What's too much for a brave 5 year old

[dar123]

We are planning our first trip with our four children next month. They are 13, 9, 9, and 5. Our five year old (almost 6) is raring to go on every big ride they'll let him. He is 44 inches tall, so most everything is available. My question: Is there any ride you consider too physically rough for a five year old to go on. Some of the specific ones I'm looking at are:

Test track
Rock & Roller-coaster
Space Mountain
Body Wars
Mission: Space
Star Tours
ToT

Also, one of my nine year olds gets very motion sick. Has anyone considered giving their child a medicine like Dramamine 2 to help them not to get motion sick? Did it help? What did you use?

Thanks,

 

[mrsmom]

A couple of yrs ago my smallest ds was 4yrs old and rode everyone of the rides you mention except Rockin rollercoaster( 48 inches).and mission space (that wasn't there then) He loved them!. My then 10 yr old ds hated TOT but loved the other rides.
I don't know about the motion sickness meds, i would ask your dr about that one.
Have fun!!
Kim

 

[GrammieMame]

The only one I would hesitate about is Space Mountain, because it's individual seating and in the dark.

 

[junderwood7]

My ds was 4 last time we went and he liked most of the rides:

Test track - absolutely loved it.
Rock & Roller-coaster - too small to ride (had to be 48 inches)
Space Mountain - could have ridden but chose the speedway cars instead
Body Wars - could have ridden but I'm not sure it will be open when you are there (Wonders of Life pavillion is only open seasonally)
Mission: Space - loved it but liked the exit area more
Star Tours - loved it
ToT - wanted to ride but decided not to at the last minute

Good luck

 

[bubba's mom]

Originally posted by GrammieMame
The only one I would hesitate about is Space Mountain, because it's individual seating and in the dark.

Our DS was 5 & 1/2 in August and 49" (tall for his age). His absolute favorite ride at MK was Space Mtn.--and he wanted to sit in the front seat every time!! If your son is a thrill seeker, he should be okay on Space....just don't force him to sit in the first seat.....we tried to get DS to sit in the middle seat-but, he didn't want to...he wanted front seat........every time

 

[Tigger&Belle]

My 4yo son LOVED Test Track. He was (is still) too small for RnR, but knowing him he will go on the the minute he is tall enough.

He was too short for Space Mt, but should be tall enough in December when he goes. Same with Mission to Space.

Body Wars was closed when we were there, but he liked Star Tours fine.

He liked ToT, which is my sister's and my obsession and we convinced him to go 5 times telling him that we needed a better ride picture. He didn't mind and we did buy a picture, afterall.


Some others that you didn't mention...Dinosaur he liked ok, but didn't want to repeat. Splash MT he was scared to ride and I told him we were going on a "boat ride" and he ended up loving it. Also loved Big Thunder Railroad.

T&B

 

[Tigger&Belle]

As far as the motion sickness, whatever you try, give it a trial run at home. The active ingredient in Dramamine 2 (the same as in Bonine) makes me extremely sleepy, as it does my DH and my DD. It totally wipes us out for 24 hours. Most people do not have this reaction, but make sure that your child can tolerate if ok before vacation.

My DH gets motion sickness easier than ther rest of us on spinny rides. For our upcoming trip he's going to try ginger, both the candies and the capsules. He's at the dr now and is going to ask him about the motion sickness patch.

We've tried the Seabands wristbands and they seemed to help a little, but more just to take the edge off.

T&B

 

[Wengino]

My DD is pretty fearless, doing RnR and TOT at age 5 1/2, but she WAS afraid when it got really dark. Be aware that your child's fearlessness might fade when the lights go out and the themed audio kicks in. We found that a good helping of "this is Funny-Scary, not Scary-Scary." The feeling of acomplishment after exiting was worth the small amount of fear that had to be overcome. Two years later and we are busy talking about going on the same rides with "no hands", etc.!

 

[erinch]

my tall, brave DD did them all, multiple times, loved them, including RnR. first time on Space I sat behind her, and could touch her shoulder. after the first time, she was up for it all the way. She managed to do a pout thing several times, and some unsuspecting CM let her have the front seat, since she was so young and cute.

She decided, after the 5th time on TOT that it bothered her stomach a little.

She loved RnR.
The second time we rode she started to howl.
They brought things to a halt while everyone gave dirty stares to us for "forcing" a tot to go on RnR.

It turned out that what she was screaming about was that I was making her ride in the (smoother) center seat with me. Big Brother was in the back row and had told her he'd "pull more G's" than she would with me in the "baby seat.

