What is Disney policy on intervening when children panic?

[LongLiveDisney1]

OMG, you were forced to go to Disney and ride a ride?? Let's get you some therapy, snowflake.

 

[luvthemouse71]

I'm stunned by this thread.

I'm reminded of a comment I once heard and have said to a parent or two.

"You love your kids so much that you let them act the fool and because of this nobody else can stand to be around them."

That's a form of neglect, in my eyes. Lack of discipline, over coddling and overly permissive parenting are very damaging to the child in the long run.

 

[luvthemouse71]

OMG, you were forced to go to Disney and ride a ride?? Let's get you some therapy, snowflake.

They can sit next to the kid whose parents actually made him WALK at WDW instead of using the stroller or maybe next to someone who is afraid of self flushing toilets..

 

[Hannathy]

They can sit next to the kid whose parents actually made him WALK at WDW instead of using the stroller or maybe next to someone who is afraid of self flushing toilets..

Don't forget it was an ADULT! who was afraid of the self flushing toilet! That one still gets me.

 

[tony609]

We saw a CM ask a child at splash, who was in a log crying, not carrying on to bad if she wanted to ride. She said no. The cm said I cannot start the ride with her upset. You'll have to exit. They did. I don't think the parents fussed to much. I agree 100% with this policy. I also won't force a kid to ride something they don't want to... I don't want to be forced to ride things as an adult.

 

[BigGreen73]

That's a form of neglect, in my eyes. Lack of discipline, over coddling and overly permissive parenting are very damaging to the child in the long run.

Couldn't have said it better myself.

 

[maxiesmom]

I think pretty much everyone who has been to the parks with a child has had a moment where, from the outside, it looks like you are being a horrible parent. Maybe you have an over-tired child pitching a fit. Maybe you are ignoring a child that is crying. Maybe you were the one who lost it. Truth is, none of us can tell from a small snap-shot in time what kind of parent someone else is, and if what they are doing is abusive or not. Unless you see something like that idiot parent who was kicking a child in the face at Epcot. I think we can all agree that that was abuse.

It is much harder to say when someone is being emotionally abused, and very hard to tell from seeing one moment between a parent and a child.

 

[eliza61]

Just back from a fantastic trip to the world, but still troubled over an awful incident we witnessed. The family in front of us in line at Dinosaur had two small boys, one of whom went into a full-on panic attack over going on the ride. The parents were, honestly, hateful, telling the boy he was ruining their vacation, squeezing and jerking his arms, and bodily forcing him into the seat and restraining him. The poor child was beyond tears, screaming, flailing, kicking. It broke my heart. If you could have seen the truly ugly looks on these parents faces....it was astonishing.

At one point, as quietly and politely as I could, I offered to have my son (12 years old, and doesn't like the ride but goes through the queue with us) sit with her son so the rest of her family could go on the ride. She barked at me that I "Have no idea what we're going through" and refused my offer and continued to manhandle the child.

We got on the ride, only to have it stop right after the loading area. The lights came on and this poor child continued to scream and kick and fight, while everyone looked on, not knowing what to do.

My question is this: doesn't Disney have a policy for situations like this? Shouldn't some Cast Member have intervened? I'm curious how this should have been handled and if the Cast Members were correct to just let the child suffer. (Not to mention the suffering of all the guests in the area.)

Truthfully, I seen this many, many times. for many disney is a once in a life time trip (not excusing the behaviour) and the need to "do every thing" or we are wasting our money is drummed into their heads.

I witness a dad force his kid on HM because it was their only day at magic kingdom and they had to do "everything, NOW".

Same scenerio, kid have a major freaky deaky meltdown, parent forcing them onto the ride.

 

[eliza61]

It's sad how some people think emotionally abusing children is funny. Parent's who are emotional abusers don't leave physical scars but leave emotional/mental scars. As a parent, my children know that I am there to love and protect them. Obviously, the parent's the OP described have mental issues. It's sad to see people laughing at a child who is emotionally terrified. Can someone explain to me how that is funny?

I don't think anyone thinks it's funny but as parents we also know that it's extremely hard to "diagnose" a parent from one tiny snapshot in time.

 

[budafam]

I haven't read all of the replies but we did force our 5 year old son to ride Tower of Terror on our last trip. He cried walking through the whole line. Our entire family wanted to experience it together for the first time. My 3 year old daughter walked on with no issue but my 5 year old son cried. We got dirty looks but the CM put us right onto a cart and off we went. He survived and now he can say he rode it. Our policy is try it once and if you don't like it we won't make you do it again. He did Space Mountain and hated it... has never been back on again.

 

[Jennasis]

Who did that?

You did.

OMG, you were forced to go to Disney and ride a ride?? Let's get you some therapy, snowflake.

It's not gently prodding or coaxing an apprehensive child to get onto a ride they are worried about that is a problem. It's berating, yelling at, humiliating, threatening, physically dragging or restraining a clearly panicked or terrified child onto a ride that is a problem. All for what? So some ogre of a parent can get his/her money's worth?

