What rides are NOT meant for 5 year olds?

[Misty89]

MY DD 5 is wondering LOL- shes getting excited what rides she can and cannot go on....since i dont know i said i would ask the " disney people"
so can you please give me a list of rides that 5 year old girls cannot /should not ride? -
we know alot of them she can ride at MK, but we have never been to any other WDW park and thjerefore know none of the rides.
I t will be easier for me to note down what she cannot ride then make 2 lists for can ride or cant ride
Thanks

is it helpful for you to know shes 47 " tall ?

 

[720L]

The only thing I can think of is the rockn rollercoaster at MGM. If you go on Disneys website there is a list of height requirements for all the rides.

 

[tink2]

You might want to check Deb's site for height requirements: http://allearsnet.com/. Let me see, last year DD was 4 and will be 5 this year. She could not ride:
MGM: Tower of Terror, Rock N Rollercoaster
Epcot: Mission Space, Test Track- though she might me able to this year
AK: Dinosaur

Those are the major ones I can think of off the top of my head. Now, there are several others we don't put her on for the fear factor- we learned that the hard way with the Snow White ride at MK. It's Tough to be a Bug at AK scared her when she was 3- haven't seen it since. Also haven't done the Great MOvie Ride b/c of the gun scene- may try it this year. Now, take into all this that my DD is a scaredy cat- if yours is a daredevil she may can handle these.
Good luck and have fun!!! WDW is so magical for children this age!

 

[ufgator]

You said you've been to MK already, but I was terrified of Snow White when I was 3. My dad thought it would be a nice ride because it's Snow White. I'm in my 20's now so it could've changed by now. I haven't been on that ride since I was 3 My husband wanted to go last time we were there but we ran out of time.

 

[goofyernmost]

I'm sure that you meant to say "5 year olds" instead of "5 year old girls". Don't want this to become a sexist thread now do we!

That bit of silliness out of the way...I think that it depends on the child and thier degree of understanding fantasy and makebelieve. Some attractions like Haunted Mansion might be fine for a 5 year old that is into that kind of stuff and can mentally process that it isn't real whereas a child that is timid and easily scared might not be a suitable candidate. I took my youngest on that when she was 6 and she never made a sound or appeared scared in anyway. I found out a few years later that she had her eyes closed throughout the entire thing.

I now have a grandson that is very sensitive to loud noises, even fireworks shows scare the snot out of him. Read up on the attractions. You know your own child better than anyone. Try her on a mild one and see what her reaction is. If it is OK, work your way up, slowly.

I am hoping others can tell you the degree of scariness any ride has because I personally find all of them just either entertaining or funny. I have never felt fear in any of them.

 

[Misty89]

 

[Kimickey]

OOps, I guess DH and I are bad parents because our DD (6) rode all of the above rides and wanted (s) to do them again and again.

 

[tink2]

Kimickey- not bad parents at all!!!! I wish my DD would ride some of them without having a heart attack- she is way too scarey about things. However, our ds seems to be going in the other direction- so maybe there is hope for us afterall!!

 

[SnackyStacky]

Originally posted by Kimickey
OOps, I guess DH and I are bad parents because our DD (6) rode all of the above rides and wanted (s) to do them again and again.

I hope that that's a little bit of levity!

If you think someone was implying that you're a bad parent, they weren't.

I think posters were just listing attractions that troubled their own kids.

No offense meant, and now back to your regularly scheduled discussion!

 

[Tigger&Belle]

At 47" the only rides she won't be able to ride are Rock N Roller Coaster at MGM and Primevil Whirl at AK.

My son, who is probably 44" with his shoes on can and will go on anything that he is tall enough for. He only wanted to ride Dinosaur once, but rode everything else multiple times. He's not a big fan of 3-D shows, but isn't scared of them now like he used to be. He loves roller coasters--the rougher the better and he can't wait until he is tall enough for RnR.

Now, since she is a girl the list might be different... Sorry, just had to put that in there for goofyernmost.

Seriously, though, it really depends on the particular child what they will like. My first born and only girl was timid when it came to rides until she was maybe 9-10 and will now ride anything. My 14yo has always been daring, my 11yo is a big wimp (adorable, good kid, but still a wimp ). My youngest who will be 5yo next month is very daring, more so than even his oldest brother was at his age.

Start with the smaller rides and see how your daughter does and then move up from there. I always tell my kids that they should try a ride once and then don't have to repeat it if they don't want to. No way of knowing if they like it without trying it, afterall.

T&B

 

[dcmbshafe]

This is just a hard thing to answer because kids are soooo different. The obvious list is associated with height restrictions, but once you get past that it will vary kid-by-kid.

My DD was almost 5 when we were in WDW this past May. In a trip just 6 months prior to that, she was very timid about what she wanted to ride - didn't want anything to do with the Haunted Mansion or even Goofy's Barnstormer. Then in May, we couldn't get her off of BTMR!!! It was by far her favorite. She was still spooked a little by HM, but went and enjoyed it (though she swears she won't go on it when we visit again next March).

