Snow White and Haunted Mansion for a 2 year old?

[ljv1975]

I was just wondering if the general consensus is that these two rides are too scary for a 2 year old. My DD isn't usually scared by haunted type rides - a lot of times she giggles at things that are meant to be scary!
I just got a little worried when I read that the witch jumps out at you quite often on Snow White. I thought the Haunted Mansion would be fine but Snow White might be a bit much at this age.
Any thoughts on this would be appreciated!! Thank you!

[SBETigg]

It really depends on the awareness of the two-year-old to potentially scary things. If she recognizes the witch as a villain, then it may be too much for her.

The ride is very two-dimensional, much like an old school fun house, and not one that has changed or improved with better Disney technology-- unless it has changed since I've been there. I haven't been in that ride in years, because it's not worth it for me. You could safely skip it and not miss much.

[disneylovinmom]

It really depends from kid to kid. If she is not easily scared, then she will be fine. I think that the ride is so fast paced for both rides that you can't really think about one thing for too long. I don't think there is anything too scary in either ride.:mickey:

[Little Einstein]

We didn't do snow white (I think it wasn't open when we were there) but my son loved the Haunted Mansion. I was a little concerned that it might be too much for him but after it was over, he wanted to do it again. He thought it was pretty cool :thumbsup:

[wdwdreamer]

The HM I would definately not do with a child that age. My nephew who was 6 or 7 at the time was begging us to go on and once we got into the room that drops and the lights went out and the hanging man in the ceiling, he was scared to death. I lost my riding partner my sister since he was scared and rode with my brother-in-law instead.

Snow white they have tamed down, again it depends on the child and how they react to things, you may want to build up with the other riding rides in the dark like Peter Pan, Pooh, ect first.

[MickeyChick]

My almost 2 year old loved the Haunted Mansion last month.

[Darbylew]

I think it depends on the child. Snow White with
the witch is a little scary and HM is dark. It
just as I said depends on the child. I would give
it a try. :mickey:
BEEN THERE, DONE THAT AND GOING BACK ON
MARCH 31........:D

[KAT1811]

It really depends from kid to kid.

I agree. I certainly depends on the child but I also think that children can feed off parents apprehension, it can often be what you make of it. I always chose to make the situations fun and silly to ease any potential scares. I've taken all three DDs at every age. On our last trip our DD#2 was 2 and DD#3 was 10 months and neither one had any trouble at all. Actually DD#2 kept dragging us back on again and again. HM has been DD#1's favorite ride since her first trip when she was 1 1/2! Good Luck!!!

[baby minnie's mommy]

I agree, it'll depend on the child! Our DD, at age 2, was scared in the Pooh ride!!! It was the heffalump room. She loved the Barnstormer that same trip, then was terrified in Pirates when it was pitch black at the start. Once she went through Pirates and learned it was ok, she wanted to go again the next trip.

We don't plan to take her to HM yet, as she gets scared easily at home. Snow White...I don't know yet. I don't consider SW a great enough ride to take a chance. :blush: Can do that later. At age 2 they sometimes don't even realize there's a ride inside the building, so you can easily walk past it without a fuss. :D

[FlaTinkRAMESAM]

It completely depends on the child... if you think it would be too scary, then don't do it. Or try it if you aren't sure...

Just from my personal experience, my DD loves both... they are 2 of her "must rides" whenever we go. She was so upset today when I told her that Snow White was getting worked on and we couldn't ride it. So we rode HM twice to make up for it. She sings the song in HM and loves all the stuff and when I pretend to be scared she goes "it's not real mommy."

[Buttercup]

My 2-year old loved those rides. We just told him in advance that everything he was looking at were just "toys" and not to worry.

It's now that he's 3 that he's more worried about scary things... so we'll see how it goes on our next trip!

[rjmdds]

We took my daughter, who was almost 3, on Snow White the first morning in the MK. She was terrified. We could not go on another "dark" ride for at least 3 days. Any ride that "looked" liike Snow White was off limits. If you want to try it, I would wait to do it as one of your last rides before leaving the MK. We are going again in April and my son who is 2 1/2. We won't even try it with him.

[crazykids]

We were there this past September & my 20 month old loved both Snow White & HM. In fact, she went on every ride that her size permitted. It really depends on your child. It also might help trying to explain to the child what's about to happen before it actually does.

