Tower of Terror

[Hog]

My daughter will be turning 5 during our trip, she is 41 inches and I believe that is tall enough to ride ToT. She loves roller coasters and haunted mansion. But i have always thought of ToT as a adult thrill ride, am i crazy for wanting to take her on it? Anyone have experiences with this with similar aged children? The reason I ask is my wife thinks she is too young...

On another note, how is she big enough to ride ToT, Splash Mountain and BTMR but not Space Mountain, this doesn't make sense...

[spoiledraf]

"Well I don't think I would take someone that young on it. But then again that may be because it scared the beejeebers out of me the only time I've tried it! But I hope to get back on in 43 days, when we're planned to be there.

[CanadaLovesDisney]

The seating on the rides you are comparing are completely different. On all the other rides you would have the opportunity to have an adult next to her. Maybe children could slip out of the seatbelt easier on space... Just a thought.

Have fun!

[GAN]

When my younger daughter was 6 she "wanted" to ride -her 10yo sister was going as well. She was fine until we got to the top, then it was shear terror on her face -not the fun kind(if there is such a thing). I suppose reality sunk in -when we got off I asked if she enjoyed it and she said yes. Asked if she wanted to go again -it was a NO. I felt bad when I saw her face, but she got through it. Went back again when she was 8 and she loved it. It's one of those things at that age -I'd say go for it but she is definitely on the cusp. Only you know her best.

[Gator]

In 2010, my daughter went on ToT when she was just 4. She begged us so we let her. She said it was "too fast".

But by the time we went back this last January, she wanted to go on it again. However, her 3 year (9 months) old brother was 40+ inches and eager to ride. He was a little scared going through the dark boiler room, but he thought the ride was "super fun" and "it made my bootie fly high in the air". I say if your daughter wants to ride it, let her ride it. Just ask her and tell her what it does. If she's crazy like my kids, she'll love it.

[DisneyMom12]

My DS will be 4 when we go. He says he wants to ride it now, but we will see when we get there. Yet my 14 yo. won't even consider it lol.

[Snow's Mom]

My nephew, 6, went on ToT recently and did NOT enjoy it. He cried the whole time and continued crying through The Little Mermaid! He bounced back in time for Indiana Jones, though. Loved that!

My daughter, at the same age, thought it was really fun and did it twice in a row.

Maybe you could just try the queue and use the "chicken" elevator if your daughter changes her mind.

[BrerGnat]

My six year old son begged me to take him on it (over at Disneyland), and so I did. I wish I hadn't. He did okay on the actual ride, and was eerily passive the whole time, but now he is completely paralyzed with fear when he even sees the building. He won't even walk near it.

I think it's not a safety issue at that point, it's a maturity thing. I think before you put a kid on a ride like that, they need to UNDERSTAND it a bit better. It's much more than your average coaster. Shame on me, I know.

[lovinmesomedisney]

Depends on your child, and you are the only one who can judge. I have to say though, I have gone with several small children, (nieces and nephews and mine when they were smaller) and all of them who wanted to ride, did so and loved it. The ones who were scared didn't go on. Kids are all different. Yours sounds pretty brave and would probably be fine.

[jsw123]

Could someone post what actually happens on this ride? We're going in July and none of us has ridden it, despite hearing great reviews. We're not big fans of just "drop" rides. I've heard it looks neat. Why should I ride? (We have kids in similar age ranges as well that may or may not ride!)

[mariak]

My girls rode ToT at pretty young ages. My 11 year-old was 4 when she first rode. My 7 year-old rode last year for the first time. It's funny because they both had the same reaction as I read in one of the other posts... When they got off, they both said, "yes," they did like it. When asked if they wanted to go on it again, they both replied "no". They both like rollercoasters and stuff but they said that the beginning portion of the ride is what scared them. They both think that it's scarier than the Haunted Mansion. As another post mentions...it may be a maturity thing and only you can decide that for your child. My girls still won't get back on (although they have said that they would in the future) and that was 5 trips ago for the 11 year old! I hope that we didn't ruin it for them. Good luck!

[darthmacho]

Tough call. My daughter was 6 when she went on it, and still claims she liked it. You could play it safe this time, and start planning for the next vacation...

[marlyn]

At the age of 5 TOT was my son's favorite ride. At the age of 8 he was afraid to ride it...go figure! All kids are different.

[Jared]

It's impossible to judge how a small child will react to Tower of Terror, especially for strangers on a discussion board. My experience and observation suggests that the average 5 years-old may is not quite ready for the ride, but who's to say your daughter is average?

If she comfortably can handle Disney's other thrill rides, and she says she wants to try Tower of Terror, there's no harm in giving it a try. It may scare her, but she may adore it. With kids that age, it's a crapshoot.

[Lizzie]

My twins went on the ca version. One went on at age 3 and 4. She liked it at 3 loved it at 4 went over and over. Wanted to go on the ride that her but flew off the seat. The other one was to short at 3 went on at 4 didn't like it but liked to watch it. But wants to try again next time.

[Goes4FastPass]

My GS has loved ToT since he was just tall enough to ride it - he was 4YO at the time.

We we got off the ride and asked him how he liked it, he replied. "It made my butt jump!"

If the child wants to ride and is tall enough

1. I would prepare the child. The elevator PRETENDS to fall. It is a ride. It is PRETEND.
2. I would not project my own fear onto the child.
3. If the child, after riding expresses didn't like then comfort her and congratulate her on being brave and giving it a try then move on.

[andreallybadeggs]

Good tips from PP. Perhaps it makes a difference that our DD is little so she hit those height req's when she was older than many kids but she has been a thrill seeker since she was 2When she was tall enough, if she said she really wanted to go on a ride, we would let her. But we always tried to prepare her (same thing with shows like Tough to Be a Bug, Fantasmic, etc...) The preshow (Twilight Zone set up) can be frightening in itself as the room goes very dark and often fun loving kids AND adults will scream just for the fun of it so prepare her for that. Another aspect of ToT which makes it AWESOME but also problematic when you are trying to prepare a rider is that it's not predictable. The ascent and fall sequences are random so maybe the best thing to say is "It will be dark, we'll go up really fast a few times and down really fast a few times, and your bottom may even come up off the seat but you'll have a seat belt and I'll be right there next to you. And if people are screaming it's because they are having fun." To me the pitch black right before the ups and downs begin is the scariest moment so a little pat on the hand or a reassuring whisper at that moment might not hurt. If she loves it, buy a souvenir photo or just take a pic at the entrance but either way, yes, brag on how brave she was to try it. Have fun on my favorite thrill ride in the entire world!
Oh, and PS-- fast forward to my DD's college years. She now loves ToT more than ever because she got to ride it with Joey Fatone!

[teamblackwell]

My son is a string bean, he mearsured 40" a month before his third birthday and loved Tot, he rode it 4 times in a row. Before our trip we "practiced" riding Tot in our backyard. I would say "ready to ride ToT", then I would throw him up in the air and catch him. He was a little uneasy at first, but after a few nights of "practicing" he started to like the drop feeling. If he didn't like the backyard Tot, I wasn't going to take him on the real thing.
Hold their hand and laugh alot during the ride, so they know your having fun and not scared.

[ransam]

personally i think it's totally up to the indivdual.

[Belster]

Our rule is, if you are tall enough you try it at least once. The reason being is my parents NEVER had me go on rides and it took all of my might to get me on any sort of ride as I grew older. All three of my kids went on TOT at the age of 3 1/2 and they LOVED it! Remember they have no idea about what is really going on so the element of falling and being scared is not there.