Which rides for younger kids???

[IBLarsen]

Hi All, I am trying to get together a general plan of attack for our days at DLR Sept 30th - Oct 4. We will have 3.5 days in the parks. I have little ones, DS5 and DD3. I am wanting to know from those of you with little ones what rides were the best for this age or which rides to avoid. Any advice would be great, thanks so much!

 

[DL4my2kids]

Don't take the kids on the snow white ride.
It was one of the first rides we went on and afterward, I could not get them to go on any inside rides.

We stuck to Teacups, carosel (Sorry I know I spelled that wrong), dumbo, casey Jr train etc. All of the ouside rides in Fantasy Land. We also took them on Autopia, stuff in toon town.

I really wanted to go on Peter Pan but after Snow White, they would not give in.

 

[Rivergallery]

At 3 my son's favorite rides were Gadgets Go Coaster and BLAB.
He got scared at Mr. Toad's - but that was because my sister took him without me. Just make sure you are gentle with the kiddos regarding the dark rides. I did cover my son's eyes a couple times on the others. And we skipped Haunted House.
Other than that we went on everything he was tall enough for, he was under 40" at the time.
This was in 05 so they didn't have Toy Story or Nemo yet.

One waste was the Sun Ferris Wheel, we had them lock it and my son was very very bored. We were the first go around so maybe that is why it was so slow?


ETA- My so was the same way as the PP but I convinced him that it was safe and I would be with him. Poor kiddo.

ETA- I did write extensive trip reports and did use FastPass so I will dig out the links for you
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=11020732#post11020732&highlight=
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=986357&page=0&highlight=
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=986358&page=0&highlight=

 

[bluegrizzlies1]

I agree my 3 yr old doesn't like the snow white ride she will go on it but really does not like it.

Her favorites are pirates, haunted mansion, sun wheel swinging cart, dumbo, peter pan.

She doesn't like the matterhorn because the snow monster in it.

She is about 40 inches so in oct she wants to go on splash really bad and space mountain, Im sure we will go on the rest that is 40 inches TOT, soaring, thunder mountain.

 

[DesertBell]

5 & 3? We took my dd when she was three and she went on everything she was big enough for. She LOVED BTMRR and Space Mountain, and she even went on ToT twice (the first time she loved it and wanted to go again, the second time she said it "hurt her feelings"). She wasn't a fan of the dark rides, like Roger Rabbit or Mr. Toad, though, and she has requested to not go on the Haunted Mansion this time.

We are very excited to go this time, because my son is now 3 and tall enough to ride everything except Indy, Soarin' and Screamin!

I say start out small, and work your way up- kids can surprise you.

 

[bluegrizzlies1]

soarin is 40 isnt it ?

Yeap just checked website soarin is 40 inches

 

[talie95]

Our daughter's are 3 and 6 and they absolutely love everything from Dumbo to Pirates and Haunted Mansion. My 3 year old is now tall enough for Gadget's Go Coaster and Matterhorn and she couldn't be more excited....we are going this weekend and it's all she can talk about. Whenever my older one tells her she's too little for something, her reply is "I'm not too little, I'm big enough for the Matterhorn!"

Anyway, I know some kids are really afraid of the dark rides, especially Snow White so I would hit some of the other rides first, but it really just depends on the kid. If you know they tend to get scared easily then maybe avoid the dark rides at first until they get used to the ride experience and then try one to see how they do. Good luck and I hope you all have a great time!

 

[DahliaRW]

I think it depends on your kids and how adventuresome they are as well. My 3 1/2 year old ds is not afraid of anything. He was going on some pretty wild roller coasters at another amusement park, and cried that he wasn't tall enough for others. My 4 1/2 year old neice is scared of everything, even kiddie coasters. So I would think about what you think your kiddos can handle, start small (less scary/less fast), judge how they do, and go from there.

 

[DesertBell]

Soarin is 40? Whoohoo!

 

[heatherleigh]

If you go to the DL website, they have a whole list of rides and attractions for little kids. Mine liked everything in Fantasy Land. We only avoided SM, MH, Indiana Jones, and BTMR. Pooh was a favorite. On our last trip, my 3-year old tried the Matter Horn and Big Thunder Mountain and Indiana Jones. He liked them all. He's a little more adventurous though.

 

[Mommy2PrincessAbby]

Every kiddo is different, my dd's favorite ride is Snow White (over and over and over again)... and when she hit that 40 inch mark (in tall shoes) in May, she begged to be on the top row of Soarin... her favorite rides (based on repeat ride requests) in this order:

At DL:
Snow White
Mr Toad
Buzz
Alice
Winnie the Pooh
Pinnochio
Peter Pan
Pirates
Haunted Mansion
Tea Cups
Casey Jr
Splash Mtn
Roger Rabbit
Dumbo
AstroOrbiter
Storybook boats

Didn't like: Matterhorn, Gadget's Go Coaster, Indy cars, Space Mtn, and wouldn't go on BTMRR or Star Tours. She didn't cry on anything, but was po'd about Space Mtn.

