PDA

View Full Version : will young ones be intimidated at the parks?



feeb628
04-09-2002, 02:11 PM
Told a friend i was making my first trip disney world,and his reaction was your kids are going to be freaked out by rides.Loudness etc.I guess they did not have that good a time.Dont worry i will. Can anyone relate to this. thanks. graemlins/beer.gif

Mulan
04-09-2002, 02:27 PM
Our DD loves the rides. If I would worry about anything it would maybe be the large crowds. From their level it may look even more crowded. Also, I've know a few children that are afraid of the characters. Let them go at their own pace. Have a great time.

Victor Kelly
04-09-2002, 02:34 PM
Basically, let the children guide you instead of you guiding them all the time. Kids are smart about what they do and don't like.

If they are really afraid of the dark avoid the Haunted Mansion and definitely Alien Encounter.

How are are the young ones?

Goofy Forever
04-09-2002, 02:37 PM
Neither of my sons (3 and 11 mos.) were intimidated in any way. In fact my youngest wanted to eat all of the characters. graemlins/laughing.gif

trip chic
04-09-2002, 02:44 PM
My daughter used to be afraid of the characters, like at the character meals, all you need to do is give them a sign like a head shake not to come over and they'll avoid you.
The haunted mansion is pretty intimidating and Alien Encounter is real scary.
In epcot the Maelstrom and Honey I Shrunk the Audience can be alittle intense. The Universe of Energy has some dinosaurs in it but it's a great ride.
In Animal Kingdom, In It's Tough to be a Bug, my daughter put nail marks on my arms because she hates BUGS!! You can pretty much tell which ones will scare your children. smile.gif

Dawn S
04-09-2002, 02:55 PM
I am very lucky that my kids are fearless! :D However, once when we were living up in Orlando, a group of friends came up to visit the parks with us. One of those friends had her 2 kids with her. The 3 year old feared nothing, but her 7 year old on the other hand... :eek: This girl cried every time she even saw a charcter at a distance...she screamed bloody murder on Spaceship Earth & just about anything else. Dumbo was too high up, Snow White was too dark, Mr. Toad was too jerky...the 3 days we spent at the parks were full of problems. I can understand little kids being a little nervous or frightened by some things there, but a 7 year old freaking out over everything is a little much! graemlins/shakehead.gif

honeybear
04-09-2002, 03:13 PM
Each child is differnt. My niece went to disney at age 1 and she did not like the charecters at all. When she went back the next year, at age 2, she ran to take pictures with every charecter we saw. Her younger sister never had any fear of the charecters at any age. It might be a good idea to read up and ask questions about the rides you may think your children might be uncomfortable with. It really depends on the child, but don't ever be dicouraged from taking a Disney trip. There is something for everyone ages birth to 1000!

wishiwasthere
04-09-2002, 03:23 PM
DH was really afraid of the characters at 2, but at 7, she loved them! She loved the roller coasters (Splash Mtm, Space Mtm) but did not care for the Haunted House. She's still afraid of the dark (aren't we all!). You know your kids better than anyone else. If you think they're going to be afraid of the characters, don't waste time/money at charcter meals. Toontown Fair in MK has some great stuff, including a mini-roller coaster for the little ones. Just have a great time. Be sure to get the nap in and carry snacks, etc. with you.

Jared
04-09-2002, 04:08 PM
I wouldn't worry too much. I first went to WDW when I was 3, and I a great time. Yes, they will be intimidated by some things, but as was said earlier, they know what they want and don't want, and you should trust them. As far as the characters go, they might be startled at first by the size of the characters. Don't push them forward though, even if they have been talking about "meeting Mickey" for weeks.

Hope this helps and have a great trip!! graemlins/mickey.gif
Oh yeah, Welcome to INTERCOT!! graemlins/clappy.gif graemlins/muscles.gif

TiggerRPh
04-09-2002, 05:51 PM
It really depend on your kids and the time of year you go. If you're going during a slower time, the crowds shouldn't be intimidating, on the other hand, during early summer and over Christmas and Easter the crowds can be very intimidating...even for adults.

As said above, let your kids guide you.

imported_Melanears
04-09-2002, 06:37 PM
My advice is to avoid It's Tough to be a Bug if your child is between 2-8. I WISH I would have followed that very wise advice given right here on Intercot. Both my boys, 2 and almost 4yo, screamed through the entire thing. Strange thing was, my 2yo was scared by nothing else the entire trip. Just my 2 cents worth.

Melanie
graemlins/mickey.gif

imagineerInTraining
04-09-2002, 10:09 PM
I believe how kids handle most things depends on the reaction of the people around them. I saw parents on a rapids ride worry over and console their daughter (about 5 yrs old) when she got soaked. Needless to say the girl assumed something terrible had happened to her. When a similar thing happened to my daughter we made her feel like she was special for being the one in the raft who got the wettest.

Also, avoid using words such as "scary" or "afraid". Instead of a ride being "a little scary" it can simply be "a little exciting".

If time permits, take your kids on practice outings. A visit to Chuck E. Cheese's will bring them up close with a costumed "mouse" and animated robots. (A poor substitute for Disney animated characters, but good enough for this test.)This also gives the kids a frame of reference when at Disney World. You can say something like "The people you see on the spaceship earth ride are the same kind you saw at the Chuck E Cheese show." Of course this assumes they LIKED the Chuck E Cheese show.

