What rides to avoid with 5-year-old?

[DisKatrina]

We leave in less than two weeks for our DD's first visit to DLR! DH and I haven't been in many, many years, so we are pretty unfamiliar with DLR.

My question is, what rides would you avoid with a just-turned-5-years-old girl? She's just shy of 44 inches, so clearly Indy and other rides that require a 48-inch height are out. But what about other rides that might be too scary or jostle too much?

She's on the adventurous side, but not crazily so (more so than mom!). She loves the kiddie rides at the fair (particularly the tilt-a-whirl, kiddie coaster, and ferris wheel), but has yet to go on bigger rides because she hasn't been tall enough.

Any advice is much appreciated! Thanks!

 

[FlameGirl]

Some kids get scared on the dark rides...not all kids. You may try one out and then see if she's up for more. My daughter hated all dark rides until she was a bit older.

 

[LavenderPeach]

Every kid is different. My DS will be 5 in september and he is afrad of lots of rides including Soarin', Pirates, and Peter Pan. But I was 5 the first time I went to DL and I loved everything. I loved Space and BTMRR. Those were my favorites. You should just start out slow and then if your DD is fine, move up to bigger rides. Once you're there and start trying some of the rides you will probably have a better idea of what she can handle.

 

[FlameGirl]

he is afrad of lots of rides including Soarin'...

You just totally reminded me. My daughter is petrified of Soarin'. I thought it was an age thing, so this last trip I cajoled her into trying it again now that she's 10, and I thought she was going to puke. Or hyperventilate. Or both. I promised her she never had to do it again.

 

[LavenderPeach]

Oh, also, a lot of kids seem to be afraid of the It's Tough to Be a Bug movie in DCA so you might want to skip that one. I'm sure there are some kids who like it but I've heard a lot of people say their kids were afraid. My nephews were 9 and 13 the last time they tried it and they were still had to leave after the first couple of minutes.

 

[LavenderPeach]

You just totally reminded me. My daughter is petrified of Soarin'. I thought it was an age thing, so this last trip I cajoled her into trying it again now that she's 10, and I thought she was going to puke. Or hyperventilate. Or both. I promised her she never had to do it again.

Oh no! Maybe she gets motion sickness. DS seemed nervous but okay the first 2 times we went on Soarin' but this last time he really didn't like it. We told him he would get 2 gold star stickers for going on the big boy ride so although he wasn't thrilled with the ride itself, he was really excited to get his stickers and seemed proud of himself for earning them.

 

[FlameGirl]

I think it was more that her brain cannot accept that she is truly not 300 feet in the air...she thinks we are much higher up than we actually are and she gets really freaked out. She pretty much kept her eyes clamped shut the entire time and I felt like the worst mom ever.

 

[imp&pixie]

My DD was just past 5 on our first visit to Disneyland. She loved all of the rides that she was big enough to go on. Space mountain was closed, but she loved Big Thunder and Splash Mountains and the Matterhorn. I really think it depends on the child as to what rides they will be comfortable on. Don't push her onto anything that you think she won't like but also don't let your fears reflect onto her if she wants to try something.

 

[letthembelittle]

Like others have said, I think it totally depends on the child, my dd is 5 and in normal life is rather chicken but on our trip in April she couldnt get enough of Space Mountain. You might want to watch some of the YouTube videos of the Fantasyland rides to see if you think she will like them, I personally dont find them all that fun (except Alice and Peter Pan).

 

[Monkey Monkey]

My son will be 5 in a couple of weeks.

He loves POTC but is fickle about it - some visits he just doesn't want to go on it. I think that's because he doesn't want to get a handful of drops of water on him, LOL.

He did fine on Haunted Mansion before he turned 3, but since then he doesn't like it. The more aware he is, the more scared he is.

I took him on Space Mountain a couple of months ago and he did.not.like it. But he loves Matterhorn and Star Tours. He insisted on riding Soarin' twice in a row!

Snow White is kind of a scary dark ride, as is Pinocchio. Peter Pan isn't very scary at all.

You may want to start with the little roller coaster in ToonTown and see how your daughter likes it, and then move on to bigger thrill rides!

 

[SaraK]

Oh, also, a lot of kids seem to be afraid of the It's Tough to Be a Bug movie in DCA so you might want to skip that one. I'm sure there are some kids who like it but I've heard a lot of people say their kids were afraid. My nephews were 9 and 13 the last time they tried it and they were still had to leave after the first couple of minutes.

My 5 year old son was terrified during this and we left after a few minutes. He was also scared of the Snow White ride and Pirates. He has been scared of teacup type rides since we went to the local fair last year, so we didn't even attempt that.

 

[94bruin]

DD will be 5 in one week. When we went last week, she HATED Pirates, but she LOVED Soarin'. She does fine with dark rides, but doesn't like unexpected drops, like the one in Pirates.

