What is up with parents forcing kids on rides???

[mrstxcop]

We just got back from our trip (May9 - May16) and I was appalled at the number of parents forcing kids on rides they clearly did not want to go on...

Atleast 1x a day I would see and hear kids crying and screaming about not wanting to get on a certain ride and their parents holding them or hanging on to their arm and pulling them thru the line...

WHY??? --- why make the Disney experience miserable for your kid??? All they are going to remember is "Oh yeah, I remember our trip when I was little and my mom or dad forced me to ride _____ "

I saw it in Dinosaur --- the kid screamed the whole time, it started in the little video room and never stopped...

In It's Tough to Be a Bug --- both kids cried throughout the show

In the Nemo Ride --- the kid was terrified of the dark, underwater feeling and was crying and asking to leave and the dad actually stopped and yelled "NO" at him and said they were going to ride it...the kid got on crying and got off crying...

On Splash Mountain one little girl was so scared and she kept talking about the "big hill" that she did not want to go on...she was crying as she got off...

I know parents spend alot of money for a Disney vacation, but why force the kids on rides??? It makes the whole experience of the ride miserable not only for your kids, but for everyone around you that has to listen to your kid screaming the whole time as well --- not to mention it makes the parents look like jerks for forcing them on the ride to begin with...

 

[Berlioz70]

It's the same parents who force screaming/scared kids to meet with Characters... it'll be a good photo op?

Some things we'll never know.

 

[MM27]

I don't have kids, but I would assume that many people would say that they want the kid to experience the ride and it might be something they like when it's over.

Personally, I wouldn't push it. If the kid says no, that should be respected. I wonder how many of the people that force their kids on rides would be okay being forced on something themselves.

 

[cwf1028]

I haven't 'forced' my own kids, but I do work hard to convience them. I have one who does not like loud animatronics (sp?) type things, but she agreed to close her eyes and put her hands over her ears and ride EE, and Dinosaur. I would not forcefully make them ride anything though.

Having said that, I was put on Space Mountain when I was a kid kicking and screaming. It was my first roller coaster ride and I had no idea what is was until we got to the top. It did not kill me and when it was over I was glad and felt proud that I could go back to school and say I rode it. It is really funny because when I went back about 8 years ago as an adult I got a really good laugh at how lame the ride is!

 

[luvbeinamom]

We went to Animal Kingdom and wanted to ride the river rapids. Our 4 year old did too....until we got to the front and she chickened out. It was part of her drama queen coming out and part of the unknown, but she was protesting.
We made her go because we knew (like everyone knows their own child) that she would love it.
We felt horrible at first, but she ended up LOVING it and talks about it all the time. Whenever we talk about going on a new ride she asks if it will be as fun as the river rapids.

She wasn't kicking and screaming by any means, but I'm sure to the unaware bystander seeing her cling to my arm for dear life while burying her head in my stomach sure made it look worse than it was.
Just my situation to offer another point.

 

[mrstxcop]

It's the same parents who force screaming/scared kids to meet with Characters... it'll be a good photo op?

Some things we'll never know.

OMG!!! --- YES...i forgot about this also --- there was one older girl, maybe 8 or so, who DID NOT want to see Mike and Sulley and the whole family was trying to force her to stand in the pic --- to the point that they were holding up the line AND literally chased her around the little photo area to grab her...she squirmed away at the last second and ran out of there crying...

i just don't get it!!!

 

[snow.white]

I forced my DH on the TOT, now he hates DHS.

 

[snow.white]

ooops! double post!

 

[islandchick779]

I forced my DH on the TOT, now he hates DHS.

Wow, that stinks!

I convinced my boys to go on ToT, and they didn't really enjoy it, but now they aren't freaked out by the thought of it.

I also talked them into Space Mountain, and they both LOVE it!

I guess some people do actually know their kids and make a jusgement to try to get them to try something new...

Yesterday we talked my 7 yr old into trying a philly cheese steak sandwich that he swore he wouldn't like and then he kept wanting more of it.

 

[mrstxcop]

with all this being said, let me just say that i fully understand a little "encouragment" --- we did tell our 7yr old to have an open mind about rides and to go on thinking about fun, not fear ---

she clearly did not want to do Dinosaur and she cried just walking up, so my dh sat out with her and then rode it when me and my 13yr old got off...

neither one of my kids wanted to do the Haunted Mansion --- we were in the little prep room and as we started walking towards the ride the 7yr old cried and the 13yr old said she didn't feel good about it, so we bailed, no big deal --- dh and i both know they would have loved it in the end, but it wasn't worth it to us to have our kids miseable with anticipation prior to it...

the forcing i am talking about it is the hanging on to your kids, pulling them thru a line, while they are crying and yelling...i just don't think that makes for good memory vibes for the kids or parents...but that is just my opinion...

