Haunted Mansion at MK for 4 ys old?

[minnie-mouse]

I remember this ride as being pretty tame, does anyone think this ride is too scary for a 4 yr old girl?

[Stu29573]

It really depends on the 4 year old. It's tame, but its also dark and creepy, with some loud noises (like in the corridor of doors) Still, if your child isn't timid, it should be ok...

[Jennifer_and_Chris]

Our last trip in October, we had our then 4 year old and 2 year old.

What we did to prepare them was to watch the rides on you tube. For the dark ones (HM, PotC, etc) we watched them when it was dark outside and pointed out the "scary" stuff and explained what they were. When we were finally at the ride, we made sure to snuggle really close with them in the doom buggy so they felt save and pointed out everything that we discussed at home from the you tube videos.

While some may suggest we are taking the magic out of it for them, their "magic" really lies in the character interaction. So, we aren't spoiling the rides for them at all.

To us, its all about preparing them for what they are going to experience. That way, they appreciate the ghosts and skeletons and theming and aren't afraid of the unknown. :thumbsup:

[diz_girl]

About a year ago I took my 3 y.o. niece on HM. She fell asleep, so it couldn't have been that scary.

[Dragongirlx]

I am 33 and I find the graveyard part pretty scary but as other posters said it depnds on your 4 year old. My 4 year old nephew would be really scared but his 5 year old sister woudn't be a bit bothered

[TinkerMel]

For our little ones (5 & 6 at the time), the que for the HM was scarier to them than the ride. However, after riding it once, they wanted to go back again and again.

[bruin1344]

For our little ones (5 & 6 at the time), the que for the HM was scarier to them than the ride. However, after riding it once, they wanted to go back again and again.

The only times i have seen a kid scared on that ride is in the queue.

[Ian]

Both my kids have been riding since they were infants with no issues.

Both professed to be moderately scared by the "pop-up guys", but both lived.

In fact, my 3YO son lists "da ghost wide" as one of his favorites! :thumbsup:

[Imagineer1981]

What i've found works best though with anything scary is to laugh at it. Like my 2 year old was scared to watch Monsters Inc at first because the first scene is kinda scary, but we laughed at it and made it fun, and now he even whispers "ssshhh" before the monster scares the kid...so funny

[MNNHFLTX]

My son didn't like "spooky" things when he was little, so this ride scared him a little when he was four or five (actually the worst of it were the ghosts that popped up in the graveyard and the attic at that time, as Ian said). But he would ride roller coasters in a heartbeat at that age. It just depends on the child and what types of things scare them.

[PETE FROM NYC]

Here is a story for you.
Back in the late 80s, my niece was 2 1/2 years old. Before her first trip, she wanted to know what she would see. On earlier trips, I had purchased some 8mm movies of various attractions, one being HM. I had no movie screen at the time, so I showed them on the living room wall. Every time she came to my house after that, she wanted to see Uncle Peter's ghosts on the wall.
Needless to say, HM turned out to be her favorite ride and she could not get enough of it.

[crltkcagle]

We brought my two year old on it a few years back and he wasn't scared at all. I guess it depends on the kid.

[mom2Z&A]

We took our DD (she was almost 4) in 2006 for her first trip to WDW. She was ok with HM at the time but a little scared at first. She rode with me and held my arm the whole time. By the end of ride she was giggling. She liked our ghost "passenger".

We're going back in April and she wants to ride again :D

It would depend on your DD though. Good Luck!

[Aurora]

As others have said, it depends on the child. My daughter and son at that age had no problems with HM. My other son, however, had a different experience. He was 5. We rode three times on that trip.

The first time, he was nervous but wide-eyed. The second, he put his head against my arm and held it tight.

The third time, he shut his eyes and covered his face with his arms for the entire ride. He didn't look up once. Go figure.

[BigThunderFan]

I have the entire ride soundtrack on CD and we listen to it all the time. Both kids demand "Haunted Mansion!" as soon as we get in the car. Because of this I noticed that my DD3 had completely memorized the "Ghost Host's" spiel, right down to the spooky laugh. It was so funny to listen to her saying it, and then doing the same thing on the ride! This was by far her favorite ride, but she was very much looking forward to it.
Our friend's daughters did not have so good of an experience on it, and they are 4 and 8. The 8 year old was the one really frightened, but it was mostly because of the dark. I guess what I'm getting at is that you never know how a child (or adult for that matter) will react to a ride until they experience it.

[Ian]

What i've found works best though with anything scary is to laugh at it.That worked for us, as well.

In fact, when DD was very little she called Haunted Mansion "The Funny Ride", because that's how DW and I explained it to her. "It's not scary, the ghosts are just being funny!"