The first time she went last Sept, we took her on Matterhorn. She hated that as well.

Her favorites this time: Buzz, TSMM, Soarin', along with most of the rides in Fantasyland.

 

[mrswh]

I'd say a good rule of thumb is to avoid any ride that includes a scary word in the title. Haunted, Terror, Scary, etc. Pirates is not my 5 yo's favorite. She loves Soarin, though!

I really think there are enough rides and attractions at DLR and DCA that you don't need to push it. Go on the rides that sound appealing to her and skip the rest for now.

Have fun!!

 

[Ariel224]

I found it's hard to even know your kid! My 5yo, who is a total dare devil thrill seeker loved Soarin', according to expectation. She hate BTMRR, solely because of the "red critter eyes", as she called them, and she hated Matterhorn because of the dark lift at the beginning, and because of Harold, even though we told her about him ahead of time. She later informed me that she didn't want to do anything with "dark" or "dippy drops." We didn't even attempt Space with her, and she was too short for Indy.

The 6yo, who is afraid of EVERYTHING in life and doesn't like getting wet, hated Soarin', as predicted. He loved all of the Fantasyland dark rides, which was surprising since he tends to easily get sensory overload and a resulting headache. He loved BTMRR (DH took him on it; I never would have even thought to try him on it). He loved Grizzly River Run because he got soaked . And he hated Indy, which was unexpected, because he LOVES going offroad in the hills with his dad in the 4x4, which to me is the exact sensation as being in the Indy jeeps.

Start slow, and if your child doesn't like something, try to figure out exactly what aspect he or she didn't like, and go from there.

 

[haydeecm]

We went for my sons 4th birthday and he liked everything he was able to go on: soarin, tough to be a bug, pirates, BTMR and splash mountain. Space Mountain he didnt mind but the dark rides he didnt care much for. Snow white and Pinochio were not good for him.

Again, I think it all depends on the child, and sometimes theres no way of knowing. Good Luck.

 

[Anj]

My 5 year old girl loved Pirates, BTMRR, the river raft ride, It's a small world and her fav was Space Mountain. She disliked Splash Mountain because of the animal eyes in the dark (her first time on BTMRR she didn't like the eyes either, but she got over those ones). She really didn't like Snow White and was very cautious on rides that went into the dark.

 

[reynmagsmom]

our now 8 yr old nephew loves pirates and HM but hates big thunder, TOT and space mountaim, but he did like Spalsh Mt. only for the wet at the bottom...... at 4 he loved all the things he now hates except for space & TOT as at 4 he was too small......he has yet to make the height req. for screaming, but had told me for our upcoming trip he wants to ride NO roller coasters!!!
It did help watching youtube videos of some of the bigger rides but screen them before you show them as some have some screaming not at all called for
Also playing it by ear is the best way to do it, let your child dictate the bigger rides she is able to go on.
But most importantly have fun(lots of fun)

 

[skiingfast]

Some kids get scared on the dark rides...not all kids. You may try one out and then see if she's up for more. My daughter hated all dark rides until she was a bit older.

This is probably the best advice. You don't really know what the scared triggers are. Maybe speed or hieghts of noise or darkness? As PP says try one and then you'll know what else you can try.

 

[PineapplePrincessCA]

I found it's hard to even know your kid!

Me too!

My kids are (almost) 3, 4, and 5 1/2. I had no idea who would like what, so I just took 'em on all of the rides that they were tall enough for. Figured if they didn't like it, we just wouldn't take 'em on it again until they were a little older.

DS (not quite 3) loved Soarin! But didn't like Space Mountain.

My 5 1/2 year old hated the Tough to be a Bug movie... but my (not quite) 3 year old loved it. LOL

My 5 1/2 year old hated Space Mountain, but LOVED Tower of Terror.

My 4 year old LOVED Space Mountain!!

All of them LOVED Splash Mountain.



Of course it depends on the individual child (like everybody said ) but it's really hard to tell what they'll like until they go on it. I say just try everything they're all enough for (and want to go on, of course!) and then just don't do it again if they don't like it.

 

[Mommy2PrincessAbby]

As everyone has said, every kid is different, my daughter is not a daredevil--more of a flower really, but rides everything at DL that her height lets her go on. Space Mountain is not her favorite (she'll do it once per trip), and I didn't let her ride TOT last year, but she is insisting on riding it "next time" which she doesn't know is in October. When she was 3, we just started off easy... dumbo, carousel, casey jr... and before long we were on everything we could do... at 5 they are really the perfect age in that there is very little that is not geared to them. Oh, and Its tough to be a bug--which we avoided because lots of people said it can be scary--is a family favorite of ours!


Have fun!