Rides for young children

[Goofy Pluto]

WHEN we go to WDW, we'll be taking a 4 yo (almost 5), a 2 1/2 yo, and an almost 1 yo. So the question comes down to: What can they all ride? Is there much for a 1 yo to go on other than It's a Small World? What are the restrictions for rides by age? Here's what I'm thinking we can do with them, at least witht he 4 and 2 yos, based on park:

Magic Kingdom:

• All of Fantasyland, except for Philharmagic (wouldn't sit through it)
• PofC
• Jungle Cruise
• Speedway
• Buzz Lightyear
• Aladdin's Magic Carpets
• MAYBE Country Bears (don't know if they'll sit through it)
• 4 yo on Splash Mountain, if she wants to

EPCOT

• Seas with Nemo (they'll LOVE that)
• The Land
• Imagination

MGM

• Disney Playhouse Show
• Little Mermaid Show
• MAYBE Muppets 3D (Don't know if they'll sit through it or get it)
• Honey I Shrunk the Kids Play area

Animal Kingdom

• Safari
• Boneyard
• Kali River Rapids
• Gorilla and Tiger trails
• Nemo show

Am I forgetting anything? Are there attractions I'm not remembering that would be OK/fun with young children?

Also, does anyone have any experience with 4 or 2 yo children on any of these attractions? Would they be OK? How did they react?

• Haunted Mansion
• Pirates of the Carribean
• Stitch Escape
• Splash Mountain
• Barnstormer
• Snow White
• Philharmagic
• Universe of Energy
• TestTrack
• Norway ride (can't remember the name)
• Star Tours
• Backlot tour
• Car Stunt Show
• Muppets 3D
• Dinosaur
• It's Tough to be a Bug

I realize this is a lot I'm asking about but I appreciate any help you all can offer me. Thanks!

[r4kids]

WHEN we go to WDW, we'll be taking a 4 yo (almost 5), a 2 1/2 yo, and an almost 1 yo. So the question comes down to: What can they all ride? Is there much for a 1 yo to go on other than It's a Small World? What are the restrictions for rides by age? Here's what I'm thinking we can do with them, at least witht he 4 and 2 yos, based on park:

Magic Kingdom:

• All of Fantasyland, except for Philharmagic (wouldn't sit through it)
• PofC
• Jungle Cruise
• Speedway
• Buzz Lightyear
• Aladdin's Magic Carpets
• MAYBE Country Bears (don't know if they'll sit through it)
• 4 yo on Splash Mountain, if she wants to

EPCOT

• Seas with Nemo (they'll LOVE that)
• The Land
• Imagination

MGM

• Disney Playhouse Show
• Little Mermaid Show
• MAYBE Muppets 3D (Don't know if they'll sit through it or get it)
• Honey I Shrunk the Kids Play area

Animal Kingdom

• Safari
• Boneyard
• Kali River Rapids
• Gorilla and Tiger trails
• Nemo show

Am I forgetting anything? Are there attractions I'm not remembering that would be OK/fun with young children?

Also, does anyone have any experience with 4 or 2 yo children on any of these attractions? Would they be OK? How did they react?

• Haunted Mansion
• Pirates of the Carribean
• Stitch Escape
• Splash Mountain
• Barnstormer
• Snow White
• Philharmagic
• Universe of Energy
• TestTrack
• Norway ride (can't remember the name)
• Star Tours
• Backlot tour
• Car Stunt Show
• Muppets 3D
• Dinosaur
• It's Tough to be a Bug

I realize this is a lot I'm asking about but I appreciate any help you all can offer me. Thanks!