 

[luvthemouse71]

Don't forget it was an ADULT! who was afraid of the self flushing toilet! That one still gets me.

I didn't forget, trust me. I was trying to protect their anonymity...

 

[KCMiller]

OP, I'm so sorry that you and your family had to witness that - and I feel terrible for the child involved. I couldn't tell - did they actually go on the ride, after all, or were they taken off when the lights came up? And if they did go, did you happen to see them later, or ask the CM at the end of the ride about the child?

I sometimes wonder if people should have to pass some kind of parenting class before they are allowed to have children, or take a parenting class before they leave the hospital. Just the basics, you know?

KC

 

[leebee]

I haven't read all of the replies but we did force our 5 year old son to ride Tower of Terror on our last trip. He cried walking through the whole line. Our entire family wanted to experience it together for the first time.... He survived and now he can say he rode it. Our policy is try it once and if you don't like it we won't make you do it again. He did Space Mountain and hated it... has never been back on again.

The bolded part isn't true; clearly your 5 year old did NOT want to experience the ride AT ALL. Perhaps you and your spouse wanted this, but your 5 year old didn't!

I am not sure I understand why you'd want to force your child to ride something they are obviously terrified of riding. How do you know it's "just" being afraid? Perhaps they don't like that kind of ride. I have a kid who rides ALL the big rides; a day at Cedar Point is like a day in heaven for her. However, I have seen her scared to try some of these coasters. I have been in line with her while, the whole time, she is mumbling to herself, "C'mon, you can do this. It looks great, you LOVE coasters, you can do it." She has admitted that there are coasters that scare her to contemplate riding but she knows she loves riding coasters so talks herself through the line. She started doing this when she was about 10. This is not a case of being afraid to ride; DD talks herself through this to do what she knows she loves.

I, on the other hand, do NOT ride coasters and it has nothing to do with being afraid. I'm not scared of the coaster; I simply know that I HATE the feeling of dropping. It's not fun for me and I just hate the whole thing, the feeling, the dread of anticipating the drops. I hate going around in circles as it makes me sick, hate jerky rides as they make me motion sick, too (enough so that I vomited after Dinosaur, and that's after having taken a motion sickness pill that morning). I choose not to ride things, not because they scare me, but because I do not like the way they make me feel. How do you know if this is true for your child or not? Kids can't always verbalize how they feel. What is the big deal of being able to say he rode ToT or Space Mountain? He didn't want to ride, probably knew he wasn't going to like it, and now you know he doesn't like it... which he knew to begin with.

Some parents think they spent all this money to have fun, and they are going to have fun, darn it! If your kid hates the rides you force him on, then he'll remember that, and you'll have paid all the money for your kid to be miserable. Is that really how you want to spend your money?

 

[ttintagel]

I choose not to ride things, not because they scare me, but because I do not like the way they make me feel.

That's how it is with me. Maybe it's just the way my innards are put together, but big drops make my stomach hurt, even after I've been off the ride for a while. Wooden roller-coasters often bring on migraines. As a teen I'd force myself on rides because of peer pressure, but as an adult I had to stop and ask, "Why would you deliberately make your body feel bad? What's the reward?"

 

[LoveKermit]

Without reading all 11 pages, I would have said there was some sort of policy based on our experience......

We had a child screaming before ToT near us (not ours). The Grandma assured him he would be fine.....no abuse, but she and the other kid wanted to ride. The CM would not shut the door to the elevator until he stopped crying. I don't remember if the kid stopped and they rode or if they got off. What I do remember for sure, is that the CM would not close the door unless he stopped crying.

I am surprised the other rides do not do this. I have warned people in line about Dinosaur, one time to a guy with an 8 year old. The dad was glad for the heads up and the kid did okay. Of course, a few years later I proceed to take on my 4.5 year old knowing she'd like it. It wasn't her "favorite" but I know she'll ride it again. We know what our kids can handle.

 

[shalom]

Parents often (frequently) know what is best for their kids, even better than kids themselves.

This was my father's belief. Now I'm adult, and especially now he's dealt with my kids who share my personality (and who are ten times happier and easier to deal with parenting my way than I was parented his way), he's apologized for it.

Many people, as adults, have a fear of drops, loud noises, the dark, heights, etc., so I don't know why some parents can't just accept that some kids have these fears already.

It may not even be a fear issue. People have different tolerances for a lot of stuff. As a kid, I had no fear of heights but hated getting thrown around. I wasn't afraid of some roller coasters -- I disliked them because they were so rough I got no enjoyment out of them. I loved drops, so the whole "but it doesn't go as high as the one you love; you should like it" thing was a total non sequitur in my world.

And tolerances can change, depending on hormones or how well hydrated you are or by age or whatever; I've known some people who had really high tolerances for what I call "amusement park annoyances" (heat, noise, sun, spinning, etc.) who about go into shock the first time they ride an old favorite and have a miserable time.

"Wow, if that's how it makes some people feel, no wonder they don't like it!"

Ya think?

