What's too scary/too much for 6 year olds?

[ennjay]

Taking my 6-year-old twins to Universal next month. They love Transformers, Harry Potter, minions, and superheroes so I know there will be a lot that appeals to them there. But I'm not sure about what rides might be "too much" for them. They are not the *most* daring/adventurous of children. Are there rides we should definitely avoid, and why?

 

[gotomu212]

It's hard because kids are so different especially at that age. My son gets spooked by The Mummy (there's some fire and dark imaginary), Poseidon's Fury which is a walk through show (the tomb is cursed and you're never going to leave and everyone is going to die--scared him a lot at the time), and Jurassic Parks River ride (there's a few parts where dinosaurs are loose before the big plunge).

We obviously only found out after we tried it and scared the crap out of him, but then we bought hm a churro and he seemed okay (parenting fail).

 

[wagman67]

It's hard because kids are so different especially at that age. My son gets spooked by The Mummy (there's some fire and dark imaginary), Poseidon's Fury which is a walk through show (the tomb is cursed and you're never going to leave and everyone is going to die--scared him a lot at the time), and Jurassic Parks River ride (there's a few parts where dinosaurs are loose before the big plunge).

We obviously only found out after we tried it and scared the crap out of him, but then we bought hm a churro and he seemed okay (parenting fail).

If that's a parenting fail, I am one sad parent (which, my be fair)...when mine got spooked, I took them through again...and sometimes again...then he was okay after that. That was my oldest...my youngest would gladly do just about any ride you could throw at him. Don't say I was abusing him...he was only spooked a bit on a few rides...had he been really scared, I would not have made him...I even gave him an out as we got to the actual ride, but as long as I was with him, he was fine....loves them all now...but he is now 18!

 

[Mysteryincorp]

I think explaining to them what is going to happen ahead of time really helps. Maybe even have them watch a you tube video of the ride before. My daughter is a roller coaster junkie but I started her out young and slowly....always explaining everything in great detail,ahead of time and if she didn't want to do it we would just try again later. She went on Tower of Terror at Disneyland when she was 3 and at 6 went on the very intense roller coasters at Six Flags. It's all about how you prepare them and what their personality is like. I would just follow their lead, they might surprise you,

 

[bchbetha]

My kiddo refused to ride The Mummy after the line. Totally scared him. Gringotts scared him too. He did marginally ok with Poseidon's Fury; he needed a lot of reassurance.

 

[imprint]

At six years old, their height will probably prevent them from riding the most thrilling rides. At six years old, our child rode everything she was tall enough for. She didn't like Dudley Do Right and Jurassic Park River Adventure. Her favorites were Men in Black, Woody Woodpecker coaster, Flight of the Hippogryph, and Storm Force Accelerator.

 

[macraven]

Show them YouTube rides to see what happens on them

But turn the volume down ....

 

[kohlby]

I agree that it really depend on the child. I have an 8 year old who thinks MIB is too scary! My eldest was loving MIB at 3. My middle child did Mummy as soon as she was tall enough and not scared on it. Though Transformers is a 40" ride, there's no way my 8 year old would be able to handle it, though my other two kids would have been fine at 3.

If we are concerned about a child not being able to handle a ride, then we let the child decide. My middle child has been in tears after a ride (tower of terror at 3), but was still willing to try anything after. Her feeling she had control to choose really helped. If my youngest was scared on a ride, that would be it. He wouldn't be able to even stay in the parks, much less ride. So, we have to be a lot more cautious about what we try to bribe him to do.

 

[TommyJK]

My 7 year old wouldn't do The Mummy and Jurassic Park after his first time riding them. Spooked him a bit too much. Everything else (that he was tall enough for) he loved.

 

[22Tink]

The Mummy definitely came to mind right away. It scared my 7yo daughter last time we went. She did just fine on everything else we went on.

 

[gotomu212]

If that's a parenting fail, I am one sad parent (which, my be fair)...when mine got spooked, I took them through again...and sometimes again...then he was okay after that. That was my oldest...my youngest would gladly do just about any ride you could throw at him. Don't say I was abusing him...he was only spooked a bit on a few rides...had he been really scared, I would not have made him...I even gave him an out as we got to the actual ride, but as long as I was with him, he was fine....loves them all now...but he is now 18!

I'm with you. I wear my parenting fails with pride and a churro really will cure all wrongs.

 

[RalphinSC]

I have a twelve year old roller coaster junkie who has a tiny scaredy cat streak in him for "scary" stuff. He'll ride Dragon challenge, Hulk, and Rip Ride Rockit all day long; but absolutely balks at Mummy and the line in Kong (he knows there is a scare actor in there sometimes).

I think they will do good with the Spider-Man, and transformers rides. Gringotts only really has one part that may be uncomfortable unless they are terrified of Voldemort. The Kong ride isn't bad itself but the queue can scare little ones. Mummy can be scary and it's fast. They may not be tall enough to ride that one. Forbidden journey can go either way depending if they like Harry Potter. There are spiders, dragons, and dementors in there. Most of the little kids I saw on it were enjoying the heck out of it though.

Hope this helps.

 

[darnheather]

My 11 year old was scared on everything except the Seuss rides. She says now she's glad she did the Harry Potter things but I felt terrible dragging her on them at the time.