What are their fears? (If you said, I'm sorry I missed it.) Are they afraid of the dark? Fast rides? Going upside down? Things jumping out at them?
Answering these questions could help us help you.
If they are afraid of the dark, know that a lot of harmless rides have dark periods. When my children were small, I bought each of them a very small flashlight that hung around their necks. We had an understanding that anytime they felt afraid, they could turn on their flashlight but only to shine it at their own laps or feet. If the were to shine it anywhere else, they would lose their flashlight. It worked wonders for my kids. Now THEY had the control. The first few days in WDW the lights were on quite frequently shinining down at their feet. After a day or two, my son didn't even want to wear his anymore (he was 6). My daugher (3) kept wearing hers but rarely ever used it. What made them this way at WDW when they were not afraid of the dark anywhere else? The Snow White ride. It frightened them quite a bit the year before.
As far as really scary rides: Dinosaur, Tower of Terr and Stitch are the only 3 I can think of. If they are frightened at all, you will probably want to avoid these three.
We don't think of HM as scary, but after the Snow White experience my kids would not ride HM until they were older anyway.
PofC is not scary, but it does have that very dark section at the very beginning. My kids did well if I could tell them exactly what was going to happen. So I explained: "it is very dark, nothing will jump out at you and then we have a small downhill ride section, then the dark part is over". I would hold them tight and they learned to trust me that I knew what was going to happen.
Ellen's Energy in EPCOT is dark in spots with lots of very large stinky dinosaurs, but they do not jump at you or threaten you in any way - just warn your kids they are there beforehand.
Coasters:
Rock N Roll Coaster is a true coaster. It goes fast, upside down and it is dark with black light effects. Only you can judge if your kids will like it or not. The younger ones won't be tall enough anyway. My son loves it and has since he was tall enough to ride. My daughter hates it - she doesn't like going upside down.
BTMRR & Splash Mtn - my kids have loved these from the time they were small. There is nothing scary about them - things don't jump out at you, no monsters, no really dark sections, etc. They do behave like coasters and log flumes - there are drops and stuff, but my kids did fine. Their first time on them we held each of them tight to give them a little extra security and we haven't had to since.
Goofy's - my husband says this one is worse than BTMRR! It is very jerky and takes your stomach away.
Space Mtn - again the little ones are probably too short. But it is total darkness, but a smooth ride. It is a thrill one, however. Again, my kids loved it from the time they were big enough to ride it.
I guess my best piece of advice is this: don't make them ride anything they don't want to ride! If they are frightened before they get on, it will only get worse once the ride starts no matter what you do. If your offers of addtional security (the light and a tight hug throughout the ride for instance) are not enough, please don't push it. You may think I am silly for stressing this point, but I have seen many parents do it and then be amazed when their kids were near panic before the ride was over. If you can ride it first and you can explain to them exactly what happens and when (and maybe again whisper it in their ear as the ride progresses) that may help them. Do the kid swap otherwise.
There is a very good book out there (or there was several years ago) called
Walt Disney World with Kids by Kim Wright Wiley. This auther looks at every single ride and gives it a "scariness factor" in addition to age guides and describing the ride. I highly recommend this book.....I just looked on
Amazon and there is a 2004 edition.
Hope your trip is magical!