Just to show him, she rode the entire ride with her hands held up!

BUT....Primeval HURL, umm, Whirl did us both in. When she was 4 she liked Dinosaur, but it's so jerky it hurt her knee.

 

[jenlovesdisney]

Hi there! Just FYI about the meds for a motion sick child~

I just checked on this because we are going on a cruise and if my kids are anything like me they will get sick! I asked my doctor if he could give us anything and he said Benadryl was suitable for kids under 12 for motion sickness. Just half the dosage for their appropriate age and weight.

Also, there is Sea Bands and Bonine. But check with your doctor as he/she will know your child the best.

BTW~ Thanks for the tips abou the rides ya'll. My son is almost 6 and I am wondering if he will be able to ride any of these by himself. I am traveling by myself and I will have a 3 year old (who is not adventurous) so I don't want him to be stuck because we can't ride.

 

[dgaston]

I'd like to second the notion about Dinosaur being very scary. It's quite dark, the track is very bumpy and the Carnosaurus jumps out at you from many angles. I think a lot of preschool children love dinosaurs, but this may not be the ride for them.

 

[Tigger&Belle]

jenlovesdisney, I think that there is a minimum age of 7 for many rides. Of course it's not as if your son has a drivers license, so they won't really know how old he is, but he'd probably tell them if asked.

Any way another adult can go with you? That's a tough situation you're in. Maybe you can hook up with other people in line who can take your son with them on the ride and you can meet at the exit. I know that I would sure do that for someone in your situation.

T&B

 

[erinch]

I don't think there's an age restriction on rides--it's all height based.

Does your 3 yold do "okay" with childcare situations?

We made arrangements, when our DD was that old, to enroll her in kindercare for a day, so we could take her big brother on rides and not have to do babyswap. She loves daycare situations and kids to play with and was very happy there.

 

[TN Traveler]

dar.......our family went to WDW Memorial Day week of this year. DD age 4 at the time (birthday 9/6) rode almost all the rides and loved it. She didn't ride RNR b/c of height restrictions and "threw a hissy" b/c she couldn't ride. She said she really liked ToT until we got home and started telling people about it and then admitted she didn't like it after all. She still talks about Splash Mtn and says it was "the best ever"!! She did not like Dinosaur at all -- not so much b/c of the ride itself but more b/c of the noise...was incredibly loud. She didn't like "Tough to be A bug"
either for same reason.

IMHO, if I had to give my child medication b/c of motion sickness, I wouldn't allow them to ride the ride. Going on a cruise is one thing, riding a ride is another. Go w/your gut.....you're the parent and you know better than anyone what your child can handle.

 

[Tigger&Belle]

Erinch, I thought that to ride alone there was an age resriction. At least there used to be, maybe that was lifted.

T&B

 

[tar heel]

When he was 5, my youngest child didn't like Dinosaur or any of the 3D shows other than Muppets. He's been several times since and still refuses to try the bug show again.

I don't believe your child is tall enough to ride Rock 'n Roller Coaster, is he?

 

[CrazedDisFan]

My dd was and still is scared of Dinosaur (she was 4 and 6 for the trips) She has informed me that no way, no how is she going on that ever again. She will ride pretty much anything, but Dinosaur really creeped her out.

 

[TDC Nala]

My nephew (5) rode everything except the RnRc (too short) and Dinosaur (it was closed). He was freaked out a bit by the Tower of Terror and didn't ride it again. Loved Space Mountain, rode it four times.

 

[heidica]

Just a quick note on Bonine/Dramamine 2/meclizine (all the same thing). This drug should not be given to children under the age of 12. The liver in younger children is not developed enough to metabolize the drug as it should, leading to exacerbated side effects (i.e. drowsiness that last way longer than it should). Stick with the benadryl or regular dramamine. As a side note, I get motion sickness and I take dramamine on days when I know I will be riding the bigger thrill rides. It doesn't completely stop me from getting motion sickness, but it definitely helps so it doesn't last so long and I am ready to go on the next ride.

Also my step-daughter was 6 when we first took her to WDW and we weren't really able to tell how she was going to do on the thrill rides until we got there and she rode one and saw her reaction. She loved everything and would be upset when she was too short to ride. I found it was more the queue area and the lead up to the ride that would give her 2nd thoughts but once she got past it, she loved the actual ride.

 

[bubba's mom]

Originally posted by Tigger&Belle
Erinch, I thought that to ride alone there was an age resriction. At least there used to be, maybe that was lifted.

T&B

I believe the age restriction is to ride anything ALONE......