Your 1 year can go on most ( Kali river rapids, Splash mtn.) of the rides you mentioned by park. There is no height requirement. As far as the rest:
Haunted Mansion, Pirates, It's tough to be a bug, are all dark but really great rides. There isn;t really anything scary in Pirates or Bug. Haunted Mansion is a bit scary for little ones. Splash mountain, Test Track and Dinosaur have height requirements your littlest two won't meet. They great for your 5 year old. Dinosaur is pretty scary. I would play that one by ear as it also jerks ou around alot. Star Tours is height requirement too because it is a simulator and jerks you around. As for the rest they are great shows/rides that your whole family should be able to do. Barnstormer is just for little kids. Your 1 year may not be able to ride on this one. Car stunt show is loud but a great show. You really need to decide what your kids are capable of handleing. Our kids were always pretty good with most rides. They are now 12,9,6,3 and we have been going since our oldest was 1 1/2. They all love roller coasters and don't hesitate to ride a new ride. Have a great time I hope I answered some of your questions!!

[dad2princess]

Don't sell Philharmagic short, my kids both love it. As for the rides, the 1yo can go on most rides without a height limit. My DD (6) doesn't like the scary things, but likes the mountains, and both my kids love Goofy's Barnstormer.

Also, I'd highly recommend the flights of wonder show at AK, the birds fly over the audience which really entertained my kids.

[Buttercup]

All your kids can go on all the rides that don't have height restrictions. Even your 1 year old baby.

I believe Star Tours and Body Wars (if it's even open) are the only rides with age restrictions... and there's an age restriction on the Speedway as to when you can drive the car alone.

Check Intercot's Info Central for a listing of height requirements for the rides.

Then it's just up to your discretion as to what you think your kids would enjoy going on! I've gone to WDW with infants right up to teenagers and we take them on everything - I let them decide for themselves afterwards if they liked it! You will probably be very surprised as to what they'll enjoy doing - don't just assume they won't sit through a show. I would try taking them to Philharmagic and the like -- and if you need to, you can always ask a CM to let you out of the show early if the kids are going bizzerk. There's no harm in trying stuff with the kids!

[Goofy Pluto]

So I haven't gotten as much of a response to this question as I had hoped, so let me move it back up and see if I can get it...

So basically my concern is with our will-be-1-yo. Does anyone have any experience with an about 1 yo on any of the rides they thought would be tame enough only to find out the child couldn't handle it? Pirates? Jungle Cruise? Snow White? Spaceship Earth? Imagination? World of Energy? Safari? I'm asking because I'd hate to take a child on a ride only to find out she couldn't handle it and ruin the experience for others with a screaming child. I mean, I'm smart enough to know I'm not taking a 1 yo on roller coasters, Splash Mt, or ToT, but what kind of experiences have others had with very young children on rides that you might think are OK for everyone, but turned out not to be? Thanks.

[Mickey'sGirl]

So basically my concern is with our will-be-1-yo. Does anyone have any experience with an about 1 yo on any of the rides they thought would be tame enough only to find out the child couldn't handle it? Pirates? Jungle Cruise? Snow White? Spaceship Earth? Imagination? World of Energy? Safari?

-- We've taken our kids at 6 mos, 1 1/2 yrs, 2 1/2 yrs, 3 yrs (you get the idea....)
It will depend on your child -- but this is our experience:
HM and Pirates -- they are family favourites and always have been . They are our DS3 two favourite rides). Yes, they are dark...but they are fun, and we have found by chatting to the kids during their ride has completely eliminated any fears. We have never had an issue with them. Jungle Cruise isn't even remotely scary -- it's a great little boat ride for little ones.... Our little guy doesn't care for Snow White -- or the Universe of Energy -- but he will ride them. He absolutely LOVES Spaceship Earth (and has probably ridden it 25 times -- same as the Tommorowland Transit Authority at MK ). We have always taken them on the Safari, and although it is bumpy, it is not scary. They love to see the animals and to ride in the giant jeep.
My kids have only ever had a problem at "shows" (not the 3-D shows...they LOVE those) -- The Live shows (even the Lion King, Beauty and the Beast and Crush) are pure torture for them -- and for us trying to keep them quiet and amused.... so we just don't do them anymore.

I hope this helped!!