I would recommend either buying or checking out from the library a book that focuses on WDW with kids. We had one by Kim Wright Wiley (who is apparently doing updates for Fodor's) and it was very helpful. For each attraction, there is a basic description, some comments from readers on their experiences, and a "scare factor". Sometimes it is hard for us adults to experience an attraction and discern what might be disturbing about it to a child. This book did a great job in this regard and gave you a lot of real life examples.

Another suggestion for you would be to get the WDW planning video (if you have time) and show this to your daughter so she knows a little of what to expect. They show a lot of the rides at all of the parks.

I'm not going to suggest you avoid anything, but I would suggest you "do some homework" on the following to see how your daughter might react:

MK - Pirate's of the Carribean, BTMR, HM, Snow White, Stitch, Splash Mountain, Space Mountain

Epcot - Honey I Shrunk the Audience, Body Wars, Mission: Space, Test Track, 360-vision movies

MGM - Great Movie Ride, Fantasmic, Muppet Vision 3D, RnR, ToT, Star Tours, Indiana Jones (if loud noises bother)

AK - Dinosaur, It's Tough to Be a Bug

 

[Kimickey]

I hope that that's a little bit of levity!

Definetley levity... just making light of a situation/topic. No reason for anyone to throw flames.

 

[huskies90]

We just got back and my 44" 5 year old daughter did everything she was tall enough for. R&RC and PW were the only two she was not tall enough for and she really wanted to do them. The Mountains and the Haunted Mansion were her favorites. We went on all of them at least 5 or 6 times. She had her arms up and sat in the front on Space Mountain even though she barely hit the bottom of the little height ruler. Dinosaur she did 4 times but I noticed she had her eyes closed through most of it. No problems with Test Track or Mission Space. TOT she only did once. She did ITTBAG twice. She did not want to go back after the first time but after doing so she loved it. She was bored on Stitch (as were the rest of us)...

Just tell your daughter it is like a movie and nothing bad will happen. There is no reason to be afraid. It is just the magic of Disney!!

 

[Tigger&Belle]

huskies90,

You say that your daughter barely made the height restriction for Space Mt. Was she 44 " with or without her shoes on? My son measures about 44" without shoes (maybe a tad under), but am thinking he'll be ok with his shoes on. He really wants to do SM, and I've told him he's probably tall enough but that they'll have to measure him. I guess my round-about question is do you think the measuring stick is measuring a real 44" or a little more to allow for shoes?

Thanks, T&B

 

[dolphindan1]

A couple of years ago my oldest son was at that height where he had to be measured each time.....I thought it was funny he could sit on space moutain by his self but couldnt ride primevil whirl with me right beside him....He was very upset as was I.....but last year we rode it together now this year 16 days and counting I get to re live the situation with my youngest who is 4 years old....

 

[huskies90]

DolphinDan - I agree, my daughter really wanted to go on Primeval Whirl. I have no idea why she couldn't. It was very tame!!

T&B - That cracked my up. Yes, she is about 43 1/2" in her socks. The shoes got her to 44" and she had to "stand up tall" to hit the mark. He should be fine.

They measured her on Kali River Rapids and then stamped her hand. I wish they did that at SM because she was checked every time at all 3 points and we went on the ride at least 6 or 7 times!!

 

[SueM in MN]

There is a book called Walt Disney World For Kids By KIDS that is really good.
It's actually kids comments/ratings of different attraction. They have a scary-ness factor where the kids rate the rides. Even if she can't read the book, I think it would be helpful
It's an official guide, so there are pictures of some of the rides too.

 

[Tigger&Belle]

huskies90, Thanks!

Jake should be in good shape, then. He's so funny--since he's the youngest of 4 children (by far, my others are 11, 14, and almost 17yo) he really wants to grow. I told him that he grows when he's sleeping and when he sleeps late in the morning that he has grown overnight. When he sleeps past 8AM he goes into the kitchen and plasters himself against the kitchen wall where we measure the kids a couple times a year and asks if he's taller. Of course he now thinks he's quite a bit taller than 44" and will be upset if he doesn't make the cut-off. Poor naive guy--all I want is to have a cup of coffee in peace.

T&B

 

[3MouseMom]

Here's another "it depends on the child." I have an 8 year old who was tall enough to go on 300 feet tall rollercoasters at Cedar Point at age 6 (I made her wait until 7 because I was nervous lol)--she wasn't afraid at all. She'll do anything and has always been that way. Then there is my 4.5 year old dd who is afraid of EVERYTHING. Fireworks are too loud, POTC is way too dark, etc....

This past October I saw a child about 4 or 5 pretty hysterical at Philharmagic (parents had to take her out). I looked at my own nervous dd and she was coping by covering her ears at the loud parts. She did end up loving it, thank goodness!! She swears she will try TT when she is 10!!

BTW, we had the planning video, talked about things being like a movie, etc., but it didn't really help. If she seemed nervous at the entrance of a ride, we did not ride it (or swapped). Her favorite little blankie did help at Fantasmic and fireworks. She held it close and ended up asking to see Wishes again!

 

[nativetxn]

Closed at the request of the original poster.