What to do...

[Top_Scarer]

We will be going down Dec 9-15th and we are sooo excited. BUT, my 4yr old DD is already telling me that she will NOT be going on any ride that goes "inside". I took her last year for a trip down there, and she didn't like small world or even the Pooh ride, but I figured it was her age (she had just turned 3). Now with her already saying this..I am getting nervous.

Anyone have any suggestions on how to "convince" her to go on these rides?!?!?!

[princessM0m]

That's a tough one. Has she given you a reason why inside rides are "out?"

[vamaggie]

Can she tell you why she doesn't want to do the inside rides? Is she afraid of the dark, scared she can't "get off/out" if she gets scared, been told horror stories about them by someone? If she can give you some more info it can help you deal with it better. Also, try checking out some of the rides on youtube and let her see what they are like (preview them yourself first). If she knows what she is getting into she may be more willing to try some. (DS checked out Everest since he was not sure about it--now can't wait!) Lastly, do not try to CONVINCE her to do them. Please don't be one of those parents who makes kids go on rides they don't want to--it's not good for anyone. There is so much to do at WDW that if she is happy to only do the "outside" rides then so be it. Use baby swap if you and the other adults want to do rides she doesn't. My DD is 10 and he still does not want to go on space mtn. That's fine with us--more time for Splash mtn!

[hockeymom]

My youngest son who is 14 was and can still be a little like that.

When he was able to figure it out, he said that indoor rides gave him a feeling of the unknown, like anything could pop out. He was/is scared of being scared. He goes on the biggest coasters and hugest thrill rides, but inside ones can still make him think twice. He loves Dr. Dreadfull at Islands of Ad., but hates tower of Terror. He also hates Jurassic Park and the Mummy at Universal.

[mouseketeer mom]

Thats a tough one, I know because I go thru it every year. I think Disneyworld can feel so realistic, that there is a blur between whats real and whats not. My DS who just turned 8, and my DD who turned 11, both take turns driving us nuts with this. There's really no way to reason with them either. My DD won't do Splash, BTMR, amongst others. My DS puts his foot down with HM and BTMR and other rides that aren't even remotely threatening. Its frustrating, because if you're anything like me, you just want to experience it all while you're there! Plus its Disney, come on, its all good! But thats our adult minds speaking, and what is scary to the little ones is very real to them. Its hard, but if after you try and they still refuse, you have to just wave that white flag of surrender and move on. You will come back again, they will get bigger, and things will change in the future. My DH and I will take turns, which I don't really like to do, but we do it. I like us all to experience things together, but thats in a perfect world. Plus, it does take time to do the ride separately, another downside.

[Jasper]

Another thing you should avoid doing is dwelling on it. While it is certainly ok and even good to try to have a talk with her to find out what it is that bothers her and then to address it, if you keep going back to the topic she will wonder even more what is wrong and get even more turned off. If she can’t or won’t give you reasons why she doesn’t like them then just drop it and move on.

Then, when you get to WDW if there are more than two people in your party who are old enough to leave her with go ahead and go on the rides without her. However, when you come back from riding them don’t pressure her to go. Rather, react normally and with pleasure and after a while she will begin to see that there is nothing wrong and that they rides are fun and she will gradually give it a try. However, don’t be overly happy about the rides though because a child will see right through that as well!

[disneyfan328]

My son too was scared of the going inside rides. While he was still a little aprehensive we took the advice of telling him before hand that its all Mickey Mouse Magic and that Mickey wouldn't let anything grab him or hurt him in any way. Also a small key chain type flashlight really helps. That being said he still would not ride Pirates of the Caribbean when we got there. I stayed out with him while dh took the other 2 kids and went on. We hung out in the gift shop until they were done. Once they were done and he heard his sister saying how cool it was he asked me to go on it. So I took him. He ended up loving it and we rode it 2 more times. He was still a litte nervouse before each ride that was a dark or inside ride, but ended up loving them all and "Its just Mickey Mouse Magic" became a little chant that I could hear him uttering to himself throughout. Good Luck regardless!!

[Top_Scarer]

I think that she doesn't like the dark OR loud noises. She won't even go to a movie at the theater! She has said that she wants to go on Splash mountain, but I don't think she realizes that it is inside too. Oh well, I don't want to force her..I just also don't want her to "scare" her little brother (3) into not wanting to go on them either! I am hoping that DS will go on some and then say how fun they were...maybe she will be convinced by him, because us even saying that it is all pretend...just does not work!!
Thanks for all the advice!!