What is Disney policy on intervening when children panic?

[aubriee]

That said, if there's a kid near me in line who clearly is freely choosing to go on the ride, but starts feeling a little iffy in the line, I don't see anything wrong with saying something to help reassure them.
The point of that story was basically to demonstrate that I completely disagree with forcing a kid who doesn't want to ride, but I see nothing wrong with encouraging a kid who wants to ride and just starts getting a little nervous. Sometimes that can end up completely making a kid's day.

Totally off topic: but for some reason your post reminded me of an incident that I was involved in last Dec over at Univeral. I was in line for the Mummy ride and there was an elderly Japanese couple right in front of me. The wife seemed really nervous and kept asking the man something. He'd smile at her and shake his head, but she still seemed nervous. Just before loading I finally spoke up and asked if they knew what kind of ride this was. As the wife turned toward me, putting her back towards her husband, he frantically shook his head no and put his finger to his lips shushing me and started talking frantically to her again, distracting her. At that point I realized he understood English, but decided she didn't, as she just looked at me. As we were getting into our row, the CM started to say something about it being a roller coaster, but the Japanese man immediately shushed him too and grinned. I realized at that point that he was lying to his wife. The poor lady was a little afraid through the first part of the ride, but as we started going up the hill and the coaster part started, she grabbed my hand (almost breaking it) and started screaming in Japanese at the top of her lungs. She was absolutely terrified. Once we got to the part where the ride pauses, the mummy destroys the girl, and fire starts on top, she kept hold of my hand and started talking to me in Japanese and I could tell she was relieved it was over. I told her to hold on, it wasn't through yet. She gave me a terrified look, then suddenly yelled in English, "Not over yet, not over yet, NO, no more". She almost broke my hand when the ride took off again. When the ride was finally over and we were getting out, she started hitting her husband (who was laughing at her), yelling "no roller coaster, no roller coaster, I told you no roller coaster". If I had known she did speak some English, I would have warned her before we boarded. Her husband played a rotten trick on her. They were probably in their mid 60's, so not exactly young. That poor woman could have had a heart attack. I have to admit it was funny at the time though. Everyone getting off the ride was laughing at her yelling and slapping at him. I didn't even know I could speak Japanese, but could clearly understand she was cursing him out. Oh, that little woman was mad!

 

[OhioDisneyDad]

Frankly if my kid started screaming, I would tell them to meet me at the front if they're going to act like a baby. But I'm going to ride..

Buckle up!

 

[Rip]

On the subject of people avoiding rides not because of fear, but because they don't like the feeling: my dad is 53 and hardly goes on anything because of this. He doesn't even go on carousels because he doesn't like the feeling, so it's not a matter of him being afraid of the ride, and he was even that way as a kid.
That said, if there's a kid near me in line who clearly is freely choosing to go on the ride, but starts feeling a little iffy in the line, I don't see anything wrong with saying something to help reassure them. This most recently happened in Disneyland in line for Space Mountain. The group behind me in line was an elderly man with two fairly young kids with him. (The seats on Space Mountain at Disneyland are two to a row, not single file like at Magic Kingdom. That becomes relevant later.) The old man and the boy had been on it tons of times and loved it, but it was the little girl's first time riding it. She kept saying she wanted to ride it, but was also nervous. I mentioned to her about how much fun it is, how you hear music and see the stars, etc. I figured she'd want to sit with one of the members of her group, but she ended up asking to sit next to me, and I heard her laughing the entire time. After the ride let out, the man with them (I'm guessing it was the kids' grandpa) thanked me for helping out, and the little girl started begging him to let her ride again.
The point of that story was basically to demonstrate that I completely disagree with forcing a kid who doesn't want to ride, but I see nothing wrong with encouraging a kid who wants to ride and just starts getting a little nervous. Sometimes that can end up completely making a kid's day.

I lied my hind end off to my wife to get her on Jurassic Park after she had ridden Dudley Do Right. She HATED the drop. Absolutely despises that adrenaline rush. I told her there was no drop because the boats are too big.

She pretty much did the same thing to me.

 

[ttintagel]

I lied my hind end off to my wife to get her on Jurassic Park after she had ridden Dudley Do Right. She HATED the drop. Absolutely despises that adrenaline rush. I told her there was no drop because the boats are too big.

She pretty much did the same thing to me.

On our first trip to WDW in 1983, my Dad lied to my Mom and told her Big Thunder Mountain was a slow, scenic train ride. He ended up regretting it when she passed out on the ride.

