Who do some parents force kids on attractions if they are afraid?

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

I have noticed quite a bit when going on Haunted Mansion in the room that goes all dark, little kids start screeming & crying that they don't want to go on the ride. I also have noticed it even before entering the ride, because the kids must have heard the noises & got scared. Basically what I don't get is why do some parents still force their kids on a ride like Haunted Mansion or any other "scary" WDW attractions that are in the dark, when they say they are to scared & don't want to go on it? I have heard some parents act totally nasty to their kids & say to bad your going on it because your brother wants to go on it, but there are the nicer parents that try to calm their kids down by saying, don't worry all of this is not real & you will be safe.

So what are your thoughts about this subject?

 

[Leota]

As a Mom who talked her child into doing HM when he was scared....

I took my then 4 yo DS on HM on our first family trip. It was in 1993 & I hadn't been in HM since 1973. I didn't remember everything about it, just that it was my Favorite ride from when I went as a child. I spent my vacation money to buy extra E tickets to ride it again & again. (old ticket system) I talked my son thru his fears, but he still didn't like it. I felt a bit guilty afterwards for talking him into it. But, I didn't know how it would affect him or even what the attraction was like, only vague memories of the Ballroom.

So, I like to think that many of the parents you see with anxious kiddos just really have no idea what the attraction is like, how it will affect the child/children & want to try to talk their kids thru their anxieties, help them conquer a new adventure.

Of course, there are the parents who are outright nasty & forcing their kids. Them, I don't get. But, I like to think that's a minority.

 

[goofy4tink]

'Forced' my dd to do Star Tours and TT. Star Tours when she was 6...she howled the whole time we were waiting in the line (about 45 mins!!). When we got off....she begged to do it again!! When she was 8, I 'forced' her yet again...to do TT. And again, she fussed and cried about it the whole wait. I thought dh was going to have me reported to child services. But, yet again, she begged to do it again when we got off!!! I did not force her to do RnRC...did ask her to do it for several years, but did not make her. But when she finally got up the nerve to do it....yep, can't keep her off it now!!!

A parent knows their child the best. I know what my dd is afraid of. I know what she will end up liking once she does something, even though she is scared to death at the time. So far I'm right 100% of the time!!!

 

[BabyMo]

On our last trip, I saw a parent forcing a terrified child to take a picture with a character. IMO, it is about what the parent wants. They want that picture with the kid and Goofy- and it's not about what the kid wants/needs, it is about what the parent wants.

 

[tmarquez]

When I was growing up...our family went on vacation quite a few times with another family...as the dad of that would always say..."I paid for this and we are on vacation and we ARE going to have"...feel free to throw an explicative or 2 in with the quote. This same guy was known throughout our community as a kind caring doctor.

While some people I'm sure know their kids would like something if they would just try it...some other people are just jerks.

 

[Disney_Mama]

I have forced my DD7 to do some rides and after we get off she also says can we do it again... I want to find all the people in the line around us just so they can see that I am not a bad mother. I too would never push the envelope. I know what she can handle and what she will like in the end.

 

[DisneyWisher]

When we were at AK last month, a child was crying that he was afraid, his parents were asking other children around how they liked it and if they were afraid (my opinion to make their child feel more at ease) but he still cried. The CM asked if the boy was ok, Dad said he just a little afraid. The CM told him that they will not let crying children on the ride. The CM instructed us to go by not sure if they rode or not. I'm glad that Disney is taking this approach. When my DD13 was 3 when we took her on PoC, coming off that ride she began to stutter (last 2 years). 10 years later it is still not a ride she likes. Can't get her off TT, RnR, Spl Mtn and so on, but she will turn down PoC every time. Heck she even loves Dueling Dragons and The Hulk.

 

[Mellie2162]

I know for me a lot of the time I think to myself...I know he/she will really love this ride if they just try it....I took my son onto HM when he was about 5 and he was scared to go on. I was one of those moms saying its ok its not real and then when we were in the buggy I made sure I pointed at ghosts and laughed at them like they were silly...it really helped because he loosened up and really enjoyed it and then wanted to go back on over and over. In another instance I "talked" my daughter into doing TOT. Not forced just convinced her that it would be fun. She totally loved it. Now we just go and have fun..nobody talks anybody into doing anything...if they want to ride they ride...if they dont we either child swap or dont ride or one parent just waits with the one who doesnt. no big deal.

 

[MidgeD79]

I "forced" my then 5 year old son to go on Spaceship Earth. He was afraid of the unknown, but I told him there were no drops or anything that could hurt him. He went on it and of course asked to go again!

 

[beattyfamily]

Sometimes it's not that we forced them though, although it 'may' appear that way.

When my DD was about 5, she insisted she wanted to go on HM. Well, she got hysterical in the stretch room. What could I do then? I did my best to console her.

She got better once in line for the buggie but still crying.

Once we did the ride, she was fine and now she loves it.

We do not force our kids on the rides if they're afraid of them but we do try and convince them with a detailed explanation but if they aren't ready, then they aren't ready.

It took my now 7 year old till this past trip to finally try ToT. She did alright but hugged me the whole time and announced that she hated it and will never go on it again...although now she's saying she'll do it one last time so she can experience it with DH who didn't go on that trip with us.