[magicman]

We were with my one year old niece on our last trip. Because she was "out of her element", she wasn't comfortable doing anything where she couldn't be on her Mom's lap. She did fine in PhilHarmagic, Carousel of Progress (she slept), and even the shows like Beauty & the Beast. However, she balked at Peter Pan, Winnie the Pooh, or anything else where she was required to be seated on her own. We ended up doing a lot of baby swaps.

[cvzdesign]

Look at the height requirements and see.
Your 4 year old may be able to go on some of the things one of the above posters said they can not.

Our 4 year old went on Tower Of Terror and Dinosaur multiple times and she loved them.

We also had taken her when she was 13 months and she had a ball, but was not tall enough to go on anything that had a height requirement.

[LarryBoy]

One sure fire crowd pleaser that you will probably ride many, many times is the Tomorrowland Transit Authority (TTA). All kids seem to love it because it moves, it's safe, and there's no line! Also El Rio del Tiempo, or whatever it's going to be called, at Epcot is always popular with the toddler set. My son has aleays been a big fan of Spaceship Earth also, or the big ball as he calls it.

[KAJUNKING]

One sure fire crowd pleaser that you will probably ride many, many times is the Tomorrowland Transit Authority (TTA). All kids seem to love it because it moves, it's safe, and there's no line! Also El Rio del Tiempo, or whatever it's going to be called, at Epcot is always popular with the toddler set. My son has aleays been a big fan of Spaceship Earth also, or the big ball as he calls it.

i love to ride the tta my kids seem to enjoy it a bunch also

[wire0monkey]

Don't take them to "It's Tough to Be a Bug." My husband took my bug-loving, nature-show-obsessed four year old son to that show while I sat with our 18 month old. My DS freaked out when the special effects started. He had to be taken out. It was just too much.

"Maelstrom" in Norway was fine for both kids. El Rio de Tiempo was fine.

Haunted Mansion was okay. The youngest one liked it a lot and the older son thought it was okay. POTC was okay for both of them.

I haven't taken them on Dinosaur and won't due to the reviews.

They both love Country Bears, even with the creaky animatronics. (When are they going to rehab that thing?)

The Great Movie Ride freaked out the 4 year old, too. It wasn't the Alien scene that did it. It was the shoot-em-up live action "gangster movie" scene at the beginning.

Playhouse Disney Live! was the highlight of the trip for them, BTW. They were totally astonished when Bear came out. It was like a rock concert for preschoolers.

And we skip Dumbo, in favor of riding the Magic Carpet of Aladdin multiple times. It's the same ride and the line is shorter. There's a similar ride with a dinosaur theme called "Triceratops Spin" at Animal Kingdom.

[pook@wdw]

Our family went in '06 w/our 5 yr old nephew, and the only thing he COULD NOT ride was SM, RRC, and MS (green side). He was good to go on everything else, and pretty well DID go everything else!

[Kairi_7378]

... they aren't too scary (other than possibly Tough to be a Bug) but they are LOUD! There were frightened children in all of them. In Philharmagic, I had a strange child jump into my lap because he was scared by the intensity of the music.

I think that of the 4 of them, the Muppet one is the tamest but I'd recommend showing the kids a Muppet Movie before you go so they recognize the characters. Philharmagic has a lot of objects fly at you, but they aren't scary (jewels and necklaces.) The nice thing about these shows is that you can hold the kids in your lap.

[thejens]

Last year my "just turned 2" year old went on most rides (except obviously scary roller coaster and dinosoar). He was fine in HM and GMR etc. so long as I could hold him or sit close and cuddle him, I talked him through some parts "they are pretending" and "that was a loud noise, wasn't it fun?" When he wanted to he cuddled into me and stopped watching and then peeked out again when the action stopped. He did fine. Same thing for the 3 D movies, he really didn't appreciate them or keep glasses on, but did fine in my lap. I think it really depends on your child's temperment. Now a 3 year old, he loves the kid roller coasters, loves to watch big kid movies with his 8 year old brother, and wants to do the BIG stuff. My nephews, who are older, on the other hand have to be coaxed onto Dumbo. I am worried my 3 year old is going to be mad because he is not even yet 38 inches for Kali!!!

