Which rides are scary??

[amy-momofthree]

After reading the dinosaur thread, I know DD 6 will have to sit that one out. I have watched HM many times on you tube and although it doesn't seem scary, I'm sure Dd won't like that either. I don't want to traumatize her on vacation (she has nightmares about the big bad wolf) so what other rides should We sit out?

Thanks!!

 

[afwdwfan]

Depends on the kids... I know some are just scared of any dark ride.
Snow White and Pirates are a couple that come to mind right away.

I know when I was little I didn't like the trolls in Maelstrom.

 

[PirateKate]

Many kids get scared during It's Tough to Be a Bug.

 

[ChrisHartman]

Stitch's Great Escape scared DS....it was pitch black, loud, and did nothing. You'll be mad you wasted your time. Soarin' scared him too, but I think it was because it was his very first ride. And the feeling of flying is pretty strong. He held onto me for dear life and cried all the way through, I felt terrible. After that one though, he was fine.

If you think your little one would be scared of the Haunted Mansion, you might want to think twice about the Snow White ride. It wasn't overly scary, but there was a good deal of focus on the hag through most of the ride and could be scary.

 

[Carrie772]

The Unofficial Guide has a good ranking system on all the rides. Check it out and then see what you think.

 

[vettegirl]

TOT scares the living daylights out of me

 

[SmallWorld71]

A ride being "scary" is so subjective that it is impossible to say what will frighten your particular child. I remember when DS11 was 2, he rode all sorts of rides with no problems and only got scared on one ride, Winnie the Pooh! Go figure!

Honestly, about 95% of the attractions have the potential to be scary to someone depending on what someone is afraid of. Your best bet is to get a book as PP mentioned and check out all the descriptions. Another suggestion is to have someone in your party check it out first and see what they think.

If "spooky" is your concern (not heights, noises etc...) then I'd say some rides to exercise caution with are:
MK - Haunted Mansion, Pirates of the Car., Snow White, Stitch
Epcot - Maelstrom
DHS - Tower of Terror, Rock 'n' Roller Coaster
AK - Dinosaur, Expedition Everest because of the Yeti, It's Tough to be a Bug

 

[Rhonna]

Dinosaur is the only one that scares me - I'm an adult. When T-Rex comes right in your face - yikes!

 

[matheke]

Several years ago when I was still smoking, I had stopped for a break by the TL smoking area. There was an about 9 yo boy just crying his eyes out, shaking and wanting to go home. His mother telling him to calm down, not all the rides are scary.

I thought to myself "She must have dragged him on Alien Encounter, that poor kid". But as I listened more it turned the ride that put him in this state was Buzz Lightyear!!!

So all in all it is hard to know what is scary to which kids. My friends 6yo has a huge dislike of any character including Chuck E. Cheese and the Chik-Fil-A cow.

As Robin Williams said "To a four year old, that's not Mickey Mouse, It's a 5 foot rat!!"

Dan

 

[TinkerbellinLouisian]

Mine were never scared of any rides... But I've heard reports from friends who had kids that were scared of the Fantasmic! Show at DHS...

I love the show...so hated to hear that....
Hugs,
Mary

 

[amy-momofthree]

Thanks for the advice. I will check out "the unofficial guide". Thrill rides and loud noises don't scare her, it's the "spooky" stuff, for example, she is terrified of the Big Bad Wolf.

 

[LaurenT]

A ride being "scary" is so subjective that it is impossible to say what will frighten your particular child. I remember when DS11 was 2, he rode all sorts of rides with no problems and only got scared on one ride, Winnie the Pooh! Go figure!

Honestly, about 95% of the attractions have the potential to be scary to someone depending on what someone is afraid of. Your best bet is to get a book as PP mentioned and check out all the descriptions. Another suggestion is to have someone in your party check it out first and see what they think.

If "spooky" is your concern (not heights, noises etc...) then I'd say some rides to exercise caution with are:
MK - Haunted Mansion, Pirates of the Car., Snow White, Stitch
Epcot - Maelstrom
DHS - Tower of Terror, Rock 'n' Roller Coaster
AK - Dinosaur, Expedition Everest because of the Yeti, It's Tough to be a Bug

I had to laugh when you said EE because of Yeti!! I wish it were true - if I even get a glimpse of him these days I consider myself lucky!

 

[maryj11]

1. Tower of Terror would be the worst. It scares me, and Im 50 lol.

2. Rock N Roller Coaster was scarey for my 8 year old because it is dark and you go upside down. It starts out really fast and I think that scared her because she wasnt ready for the quick take off.

