What rides/attractions was your 1.5-2 year old afraid of?

[Pollito916]

Planning our first trip with DS in December, and he will be 20 months old, so I would just like to get an idea of what to avoid with him. He's not generally scared by the dark or loud noises, but I started worrying about some of the images, like in PoC or HM. What were your kids scared of?

 

[SandrainNC]

My youngest was 16 months on his first trip (this past November). He did not like Dumbo. My DH didn't bother to tell me this (I was riding with oldest son behind them), so we got on Triceratop Spin and he whined and cried through the whole thing. If I would have known, I wouldn't have put him on it. So we let him skip Magic Carpets of Aladdin. Peter Pan he whined a little and I just kept clapping my hands and saying "yay". Everything else he was fine (including Haunted Mansion and Pirates). So go figure.

We did not to put him on the following: Snow White, It's Tough to be a Bug, Honey I Shrunk the Audience, Tikki Room

Sandra

 

[MouseFan71]

Just speaking from experience and please remember that every child is different, my kids didn't like:

Snow White - MK
Pirates of the Caribbean - MK
Haunted Mansion - MK
It's Tough to be a Bug - AK
Honey I shrunk the Audience - Epcot I think???
The Great Movie Ride - DHS
My one DD didn't care for any shows where it got dark such as The Lion King or the Little Mermaid. Both are great though so I made her go anyway.
FIREWORKS!!!! - a great place to bring little ones during fireworks time is - It's a Small World in MK or Spaceship Earth in Epcot. Both rides are long and they will usually let you stay on for several times if you need to.

Good luck!!!

 

[Matt'nMeg'sMom]

"Tough to be a Bug"
Neither of my infant/toddlers liked it -- they freaked out at the smoke, jets of air, & liquid spritzing. We had to leave.

 

[Tinkermommy]

We were last there with my DS16 months. He really liked everything, but he's a bit on the rowdy side. Here's sonme of the "scarier" ones we did:

MK
-PoC
-HM (fell asleep on it!)
-Tea Cups
Wishes (fireworks) - he slept through it

AK
- Tough to be a Bug

EPCOT
-Maelstrom (Norway in Epcot)
-Nemo Ride

I think he may have been too little to be scared. We go back in May and he may be a little more aware, so we will see.

Things he loved were:

MK
-Small World
-TTA in future world
-Cindy's Carousel
-Mickey's Philharmonic

EPCOT
- Behind the seeds boat ride in the Land (not sure of the name)

DHS
- Muppets

AK
- Petting zoo

Have fun!

 

[disney_momma21]

My son was 2 and half and he didn't care for the Haunted mansion at all. But we turned it into a game telling him we ghost hunters like scooby doo and we on our way to solve the mystery!! LOL!! I know it's kind of dumb but it worked for him. We went on it a second time and he was great! He was saying, "Ghost hunters to the rescue!"

 

[2tinkerbells]

My dd was 18 months when we went and she liked most rides she was able to ride. including Dumbo, Tea Cups, POC (got a little nervous but was okay), Aladdin, Dinosaur ride like Dumbo (forgot the name), Nemo.

she did okay in all the shows except Tough to be a Bug. She didn't like the water spray but everything else was okay. She sat in my lap and could rest during the shows. good down time for her.

 

[Daydreamer64]

We visited WDW last holiday season Dec. 30th through Jan. 7th, 2008, when DS#3 was 25 months old. We made sure to tell him before the ride that it was going to be ____ dark, a boat ride or slides (POC) - we don't know how much he understood but he loved everything, except the 3 d /4 d shows ( except for Muppets???)- he didn't care for the puffs of water or air in his face and by the 4th day, he wouldn't even hold the 3-D glasses to play with after he figured out that they ment dark, water, and air - the sounds didn't bother him.

He also decided that he hated- I mean he really cried, on Dumbo, AMCarpets, TSpin and the like- we think he felt like he was going to fall when spinning and up high- he was fine with the teacups.

He loved the HM, POC, and everything else that he was tall enough to ride. We did make happy sounds and giggled when we were going down the water slide on POC or through the graveyard with the screaming ghosts that pop up at you- we made a game of peek-a-boo out of it, he got really ticked when Mom and Dad jumped every time a ghost jumped out from behind a stone peeking at us, he wanted to go on HM again!

We haven't taught him that HM/POC ghosts or skelatons sp? were to be feared so he had no preconcieved notions of fear before the rides.

 

[LadyShea]

We were surprised when we took our DS, who was 21 months at the time. He had no problems with any rides, or loud noises (we watched the fireworks from the loudest place in the park according to a CM, and he was enthralled)...he became upset only when there were cheering/applauding crowds. It was the oddest thing.

We had to leave the Monsters, Inc Laugh Floor and a restaurant in Morocco once they had belly dancers out that received applause, as he started crying inconsolably and was visibly upset. After that we avoided the shows.

 

[_queenie_]

The Great Movie Ride, Spaceship Earth, Winnie the Pooh, Snow White, & Killimanjaro are ones that I can remember imparticularly. If they sound random, that's because they are, my kids loved Pirates, Haunted Mansion, Tough to be a Bug, Buzz Lightyear and Peter Pan!

