"Young children may be frightened"

[jsfein]

Boy, did I ever learn this on our recent trip with DS4, DS3, and DD1. DS3, who is as tough as nails, was terrified of most everything. We started in MK and did pretty well through Buzz, Small World, Peter Pan (we knew to skip Snow White). We got into line for Haunted Mansion and he freaked when he heard the sound effects so we got out of the line. Headed over to Aladdin which was fine. He got a little frightened in Tiki Birds and then lost it (and I mean lost it) in Pirates. That was the beginning of the end for the rest of the trip. At AK, we tried him in ITTBAB -- big mistake .. had to leave with him right away. At MGM, he couldn't handle Muppets or Little Mermaid. We skipped lunch at SciFi because of the darkness. With the memory of Ursula fresh in his mind from Little Mermaid, the Ursula float in Spectro Magic scared him silly. At Epcot we knew to keep him out of Honey I shrunk the Audience, but who would have thought that Figment and the boat ride in the Land would have freaked him out as well. Forget about Illuminations, Fantasmic or FITS --- we stayed away. His highlights were Small World, Play House Disney, and everything about WL. He had no problem with the characters.

Don't know what costs more --- his trip to DW or the therapy I will be paying for as a result of the trauma for the next 10 years?

 

[handsfull]

My goodness....how terrible!!
My children are tough as nails as well...and now I question their mental ability on these rides....

I think the twins will be fine...my one concern in Haunted Mansion and Space mountain (they just barely make the height requirement)...more nervous about the suspense then darkness...
The toddlers may be a different story...hopefully one happier than yours...

Was it the loud noises and darkness of the shows that frightened them? or was it more of a suspense thing??

Overall I hope you had a great trip...I'm sure it wasn't the trip you planned for...but a great one at least...

 

[Moby]

I had read the "Unofficial Guide to WDW" and it spoke candidly about the fear factor for some children so I kept it in mind for my 4 1/2 year old daughter. I, like you, was surprised that my dd was scared during MGM Muppets. She was scared of the 3D images that popped up in her face (even tho they were friendly images) so she kept her glasses off during the whole show. I knew if she couldn't handle Muppets, she wouldn't do well at the other 3D shows, so we skipped them all. But she wanted to try the Bug's Life 3D at AK so I let her. She was shaking like a leaf within 1 minute so we had to leave. An older girl (looked to be about 9 years old) also was frightened and left when we did.

Everything is incredibly LOUD at Disney and it scares her as well as the darkness. We put earplugs in during the Lion King Festival and I think it helped her not be afraid of the loudness. She also was terrified of the loudness of the fireworks at MK, but did fine at Illuminations (as we put earplugs in). She refused to go on Little Mermaid at MGM (which was fine with me) and was also scared by Ursula during SpectroMagic.

She loved the characters, Splash Mtn, Big Thunder, Buzz Lightyear, Peter Pan, Goofy's Barnstormer, etc. Did not even attempt Tiki Birds, Snow White, Haunted Mansion as I knew she'd be scared. At MGM, she wanted to try Star Tours and afterwards said "I never want to go on that ride again." But when we returned to MGM, 3 days later, she wanted to go on it and ended up liking it. Go figure!

Just wanted you to know that we had a similar experience! I'd encourage parents of small kids to check out the "Unofficial Guide" from the library and read about the fright factor for little ones before you go.

 

[crisi]

WDW with Kids is another good book for talking about how scary it can be. Breaks it down a little into the appropriateness for pre-schoolers vs. early elementary - a lot of guidebooks just talk about kids - and a 3 year old is different than a 7 year old (and one three year old is different than another three year old).

My son doesn't handle loud noises, or dropping motions - but he loves to spin (watch out Teacups). He was three for our last trip. He reached "accomodation" with the characters - I'll get close enough for Mom to take the picture, but don't touch me and I'm not going to look at you. He can freak a little at content (Pirates was difficult for him - he made it through by sitting between Daddy and Grandpa - and it was probably the little drop at the beginning more than anything that spooked him for the ride - We didn't get into HM, he freaked before we reached the doors).