 

[fla4fun]

OMG!!! --- YES...i forgot about this also --- there was one older girl, maybe 8 or so, who DID NOT want to see Mike and Sulley and the whole family was trying to force her to stand in the pic --- to the point that they were holding up the line AND literally chased her around the little photo area to grab her...she squirmed away at the last second and ran out of there crying...

i just don't get it!!!

I don't get that either. How was that fun for anyone? My parents never forced us to go on rides. They would ask or suggest, but if we said no, we didn't go. I don't like thrill rides - never did. My first roller coaster experience was SM the year it opened, and the combination of the dark and the roller coaster ride was enough to keep me off coasters for years. I did manage to try BTM, and it's ok (not a fave though), but I can't even fathom going on RNRC. If my parents had forced me to ride a ride I didn't want to, I probably wouldn't be a Disney fan today. My sister has a fear of heights, so there are certain rides she won't go on - but because it was never forced, she still loves Disney.

 

[Finally08]

We did Disney last Sept...dd was finally 40" and rode everything she could and loved it all. She talked and talked about going back and the rides she couldn't wait to do again. Now fast forward to this month. She has suddenly developed a case of unfounded paranoia...like literally as we arrive at the parks. For instance Test track was her fave last time...she squealed and giggled on the fast part at the end and even made me buy her a pin for the ride she loved it so much. Now as we enter the line the fretting begins..."I don't want to ride...what if I fall out..what if it flips over and we all die.." wha wha wha. Just crazy worries. We reassured her over and over, reminded her what it was like and how she loved it, and how she had been dying to ride it again.

She wasn't screaming or having a fit but there were definitely. tears and worry on her face. And you can bet I, big mean mommy, made her ride it again. I was not going to cater to irrational fears that the car would fly off the track and we'd all die.

And guess what...she loved it!! She begged to ride it again the very next day, which we did. And what was funny was that as we were going through the line the next day there was a woman a row behind us in the line in the same place we had been before, telling her dd the same things. "Look honey, there's another girl and she's going to ride it...look at how all the people that get off the ride are smiling!" So funny...and it was all points I made with my dd the day before.

Now TOT she missed last time in Sept and has talked about since then. So when we got to HS this time and went to ride, again the fear. I told her I had heard about it for 8 months, she needed to try it and then she could decide if she didn't like it. So with concern she did ride it, clung to dh with a death grip, then proclaimed at the end that she'd rather not ride it again. I am fine with that. But I knew had I not made her try, I'd be hearing about it for god knows how long, about how she wants to go back and ride it.

 

[wdwislife]

If my parents had forced me on rides I think I would have pitched a fit.
I was NOT a thrill rider until I was at least 11 or 12 years old, and the fact that parents would do that to their children upsets me.

 

[brandylouwho]

I don't force my kids, but I do my share of convincing too. Sometimes my daughter gets her facts confused (thought Spaceship Earth was Mission Space so she didn't want to ride), sometimes she is a drama queen (aren't all 5 year old girls?), sometimes she really is scared.

Since she is my kid I usually understand what is going on and act accordingly. 9 times out of 10 she ends up LOVING the ride. In the few instances where she really is scared or does not warm up to the idea...we don't go on or we take the chicken exit (Haunted Mansion comes to mind).

I am not in the habit of letting my kids act like crying, loud, crazed creatures, but I can't say it hasn't happened once or twice, even at Disney. I am glad when other adults just mind their own beeswax and go about their own vacation without giving my kids any reaction/attention as that attention often just eggs on the kids bad behavior. (On second thought, sometimes the nice, positive, understanding attention from a passerby can help change the kids minds/get them out of their little funk. It it not expected, but certainly appreciated when it happens).

In any case, I look at this like most other things people like to complain about on these boards...I try not to concern myself with others vacations and concentrate on having my own fun. A crying kid now and then is just part of the background noise for me in a theme park. I am just thankful when it is not my kid.