 

[mrswh]

We took my DS last month - he was 21 months at the time. We didn't even try taking him on any of the rides we knew would be scary - Snow White, Haunted Mansion, Pirates, etc. Small World was one of his favorites, but he went nuts after he rode each time! I think it was just way too much stimulation - he ran around like a maniac afterward. The only other thing that bothered him was at Mickey's Philharmagic when he got squirted in the face with water unexpectedly. That didn't go over well. (On the flip side, he'd have stood in front of the spitting camel by Aladdin's Magic Carpets all day if he could.)

A lot just depends on your child. My DS loved the rides where he was flying (Dumbo, Magic Carpets, Peter Pan's Flight), he loved fireworks, he loved the tea cups. I think these things you just have to try out and see how it goes. Personally, I just steer clear of anything that is meant to be scary. Young kids don't think scary = fun.

 

[katerkat]

My youngest was 16 months on his first trip (this past November). He did not like Dumbo. My DH didn't bother to tell me this (I was riding with oldest son behind them), so we got on Triceratop Spin and he whined and cried through the whole thing. If I would have known, I wouldn't have put him on it. So we let him skip Magic Carpets of Aladdin. Peter Pan he whined a little and I just kept clapping my hands and saying "yay". Everything else he was fine (including Haunted Mansion and Pirates). So go figure.

Did you take my son? At 21 months old, Russ was fine in the Haunted Mansion and terrified of Dumbo/Dumbo-like rides. The only thing he didn't like about Pirates was the drop. He wasn't a fan of Peter Pan. He was scared of the Tiki Room, which I thought he'd like. Oops. Loved the fireworks and the shows, even the 3D/4D ones.

 

[Minniemouse07]

When we went w/ dd (17mo and 28mo) she loved EVERYTHING we did... basically anything she could ride. In December we visited again (dd is now 6.5yo!!) and ds turned 2yo while we were there.

I have two VERY different children. Dd has always been shy..but a daredevil physically. Loves any kind of ride, swing, playground, etc. She couldn't wait until she was 3yo and could ride the Grover rollercoaster at Sesame Place (we live locally).

Ds on the other hand, can't stand swings, hates carnival rides and freaks out if he isn't in total control. He does however charm everyone he meets and isn't shy in the least.

Go figure??

During our December trip ds loved:

Muppet Show 3D (we saw it four times and he cried when we had to give back the glasses)
Mickey's Philaharmagic
Its A Small World
Jungle Cruise
Pooh's Playful Spot
Railroad in MK (went around 5 or 6 times)
Monorail
Boat rides (POR/DTD, MK/WL)
Lights, Motors, Action
Character Meals
Meeting Lightning McQueen
Tomorrowland Indy Speedway
Enchanted Tiki Room
Country Bear Jamboree
Kilimanjaro Safari
The Percussion Group the Beatniks in AK (he danced and danced!)
Journey Into Imagination
Grand Fiesta Boat Ride
The Waterfall in Norway
The Seas with Nemo & Friends
Turtle Talk w/ Crush
High School Musical Show at DHS

Tolerated:
POC (didn't like the drop much)
Winnie the Pooh (didn't like the bouncing Tigger or floating parts)
Peter Pan
Living with the Land
Universe of Energy

HATED:
Dumbo

Stuff we didn't bother to try because we knew he would hate it:
Carousel
Triceratops Spin
Aladdin's Magic Carpet
Honey I Shrunk the Audience

Stuff we didn't do because Dh is afraid/hates it:
Tough to be a Bug

 

[Minniemouse07]

Double post...not sure how that happened!

 

[Mkingdom67]

As someone mentioned it really varies by child. All my daughters are fearless though. Only the youngest was semi afraid of Cinderella's Carousel, she was about 20mos as well. After the first time you couldn't get her off it though.

 

[CInderellaFan1981]

My DD didn't care for Snow White, It's tough to be a Bug, or The Great Movie Ride (I had forgotten about the part with the movie Alien... oops). None truly scared him though.

 

[lilpnutmama]

My first daughter was scared of pretty much everything at 19 months, my second daughter was not scared of anything at 18 months (even the pirates!)

 

[abirdd]

DS was 22 months on his last trip, and loved all the rides this time round. In the past, he had been VERY leary of Figment thanks to the big "whoosh!" at the end. Otherwise, he seems to be inheriting Mom's love of anything related to rides or shows!!

I will say DS adored the Barnstormer - moreso than we imagined. Got to the point Mom/Dad we're feeling ill from constantly riding, whereas the little one could have gone on forever. So keep in mind the little ones can surprise you!

 

[themilesfamily]

My son was 2 and half and he didn't care for the Haunted mansion at all. But we turned it into a game telling him we ghost hunters like scooby doo and we on our way to solve the mystery!! LOL!! I know it's kind of dumb but it worked for him. We went on it a second time and he was great! He was saying, "Ghost hunters to the rescue!"

This is SUCH a good idea. I'm going to use this with my soon to be 4 year old when we go in October.

When my DD was 1 1/2 the only two things she was scared of at Disney were Snow White's Scary Adventures and EEYORE! She loved every other character, but wanted nothing to do with Eeyore.

 

[roxannex]

Ellen's Energy Adventure scared the BEZEEZUS out of my son. And we were trapped for like 20 minutes on that ride. It's very loud and the dinosaurs terrified him. Not sure why because he loves dinosaurs. But it was veryyyyyy loud.