 

[LongLiveDisney1]

On our first trip to WDW in 1983, my Dad lied to my Mom and told her Big Thunder Mountain was a slow, scenic train ride. He ended up regretting it when she passed out on the ride.

I don't get how one "passes out" on Big Thunder.

 

[photo_chick]

So it's when I hear people on this board saying it's their "right" to parent their child any way they see fit, that's when I become concerned. Because yes, as a parent, we have the right to follow our own chosen parenting styles. But where do we draw the line between "our rights as parents" and "our children's rights as human beings"? In my opinion, the story the OP posted is an example of infringing on a child's right as a person, and borderline abuse. I know there are many here who would disagree with me - I guess I would just hope you would put yourself in your child's shoes when deciding whether what you are doing is infringing on their rights. I don't think that is too much to ask. Everyone has the right to enjoy their vacation, that's all I am saying.

I don't disagree with you but I think a big point many posters have been trying to make is that things aren't always what they seem. And what may look like it's over the line to you may not be with some kids. That makes it even harder to judge who is being abusive and who is doing what is right for their kids. The OP's story sounds horrible, but the OP also quoted the person putting their kid on the ride saying something to the affect of "you have no idea what we're going through". And that makes me think that there may have been more here than the OP's viewpoint.

edited to add... I have a friend whose son has oppositional defiant disorder. He kicks and screams and throws a tantrum over things. To the point where he could hurt himself. The doctors and therapists have shown her a way to physically restrain him so that he doesn't get hurt. To me it looks like she is sitting on him and being abusive. But she's not. She's acting in the best interest of her child, even when she feels awful for doing it. So you never know what another family is going through or why a parent may say or do something. Some are abusive. But some aren't. But its hard to tell the real story if you're an outside third party.

 

[jmkjr72]

you know here is the thing where most people need to learn to keep there nose to themself
first off you do not know the child
you do not know the situations at all if you do not know the child
i ahve forced my son to go on rides he didnt want to
why becuase untill you do something you dont realy know if you wont like it

so if your kid starts screaming that they doesnt like to eat the meal what are you going to do get them another meal
no you are going to make them eat the food that you gave them

this is no diffrent

i can tell you tons of stories of home sick kids at camp
and the ones with the best results are when the parents followed my advice of telling the kid to suck it up and deal with being at camp

the ones that mommy and daddy come running to and giving in are part of the probelm in our world today

 

[LongLiveDisney1]

you know here is the thing where most people need to learn to keep there nose to themself
first off you do not know the child
you do not know the situations at all if you do not know the child
i ahve forced my son to go on rides he didnt want to
why becuase untill you do something you dont realy know if you wont like it

so if your kid starts screaming that they doesnt like to eat the meal what are you going to do get them another meal
no you are going to make them eat the food that you gave them

this is no diffrent

i can tell you tons of stories of home sick kids at camp
and the ones with the best results are when the parents followed my advice of telling the kid to suck it up and deal with being at camp

the ones that mommy and daddy come running to and giving in are part of the probelm in our world today

well said

 

[Rincelex]

I read a book recently can't remember the name but it was by an ex CM and they said that they were not allowed to allow children on the ride if they were clearly upset by it. They had to stand to one side and all the time they are showing this distress they are not allowed to ride.

 

[polyfor4]

On our trip this past May we were seated beside two little boys under the age of 10 on Soarin' without an adult with them. The poor little guys had waited almost two hours to ride the ride and of course as soon as the seat belts locked one of them began to wet his pants. We let a cast member know and they stopped the ride and let the little boys off. Unfortunately, the cast member was not very friendly to these little boys when he found out they were unattended. When we exited the ride the little boys were standing by the exit crying and the cast member's response was, "What's the problem?" It definitely ruined the magic but my question is surely this has happened before and maybe Disney should have a policy of children riding without adult supervision. I'm sure more than likely these parents saw the long wait and said go ahead and we'll meet you afterwards but between having to stop the ride and the sad little boys having a meltdown- it doesn't semm like a good idea to me.