Try and have your kids see Disney videos such as "it's tough to be a bug", "lion king" and "toy story". If your kids enjoy these movies and don't run and hide during any parts (like when hopper terrorizes the ants) it should be okay to take them to attractions that feature these characters.

Go to a local theme park or traveling carnival. Make mental notes of the types of rides your kids like. Most rides with any "thrill" in them at all involve at least one basic force: speed, stomach drops (hills), positive G's (you get pushed back into the seat), negative G's (you feel weightless), heights and darkness. See if you can figure out which of these forces may be too intense for your kids and avoid the Disney rides that include them.

If your child panics on a ride it is most likely that mentally they think their life is in danger. There is nothing you can do to stop this reaction. Some kids may out grow it. I'm a good example of this. I can handle all thrill ride sensations except free fall - I totally panic on that one.

I hope this helps.

imagineerInTraining
04-09-2002, 10:14 PM
Sorry my last post was sooooo long. I just kept typing and typing...

I did forget to add one thing:

Before you get on an attraction make sure the kids know what you will be doing next. This will help keep them from thinking "Oh no! I'm going to be stuck in this pirate dungeon for the rest of my life!" And if they do get a bit scared they'll have something else to think about and look forward too.

Okay, I'm done now.

RobFL
04-10-2002, 01:04 AM
Okay.. Try to have a sense of humor smile.gif

Today, on Pirates of the Carribean, the mother behind mes daughter was starting to get upset as we entered the "ship battle" scene.

So the mother makes a good move smile.gif The pirate says "Fire at will!" and she says "Who's Will?!?"

Everyone on the boat laughed and her daughter calmed down seeing that no one else was really scared.

Also.. I've never done Alien Encounter before and was a bit timid.. Sometimes I was really thinking "jeeze.. this is sorta bad.." and get a little freaked out myself, but then the ride audio has the great line "It's my mother in law!" and we all laughed and it made me relax and calm down a bit.

We always have a "stop" during the Seance in the Haunted Mansion. Today was no exception. To ease our minds, knowwing there was 15ft between us and the floor at that point, me and my friend both played with our magic moment pins and got everyone stuck in the circle doing it too.

Also, we had an unexpected stop in Peter Pan we were flying over the city . My friend, who is seriously afraid of heights, just kept tapping that pin to keep herself busy. Not a good place to stop at all!!

But the pin helps a lot with dark and creepy situations.. very soothing..

So, have a sense of humor about it all and try to show a good example by keeping your cool, and have a magic moments pin handy, to ward off all that is bad. smile.gif

-Rob

jjramsey
04-10-2002, 07:55 AM
A lot depends on the age of your kids. Ours are 6 & 8. I agree with the earlier poster about Alien Encounter and Haunted Mansion.

If your kids are sensitive to loud noises, there are a number of shows and rides to avoid. Just ask a CM before going in about the type things your kids might not like (loudness, how scary, darkness, monsters/'bad guys'. There are so many things available for all ages scattered across the parks, that there will be plenty fun activities without creating any nightmares graemlins/thedolls.gif

Ms. Darling
04-10-2002, 08:23 PM
If you're worried about the kiddos, (like I was about my niece and nephew), I can relate.

All kids are different, but my niece didn't like the costumed characters (loved the Princesse's at MGM though) or dark rides (even Peter Pan). She and her big brother didn't like the caves on the Wedway. Other than that, they were game for just about anything. They LOVED Dumbo, the tea cups and esp. the Magic Carpets.

Oh! And they *might* want to hold their hands over their ears during the fireworks. My nephew did this, but not his baby sister! smile.gif

[ April 10, 2002, 08:24 PM: Message edited by: Ms. Darling ]

EmisDisneyMom
04-10-2002, 09:53 PM
I took my oldest daughter when she was 5 years old and she is a dare devil. She loved all the rides and all the shows. I took my youngest when she was 4 and she is afraid of everything! We let HER decide if she wanted to ride the rides or go in the shows. We started off way before our trip by showing her a picture of the ride and explaining what happens. We did this over and over with her. Then when we were at the park we would say...."This is the Haunted Mansion and you ride in the cars really slow and there are 99 ghost but they are make believe, it is a VERY FUN ride." When she said "NOPE!" we said "OK" and left it at that. We were suprised by the end of the trip....she was going on everything because she realized we had told the honest to goodness truth and didn't try to "talk her into it". It is better to sit one out or "child swap" than scare the heck out of them. Have a GREAT trip!!!

kimieyjean
04-07-2003, 11:38 PM
This had some good information in it,.bump

singermom4
04-08-2003, 12:29 AM
I think some of the sound systems are extremely loud and can frighten children. The two that stand in my mind are Universe of Energy (which is about 40 minutes long with no escape route) and Fantasmic. Although my 2yo ds seemed okay during Fantasmic he has come away with the impression that Mickey Mouse is bad. He totally freaked out in the Universe of Energy because of the sound and the realistic dinosaurs - we had finally convinced him that they weren't real when one of the dinosaurs leaned forward and spat in his face!