[ThanxForNoticin]

We took my daughter, who was almost 3, on Snow White the first morning in the MK. She was terrified. We could not go on another "dark" ride for at least 3 days. Any ride that "looked" liike Snow White was off limits. If you want to try it, I would wait to do it as one of your last rides before leaving the MK. We are going again in April and my son who is 2 1/2. We won't even try it with him.

We had exactly the same experience with SW - way too scary for some kids. Ironically, if you must do either of these rides, I would recommend HM over SW. If you're not sure of your child's reaction, I would concentrate on all the other great attractions and save SW and HM for when they're older.

[teambricker04]

My DS 3 has been to WDW loads of times and we have always taken him on HM, but only once on SW (we don't really care for it... DH is scared :)). We have been stuck on both rides. Once (He was nearly 2) was right by the witch. He wasn't scared, just annoyed. This last time (he was nearly 3) at HM we got stopped by the heads in the graveyard. He was more annoyed with the repeating music. He has never been scared of the dark parts, but he is the kid that can't even have a nightlight in his room because it is too bright.

I agree with the others... depends on the kids. Maybe try other rides first and see how it goes. If the semi dark ones are okay then try it. Maybe prepare for the lights going out on HM by saying something like "The lights are going to go out, but they will come back on and then we'll get on the ride." Our DS is always annoyed that I want to hold his hand at that part, but I am afraid he'll trip people up or run across the room.

[Jasper]

We took all three of our children on these rides from the time they were itty bitty and never had any problems. In my mind there are three basic things that make the difference;

1. The temperament of the child.

2. Whether or not the parents take such things in stride without a lot of hysterical reaction.

3. How often a child has been exposed to such kinds of rides. Mind you, I am not talking about being exposed to harsh movies or television because that is quite different than going into an immersive ride.

There is nothing wrong with trying to take your child on the ride. However just remember that there is also no shame in taking the "chicken door" escape route if your child is throwing a fit and not wanting to ride.

[Sean Riley Taylor's Mom]

We took all three of our children on these rides from the time they were itty bitty and never had any problems. In my mind there are three basic things that make the difference;

1. The temperament of the child.

2. Whether or not the parents take such things in stride without a lot of hysterical reaction.

3. How often a child has been exposed to such kinds of rides. Mind you, I am not talking about being exposed to harsh movies or television because that is quite different than going into an immersive ride.

There is nothing wrong with trying to take your child on the ride. However just remember that there is also no shame in taking the "chicken door" escape route if your child is throwing a fit and not wanting to ride.

:thumbsup: I totally agree.

All three of my kids have been both HM and Snow White since their first trips as little baby's. They have never had a problem with either of them. They have actually gone on every ride we do that does not have a height restriction since trip 1.


Have a great trip!

[Frog]

No problems with our two year old.
It was our ten year old we had to coax in!
Kids are all different!

[pirate pixie]

It really depends on the child.
My DD is 5 ( will be 6 in 2 weeks ) and she was 2 the first time we took her . she rode both about 100 times . she loves the HM . we go every year in october and she has to get her picture made with cast members . so it does just really depend on the child . she rode TOT 5 times last year , she is a dare devil .:mickey:

[diznee_buzz]

Haven't done SW, but my DS has ridden HM 3 times:

21 months - loved it - didn't really comprehend the ghost thing

33 months - hated it - didn't scream but definitely whimpered and hid his face the whole time

39 months - loved it again once we explained about the ghosts being funny

We have a MK video at home and since he's watched that he wanted to go back on it, even though we explained he didn't like it once.

Now Mickey's Philharmagic? Don't even THINK about dragging him into that theater!

[cinderella crazy]

For my son, he had no problem with either ride when he was almost 2. However, now as a 4 year old, he would scream if we tried to take him on them.

[thrillme]

Depends on the child. Some kids get FREAKED at the site of the giant mouse. I'd give them both a shot. My son LOVED scarey things at 1 and still does. One of his favorite books was "Ghost Train" (a story about some misplaced ghosts that took up home in a old rundown haunted themepark ride...people were bored with the ride then the ghosts started scaring them and then they couldn't get enough).

You'll never know till you try. Chances are if you're excited and fearless so will they be.

[ljv1975]

Now Mickey's Philharmagic? Don't even THINK about dragging him into that theater!

Is this show scary???

[KAT1811]

Is this show scary???

No.