Will Haunted Mansion terrify my (almost) 2-year old?

[kaetra]

Only you know your kid. If my kid was 2 I'd skip it or take turns without the kid. No point taking any chances on having your day, or their day, ruined.

 

[jtowntoflorida]

The stretching room isn't the scariest thing for my kids. They don't like the bride, the stuff that pops out of the graveyard, or the coffin, or the shaking doors. What did my youngest in, though, was the hitchhiking ghosts. He kept asking why ghosts are following us home. **sigh**

 

[Crystal824]

We took my daughter when she was 2 and she thought it was funny. Now that she's 4 she's afraid of it, lol.

This was our experience too. At 1 and even almost 2 our daughter didn't know to be afraid so she wasn't the slightest bit afraid. At nearly 3 our last visit, she was afraid. We still made her ride it, she did ok even then. I wouldn't make her ride it kicking and screaming, but I could tell at 3 she really didn't want to do it. When we got off, she said I don't really like that.

 

[bartleby1]

I agree with other posters who said 'you know your child best'. In my experience, MOST kids that young are ok, but not all. My kids didn't get afraid in HM until they were 3-ish. You also never know what attractions will set them off. My oldest daughter was afraid of anything dark, anything loud, or anything with fake smoke at 3-1/2. I almost had to leave the sea lion show at seaworld which was in an outdoor stadium because she was petrified of the fake smoke/mist before the show even started!

Oh, and I almost forgot, my son was so TERRIFIED during mickey's philharmagic when he was around 15 months old that he tried to climb over my shoulder into a strangers lap, lol! I think he couldn't handle the 3D effect. So, you never know!

 

[bumbershoot]

If you act like she should be afraid, then she probably will be. If you act like it's no big deal, then she probably will be OK.

People who have kids who go along with that are so lucky and I don't think they know that.

In my son's case, at 2.5, he believed me until everyone in the stretching room started screaming. Then he obviously felt that there was something incredibly wrong with me, because everyone else knew that this place was terrifying.

I hate that room and what people do. It's the one place at Disney where I truly dislike the people around me.

After the awesome introduction to the line (and to be clear I'm talking about Disneyland specifically here but the concept is the same) it got worse. Dark line, people trying to scare each other, etc. By the time we got near the seating CMs DS was a mess. I asked for the exit. And then the exit was long dark corridors that felt like they would never end and an exit into an area with gargoyles. (Where DL's version sometimes has FPs set up at halloween time) So exiting was not a help.


The poster mentioned potc. At 4 my son decided potc was evil. At 5 (both of those years his birthday fell right over Mem Day weekend and one year was the free-on-your-birthday year so we went ON his bday both years) he snapped out of it and loved it again. Was really weird!

You know your kid but kids are unpredictable. Hope for the best but bring earplugs for the stretching room and choose who will exit with the toddler ahead of time.

 

[ZephyrHawk]

Maybe. Maybe not. You can't really know until you try it. Give her the benefit of the doubt.

I was 3 the first time I went on HM. It scared the heck out of me. I screamed bloody murder at the hitchhiking ghosts. And 20 seconds off the ride I was fine. It's been my favorite ride ever since.

 

[jrandall]

People who have kids who go along with that are so lucky and I don't think they know that.

In my son's case, at 2.5, he believed me until everyone in the stretching room started screaming. Then he obviously felt that there was something incredibly wrong with me, because everyone else knew that this place was terrifying.

I hate that room and what people do. It's the one place at Disney where I truly dislike the people around me.

After the awesome introduction to the line (and to be clear I'm talking about Disneyland specifically here but the concept is the same) it got worse. Dark line, people trying to scare each other, etc. By the time we got near the seating CMs DS was a mess. I asked for the exit. And then the exit was long dark corridors that felt like they would never end and an exit into an area with gargoyles. (Where DL's version sometimes has FPs set up at halloween time) So exiting was not a help.


The poster mentioned potc. At 4 my son decided potc was evil. At 5 (both of those years his birthday fell right over Mem Day weekend and one year was the free-on-your-birthday year so we went ON his bday both years) he snapped out of it and loved it again. Was really weird!

You know your kid but kids are unpredictable. Hope for the best but bring earplugs for the stretching room and choose who will exit with the toddler ahead of time.

Lol so true. My kids are just scared of everything & they never take my word for it. If it looks scary to them then that is it! Heck, I'm even worried my 8 year old will be afraid because of the stretching room.

 

[TXAKDisneyFan]

DD has been riding HM since she was 19 mos old. We've always held her in the stretching room and until we've boarded the doom buggy, mostly because it's so packed in there and we don't want her trampled. But it also helps ease her mind.

If she ever expresses any sort of fear or doubt about a ride, we talk to her about it and tell her what to expect, show her YouTube videos, etc. We also remind her that the ghosts on the HM aren't real, and that we're right there with her. Maybe it's because we talk her through things, or maybe it's just because of her nature, but she's never had a problem riding any ride.