[g8rgirl29]

It really depends on the child. DD has loved this ride since age 3. We went in Jan with my friend and her 5yo son and he was pretty scared through the whole thing!! When DD was 3 we brought along a small penlight flashlight that hung from a lanyard(small enough that it wouldn't ruin the experience for anyone else). She knew she had it if she got frightened but she never needed it on any of the rides. We also didn't make a big deal about any of the rides. We found that with the 5 yo some of the names of the rides and discussing it too much beforehand seemed to freak him out more.

[TinkerbelleRoo]

I think it definitely depends on the kid but what I've noticed is that the Stretching Room scares them more than the ride. There was a few little ones crying during the stretching room but quieted down when they were on the ride.

I believe its probably the dark that scares them in there more than anything else. Probably having a watch that lights up or your cell phone on to use as a small flashlight probably would help it.

[MOJoe]

Seeing this post reminded me of the first time i took my oldest son to Disney. We were in line for HM with a young girl about 12, who noticed i was holding my 3 yr old son. She pulled out her park map and read the description for the ride. "This may be too intense for young children." she says, looking at me. "It'll be fine" i say. "But the guide says, this ride may be too intense for young children!" "I've been on it before, it'll be O.K." i explain.
I'm not sure if she was apprehensive for herself or me and my son, but her attitude was enough to make that ride a little more frightening for us all. :scared:

[eandrsmom]

We took my daughter on it when she was 3. We tried making light of the ride, saying that it was all pretend. IT DID NOT WORK. She HATED it. To this day, she refuses to ride. (She's nine now.) My son had no problems. It just depends on the child.

[mom2morgan]

You just never know. I have a then-10 year old who has sat through movies like Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings without blinking, and who rides the biggest roller coasters she can get on. BUT Haunted Mansion FREAKED her right out. She barely road, and even then clung to dad whimpering. Over at Universal we tried the Mummy - she would have been FINE with the ride, but the first time through the queuing area she got so wigged out she ran screaming past all the people trying to get IN. It's actually pretty funny looking back on it :-) For the record, the ride that scares me is "Dinosaur" at AK. We should have bought the picture...they snap it just as that big animatronic dinosaur makes a lunge at you. There is my 10 year old, sitting up looking almost bored...and there *I* am, hunched over, clinging to her, and screaming.

[tkdmom]

One of my fondest memories of Disneyland was in the Haunted Mansion with a friend and her 5 year old daughter. As we walked from the stretching room, the daughter was starting to cry.

My friend bent down and said quietly to her daughter "Shh..It's okay. This isn't real, someone just made this up."

The daughter replied, for all to hear:
"Well don't they know it's not nice to scare little kids!!"

I still laugh like crazy remembering that. :rotfl: A 4 year old may find HM a little to scary!

[Kenny1113]

My DSs, 8 and almost 6, love this ride! DS8 has always loved it, I think he was 3 the first time he rode. DS6 (in a week;)) however did not like the ride the first time he attempted to ride it. I think he was 4 we were at WDW with some friends, we all got in line for HM but I got out to buy something ,of course the line moved quickly and everyone went in,(my friend with four kids, one of them has never ridden before). Well they get started in the stretching room and DS loses it which gets my friend's DD4 crying as well, while my friend is holding both of them! I can imagine the sight that was.
Anyway DS was afraid of the dark and still is, we have explained that after that part the ride is alot of fun. He has ridden several times since then and agrees! We hold onto him in the dark so that he knows we are there. We try to make it fun by looking at the pictures as well. :)

[WDW Addict]

We took our son when he was 3 and he loved it and watched everything as we passed by. We went again when he was 4 and he pretty much kept his head buried for about half the ride. However, once we were off the ride he talked about how "cool" it was...lol i think it depends on the child and the mood they are in at the time. :mickey:

[javamama]

Mine was a bit afraid at some parts especially the first part in the lobby! After that he was better, love the hitch hiking ghost:D Our 3 year old liked it from the word go, I guess the difference between boys and girls. We'll see who does better in May at 6 1/2 and 3 3/4's

[BrerGnat]

Is she scared of the dark? Does she have any other "fears" that might be issues?

My kids both rode this ride at DL many times before they were 3, but then once they each turned around 3 and a half, it became a "banned" ride by them. They won't go on it now (they are 5.5 and almost 4). Both boys. The little one is afraid of EVERYTHING lately (this is a new phase) and was also completely freaked out by POTC a couple months ago (he had ridden it about 10 times prior to that).

So, what I'm saying is, even if a ride isn't inherently "scary" in the typical fashion, it can scare a 4 year old, simply due to that being an age where lots of fears make their appearance in their lives.

