What rides to avoid with 4 and 6 yo?

[DISfirstTimer]

We are headed to Disney with DS 6 and DD 4. They are currently 49 and 41 inches tall. What rides should we avoid despite them being tall enough? What rides should we wait until the end as not scare them from doing other rides? We are doing 2 days at MK, and Epcot and AK 1 day each.

 

[fly girl]

Dinosaur scared my dd. She's 9 and is still not a fan.

Some kids get scared at HM too.

 

[Aliceacc]

Avoid Stitch in the MK (tomorrowland.) It scared the pants off my kids when they were young.

 

[TI double-GUH ER]

I found that dark rides were problematic for my kids- especially at 4. The way I got around that was to buy them a small (keychain size) light from the dollar store. They were allowed to turn it on if they felt like they needed it - and it didn't give off enough light to bother anyone else. (They were only allowed to point it down - not in their face or anyone else's). They didn't use them often, but knowing they had that control seemed to help.

The only thing I'd say to avoid is It's Tough to Be A Bug. Bugs can be scary for little ones - and animated faces don't help much with that. The "interactive" part was a little too much for my kids.

Everything else depends on the kid. My DS found Peter Pan terrifying the first time he rode it, but DD at the same age was enchanted...

 

[DisneyWishes14]

In MK, I would start with Barnstormer and then work your way up to 7DMT, BTMRR, Splash and Space Mountain (I would suggest in that order, but if your kids are hesitant about drops, you may want to switch Space and Splash around). My DS9 has yet to do Haunted Mansion and has no interest. He was afraid to go to sleep after seeing Fantasmic a few years ago and I don't really want to repeat that experience on vacation with HM!

In AK, we have yet to do It's Tough to Be a Bug and it's unlikely we will do it. I can't comment on FOP because we haven't ridden it yet, but I would probably save FOP and Dinosaur for last. DS didn't ride Dinosaur until he was 8. It was actually hysterical as there was a younger girl in our car who screamed the entire time and then when she got off, she begged to go again.

In EP, I think it really depends on your kids. If they are afraid of heights, do Soarin' last, speed TT last, drops FEA last (though the drops are very tame, you could just warn them that as soon as Elsa sings "Let it go!", they will drop backward and then one small drop at the end)

 

[Klayfish]

This is truly a personal decision on how you want to handle this kind of stuff with your child. There's no true right or wrong answer. Many (most) people would disagree with me, but I have forced my kids to try pretty much every ride once they were tall enough and I felt they were old enough. I agree with starting slow...it's not like I went right from Pooh to ToT with the kids. The first thrill ride I started with was Barnstormer and went from there. I've told the story before, but DD10 was terrified, even with Barnstormer. She was crying, holding my arm and didn't want to do it. But I knew it was just her fear of the unknown and I made her get on it with me. She LOVED it. Then we moved on to BTMRR. Same thing....crying, scared...followed by tears of joy. Now she literally runs to get to RnR.

Not all were a success. DS13 didn't like ToT. So now he doesn't ride it much. He'll do it once because he wants to be with DD10 and DS10, but then he'll sit out if they ride it again. And that's perfectly OK with me, I'm glad he tried it.

 

[abnihon]

I would say Dinosaur and ToT

 

[Beer Me]

I wouldn't force the issue if they are afraid but in general all rides at Disney are ok for kids. Let them decide.

My kids rode everything as soon as they were tall enough. I remember being a bit anxious the first time my son rode space mountain when he was 5. He looked so little! When the ride ended he had a huge grin and wanted to ride it again immediately.

 

[Heidi K]

My four year old was scared at Haunted Mansion and claims to still have nightmares about it. She also disliked Tower of Terror and Expedition Everest, although she bounced back quickly. Dinosaur and Big Thunder Mountain were closed when we went and we skipped Space Mountain--I didn't like the single file configuration. She liked everything else with a height requirement (well, she hated the indoor part of Test Track but LOVED the outdoor part!).

 

[robl45]

I would say none. My kids road everything they were tall enough for. My kids would never go on the barnstormer, they felt it was a baby coaster. We got around some of the scaredness by not telling them ahead of time. Tower of terror we just took them on. My son doesn't like it because the lightning freaks him out but the ride doesn't bother him. Rock and roller coaster I was very worried about, but afterwards he told me its slower than space mountain and we rode two more times. He was 6 at the time. Dinosaur scares my daughter a bit, but she rides it every time with us and the pictures are precious.

 

[Amelia :)]

Depends on your kid. I wouldn't avoid anything they are willing to go on.

 

[LilyWDW]

Totally depends on the kid. Age means nothing I have learned lol. I have seen kids on Dinosaur and Tower of Terror laughing through the whole thing. I have seen kids freak out at the dolls in It's A Small World. My now 4 year old nephew is more of a daredevil then his 6 year old brother.

So no one here can tell you about YOUR kids.

 

[Aliceacc]

Right, I agree that each kid is an individual.

But I can absolutely see the point behind this thread.

The OP now has an idea of which videos to pull up on youtube with his/her kids... as opposed to ALL of WDW

 

[Karin1984]

I agree with Klayfish, some rides look scarier than they are and the other way around, or the name can be terrifying. To me rides are like food, you have to try it to judge what you think. If you don't like it, you don't to do it again. Children need to learn to try new things.

 

[LilyWDW]

It's not perfect (some have been deleted on youtube and I have not had a chance to update it in awhile), but here is a playlist of many of the WDW attractions.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL43ewXaKGNSFyyz4oZnmqG5aweCqkdcQl

 

[NYCgrrl]

My DGD is a stone cold thrillist. I recall taking her to Great Adventure when she was 7 y/o and the pouting as she wasn't allowed (height restrictions) on Bizzaro. This from a young lady of 12 years who still, still, I say refuses to watch the Wizard of Oz since the Wicked Witch of the West scares her.

Every child is different so embrace the thought, test and accept their personal wants.

 

[TulipMom]

On our last trip our (very tall) kids were 3 & 5. Our 5-year-old rode everything except for RnR and ToT. Dinosaur was the only thing that scared him, but he just closed his eyes and it wasn't a big deal. He also didn't want to repeat Space Mountain during that week. He's still mad at us for making him skip ToT. We're going in 2.5 months and they'll be 5 & 7. Our 7yo will ride everything. Our 5yo isn't tall enough for RnR, but will do everything else except for Dinosaur.

Some great advice that we got before our last trip is that your kids will probably like what you like. So, if your family loves rollercoasters, doesn't get motion sick in simulators, etc., then your kids will probably love all of it, too.

Another tip is to watch the point of view videos on YouTube with your kids. Our 7 yo likes to know what's going to happen next (in all areas of life) so that helped him just enjoy the rides while we were there.

 

[julieFitz]

I agree with the above poster who mentioned small lights. The first time we went my DS was 5 and didn't like that a lot of the rides are dark - at least during some part of it so we gave him glow sticks and then he was ok and would try more rides.

 

[lovethattink]

My youngest is 13, but when he was young, he was really afraid of thunder and we had to avoid many rides we never would have thought about.

 

[Tonberry]

It's different for everyone's kids.
My DD8 at the time, could not get enough of the Rockin Rollercoaster and Space Mountain! It all she talked about all trip. Yet she hated Tower of Terror and promised me that she'd never go on again.
Likewise, my DS4 at the time thought 7DMT was the greatest thing in the world!
You never know until you try.