What to AVOID w kids!

[chartle]

Sorry, my bad. I was going by what the Unofficial Guide says.

Though I have never done it, I think i did see others the last time I rode. Some people sat down, the shoulder "things" came down and stopped. The small child in the group was like "not going to happen" and pushed it back up and started to leave with the family following. The shoulder harness came back down to where it stopped before.

The trick if you don't want them close is to to either sit up really tall or put your hands above your shoulders a little bit. The "Harness" comes down, stops when it touches anything and then pops up a little.

 

[Maleficent Dragon]

It is really a matter of what your kids can handle. It might be a good idea for you to get on YouTube and watch videos of the attractions and see what you think about each of them for your kids.

If "fear" is a true concern, Attractions I would be especially concerned about are Dinosaur, Tough to be a Bug, Mission: Space, Expedition Everest, Star Tours, Rock n Roller Coaster, Space Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain, Haunted Mansion, Great Movie Ride, Splash Mountain, possibly Pirates and Backlot Tour. You might even consider Turtle Talk with crush.....each time we are in there somebody's kid cries when the big whale comes and presses on the glass.

 

[cdepauli]

I just returned from a trip with my 2.5 year old daughter. One we never considered going on was It's tough to be a bug (there are always kids crying in there and my sister had to take her 4 kids out (7, 6, 6, and 1).

With that said, she freaked out at the beginning of Philharmagic. I forgot how "scary" the beginning is. It is loud and then pitch black. She calmed down for the rest but refused to put her glasses on. We would have taken her out, but employed the strategy to make sure we were in the middle of our row (lo and behold, everyone in this show actually moved to the end of their row!) so were kind of land locked.

She was ok on Pirates, Haunted Mansion (though she did mention the guy growing older a few times), Finding Nemo ride, and for fireworks. I'd expect her to be more scared of HM and maybe Nemo in the future (I was a huge haunted house scaredy cat from about the age of 5).

She was actually a little iffy on Peter Pan. We went on this immediately following Philharmagic, and I don't think she liked how dark it was.

I think this, though outdated, is a pretty good list http://blog.undercovertourist.com/2011/08/ten-disney-attractions-that-scared-my-kids/

 

[Gumbo4x4]

I found a lot of the little kids got scared during Fantasmic! It's a great show but it's loud and is villain centric so that may be frightening to some children.

DD6 HATED it!

She was also a little scared at Tough To Be A Bug, and creeped out by Indiana Jones (the music). Wanted nothing to do with Star Wars characters. We didn't get near Haunted Mansion, but that wouldn't have been good. Edit, she also skipped Dinosaur. She enjoys thrill rides and fireworks (and loved Philharmagic). She draws the line at "creepy" stuff.

 

[bumbershoot]

Example: my daughter has VERY sensitive ears. I will bring plugs for fireworks but I'd love to know if there are other attractions that are loud. She is easily frightened too. We won't be attending the dinosaur ride!

You should know that just the ambient noise at Disney is LOUD. The music in various areas, etc, is set at a high volume. You don't totally notice it at first, if you're not sensitive, but it can really effect people. This story is from Disneyland, but it works just the same for WDW; my son was getting really antsy and whiny and difficult, ignoring what we were saying about certain things, and was winding up bigtime. There were other things going on at the time (we hadn't eaten properly in hours and hours was the biggie), but suddenly I just heard how LOUD it was there in Tomorrowland. For some reason I had put my earplugs in my bag that morning (I sleep with them) so I got them and put them in his ears. It brought the level of tantrum down by *at least* 50%, just because he wasn't being so overwhelmed by all the noise around him.

I would HIGHLY recommend bringing several sets of earplugs so she can wear them whenever she needs them, or even find some headphones made for kids that cover the ears and dampen the sound. Quieting things at Disney can make a world of difference.



As you walk up to the LINE for Jungle Cruise there's a painted arachnid on the wall. As you get close to the boarding area for the same ride there's an animatronic tarantula in a cage right exactly at little kid FACE level. Watch for it. Avoid it. It's a good ride, but those two things come close to ruining it for me and my son, who unfortunately has developed my fairly severe arachnophobia.