Proceed with caution. The stretching room part is pretty terrifying for kids. Complete darkness. LOUD thunder, lightning crack and then the skeleton that's hung from the ceiling being illuminated...if anything, distract her during this part.

[minnie-mouse]

Thank you everyone for your replies. I think we will just stick to Fantasyland rides for our girls then. Nothing like riding Small World 10 times! LOL

[AndrewJackson]

We took our 4 yr old son on it last spring and he loved it. He cannot wait until this spring to ride it again.

I really I liked it as well when I was young. Believe it or not, I was petrified of Pirates. I rode that ride with my head in my mom's lap until I was about 6 or 7 :blush:.

[wdw_bound]

We took my daughter on it when she was 3. We tried making light of the ride, saying that it was all pretend. IT DID NOT WORK. She HATED it. To this day, she refuses to ride. (She's nine now.) My son had no problems. It just depends on the child.

Ditto for us. DD 11 went on this ride with me when she was 5. She is VERY adventurous - doesn't have a problem with any other ride, and, except for ToT, she's gone on them all. She WILL NOT go back on HM. She was fine with the actual ride, but the hitchhikers at the end completely freaked her out. She even had bad dreams that night (and there is just something wrong about bad dreams at WDW). We haven't taken our 5yo DS on it yet, because, really, with all the other great stuff to do, why risk ruining the mood?

[LoriMistress]

Again, depends on the child. If you explain to the child that the HM is a bit scary, but in a fun way. Just explain that none of the ghosts can hurt her in any way.

[bringbackhorizons]

When we next go our kids will be aged four and a half and two and a half and I want to take them on this ride. The youtube thing is a really good idea, I've already started showing my DD (who's 2) some of the things we will see. I was watching MK opening ceremony this morning and my DD came running over saying "here comes the choo choo mummy!". She's well trained. ;)

[finaldynasty]

My 6 year old who is the scariest of my 3 has riden it almost everytime we have gone to MK. She will say she is scared of it until we are in the park then she ask us when she we are going to ride HM.

[emmatink]

We took our 4 yeard old DD on it last october during halloween and she loved it. We played the music for her over and over the weeks leading up to the trip so all she could think about is "hearing the funny ghost sing that song".

[rpayton]

My 4 year old (he was 2 when he went on the "ghost ride" as he calls it) loves the ride. He was scared the first time he went on it, but we made him go anyway (I know bad parent ;) ) After he got through the queue he was fine. Got off the ride when it was over and wanted to go again, and again. Depends on how your child is around "scary things". We made it a game the first time we rode it (he likes Jack Skellington from Nightmare before Christmas). We kept asking him to try and find "Jack" when we were on the ride.

[TinkerBell-Bell]

Unless your child is particularly scared of horror or anything, they should be absolutely fine. Although admittedly I'm almost too scared to go on it, and I'm 16. The horror is more cute rather than terrifying, however, so it's more to do if they're scared of the dark, or sudden noises.

[scootch713]

I think it depends on the kids. My girls, age 8 and 10 have NEVER ridden it. I have tried and tried and tried. I can't get them even into the entrance. At 4, they would have been too scared.

[AJ Springfield]

My youngest girls were 3 and 4 when we first rode on it with them. They loved it -- and I believe that it was because we talked about how "fun" it was going to be and how "silly" the ghosts were. We knew that the stretching room would go black for a few seconds, so we told them it would happen and we held them. Yes, I agree that it also depends on the personality of the child...some kids are just more scared than others, but it's also dependent on your outlook. Good luck deciding.

[Disneyfirsttimer]

We first rode this when my daughter was 4 and my son was 6.5. They both loved it. It is a fun ride. More funny scary than scary scary :mickey:.

I agree it is dark, but not pitch black. Worst case you try it once and they don't go back on.

[Disneyfirsttimer]

Nothing like riding Small World 10 times! LOL

Too funny. My husband cannot stand Small World. I have to say it is a little painful. It is a classic and we must ride once each trip. Funny thing is the ride is closed during our upcoming trip. My husband is so disappointed ;).

[MidnTPK]

Nothing like riding Small World 10 times! LOL

So instead of scaring them, you're going to torture them? Boy, you are awfully cruel. :thedolls:

[wdwfamilyof4]

With our kids I make sure we get any Disney movies that are based on rides from the library and watch them before going. There are several: HM, TOT ect. and have the kiddos watch them. I see their reaction and it helps gauge how they'll do on the ride. Usually the movies are a lot scarier but they do give the back story in detail so the kids have an idea of what to expect.:mickey:

[Fastpasssteve]

Like all the others have said, it depends...

You know your child better than others. However, think back to campfires or telling spooky stories during a sleep-over. When you're young, is there anything better than being scared and then laughing at it later??