 

[Hillbeans]

I'm wondering whether or not to take my 2.5 yo on Haunted Mansion. He watches the Mickey video with "Grim Grinning Ghosts" and absolutely loves that segment....not sure if that means he'll like it in person though. I'm sure Small World and Dumbo are the way to go with the little ones.

 

[Local_Girl]

On our last trip, DS9 was pretty fearless when it came to rollercoasters and thrill-type rides (like TOT, which he loved) but he admitted that the Haunted Mansion was a bit too creepy for him. Our DD6 (at the time) is normally pretty adventurous, but she kept her glasses off in every 3-D show, was spooked by HM, and hated Splash Mountain because she got splashed in the face by very cold water at the end! We had no clue that would be a problem! We also took her to TOT and she went willingly (this was early in the trip), but as we stood in line waiting, she panicked and refused to go, so I took the "chicken exit" with her (I still haven't done TOT myself--LOL!! ). Dinosaur, on the other hand, didn't bother her at all.

I think the Unofficial Guide info is a good guideline, but each child will be different, and will find different things frightful. We're hoping DD will be willing to try Splash Mtn. again on our upcoming trip, and we know to try to keep her from that splash in the face at the end!

 

[mommystieg]

Our dd was a little over 2 when we visited WDW last year. She did fine on HM and Pirates. She definitely did not like anything loud. The first ride we went on was UoE and from that point forward someone had to cover her ears on everything until she was sure that it wasn't going to be loud. We took both our dd's on HISTA and the little mice incident totally freaked our 9 y/o dd so 3-D attractions were pretty much out after that. We did see MuppetVision but she would not wear the glasses. I think with the 2 and under crowd they pretty much gauge their reactions to the rides from the family's reaction--we had a blast on HM and I think that is why it did not scare our little one. I am concerned that now she is more aware of scary things she might not want to go on all the things she did last year.

 

[Fizban257]

When my oldest DS (12) was still 7 and at the World for the first time, he thought everything was REAL! Before every ride we would have the "you know this is all pretend, right?' discussion, but he still came off of Dinosaur leery that Mickey had returned us to "our time." He refused to wear the 3D glasses on every ride, and literally panicked at USF on the Terminator 3D ride. The poor boy was afraid to be shrunk, sent back in time, etc. and almost bailed from the HM line -- though he really liked the ghost sitting next to him at the end of the ride. Oddly enough, the thing that scares him most (and still did when at USF & WDW at age 10) is when the ride pauses temporarily to let a handicapped guest off, etc. He gets really nervous when the ride stops before its over.

 

[laceemouse]

I have 4 kids. They have all been to Disney several times and they are all different! My oldest has never been scared of anything, not shows, characters, rides, loud noises, or the dark! My youngest is only 5 and she seems to be the same way. My second, now 10, was apprehensive about the characters as a preschooler and was terrified of the HM at that time. She still does not like rides that drop but spinning is okay. My son is 8 and HATES spinning, even Dumbo makes his queezy! He doesn't mind drops though, but says in the Peter Pan ride he feels like he is falling out! None of mine have ever been scared of the 3D shows, and don't really mind the noise or darkness of most rides and shows. The only thing we have ever walked out of was Sounds Dangerous. The TOTAL darkness freeked out my younger 2. We tried it because they had never had problems with the dark before, but it was pitch black! Read the books and start slow! Play it by ear and listen to your child. And go to Disney again and again, you will be able to do more each time! I feel much of US/IOA is way too scary for many kids, even older ones! We will not go there again until they are teens! Of course, I do not like the thrill rides and am a Disney Fanatic!!!

 

[mryder]

It is sometimes very difficult to expect how your children will react. My son was just under 3 on our last trip. Now he wanted nothing to do with Santa Claus, but at Disney he wanted to meet every character he could find. He could spot them miles away.

He was scared of the indoor rides early on for our trip. My wife and I would talk him into going on and he was fine on the rides. I told him to put his head down on monny or daddy if he was scared. He also had a small pen light that worked. Usually he was fine and did great on the Haunted Mansion, Pirates.... He loves Buzz so the ride was a big hit.

We started him off on "happy" rides like Its a Small World and Buzz, then worked our way up. He did not want to wear the 3D glasses for the 3D shows, so we did not force the issue. He was content also sitting on our laps when he could.