[Sean Riley Taylor's Mom]

My kids have been going on all rides without height restrictions since they were under 1.

If they were not crazy about a ride once we were on it we would just tell them to close their eyes. Usually curiosity would get the best of them and they would realize what they were missing.

That being said, My 9 year old still hates Its Tough To Be A Bug. He will sit through it but he will close his eyes on most parts. However, my three year old loves it. It all depends on the child. Both of my boys and I do not like Dinosaur. We did it twice to see if it would grow on us..it never did. We avoid it now. I think that is the only one we avoid.

My advice, most of the rides are over so quickly, just try it, if they don't like it, don't go back on. Unless, of course, you know from the start that it will not go over well.

As for the live shows, we love them all. Festival of the Lion King is fabulous. My daughter made us watch it 3 times on day our last trip. She loves The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast. Playhouse Disney is a given for young kids.

We do some splitting up too. My boys love Stitch, but, my daughter is too young and would not like it anyway, so we head to the TTA or COP. It does not happen very often, but that it another option if one of the older kids really wants to go on something Taylor can't.

HTH and you have a wonderful trip!!

[tyandskyesmom]

WHEN we go to WDW, we'll be taking a 4 yo (almost 5), a 2 1/2 yo, and an almost 1 yo. So the question comes down to: What can they all ride? Is there much for a 1 yo to go on other than It's a Small World? What are the restrictions for rides by age? Here's what I'm thinking we can do with them, at least witht he 4 and 2 yos, based on park:

Magic Kingdom:

• All of Fantasyland, except for Philharmagic (wouldn't sit through it)
• PofC
• Jungle Cruise
• Speedway
• Buzz Lightyear
• Aladdin's Magic Carpets
• MAYBE Country Bears (don't know if they'll sit through it)
• 4 yo on Splash Mountain, if she wants to

EPCOT

• Seas with Nemo (they'll LOVE that)
• The Land
• Imagination

MGM

• Disney Playhouse Show
• Little Mermaid Show
• MAYBE Muppets 3D (Don't know if they'll sit through it or get it)
• Honey I Shrunk the Kids Play area

Animal Kingdom

• Safari
• Boneyard
• Kali River Rapids
• Gorilla and Tiger trails
• Nemo show

Am I forgetting anything? Are there attractions I'm not remembering that would be OK/fun with young children?

Also, does anyone have any experience with 4 or 2 yo children on any of these attractions? Would they be OK? How did they react?

• Haunted Mansion
• Pirates of the Carribean
• Stitch Escape
• Splash Mountain
• Barnstormer
• Snow White
• Philharmagic
• Universe of Energy
• TestTrack
• Norway ride (can't remember the name)
• Star Tours
• Backlot tour
• Car Stunt Show
• Muppets 3D
• Dinosaur
• It's Tough to be a Bug

I realize this is a lot I'm asking about but I appreciate any help you all can offer me. Thanks!

You know your kids best but here's my opinion...

We have been going often since Tyler (now 8) had just turned 2. We added Skye to the mix 3 years ago (well almost!) and in our experience, the younger the better! I would think you'd have more trouble withthe 2 1/2 year old. Until Ty got to be about 4 he would go on or go see anything. It wasn't until he began to really think about his surroundings that he started getting scarred and not wanting to do things. In fact, Skye will actuallu willingly go on more things that Ty will and wants to go on the things she is too small fo rthat Ty gets to go on. Like I said, you know your kids best but don't rule anything out just because of other people's report of it. Ty dislikes 3-D shows but will sit thru them because he has no choice but Skye loves 'em! Ty also claims to hate the Inagination ride with Figment...you figure that one out...we can't!

There is always a way out...even if you are in line and decide while waiting that someone would prefer not to ride/see, there is always a way out. Even while a show is going you can bring antsy or scared kids out. The only place problems may arrise are on the actual ride but in a lot of them you can hold the 1 year old and I find that even when my kids are antsy on our first day fof getting back into it...by the time they see what is coming they're ready to go!

A lot of the time fear in in the anticipation...