18month old on Pirates, etc

Imagineer1981 · #1 05-26-2009, 02:18 PM

Ok, so I will have my 18month old (he will be) with us in August. My DW and I are trying to decide what rides we could do with him, and are at a stumbling block with a few. Here's our list of questionable rides and please give us your input:

1)POTC - will the hill scare him or is it too intense, not worried about the pirates as much as the drop

2) Haunted Mansion - we are thinking of baby swapping this one, no need to scare him early

3) any 3d show - not sure if he'd sit still or if it would be too loud and scare him (any experience here?)

4) Snow White - again too scary?

RBrooksC · #2 05-26-2009, 02:24 PM

In September 2007 my wife and I took our 18 month old. He loved EVERYTHING we were able to take him on. He laughed at the stretch room in HM and he enjoyed POTC. Snow White made him jump we I tried to laugh each time I thought something would be scary.

To be honest, I never worried about "scary" stuff with my kids. I try to make sure I demphasize the idea something is "scary" and make sure he saw it as fun. We were only limited to height requirements when deciding on rides with him.

Mickey'sGirl · #3 05-26-2009, 02:29 PM

Just to let you know that there is no baby-swap at any of the rides you mention (because there are no height restrictions). We have been taking our youngest on every ride he could go on since he was 6 months old. He loves the drop in Pirates, has always enjoyed HM, and sat on my knee when he was really little for the 3D shows, so they weren't an issue. I don't know that we ever took him on the Snow White ride when he was really little, but I am pretty sure that we did. As the previous poster said, we always tried to spin the "scary" rides so that he would think they were fun.

Have a great holiday!

FantasmicJ · #4 05-26-2009, 03:01 PM

Agreed, I just got back on Sunday from a trip with our 13 month old. He liked POTC. The 2nd time we rode it he pointed and laughed at the skeletons at the beginning. Not sure if he liked the drop since it is so dark, but he didn't get scared. He liked the fast, bumpy part of Kilimanjaro Safaris so I'm sure he liked it.

We didn't do the other rides/shows you mentioned (it was record-rainfall week so we didn't see as much as we wanted). However, we were there the same time as some cousins who have a 15-month old. They went on HM and had no problems.

Princess Dad · #5 05-26-2009, 03:05 PM

We took our 18 month old on POTC and she loved it. She got really quit on the drop but after that she thought it was great.

3-D she sat still but would not keep the glasses On!

We didn't even try the haunted mansion.

Have a great time

MidnTPK · #6 05-26-2009, 03:11 PM

I visited WDW with my then 15-month old daughter in September 2008.

We chose not to take her on the HM or POTC. Not because we thought she'd be scared on the ride, but because after riding them (w/o her) we decided we didn't want to expose her some of the imagery in the ride. In POTC there's some very macabre skeletons and the image of Davy Jones from the movie. In HM there are lots of things she'll never see outside of the HM.

We didn't like the idea of some of those images making an impression / possibly being in her dreams. And since she was too young for us to verbally comfort (because she didn't understand many words at that point), we felt it was better to bring her only on the very happy rides with very pleasant images.

We're going in September when she'll be 27 months and I think we'll bring her on them this time. So I guess it really about how developed he'll be and if you think that seeing the things in these rides won't be damaging.

robnadina · #7 05-26-2009, 04:00 PM

We took our 12 mo old on POTC here at DL and she had no problems. The drops here are much steeper than at WDW. We all just clapped and said "Yeah" after the drop so she thought it was a fun thing. The 2nd drop she seemed a little nervous when she saw it coming, but we did the same thing and she was OK. She didnt register a reaction on HM, however when the room stretches and the light goes out, we always have a bunch of kids that will scream with the track playing. She thought this was funny and screamed with us. Since she doesnt understand what is supposed to be scarry yet, I think this helped. We did not try Snow White, simply cause that freaks me out. LOL
Have fun

sisterdisco · #8 05-26-2009, 09:53 PM

I think that they are a little young to be scared of some things that we would think would scare them.
However.....loud bangs will freak them out.

POTC (my kids did fine at that age).

HOWEVER--------------its tough to be a bug------that first thing that pops in your face makes the kids scream!!!!!

Philharmagic should be ok.

wire0monkey · #9 05-27-2009, 10:16 AM

POTC - DS2 loved it at 12 months and at 18 months. The drop is very small and smooth.

2) Haunted Mansion - my 12 month old had no concept that it was supposed to be scary. It was just a lot of movement and lights to him. It's all "Mickey magic."

3) any 3d show - We skip all of these. DS1 (age 4) lost it in "It's Tough to Be a Bug" and my friend's 2 year old lost it in "Mickey's Philharmagic"

4) Snow White - We skip this one because it scared the **** out of me when I was 8.

