Subsonic Radio

Hey, a question to all you parents of young children (or used to be young children ). I have a daughter who is 4 1/2 and will be tall enough to go on all the rides (except Indy) during our next visit to Disneyland. She says that she is "brave enough" to try them all...but my question is, at what age were your kids really not afraid to try some of the bigger rides (Space, Splash, Big Thunder) or Haunted Mansion? I just think some of those rides especially Haunted Mansion will still be too scary. And my almost 3 year old son who's never been in the HM thinks it will not be too scary for him either...but I'm not sure if either of them are really ready for it. Any thoughts? Thanks!

My mom says I rode Haunted Mansion when I was 3 and wasn't scared or really phased by it at all. That doesn't surprise me though since we were going in Jaycee's haunted houses at Halloween when I was really little and found them fun.

My brother was a daredevil type and was very into the coasters at a young age. He prefered Big Thunder to Space Mountain, but still.

I guess it just depends on how adventurous your kids are.

My kids were riding Haunted Mansion from age 2 and up and the instant they were at the height limit they were riding anything/everything they could. Every kid is different, but my 3 never were afraid of anything.

My daughter was 5 on her first trip and she loved haunted mansion and said it was her favorite. But I have seen other kids so scared to just go in so it really depends on the child. As for the bigger rides she did Indy and splash mountain on that trip and it scared her so much that she refused to go on any "big" rides for two years. I would recomend that you start small and work your way up. Do some of the easy rides and for the first big ride do gadget coaster. I would have her do it a few times and if she is ok then move on to matterhorn then if that is ok try big thunder, if that is ok progress to splash mountain and then on to the muholland madness. IF all of those go ok then go to space mountain! This is what we did on our trip this year and my daughter now loves them all she even rides with her hands in the air on space mountain!!! The key is to pay close attention to how she responds to each and don't push if it seems like a ride is too much. I hope this helps you.

Thanks for all the input! It's really nice to get first-hand experience from parents who have kids that are the same age as mine! I should have said that on our last trip to Disneyland, my daughter was only 2 1/2 and we actually took her on the Matterhorn (at night even) and she actually seemed ok with it. Now maybe she was so freaked out that she was scared speechless but she didn't seem to have a problem with it. And she has been on other "small" roller coasters (designed for little kids) at other theme parks and she loved them...so maybe the bigger rides will be fun for her. Now, another question, is the Haunted Mansion all decked out for the holidays in mid to late September? Is it scarier with the Nightmare Before Christmas characters in there or just as fun as the original? I have never seen HM Holiday so I don't know. Thanks everyone!

I was a coaster nut at a young age; your daughter might just be too!

I remember that I was afraid of rollercoasters until I was in college. I think its all about perception. Convincing your kids not so much that its something fun for everyone, but that if they try they'll like it. I see too many parents in the parks that want to put their kids on rides and the kids have no desire to go. The rides that you know they will like (Nemo Sub ride) don't count. I'm talking about forcing kids onto rollercoasters, Soarin' etc. If you're daughter is 4 1/2 and seems interested in doing rollercoasters...go for it. But make sure its something she wants to try first.

Personally, I'd be careful just to not take the kids on rides they don't want to go on. I've seen too many parents taking their kids on ToT and the kids are just horrified. All the while the parents are telling them nothing bad will happen, then the elevator lets loose.

I was eight when I first went to the parks and I was still pretty easily scared. We went on Jaws at Universal and man that shark terrified me!

Esmeralda wrote:Personally, I'd be careful just to not take the kids on rides they don't want to go on. I've seen too many parents taking their kids on ToT and the kids are just horrified. All the while the parents are telling them nothing bad will happen, then the elevator lets loose.

Well I absolutely agree - we've all seen screaming kids not wanting to do whatever attraction and that isn't fun for anyone. Don't force them on anything, but if they're willing and able and you feel mature enough they'll do great!

My nephew is three and he has been riding pirates and haunted since he was two. He still says that haunted is scary, but really isn't afraid of it and wants to ride it everytime we go. Also, I don't think the Haunted Mansion Holiday is any scarier, actually I think it might be less scary.

Last year my twin daughters were three years old and did the HM and PotC with no problems and loved it, but were terrified with Snow White's Scary Adventure. They tell me this year they will not be scared. My daughters will not be tall enough for all the attractions this year but really want to ride them.

Wow. Compared to all these children mentioned, I was a big chicken then. I remember I went on Pirates at a very young age and hated it. I didn't do Splash Mountain until high school, and Screamin' till college.

Encouraging kids on certain rides is really a judgment call. But really, seeing the fear on a small kid's face is very unpleasant for me, being that I would never want to be forced to do something.

I learned at a young age not to trust my parents when they say, "Oh, you'll be fine" and so on. For them, the faster the better.

Well, I would definitely never force my kids onto a ride they didn't want to do. I guess we will just have to wait until we get there. I can show them all the pictures and videos out there of these rides but it won't matter until we're actually there, I guess. Besides, a ride might look fun to her now on the computer but may look WAY bigger and WAY scarier once we're actually standing in front of it! Thanks again for all the input!

I agree forcing a child is not a good idea at all. In our case it was our daughters decision to give each ride a try. In fact when she asked to go on space mountain I kept asking her if she was sure and telling her how fast it was.

I did see a parent on mulholland madness trying to get a small child to go and she was crying. Finally the cast memeber told him that she couldn't let him take the child on the ride when she was crying and refusing to go.

disneylandmom wrote:I agree forcing a child is not a good idea at all. In our case it was our daughters decision to give each ride a try. In fact when she asked to go on space mountain I kept asking her if she was sure and telling her how fast it was.

I did see a parent on mulholland madness trying to get a small child to go and she was crying. Finally the cast memeber told him that she couldn't let him take the child on the ride when she was crying and refusing to go.

Well good for that Cast Member! It's just too bad that the child's parent couldn't see that their own child was too scared to go and that the Cast Member had to spell it out for them.