 

[LongLiveDisney1]

On our trip this past May we were seated beside two little boys under the age of 10 on Soarin' without an adult with them. The poor little guys had waited almost two hours to ride the ride and of course as soon as the seat belts locked one of them began to wet his pants. We let a cast member know and they stopped the ride and let the little boys off. Unfortunately, the cast member was not very friendly to these little boys when he found out they were unattended. When we exited the ride the little boys were standing by the exit crying and the cast member's response was, "What's the problem?" It definitely ruined the magic but my question is surely this has happened before and maybe Disney should have a policy of children riding without adult supervision. I'm sure more than likely these parents saw the long wait and said go ahead and we'll meet you afterwards but between having to stop the ride and the sad little boys having a meltdown- it doesn't semm like a good idea to me.

He probably wasn't too friendly b/c he knew he'd have to wipe down a seat that just got pee'd on.

 

[juliebug1997]

Not Disneys place to have a policy.

FWIW, I have forced my child on a ride before. I never used such language and said he was ruining anything, but DH and I picked him up and got him secured. I got lots of dirty looks, but wish those people could have seen my child's face when he got off the ride. I o ly did it because I knew he would like it...and I was right. I would never do it if I had any doubt.

Yeah, my dad made me get on Judge Roy Scream when I was four and I can't ride those rides ever since. I'm sure my dad thought I would enjoy it too. I love him dearly, but parents can be wrong.

 

[LongLiveDisney1]

Yeah, my dad made me get on Judge Roy Scream when I was four and I can't ride those rides ever since. I'm sure my dad thought I would enjoy it too. I love him dearly, but parents can be wrong.

You probably wouldn't be riding it whether he forced you on it or not.

 

[maxiesmom]

It definitely ruined the magic but my question is surely this has happened before and maybe Disney should have a policy of children riding without adult supervision. I'm sure more than likely these parents saw the long wait and said go ahead and we'll meet you afterwards but between having to stop the ride and the sad little boys having a meltdown- it doesn't semm like a good idea to me.

Disney does have a policy on children riding alone. I can't remember what it is, but if there is both a younger child and an older child the older has to be 10 or 12 yrs old (I think) in order to be responsible for the younger child.

If both kids were say 5 or 6 they shouldn't have been allowed to ride without an adult.

 

[maxiesmom]

Yeah, my dad made me get on Judge Roy Scream when I was four and I can't ride those rides ever since. I'm sure my dad thought I would enjoy it too. I love him dearly, but parents can be wrong.

Parents can be right though too.

I was with my sister one trip to Dollywood. We forced my nephew, who was around 8, to ride the Dollywood version for Kali River Rapids. If anything, the Dollywood ride is even more lame than the WDW version. Anyway, he was in line freaking out for some reason. And this is a boy who had already been to WDW, and rode BTMRR and Splash, so we had no idea what the problem was. We kept him in line, trying to convince him he would be fine, but I'm not sure what we were going to do if he was still crying when it was time to board the ride.

After seeing the little grandma ahead of us in line shuffling along, he finally calmed down enough where he went on the ride. And afterwards he said he didn't know why he had been so afraid. And that he wanted to ride it again.

Part of being a parent is pushing your kids beyond the limits they have set for themselves. Sometimes things turn our great, and sometimes you screw things up.

 

[Jennasis]

In summation...parents, you are darned if you do and darned if you don't. As with all things.

My only hope is that Disney continues to use their "rule" about not letting crying, panicking or otherwise clearly upset kids board a ride. No need to ruin EVERYONE's ride.

 

[TheAceOfAces]

After seeing the little grandma ahead of us in line shuffling along, he finally calmed down enough where he went on the ride. And afterwards he said he didn't know why he had been so afraid. And that he wanted to ride it again.

For some reason it seems to really help kids that are nervous about rides if they see elderly people or babies (if the ride doesn't have a height requirement) going through the line and not acting scared. I don't have kids, but I do remember being a kid and being reassured by seeing people from either of these age groups happily getting on a ride I was iffy about.

 

[dzorn]

Disney does have a policy on children riding alone. I can't remember what it is, but if there is both a younger child and an older child the older has to be 10 or 12 yrs old (I think) in order to be responsible for the younger child.

If both kids were say 5 or 6 they shouldn't have been allowed to ride without an adult.

Children are allowed to ride by themselves at age 7 was the last I heard.

Denise in MI

 

[Srantin]

I know for a fact Universal Orlando has a policy for this and I'm quite certain when I worked in Fantasyland we had a similar policy, however it really comes down to whether a Cast Member wants to enforce it. Me being the kind of person I am, I was more than willing to enforce it.

 

[LongLiveDisney1]

Me being the kind of person I am, I was more than willing to enforce it.

Meddlesome?