His favorite rides was a tie between Buzz and the racecars. He got to steer and I worked the gass pedal.

 

[handsfull]

I knew Haunted Mansion would be out of the question....my neice and sister had been going down for years and not once did she, my neice, want to go in the Haunted Mansion...
It wasn't until this past year that she rode it....at the bold age of 14......she enjoyed it greatly

I think they will do ok with fireworks....our house is right on a lake and we have yearly 4th of July parties with fireworks....they seem to have been fine with the noise in the past...

I have a feeling the girls will hate the 3D shows....they hate the suspense...and as was said before...the "popping-out" of objects...

as for eberything else it will be a wait and see process....

 

[>>^..^<<]

My daughter (9) was fearless (or so I thought)

Alien Encounter... no problem, Tower of Terror.... yawn.... Haunted Mansion... is that the best you can do? lol

Then we went on JAWS at Universal... we were seated on the left side of the boat - (which is the exciting side!)... anyway... all was fine until the shark came up out of the ocean - right where she was sitting...

Well she jumped up.. climbed on me.. over me.. over the seat to the row behind.. all before I could grab her.. over two more people... down the row to the right side of the boat.. LOL... she moved so fast - All the adults were helping her, comforting her... I was really impressed with her reflexes - she would be great in an emergency evacuation... of course she left her Mother BEHIND.. without a care... the shark could have gotten me for all she knew...

You just never know how your kid will react - I was not expecting that at all...... and later once we had the talk "it's a robot shark" "it's not real" we went on again - (on the right side)

>>^..^<<

 

[sc9500]

Im just back yesterday -DD 4 1/2 did not do well in Haunted Mansion -which set her up for the rest of the rides, i.e "is it going to be scary?" also had to walk out of Tough to be a Bug and after "Honey I..." she would ask me "Daddy is anything gonna touch me ?" so I would build up to some of those rides..if not skip them at all.

 

[Baloo]

Welcome to so many on this thread to the DIS!!!

If you've never been to WDW before and you're taking a small child...READ...READ...READ!!!! These boards or any WDW books you can get your hands on.Also you and your kids should watch planning tapes or the Disney sing alongs.Y'all need to get a "feel" for what the rides/attractions are like.

I'd been to WDW a dozen or more times before I had Erich.His 1st trip was at almost 7 mths. We took him about 3 times in beween then and when he turned 15 mths and he got the HECK scared out of him by a big,teddy bear character in the Christmas parade.Then he was frightned of characters for about 2 years!I don't even have time to tell ya about Tough to be a Bug!!! I'll just say he was 8 last trip and still dislikes it!!!

Read...study.Start out with a tame sort of dark ride first...Peter Pan might be good or Pooh.Both familiar characters but with some dark parts.See how they do then go from there.

I have to go now but I'll be back later with some more thoughts.There is nothing I hate worse than having little ones scared of something especially if it's their first trip to WDW!!!

 

[ariel1974]

Wow every kid is different. My son who was 3 1/2 loved everything even test track at epcot. He loved hauted masion too and I was worried on that one. Norway at epcot kinda freaked him out though but that was about it. I am sorry your kids didn't resond as well better luck next time hopefully.

 

[vicb]

I'll share a fact I learned in hindsite..... explain to your child that some rides stop to let handicap people and others get on and off. On our first day of our first trip, DS was 3 1/2, Spaceship Earth stopped in total darkness... not sure if it was a breakdown or handicap stop but it totally freaked him out and colored our whole trip.

When we returned 3 years later he still talked about that!

He was much braver at 6 but we told him how this stoppage could happen so when it did on Buzz and HM he understood and wasn't scared.

Now, Sci-Fi was another story, he got "uncomfortable" by all the screaming women in the movie clip! Go figure, they are so silly!

But my point here is that it is hard to predict how children will respond to different stimulants at WDW, just try to respect your child's fears and don't push them. We have yet to try ITTBAB or Honey I Shrunk, but he did go on HM, POC, Ellen's Universe, TT and more! Can't wait to go next winter and try more new things!!