Over at DCA, she LOVED everything she was tall enough for, and begged to go on Soarin and Heimlich's Choo Choo multiple times.

--Lisa

 

[hyena29]

Last year we went for the first time- our kids were 5 1/2, just turned 4 and 7 months. Here was our experience:
for the 5 year old- suprised us and went on every ride that he could go on height wise. We were suprised because he is usually the more sensitive one to noise, scary things, etc. He did find Indiana Jones ride scary (though went back on again) and Splash mountain at the end. His favorite rides were the Matterhorn (the abominable snowman was scary -would cover eyes- but after probably the 20th time, started not covering his eyes), and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.
for the just 4 year old- went on most everything for his height once but then calmly said he did not want to go on certain ones again (Space Mountain was one) His favorite rides were the Buzz Lightyear ride and the Mulholland Madness roller coaster (I as his mommy was a little freaked out on that one so was suprised he loved it so much) He also liked the Teacups (since right by the Matterhorn, he went on that a lot while his brother went on the Matterhorn) and by the end decided on his own he wanted to go on the Matterhorn and loved it.
Looking back, I think it is wise to start out on the outdoor ones and I can see that the dark inside ones can definitely be an issue. Pirates of the Caribbean we have a picture of the 4 year old looking wide eyed and unsure. I think we ended not doing those darker ones until the end so by then they were acclimated.
So, start out slow and then they may decide to go on bigger ones than you think they will. Also, I remember the first full day we went, the older one had somewhat of a meltdown after only an hour or two because he was hot and tired. So, we went back to the hotel and relaxed and went in the pool. After that, we had no issues and everyone had a great time. So be prepared with little ones to not push it and be willing to just take a break when needed. I remember at the time thinking "oh no, we've only been here for hardly any time at all and they are already losing it!!!" so just wanted to give you hope that we had no more issues after that.

 

[dizneekrazee]

We have been going since my oldest was almost 3. All of my kids go on all of the rides, and have never been scared of any, with few excpetions. The first time we went, my oldest went on HM, and was crying by the time we got off. By the time we got home the nect day, that was his favorite ride, and that was all he wanted to ride for our future trips. My 2nd son was frightened of the snowman on Matterhorn, until I told him when I was small, I used to throw peanuts at him, now, when we go past him, we look for left over peanut shells. My youngest, he has not shown any fear of any ride yet. He has not been on Matterhorn yet, he always happens to be napping at Matterhorn time, so we will see this next trip. Oh, almost forgot, DS4 does not like Star Tours, not because he is scared, just because he doesnt like it, and quite frankly, neither do I.

 

[IBLarsen]

Thanks for the advice everybody. I'm always kind of suprised by how many little kids will go on things like Haunted Mansion and Matterhorn. My kids fairly cautious, but the 5 year old may suprise us with what he will go on. It's great to see how others have reacted.

 

[ccoymsrd]

We have APs and go at least twice a month. DS5 and DD2 like to go on the same rides. DD2 is not scared of anything. DS5 was not scared when he was smaller, but became more scared as he got older. The "must see" attractions every visit include Pirates, Pooh, Buzz Lightyear, Astro Blasters. Other favorites are Casey Jr., Autopia. DS5 does not like Splash Mountain, Thunder Mountain although he is tall enough. He won't try Matterhorn or Space Mountain. He does love Goofy's Coaster in Toon Town. If both could stay anywhere ALL day, it would be Toon Town - so hard to get them to leave that I often have to avoid it since we typically go for 3 hours at a time. Hope you have a fabulous time! We could go every week and have a blast each time!!

 

[bumbershoot]

...she even went on ToT twice (the first time she loved it and wanted to go again, the second time she said it "hurt her feelings").

My son pops that phrase out every so often at strange times, LOL. So much so that my brother and SIL (blissfully child free) connect it with my son, and they'll say it to each other when they are being silly.



OP, is this their first time? If so, you'll have NO idea what they will like or not, so the best advice is to start gently. So you start off with the ones that they can see from the line, like Dumbo, Teacups, and such. Or even start off in a bug's land at DCA, b/c everything is out in the open. The version of teacups there is nice b/c you can't spin it to make it go faster. Flik's Flyers is the same motion as Dumbo, but you're all together in a "box".

For some reason my son had a strong and negative reaction to Alice, so even though the line is cute and bright, I personally can't recommend it as a starter ride...then again, DS hasnt' heard or seen the story.

