and glad that he did it. HM is more campy spooky and nothing like Halloween Horror Nights at Universal. TOT is a bit of a thrill but is still pretty mild on the thrill scale of most major theme park attractions.

 

[raidermatt]

People can talk about "overcoming fears" and all of that, but at the end of the day it is you who knows your kids best. For most kids, 9 is plenty old enough to handle HM. But the stretching room can be scary for a kid who has never experienced it. It is pitch dark at one point and very loud, especially with a bunch of other guests screaming. And when you look overhead there is a person hanging from a noose. Then later you have "ghouls" trying get out of coffins, popping up from behind tombstones, and a bride with an axe whose husbands' portraits are all missing their heads.

I think most of us have been on the attraction so many times we don't really think about how all of this can look to a young child for the first time.

Still, most 9 year olds can handle it, and many love it.

Tower of Terror is a bit different. It doesn't have the catchy tune (unless you count the Twilight Zone theme), and isn't as long. But it does have the drops. And you see/hear people screaming as you approach. So this is a little tougher to gage. There are grown ups who want nothing to do with it. And there are kids who love it.

Again, you know your kids best and ultimately it is up to you and them. My approach was always to encourage our kids to try the attractions, then make up their own mind after that. But if they REALLY didn't want to do it, I did not force them. Rollercoasters are a little easier because if your kids are apprehensive you can start small and work your way up

 

[Pyxie]

My kids who are scared of everything love Haunted Mansion. It's really not scary at all. It has spooky theming, but it's done in a cartoonish way. Nothing like an actual scary haunted house.

I won't get near Tower of Terror so I can't help there lol.

 

[Bork]

All kids are different. All our kids have done HM when they were 3-4. DS18 was scared of everything back then, was a bit nervous at 3, but loved it every age after that. DD9 still doesn't like HM. DS3 is a daredevil and loves HM.

For ToT, DD9 would rather do it than HM.

 

[Disneyhanna]

As an 8 year old who was scared of Scooby Doo, HM was terrifying to me (and I had seen the movie) but I remember loving ToT (also had seen the movie). Every kid is different but because ToT isn't so up close I didn't find it as scary at that age. (Plus I loved thrill rides...so ToT was more "fun" vs. HM was like a scary haunted house to me and I kept my eyes covered.)

 

[MikeandReneePlus5]

I think they are as scary as you want them to be.

We lean into the spookiness, and so both are pretty scary to us.