Disney Doll · #10 05-27-2009, 10:59 AM

We did PoTC and HM with our 15 month old and he did fine. I worried about HM being scary, but DS wasn't phased at all. At that age he was too young to understand that it was supposed to be scary. We didn't have time for Snow White and we never made it to any of the 3-D shows. We are planning to try Philharmagic in Sept. I figure if he gets upset it's pretty easy to sneak out.

estein80 · #11 05-27-2009, 11:39 AM

DH and I just got back from WDW with our 10 month old. She went on everything I did. She went on HM and POTC without a problem. She did react to the drop of POTC but she liked looking around at everything going on and listening to the music.

DH and I did comment on how many kids we saw who were terrified to go on HM. We were really surprised as we hadn't really seen that in the past. DD was fine on the ride. She sat in our laps and just checked everything out. Then again, oddly enough, I never really think of Haunted Mansion as being a scary ride. I always thought of it as a look into someone else's world. Even when I was 3, 6, etc I thought it was great fun to watch the ghosts dance. I think being scared is dependent on what you are taught to think. I wasn't taught to think of it as a scary ride and I never did. (And I am not a scary movie fan at all.)

The only times she really reacted to any rides were when there were loud noises. The train on Imagination at Epcot had her crawling up us, and when it got really loud the Philharmagic. She liked the rest of the show though she wouldn't wear the glasses (not surprising).

Imagineer1981 · #12 05-27-2009, 12:35 PM

Thanks for all the info. I also never thought of HM as a scary ride to me, but I know some kids who were terrified, my wife is one of them. Thats a good point that he probably won't comprehend that HM is scary, so thanks again for all the info, I feel better!

diz_girl · #13 05-27-2009, 04:58 PM

My son was 17 mo at the time he rode POTC. He cried two times. The first was when you go through the mist and Davy Jones's face. He tried to grab at Davy Jones and cried when he couldn't get a hold of him. The second time was during the drop. He was scared.

We didn't even take him on HM or any 3-D show, but he was fine on Snow White.

WDWMom08 · #14 05-28-2009, 01:29 AM

Just to let everyone know, I was scared when I was little of HM but not anymore. Even though my husband put IS scared on his last post! LOL I'm very excited to take our DS on his 1st trip to see all the magic that disney has! Can't wait!

Imagineer1981 · #15 05-28-2009, 04:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WDWMom08

Just to let everyone know, I was scared when I was little of HM but not anymore. Even though my husband put IS scared on his last post! LOL I'm very excited to take our DS on his 1st trip to see all the magic that disney has! Can't wait!

Me either!

Madzac · #16 06-01-2009, 04:16 PM

We went just a couple weeks ago with our 18 month old and he went on every ride that did not have a height restriction. He wasnt afraid of anything, enjoyed it all. Pointed and laughed at things. We did see all the 3D shows except the one at Epcot (too scary for my 4 yr old) and while he didnt leave the glasses on, he sat for them and seemed to like them ok.

We spent one day at DL when my DD was 15 months and she enjoyed all of the rides then. But she was terrified of the characters so we had to stand WAY back to see the parades. Both my boys loved the characters from very early on. None every had any ride fears though...

I think this is a perfect age to take most kids as they dont have a huge concept on these things being scary. 2.5 is another story though!

Imagineer1981 · #17 06-03-2009, 12:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Madzac

We went just a couple weeks ago with our 18 month old and he went on every ride that did not have a height restriction. He wasnt afraid of anything, enjoyed it all. Pointed and laughed at things. We did see all the 3D shows except the one at Epcot (too scary for my 4 yr old) and while he didnt leave the glasses on, he sat for them and seemed to like them ok.

We spent one day at DL when my DD was 15 months and she enjoyed all of the rides then. But she was terrified of the characters so we had to stand WAY back to see the parades. Both my boys loved the characters from very early on. None every had any ride fears though...

I think this is a perfect age to take most kids as they dont have a huge concept on these things being scary. 2.5 is another story though!

Great to know...thanks. My son was terrified of Santa, but at Easter he sat on the Easter Bunny's lap no prob, so I am hoping characters will be ok

mickey&missy · #18 06-03-2009, 03:26 PM

I think your kiddo will be fine!

My youngest, who just turned 2, went to WDW at 9 months and again at 20 months. He did all of those rides just fine.

When we took him to PhilHarMagic the first time on our trip this past January he sat very nicely with me and enjoyed the music but wouldn't keep the glasses on. When we returned later that week I tried to get him to notice what he could see with the glasses on and he did! He left them on for 3/4 of the show and LOVED it! He giggled and reached!! It was soooo cute!!

Enjoy!!!

Imagineer1981 · #19 06-04-2009, 12:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mickey&missy

I think your kiddo will be fine!

My youngest, who just turned 2, went to WDW at 9 months and again at 20 months. He did all of those rides just fine.

When we took him to PhilHarMagic the first time on our trip this past January he sat very nicely with me and enjoyed the music but wouldn't keep the glasses on. When we returned later that week I tried to get him to notice what he could see with the glasses on and he did! He left them on for 3/4 of the show and LOVED it! He giggled and reached!! It was soooo cute!!

Enjoy!!!

Thanks, I feel beter