She still will NOT go on Splash Mountain for fear of getting wet no matter how hard we try and explain that if she ducks she won't get wet. Oh well.

 

[runwad]

We forced our dd8 to go on expedition everest...cried the whole time in line. But we knew once she got on it she'd love it and she did wanted to do it again. Why did we do it? Because we all wanted to ride together and not have to do baby swap for the 8 yr old when the 6 & 10 yr old were all gun-ho for us all to go. DD8 just has a fear for the unknown and never likes to try anything different, and this is carried over in all aspects of her life in trying new experiences. Sure I felt like a bad mom for doing it but like everything else in her life she has tried she liked it and wanted to do it again.

 

[Teacher03]

My son never liked riding roller coasters, scary rides, etc. I would try to talk him into it, my husband would get mad at him, etc. I always felt bad because I felt he was missing out. Here we would be in Disney, and he refused to go on ToT, RnRC, Splash Mountain, etc. He would get nervous and anxious in line....there was nothing we could say or do to make him go on these rides. When he was around 10, I just accepted that he didn't like the rides. I would ask him to go on, but I wouldn't push. We did baby swap until he was old enough to wait for us on his own! He is now 20 and still refuses to go on. We went to Disney in 2005, and waited around while we went on everything. His girlfriend went with us, and she couldn't talk him into it. He decided not to go this year. He stayed home and took care of our pets. Funny thing though, he loves Mission Space!

 

[k5thbeatle]

We always play a little game while waiting to get into ITTBAB. We try to guess which little kids will end up leaving the show early. So far I'd guess we are batting about .750!

 

[MSSANDRA]

If I never forced my DS ,now 14, to do anything, he would never do ANYTHING. He too shys away from anything new. Not just rides but new life experences as well. Have "forced" him to go to a school dance, school trip, camping etc as well as a few rides. Now I would not have carried him on crying, but just did not give him an option. "We are all going to try this ride once, if you do not like it you do not have to ever do it again" First trip to WDW I used this aproach to 75% of the rides. Only one ride did he not end of loving, though he did fine with it. He was second grade at the time. WE also live near a large park and frequent group trips are a big part of life around here. Had I not "forced" him to try a few things he would have been so left out on these trip. He now knows what he does and does not like but he knows what the rides are like. Some kids are just like that. I know that I will have to FORCE him to go to college because of the fear of the unknown. Now I would never drag a child screaming onto a ride but that is not how my child would react. I realize the fact that some kids react that strongly to EVERY situation so I try not to judge. I am gald that CM's do sometimes step in and make that safety call.

 

[cristbaby]

My DSon-in-law forced my 5 yr old grandson to go on The Dinosaur ride in Animal Kingdon. Scared the be-jeebers out of him and refused to go on another ride the rest of the week. That was our first day.....nice, huh.

 

[tinaluis]

Like many others, we have "forced" our 8 year old DD to do some rides and they end up being her favorites. Sometimes she just needs a little nudge. One ride she has tried, but refuses to go on again, is HM. That's OK with us. As long as she's tried it and knows what she's missing. I would never force any of my DDs to ride a roller coaster, though. OTOH I have a 5yo DD who couldn't wait to try EE and never looked back. She went on again with DH right after she went on with me. Our 10yo DD is trying to work up the courage to try EE next trip and the 5yo keeps trying to reassure her. How cute is that?

 

[jeffd101]

Our kids were 6 and 9 on our first trip. No matter what ride, they got very apprehensive (and sometimes teary) as we got closer to the entrance. With only one exception, they got on the ride and either loved it, or said it was no big deal but they didn't like it very much.

Our one exception was the HM. DS9 went into the stretching room and got freaked out (and he reads books about ghosts all the time!). We found the chicken exit and he and I waited for DW and DD6. They got stuck for 5 minutes, so it was probably better that he bailed. Last year we went and he went in and loved it! He realized that we were right and that he would have enjoyed himself.

Sometimes kids blow things up in their minds. Chastising them in public is never a good thing, but usually quiet tears are normal with our kids the first time doing any ride. Nobody knows your kids like you do, so while it may be easy to pass judgment, there is probably more to the story than what you are witnessing as an isolated incident (verbal or physical abuse excepted).

 

[thirtycats]

I forced my five-year-old on "It's a Small World" a few weeks ago.

He ended up loving it.

Like other parents on this thread, I have a fearful child.

Sometimes, it works best to back off and let him be the one to say "I'm ready to do it!"

Other times, it works better to "force" him.

 

[reeeoga]

I "forced" my daughter to go on 3 different rides: HM, Splash Mountain, and POTC" last year. She was not happy waiting in line or getting into the ride. After exiting the ride she was literally jumping up and down yelling "That was Totaly Wikkied" .

Sometimes parents DO know what their children will like.

35 days until we ride "totally Wikkied" HM and Splash Mountian

 

[DISNEYFAMILYOFFOUR]

I agree with alot of the other posters. We have "forced" when we know they will love it. To others watching us, it might of looked bad, but the bottom line is, we know our children.