Anyone else have a child that is still afraid to go on Haunted Mansion??

[brownie]

Haunted Mansion is a different kind of scary from Rock 'n' Roller Coaster and Tower of Terror. Our oldest son and our niece, who were both 6 at the time, would not ride Haunted Mansion. The two three year olds did. Our son is now 13 and did ride Haunted Mansion this past trip. Every child is different. Our oldest won't go on roller coasters because he doesn't like how they make him feel. Don't force your child; let him decide to ride when he's ready.

[Mousefever]

@OP: Could your son handle watching the movie, The Haunted Mansion? I don't remember it being very scary, although I do remember it being tedious as an adult. If he gets to like the movie, perhaps he will want to go on the ride. I remember that my son loved the singing heads in the graveyard.

Amy

[Disdad13]

[QUOTE=EeyoresBestFriend;2140492]I think as adults we forget how scary something can be to a child. They are young! Like an earlier poster said ~ you don't have to understand it but I think you should respect it.

Rather than trying to convince them by watching videos, or such, maybe you should just respect their feelings and let them pass on it. Let them take it at their own pace. Is it really worth making them feel so uncomfortable?

While i agree with the spirit of this, I think there is more to it than this. First, my DS9 refused to go on HM for the first 3 years we were at DW, and if he didn't want to go on something, that meant either none of us went on it, or my DW and I had to take turns going alone. Neither option is great. So in the spirit of not having to miss a favorite attraction becuase a young one doesn't want to go on a ride, I can certainly understand trying to encourage them to go on it. Also, my DS is very reluctant to try new things (rides), but generally loves them once he does try them. His defense mechanism is to automatically say he doesn't want to try something new. But rather than always just "respecting his feelings", we try to encourage him to try it anyway. We do this for his benefit as much as anything. Due to finances, etc., you nefer know how many chances he will have to experience some of these things. And I would hate to know that he missed out on the fun and joy he would get out of many of the rides at DW if we always just respected his feelings and let him pass and adapt at his own pace. I don't think there is anything wrong with gentle prodding or encouragement to try something - as long as it doesn't cross the line to where you are dragging a kid kicking and screaming all the way thru - and we've all seen that before. With our DS, I know he would have missed out on countless fun rides on HM, POC, even SE had we not been a little persistent in our encouragement for him to try. So I say, pull out all the stops you can think of to get him to try it that first time. If he hates it, at least you and he know. And if he loves it, you won't miss out on any other fun rides!

[Momto3littlemice]

I think it is completely fine to show him video etc if you really think he would enjoy it. However, I agree with pp that all of us are afraid of something and the fear of a dark ride like HM is different than a roller coaster etc.

I for one will ride ToT, RnRC, SM, everything else EXCEPT Tough to be a Bug. Did it once, almost had a heart attack and will never go back! And if Alien Encounter were still there I would never ride that again either! I just don't like scary dark jumping out at you things!

So, if he still isn't in to it, I wouldn't make a big deal about it. He will probably eventually come around, and if not... no big deal! So much more to enjoy at WDW than one or two rides

[Marionla]

RR & SM make me sick. Maybe because of loops. I love ToT, SM,. Cannot talk myself into going on MS or EE. I am 63 years old and hope to overcome these fears before I am too old.

[Scott C]

RR & SM make me sick. Maybe because of loops. I love ToT, SM,. Cannot talk myself into going on MS or EE. I am 63 years old and hope to overcome these fears before I am too old.

Think twice about M:S -- it caused me to spend a day and a half in bed. Other people handle it fine--but if the other two made you sick--I wouldn't take the chance.

Thanks
Scott C

[spoiled]

My DS who is 10 years old is still afraid of the part in the room with no windows or doors. He says theres no air and you are smusshed. And he HATES when the lights turn off.

[Narawen]

I'm 20, went on HM for the first time when I was 15. I can stand it if the ride progresses normally, but I get a little uneasy if it stops (which it often does, to let guests in wheelchairs board, or the like). Twice I've gotten stuck in the graveyard scene for several minutes and HATED it.

[Marionla]

To Scott C: thanks, it ruins my day when a ride makes me sick. Thanks for responding!

[hokies4life]

Think twice about M:S -- it caused me to spend a day and a half in bed. Other people handle it fine--but if the other two made you sick--I wouldn't take the chance.

Thanks
Scott C

I agree. I don't think I was as bad as Scott C but we went on M:S in the morning and I felt sick the rest of the day. This was before they made the Green and Orange sides, but even the Green side makes me feel off sometimes.

[crltkcagle]

My middle son is extremely scared of the shrinking room. This wasn't always the case. We had no problem with previous visits but on our last trip it started. We were in the shrinking room with a bunch of college kids who started screaming and freaking out (just being typical college kids) but it scared the heck out of my middle son. Since then he is scared to go in the room. He still likes the ride though. So I have to hold him and let him close his eyes so that we can ride it.

[Snow's Mom]

My daughter went on the HM ride at age 9, but she kept her eyes tightly closed and held my hand the entire time. Now, at 12, she'd still rather not go. Have to admit, I close my eyes through parts of the cemetery, too.

The little kids that aren't scared of Haunted Mansion scare ME.

[tmz814]

I went on HM with my family when I was 8-9yrs old. I was scared to death!!! We had a tape of park music at home and even hearing the song from HM or looking at the pictures of the ghosts on the back of the case would terrify me. I wouldn't ride again until I was around 18yrs old and now it's my favorite ride at MK. I usually ride it numerous times every trip.

My advice would be to try not to force the child onto a ride if they don't want to go, if u can. I know that when I was little if they tried to force me to do something it only made it worse! Maybe then they'll try it again when they are older and love it like me!

[ibelieveindisneymagic]

My DD, now 12 has always been wary of HM. I always figured that it was just because, HM is meant to be a little scary. But, we got to talking on the last trip, and it turns out that she's only scared of the stretching room, and when the doombuggies go backwards into the graveyard.

This was great to know, since I can hug her tight in the stretching room (she usually closes her eyes), and the same thing when we go down.

She loves the rest of the ride, and it is one of my favourites, so I'm just glad I get to go on it!

[Meteora]

That said, I truly believe my sister would enjoy the rides she currently skips. Could I be completely wrong? Am I being unfair? Perhaps. We'll know in time. But it seems her fear of certain attractions is one she should overcome at some point.

Stranger things have happened! I refused to go on pretty much all those rides when I was younger, and that was always respected by my family. When I got older (think early 20s) I started trying some of them. I still won;t do RnRC or TOT, but I've done pretty much anything else. But I'm glad that my family and friends let me find the resolve to try in my own time. If they had forced me on, I would have worked myself up so much during the wait that chances are fifty-fifty whether I actually ever would have made it onto the ride.

I don't think nine is an unreasonable age to still not want to do the HM. And even if it's not something that would necessarily be scary to someone of his age, I think there's an extra-scary element to something that you remember really scaring you as a child. My advice would be to try to appeal to him if it's really important to you, but to be respectful of his decision if he says no. It's a theme park, and the point is to have fun. If he ends up going on a ride he really thinks he doesn't want to go on--well, at the very least, the wait for the ride isn't going to be very enjoyable for him, and if he goes in with a less-than-excited demeanor, the stretching room might frighten him. As might some of the well-meaning, but still sort of scary cast members. And nine is still young; chances are when he's older he'll make the decision to try it again in his own time.