Once they see how things work at DLR, that things won't hurt them and are fun, maybe the Jungle Cruise would be fun! Though not at night...my son who LOVES the JC was so freaked out when we went at night that he was trying to lie down on the floor of the boat. Poor kid.

My guy never made it past the "stretching room", a big elevator to get to the actual ride, of HM b/c some of the adults who were on it were apparently scared out of their minds, and screamed bloody murder, which scared DS very much. I couldnt' convince him that they were being silly, so he and I took the "chicken exit".


For my son, when he was 3, that was his year of being scared of rides he actually loved...but I don't know if he would have been afraid if it had been his FIRST time there. Or maybe he would, but that reactino would have been all we knew, rather than knowing he liked things at 1 and 2.

I could go on, but I think that sticking with the basics, starting easy and open and cheery, then going further if they are fearless and not going further (or splitting up) if one or both of them is NOT fearless, is going to always be the good way to go (as everyone else has said, pretty much!).

 

[Alex2kMommy]

I agree my 3 yr old doesn't like the snow white ride she will go on it but really does not like it.

Her favorites are pirates, haunted mansion, sun wheel swinging cart, dumbo, peter pan.

She doesn't like the matterhorn because the snow monster in it.

She is about 40 inches so in oct she wants to go on splash really bad and space mountain, Im sure we will go on the rest that is 40 inches TOT, soaring, thunder mountain.

Your DD sounds like my DS4. He's quite a thrill seeker, but does not like the abominable snowman on Matterhorn. Once he hit 40" he did all those rides and loves Haunted Mansion and Splash, but was deathly afraid during ToT!

People were congratulating him after his ToT run and asking him if he was scared. He laughed and said no, "it's weally cool!" I thought maybe I'd misjudged his fear during the ride, but as we walked away he told me, "I don' like dat ride, Mama. I don' want to ride that again!" Oh. OK.

 

[Anater]

We took our thrillseeker four year old on almost everything in December (he was 42" so we didn't try Indy) He loved everything, especially the Matterhorn and Thunder Mountain. On our third day I decided to try Snow White because we had been on almost every other ride, and I really didn't remember much of the ride myself. He was enjoying it until the Witch turned around. He totally freaked out and tried to climb out of the car. It took about ten minutes to calm him down. So, if anything - avoid Snow White! Funny story re HM - we prepared him ahead of time by going into our dark laundry room and screaming when the lights went out. We told him it's just what some people do when the lights go off. When we went on HM and the screaming started, he wanted to be included so he screamed too. All around us we heard people saying "poor baby" and "oh no, he's scared". The lights went back on and he started laughing. A group of guys next to us high fived him - it was pretty cute.

 

[Brady's Mom]

My DH (who is 49) will not go on Snow White because he was scared on it when he was little. So, our children have never been on SW!! I, of course, am a big scaredy-cat and won't ever even consider any scary ride. HM is out for me, although I saw it with the Holiday thingy and hated it. So SW is a must miss for our family.

Our 2 little sons love all the bugs land rides and most of the FL rides. Our DS 6 hates Space but wants to try Matterhorn and BTMRR. He went on Space when he was just barely tall enough and about 4.5 (I think). His eyes were wide the whole time and he told DH when they came out that he would never ride that ride again!! They really love Monsters in DCA, Buzz and our littlest tried Soarin' with all of us in March and really loved it. Oh, and Pooh is a big favorite. It can give me a little headache when we ride it over and over, because the colors are a little psychadelic! And our 6 yr old loves Splash. We all wore ponchos and he was in between DH and me, so he couldn't really see what was happening, but we warned him about the drop and he watched the ride for a while before we took him on, that seemed to make a big difference.

For our trip in March we youtubed a lot of rides so our littles could have an idea of what to expect. It seemed to help a lot. they were more open to a lot of different rides. We have watched the snowman in Matterhorn and they seem okay with it. We will see how it goes in Dec. when we are there.

 

[bluegrizzlies1]

Your DD sounds like my DS4. He's quite a thrill seeker, but does not like the abominable snowman on Matterhorn. Once he hit 40" he did all those rides and loves Haunted Mansion and Splash, but was deathly afraid during ToT!

People were congratulating him after his ToT run and asking him if he was scared. He laughed and said no, "it's weally cool!" I thought maybe I'd misjudged his fear during the ride, but as we walked away he told me, "I don' like dat ride, Mama. I don' want to ride that again!" Oh. OK.

My daughter is so ready to see jack skeleton and company. She loved it at christmas last yr she was bummed out they were not there in march and may although she likes the HM the other way to.

I have a feeling I will be on splash a lot shes is sooo ready to go on it.

I think the TOT I will be able to get her on once well have to see how it goes from there.

Im sure she will like soarin also Im hoping she will like space M to go on it a lot I love that ride.