 

[isabellea]

My oldest DD cried on Peter Pan when she was almost 2 and so I didn't try HM after. She's now 5.5yo and she's still not a fan of dark rides. I don't think HM will be on our plans for the near future... If you decide to try it, do it at the end of your day so it doesn't ruin the rest of the day if she hates the ride.

 

[Retro Magic]

The stretching room is usually, from witnessing others, what terrifies most.

 

[JasonMouse]

Dinosaur is probably more scary, because it causes hearing loss!

 

[tlmadden73]

When I took my son to WDW last year when he was 2 years (26 months) .. that and Pirates were two rides that my wife and I agreed would be too scary for him. He is sensitive in that nature (gets scared just looking at certain Disney bad guys on DVD covers or in books). Even though we can brush it off, scary things scars toddlers for a while. I would think a ride where there is creepy music, dark .. and ghosts are floating around .. is pretty darn scary (heck it was scary for me as a much older child than that).

I wouldn't risk it considering there are plenty of other toddler friendly rides at the MK.

 

[Princess Disney Mom]

Twenty-three month old cousin thought it was funny. She didn't even mind the dark. All kids are different though.

 

[msmama]

My son is a HUGE scaredy car and he's never had a problem with haunted mansion. He's been riding about once a year since 10 months old. I actually told him Once that sometimes people yell in the stretching room and if someone else did, he could do it once too. He never got very loud - more like a pretend scream, he mostly just thought it was fun.

Last time we rode though, for some reason they barely loaded the stretching room (I guess back log on the other side) and it was so much freakier feeling alone in the room rather than squished like sardines.

 

[pbb322]

Personally, I think it is completely unpredictable how they are going to react so you might not want to try if you are worried. My DS's first trip was 2 months after his 3rd birthday. Leading up to the trip he said he wanted to go because he liked spooky ghosts (it was just after Halloween). We talked about it, even watched the YouTube video, and he enjoyed the interactive queue but when we got to the stretching room it was over. The tons of grown adults screaming like it was the end of the world completely freaked him out - I don't think he even noticed or understood that the room was "stretching". We had to use the chicken exit and he cried hysterically for about 20 minutes afterwards. On his second trip at age 5 he said he was willing to try it again, but I had to hold him in that room, cover his ears and he closed his eyes tight. The screaming still rattled him, but he braved on and at the end he said he loved the ride, just not the room. He even thought the ghosts hitching a ride was hilarious. He asked to go back again a few days later on that trip and went twice the next year - but he would still tell you he hates that room. He has always loved POTC though, so there is no predicting these things.

We are taking our DD over her third birthday in June and I am still trying to decide if we will take her on HM. I have asked a few people about just skipping the stretching room, but so far I have not heard of anyone doing that, just people leaving the entire ride through the exit.

 

[Mambo Junkie]

Last trip we had a 2 and a 4 year old. We had to take the chicken exit (the 4 year old).

 

[hookedonears]

We're headed to the world in about a week and are struggling to finalize our FPs. One dilemma we have is whether HM will terrify our 1.98766 (turns 2 right after WDW trip) year old or not?

If you think it's too scary, does HM offer rider switch pass? We're thinking of maybe splitting our party''s FP witha nearby attraction also offering the switch pass. Any suggestions?

Also, let me know of any "success" stories of kids (especially little girls) around my DDs age who made it through alive .

Thanks!

Our 2-1/2 year old daughter did great. At 3-1/2, no problem. My wife kept here attention though parts of the attraction that were concerning. However, at 4-1/2, she didn't want to ride it. At 5 loved it again and has loved it ever since.

 

[eva]

A few years ago we took DGD(3) and DGS(8) to WDW. The 3 year old was great on HM. She had a wand from CRT and used it to turn the ghost into princesses. But the 8 year old grandson was another story. He screamed, "I don't want to die!" on the entire ride. As others have said, it really depends on the child. And you know how unpredictable they can be! We are taking the family again this year and I have no idea how the kids are going to be on all the rides. They are now 9 and 13. But we have added two more grandkids that will be 3 and 6. I think we may skip the HM for the 3 year old this time. She is terrified of masks, spiders, skeletons, etc. So grandma might be siting a few rides out this trip.

 

[kaetra]

What did my youngest in, though, was the hitchhiking ghosts. He kept asking why ghosts are following us home. **sigh**

My kid is also still a bit freaked out by the hitchhiking ghosts, and she's 12 now. That bit seems to give a lot of kids the willies. My kid likes the ride, but even now she'll close her eyes at the end so she doesn't see the ghosts in the buggy with us.

 

[srauseo]

I would, like others, urge caution. If it goes badly, it could mean that you won't get on any more rides for the rest of the day. My nephew (3) got so scared on the Great Movie Ride (I don't know why my sister brought him on!) that he wouldn't go on any other "dark" rides for the rest of the trip. My niece (5 - other side of the family, different trip) was so petrified of It's Tough to Be a Bug that she refused to go to any more theater shows and was pretty hesitant about dark rides, too. On the other hand, my other niece, 6, did fine on Haunted Mansion this past trip. But she's a very outgoing and confident kid. It depends on the kid. Maybe build up to it? Start with "friendly" dark rides and go from there?