 

[okeydokey]

The bolded part isn't true; clearly your 5 year old did NOT want to experience the ride AT ALL. Perhaps you and your spouse wanted this, but your 5 year old didn't!

I am not sure I understand why you'd want to force your child to ride something they are obviously terrified of riding. How do you know it's "just" being afraid? Perhaps they don't like that kind of ride. I have a kid who rides ALL the big rides; a day at Cedar Point is like a day in heaven for her. However, I have seen her scared to try some of these coasters. I have been in line with her while, the whole time, she is mumbling to herself, "C'mon, you can do this. It looks great, you LOVE coasters, you can do it." She has admitted that there are coasters that scare her to contemplate riding but she knows she loves riding coasters so talks herself through the line. She started doing this when she was about 10. This is not a case of being afraid to ride; DD talks herself through this to do what she knows she loves.

I, on the other hand, do NOT ride coasters and it has nothing to do with being afraid. I'm not scared of the coaster; I simply know that I HATE the feeling of dropping. It's not fun for me and I just hate the whole thing, the feeling, the dread of anticipating the drops. I hate going around in circles as it makes me sick, hate jerky rides as they make me motion sick, too (enough so that I vomited after Dinosaur, and that's after having taken a motion sickness pill that morning). I choose not to ride things, not because they scare me, but because I do not like the way they make me feel. How do you know if this is true for your child or not? Kids can't always verbalize how they feel. What is the big deal of being able to say he rode ToT or Space Mountain? He didn't want to ride, probably knew he wasn't going to like it, and now you know he doesn't like it... which he knew to begin with.

Some parents think they spent all this money to have fun, and they are going to have fun, darn it! If your kid hates the rides you force him on, then he'll remember that, and you'll have paid all the money for your kid to be miserable. Is that really how you want to spend your money?

I agree, forcing a 5 year old on a ride they are afraid of sounds cruel to me.

My then 7 year old son wanted to do TOT with us one trip. He was fine in the lobby, but when the lights went off in the elevator and the video started playing, he grabbed my hand and said "I don't want to ride this anymore". I told him it was perfectly OK.

When we got to the loading platform, the two of us went down the chicken elevator while the rest of the family rode. I don't think my Disney magic was ruined because I did not ride this one ride with the rest.

A couple of years later we went back and we all rode it. He loved the drops part, but still isn't crazy about the pre-show. Neither is his older sister.

 

[budafam]

The bolded part isn't true; clearly your 5 year old did NOT want to experience the ride AT ALL. Perhaps you and your spouse wanted this, but your 5 year old didn't!

I am not sure I understand why you'd want to force your child to ride something they are obviously terrified of riding. How do you know it's "just" being afraid? Perhaps they don't like that kind of ride. I have a kid who rides ALL the big rides; a day at Cedar Point is like a day in heaven for her. However, I have seen her scared to try some of these coasters. I have been in line with her while, the whole time, she is mumbling to herself, "C'mon, you can do this. It looks great, you LOVE coasters, you can do it." She has admitted that there are coasters that scare her to contemplate riding but she knows she loves riding coasters so talks herself through the line. She started doing this when she was about 10. This is not a case of being afraid to ride; DD talks herself through this to do what she knows she loves.

I, on the other hand, do NOT ride coasters and it has nothing to do with being afraid. I'm not scared of the coaster; I simply know that I HATE the feeling of dropping. It's not fun for me and I just hate the whole thing, the feeling, the dread of anticipating the drops. I hate going around in circles as it makes me sick, hate jerky rides as they make me motion sick, too (enough so that I vomited after Dinosaur, and that's after having taken a motion sickness pill that morning). I choose not to ride things, not because they scare me, but because I do not like the way they make me feel. How do you know if this is true for your child or not? Kids can't always verbalize how they feel. What is the big deal of being able to say he rode ToT or Space Mountain? He didn't want to ride, probably knew he wasn't going to like it, and now you know he doesn't like it... which he knew to begin with.

Some parents think they spent all this money to have fun, and they are going to have fun, darn it! If your kid hates the rides you force him on, then he'll remember that, and you'll have paid all the money for your kid to be miserable. Is that really how you want to spend your money?

I'm not about to justify what we did to someone on a message board who I will most likely never meet. I just wanted to clarify that he was not MISERABLE. It didn't ruin his/our trip nor did it even ruin that day. Believe it or not, he walked off the ride all on his own and he's a happy little boy today. lol... we want him to experience things. He did not know what the ride was about and now he does. We didn't make him go on anything else that trip... we do one new "scary" ride on each trip and that's it. Disney's thrill rides are nothing compared to other parks. The themes are great but the actual thrills are not all that intense. This is my opinion. Have a wonderful day

 

[Rip]

You did.



It's not gently prodding or coaxing an apprehensive child to get onto a ride they are worried about that is a problem. It's berating, yelling at, humiliating, threatening, physically dragging or restraining a clearly panicked or terrified child onto a ride that is a problem. All for what? So some ogre of a parent can get his/her money's worth?

You might want to read what I've said a little more closely. Nowhere did I suggest the extremes you're talking about as being appropriate.