 

[ICan'tWait]

My oldest DS has a number of anxiety/sensory issues. When he was younger the automatic toilets at Disney would upset him... Along with ear plugs we always had a flashlight. The flashlight we had had multiple settings and one that let you set one side to glow in a colored light (so as not to disturb others with a bright light). Sometimes he would just hold it and knowing he could turn it on if he wanted to was a relief.

 

[FigmentFan1975]

I think any ride or attraction has something in it that could possibly be scary to some kids, but for the most part - its Disney and its meant for little kids... I would avoid Universal with young kids I would keep an open mind and give most things a try, unless you are certain the ride will be scary for your particular kids. (as someone posted, even the automatic toilet flushers scare some kids, so you can't avoid every possibility). When we first went, my youngest son was 4 years old - our first day happened to be at Epcot and one of the first few rides we did was Journey into Imagination with Figment. He loved that ride/character, and we ended up using that storyline to calm him with any other possible scary rides or attractions - we told him it was all just "imagination" and not real, and meant to be fun, so he enjoyed every other ride & attraction that trip that he was tall enough to ride!... Nothing in Disney is too over-the-top scary for little kids for the most part - watch youtube videos ahead of time if you are unsure. Have a great trip!

 

[Schmoodle]

I have a son with sensory issues and many of the attractions others have mentioned bothered him and some DD as well. But it's hard to predict which things are going to bother a kid. It was hard to travel with him when he was younger, but WDW became a very relaxing and fun trip for him after the first couple of times because it was so familiar and he knew what to expect.

The first trip he was 5YO and one thing we did that really helped was to give him a tiny flashlight to keep in his pocket along with disposable ear plugs. We told him anytime something got too loud or dark he could use them, and this gave him the sense of some control over the situation. We just let him know that he couldn't use the flashlight in a way that would disturb others during an attraction. He actually never used it much but always felt better just having it. He also always wanted a complete and accurate description of each attraction before we did it!

Now he is 16YO and has no problem with most of the attractions, but he and DD (now 15YO) will NEVER again do ITTBAB or Stitch. But they're good with everything else, including the coasters, even Tower of Terror, and have graduated to Universal attractions with no problems.

 

[lolobug]

I would DEFINITELY avoid:
-it's tough to be a bug
-Dinosaur

both in Ak

in the Nemo ride there is a dark part with that scary looking fish, I'd say just cover eyes/ears and you'd be okay on the ride

-Stitch's Great Escape is a must avoid
-The stretching room in the Haunted Mansion is probably another "cover ears/eyes" location, the ride itself is not bad at all
-Some smaller kids get scared at the beginning of Pirates as well

-Fantasmic as awesome as a show that it is, it is very villain centered, and there are lots of loud noises in there, maybe skip it, or watch it online, get the kids to look at the scarier parts and see if they think they could handle it. Sit near the back of the theater and be ready to leave if needed?

Thanks! Good suggestions!

 

[lolobug]

My oldest DS has a number of anxiety/sensory issues. When he was younger the automatic toilets at Disney would upset him... Along with ear plugs we always had a flashlight. The flashlight we had had multiple settings and one that let you set one side to glow in a colored light (so as not to disturb others with a bright light). Sometimes he would just hold it and knowing he could turn it on if he wanted to was a relief.

Auto flush toilets upset my daughter too!

 

[lolobug]

I have a son with sensory issues and many of the attractions others have mentioned bothered him and some DD as well. But it's hard to predict which things are going to bother a kid. It was hard to travel with him when he was younger, but WDW became a very relaxing and fun trip for him after the first couple of times because it was so familiar and he knew what to expect.

The first trip he was 5YO and one thing we did that really helped was to give him a tiny flashlight to keep in his pocket along with disposable ear plugs. We told him anytime something got too loud or dark he could use them, and this gave him the sense of some control over the situation. We just let him know that he couldn't use the flashlight in a way that would disturb others during an attraction. He actually never used it much but always felt better just having it. He also always wanted a complete and accurate description of each attraction before we did it!

Now he is 16YO and has no problem with most of the attractions, but he and DD (now 15YO) will NEVER again do ITTBAB or Stitch. But they're good with everything else, including the coasters, even Tower of Terror, and have graduated to Universal attractions with no problems.

Great ideas, I will bring plugs and a flash light too! Thx!

 

[lolobug]

My trip is approaching so I'm bumping... Any mom's of kids with sensory issues? Thanks!