US/IOA for a tall but timid 6 year old?

[NotUrsula]

My just-turned 6 son is tall for his age, but a bit timid with rides at times. He has been to WDW many times, and I know what he will/will not ride at WDW. We are considering trying US/IOA this trip, but we're unsure how much there will be that he will be brave enough to do, even though we know he is physically tall enough for everything but the big coasters.

Could I impose on some US/IOA veterans to venture some comparison for me, based on his courage level at WDW? His fav rough rides at WDW are StarTours and BodyWars. He rode Splash and Space once each, but says once was enough. He absolutely will not go near Alien Encounter, Tower of Terror, or Dinosaur, mostly because he doesn't like the idea of loud, dark places where things jump out at him. He does enjoy the log flume at our local amusement park, which is just a couple of feet shorter than Splash, but it has several drops along the way, so there is not so much build-up to the final drop, and also, it's out in the sunshine, which may make a difference. He will wear foam earplugs when things are too loud, BTW; I don't want his ears damaged like mine.

TIA!

 

[Robinrs]

If he doesn't like dark and loud you might want to avoid Terminator 2, Twister and Spiderman (though Spidey is hard to miss!) If he liked Body Wars and Star Tours he will love Back to the Future!

If he likes the log flume type rides, he'll enjoy Popeye and Dudley DoRight at IOA, and maybe even Jurassic Park.

He'll probably enjoy everything in Seuss Landing, The Curious George area and Nickelodeon, no doubt. There is so much more to the parks than coasters, he'll be fine.

 

[the Dark Marauder]

Originally posted by Robinrs
If he doesn't like dark and loud you might want to avoid Terminator 2, Twister and Spiderman (though Spidey is hard to miss!) If he liked Body Wars and Star Tours he will love Back to the Future!

And Jimmy Neutron, which has a 40" height requirement.

 

[Planogirl]

My son is older (4th grade) but doesn't like coasters and worries about the larger drops on flume rides so maybe I can help a little.

Terminator is a hard call because it is dark but not really scary IMO. Does your son handle It's Tough to be a Bug and Honey I Shrunk the Audience well? He MIGHT enjoy Terminator if so but the others here know way more about these than I do. If you decide to try Twister, I suggest that you stay at the top of the bleachers in the show area away from the activity. If your son is OK with Catastrophe Canyon, he'll probably be OK with Earthquake. My son really enjoyed Earthquake in fact. ET should be OK for him too. And so should Jaws since the shark "looks like a rubber shark" according to my son. (However, he decided that it would be wise not to ride this at night if we ever had the chance. ) He adored Back to the Future and Spiderman (but he's a Spiderman fanatic so that was a given).

As far as flumes go, my son would not ride the Jurassic Park ride due to the size of the drop. I did notice that the cars have good restraints so that might help. The other two water rides weren't a big deal to him.

We're not veterans but we went to Universal for the first time just last month and these were our impressions. By the way, we had a blast and I hope that you do too.

 

[NotUrsula]

Someone mentioned Twister -- I didn't even ask about that one, as he is terrified of tornadoes and hurricanes. When he was 2, we had a near-miss with a real tornado, and the sudden destruction made quite an impression. (I have the same issue with sharks, btw; I had a close encounter as a kid with a bull shark that got loose in a boat. You could not *pay* me enough to ride Jaws!)

I personally have to take it easy with park rides. I don't do coasters, as I have severe vertigo and rather bad balance. For some reason, simulators don't bother me at all, but actual drops are a major problem for me, as I sometimes pass out. DH likes to do pretty much everything. The question was really whether or not my son would ride with Dad or sit out with Mom. If he was going to end up sitting out nearly everything, I was debating taking him elsewhere while my husband went to US/IOA alone.