 

[primax]

Originally posted by jsfein
Don't know what costs more --- his trip to DW or the therapy I will be paying for as a result of the trauma for the next 10 years?

LOL HAHAHAHAH!


My five DD who visited WDW at age 4 and 5 did pretty well. Two things stand out:

The Great Movie Ride, our car was hijacked by the mob - not good when she was 4

Tower of Terror - bad idea at age 5. I took a beating from her.

 

[BevS97]

we had this exact situation on our first trip. We started at islands of adventure, and I thought the cat in the hat was a safe kids ride - turns out it's kinda fast and there's a strobe light and she was totally freaked out.
Fortunatly we were in Orlando for 2 weeks, so we had plenty of time to build her confidence back up, but it was a very slow process.

I would start with rides you KNOW are tame - if you aren't sure, then ride it yourself first, or ask. If I had realised what the Cat in the Hat involved then we probably wouldn't have ridden it as out very first ride.

We started again with rides once we got to Disney, and we went on Its a Small World - by this point she was not keen to go on any rides at all, but I managed to convince her that IASW would be ok - she enjoyed it, so we did it again, and again. once she felt more confident, we tried Peter Pan, and that was ok, so we slowly built up. We developed a system of asking a CM at the entry of each ride, if there was anything scary on the ride - I asked with my dd, and we were quite specific 'anything scary at all...'
If she was really nervous, then we would stand at the exit and watch for little kids getting off, if any looked upset, then we skipped the ride. At Pooh bear we saw some very little kids getting off, but Katie was still nervous, so we asked the kids if it was ok, and they said yes, so she decided to try it.

by taking it really slowly, and building up, we were able to go on quite a few things by the end of the week, that we wouldn't have managed initially. Spaceship Earth is now one of her favorite rides, but we take a little lightup pooh for the dark bits.

We saw the old Imagination show with the pitch black train noise in the middle - this would have freaked her out initially, but because the CM told her it was going to happen, she was quite happy with it. Muppets 3-d was ok without the glasses, but we didn't try the other 3-d shows, as she wouldn't have liked them.

The only thing that I can think of that she really didn't like was the Little Mermaid with Ursula, we didn't have to come out, but she wasn't very impressed.

I haven't taken her on Haunted Mansion, or Snow White, we will wait a few years for those.

Funnily enough she loves Pirates of the Caribbean, and has never been at all scared on it, but I don't think we did that on our first trip, I think we saved that for the 2nd trip when she was more confident.

Bev

 

[kitnrose]

Lacking kids myself (thank heavens, I'm only 21!) I thought I'd share my own memories of visiting WDW at age 4. The first two years of my life were spent just a few hours from DL so I was pretty much raised there. At four or so weeks old a mouse popped her nose in my stroller so I've been fine with giant characters since so that wasn't a problem. I did all the rides I could at MK and then we moved on to Epcot (apricot, I called it) and Land, Imagination, Seas... all fine. Then we got to Energy. I guess I was overstimulated because I just curled up into a tiny ball (like that would keep me from being a snack to a T-rex) and shivered my way through the ride. I knew the dinos weren't real, after all I had been raised with Audio animatronics and loved the part in DL where the train went 'back in time' and it was still quite scary. Anyway, that to say that kids are so unpredicable. A girl born and raised in DL can still be scared by a tame ride and a newbie can go through it all unphased. My one suggestion is to TAKE A BREAK. I would likely have been fine with Energy all those years ago had we just spend the early afternoon resting by a pool or the big fountain. Overstimulation can affect the most experienced of us.

 

[CuteKatCar]

Wow. I guess I have been pretty lucky. My DDs (10 and 7) have really never been afraid of much at WDW. At 8 and 5 they did Dinosaur (twice), ToT (twice), Splash. They had been doing Pirates and some others at 2 1/2. The only one they wouldn't go on again was Splash.

In our previous 4 trips, the only time we had tears was my then 2 1/2 yr. old cried on HISTA.

However, as much as they love those rides, there is nothing like the overly-excited, ear-to-ear grin when they ride Dumbo.

My 10 yr. old still wants to go on, so that makes me happy. Enjoy - some day they'll be begging us to go on loop-the-loop coasters.

Anna