 

[disneynewbee]

Some parents are just jerks and just thinking about themselves and wanting to ride. Other parents know their kids and their personality and know what they like and don't like and know the kid will end up loving the ride and don't want them to miss out. You can't tell the difference between the two so I don't judge. I know my 3yos personality is very wishy washy, one day she'll do something and one day she won't, has nothing to do with fear, it's more about control. We went to Hershey only a few wks apart. She rode all the little baby rides the first time and had a blast. The second time she screamed like we were murdering her putting her on them. I knew she liked them she had just rode them a few wks ago. A lady came up to me and made some snide comment about me forcing her on there like I was an abusive parent. I really think the world would be a better place if people didn't judge others by a 5 minute look or interaction. I would never think to make a comment to another parent like that unless I saw physical abuse going on. Now I don't force my kids on rides they have never been on and are scared of but I will bribe or work hard to convince if I know they will love it because I don't want them to miss a good experience for them. We always do babyswap anyway because we have the 3yo and baby so if someone doesn't want to ride it doesn't matter either way.

 

[1hero2princesses]

None of my kids have been so scared to ride that they cried (they have cried when I said they couldnt ride!). However we did get in the Buzz line once and DD3 decided she didn't want to ride. Now mind you she had already been on 5times or so and DS5 really wanted to ride (and sorry it was not fair to pull him out of the line because she suddenly decided to be a brat) so we did put her on well she was saying " I dont want to" but she was not freaking out or anything. So sometimes there is more to the story than what you see or know. I will say however - she is terrified of characters. Kicking screaming, freaking out not wanting to see characters. We don't force her (although it really really ruined our first charcter meal because we didnt know she was afraid). I will say though - we tried to see pooh and tigger and the other characters for my other kids (as we can't do character meals) and to get her to stand off to the side, we didn't try to get her to go anywhere near them. She was not happy and was crying and stomping her feet. Up to that point every single picture we had was either me or my husband with the character and the the other kids. We were hoping for a family pick, but having one with both of us and 2 of the kids was nice. It can't always be about just one kid and she needs to learn that throwing a fit is not good. So again, there is often more to the story. We go way out of way to avoid characters for her (I actually fell down the stairs of Tonys while carrying DD 1 trying to warn my DH that he was heading stright for Pinnochio- DD1 was fine but my knees were not!) so we do the best we can. She also freaks over dogs and cats but that is a whole other story....

 

[TheRustyScupper]

Parents, with Prussian helmet . . .

1) You VILL get on ride!
2) You VILL stop crying!
3) You VILL have funs!
4) You VILL remember this for years.

 

[kgle]

I think that I don't care how other parents handle things that are not my business.

 

[Kelblum]

Some parents are just jerks and just thinking about themselves and wanting to ride. Other parents know their kids and their personality and know what they like and don't like and know the kid will end up loving the ride and don't want them to miss out. You can't tell the difference between the two so I don't judge. I know my 3yos personality is very wishy washy, one day she'll do something and one day she won't, has nothing to do with fear, it's more about control. We went to Hershey only a few wks apart. She rode all the little baby rides the first time and had a blast. The second time she screamed like we were murdering her putting her on them. I knew she liked them she had just rode them a few wks ago. A lady came up to me and made some snide comment about me forcing her on there like I was an abusive parent. I really think the world would be a better place if people didn't judge others by a 5 minute look or interaction. I would never think to make a comment to another parent like that unless I saw physical abuse going on. Now I don't force my kids on rides they have never been on and are scared of but I will bribe or work hard to convince if I know they will love it because I don't want them to miss a good experience for them. We always do babyswap anyway because we have the 3yo and baby so if someone doesn't want to ride it doesn't matter either way.

Perfectly stated! I agree with everything you said!

We made DD,8, go on Rock n Roll Roller Coaster, not forcing her, but you could tell she was very hesitant and teary eyed, because we knew she would love it. Well it is her favorite ride at WDW.

I really try hard not to judge other people (although sometimes it is REALLY hard!) because you never know what is really going on.

 

[tlenzendorf]

Some parents are just jerks and just thinking about themselves and wanting to ride. Other parents know their kids and their personality and know what they like and don't like and know the kid will end up loving the ride and don't want them to miss out. You can't tell the difference between the two so I don't judge. I know my 3yos personality is very wishy washy, one day she'll do something and one day she won't, has nothing to do with fear, it's more about control. We went to Hershey only a few wks apart. She rode all the little baby rides the first time and had a blast. The second time she screamed like we were murdering her putting her on them. I knew she liked them she had just rode them a few wks ago. A lady came up to me and made some snide comment about me forcing her on there like I was an abusive parent. I really think the world would be a better place if people didn't judge others by a 5 minute look or interaction. I would never think to make a comment to another parent like that unless I saw physical abuse going on. Now I don't force my kids on rides they have never been on and are scared of but I will bribe or work hard to convince if I know they will love it because I don't want them to miss a good experience for them. We always do babyswap anyway because we have the 3yo and baby so if someone doesn't want to ride it doesn't matter either way.

You took the words out of my mouth. DD5 is the exact same way