3. The Yeti ride goes really fast and is jerky and goes up high. It kind of scared me.

4. Haunted Manison wasnt that scarey for my 8 year old because I told her it wasnt real and they use movie projectors for the ghosts. It may be for your girl.

I dont think Tough To Be A Bug is scarey my little girl loved it ! But then again she is 2 years older then yours

 

[WizardLarz]

Passporter's Guide book is written from a Family perspective, and has an even better rating system. Their system is base on the author's own kids who has grown-up going to WDW with the parents.

 

[danceintherain]

A ride being "scary" is so subjective that it is impossible to say what will frighten your particular child. I remember when DS11 was 2, he rode all sorts of rides with no problems and only got scared on one ride, Winnie the Pooh! Go figure!

winnie the pooh scares me!

it is completely subjective...you never know what will set a kid off

 

[Fabooliss]

Thanks for the advice. I will check out "the unofficial guide". Thrill rides and loud noises don't scare her, it's the "spooky" stuff, for example, she is terrified of the Big Bad Wolf.

My DD when she was 5 was scared of Peter Pan, and Splash Mountain and then wouldn't go in the Tiki Room and had to be persuaded to go on Living with the Land because of the Thunder and Lightning.
We didn't even attempt Snow White, Bug, Pirates, Everest, Fantasmic, Haunted Mansion, Honey I shrunk the Audience (and probably more, can't remember)
We were offered a sneak peak at the new Monsters Inc Comedy show, but she wouldn't go (I was SO disappointed).
I second looking at the Unofficial Guide... I don't know why I didn't take their advice on Peter Pan, thought she'd enjoy it because she loves Wendy!

 

[TiggeRx]

It's A Small World scares the bejeebers out of me!
Every.
Single.
Time!!!


Okay, seriously, scare factors are quite subjective. One suggestion, if traveling with an older companion, try the child swap feature at a ride that concerns you. This may help you decide if your child may handle it or not.

One other word of advice, if a child doesn't want to go on a particular ride, even though you may think he or she will like it, I'd recommend just skipping it until later. No need for the little one to have an anxiety attack!!

 

[kohlby]

Dinosaur and Stitch are the two rides that I don't let my kids do when they're young. However, we did give our oldest the option of doing Dinosaur at 6.5 years old. He doesn't scare easily but he's very cautious about what rides he wants to do so he decided against it.

It's Tough to Be a Bug was awful the first time our oldest tried it. He was barely 3 and we had to leave 5 minutes into the movie. We skipped it when he was 3.5 years old. The next trip, he was 6.5 and DD was almost 4 and both loved it. We told both kids they could take the glasses off if it got too scary and suggested that DD start without the glasses. (Though she didn't. She does sit in a lap however).

My second child was almost 4 for our last trip. She is scared of shadows and just about everything else at home. However, she wasn't scared of much at Disney. For Haunted Mansion, we pretend we're ghost hunters and talked to her the entire time. She loved it. I worried about the themeing of TOT scaring her, but it didn't at all. (However, she wasn't a fan of being way off her seat during the ride). Snow White had a part that scared her. I found the best thing to do was simply talk to her during any potential scary parts. (Or any dark parts of any ride). Though she got scared at times, she didn't mind getting scared as long as a parent was by her side.

*We don't force our kids on any ride. I'd rather they get scared on a ride that they want to do than one that I want them to do. I think that really helped - my kids felt more in control.

 

[GraceysGirl]

Like everyone said it's pretty subjective. I have to completely agree on It's Tough to be a Bug. The first time I did it was when I was 22. We sat in the second row and me and my friend (same age) were freaked out. There is smoke and bugs dropping from the cieling. If your going to try it out sit all the way in the back. It's much less intense back there.

 

[Brit_Jude]

If you can do some research and then sit down with your child and a park map and explain to your child what happens on each ride/attraction and ask them if they want to ride it, ask if they think they it would be OK, make an list and then reaffirm at the park. You Tube may also have some videos you could watch together. I am a Stepmom and my Stepsons real Mom would try and trick him on to rides, he still to this day and he is 16 now, does not always believe people on what happens on a ride if they try to tell him due to being tricked. The first time we tried to get him as a 13 year old on Buzz Lighyears Space Ranger Spin he was a nervous wreck as he had been 'tricked' by his Mom before and ended up on a rollercoaster.

He has learned to trust me though, I will tell him exactly what will happen and he makes the choice. For example Bugs Life, it's a dark movie theater, and you wear special glasses that make the characters on the screen pop out at you, you get suprise sprays of water and wind blowing in your face, you get poked in the back to pretend that a bee is stinging you and then at the end it feels like there are bugs crawling under your butt in the seat, but it is not real and is only to make you think that it is happening, it's funny.