Attractions with 3YO

[trixie1822]

Hi everybody,

we are going this year to the world this summer with our son, who will be just 3YO.

We were wondering wich attractions to skip. We have already decided to skip HM, It's tough to be a bug, GMR. But are wondering if maybe we should avoid POTC, Philarmagic too and Kali River (assuming he will have the height to ride this...)

Any advice would be really great !!!

 

[Marthasor]

It really depends on the child. My DS has always been fine in Philharmagic, but to this day (he is now 9) he has not gone on HM or It's tough to be a bug and has no interest. He was always fine on POTC, too. However, at 2 he was terrified of the Winnie the Pooh ride. Unless he has an aversion to water or water rides, Kali should be fine. It's not scary, you just can get really, really wet! I would start with tamer rides, see how he reacts and go from there.

 

[kmb584]

Hi everybody,

we are going this year to the world this summer with our son, who will be just 3YO.

We were wondering wich attractions to skip. We have already decided to skip HM, It's tough to be a bug, GMR. But are wondering if maybe we should avoid POTC, Philarmagic too and Kali River (assuming he will have the height to ride this...)

Any advice would be really great !!!

Every toddler is different and I was that parent that took my daughter on rides that I knew she may not like. Why? Because she'd either never been on it or was on it as an infant and had no memory of it, and she wouldn't know if she didn't like it unless she tried. Philharmagic is one of her favorite attractions, as is HM. She's not too keen on the Alien scene in GMR, but loves the rest of it. PoTC is one of her favorites, and I can't speak for Kali because we've never gone on it (no desire to get soaked).

 

[kmv]

Depends on your child. My oldest DD was tall for her age when she was 3 and every single ride she was old enough for she was on and loving. On the other hand, my younger DD is of average height and didn't like a lot of rides like Barnstormer. Sorry I am not help, but each child is so different it's hard to tell..

 

[IrishNYC]

I would let him go on anything he's tall enough for. I would also not skip Philharmagic. Why are you thinking of skipping it?

 

[han22735]

When our DD was 3 we took her on every ride she was tall enough for and loved them all. I wouldn't skip any...you never know what he may like.

 

[TinkLoverSam]

I'm taking my DS in December. He'll be 2 1/2 and I'm planning to take him on everything he's tall enough for. We may skip the shows now due to fright factors but attention span. Plus I'm not sure he'd wear the 3D glasses.

 

[Mousemommy1]

I wouldn't skip anything that my child is tall enough to go on....

 

[AngiTN]

We took DGD on all the rides she could fit on when she was 3. I wouldn't skip any, unless you hate them of course. Skip what you hate but not because he's there.

 

[ArielSRL]

We have already decided to skip HM, It's tough to be a bug, GMR. But are wondering if maybe we should avoid POTC, Philarmagic too and Kali River

My youngest son was 2 last year at Disney and will be 3 this year. We didn't really skip much. We didn't do Haunted Mansion but that was more bc of my 5 yr old complaining. We didn't do Kali but that's bc we don't really like it. My 2 yr old LOVED POTC! He sings the song to this day!

However, at 2 he was terrified of the Winnie the Pooh ride.

My son as well! It was my then 4 yr old's favorite but my then 2 yr old was so scared. He said he doesn't want to ride this year but I said he needs to ride once. If he doesn't like it, I'll take him on Under the Sea for our other scheduled Pooh rides.

she wouldn't know if she didn't like it unless she tried.

Totally agree. We just try it. Then adjust accordingly. I took my then 4 yr old on 7DMT last year on our first day and he did not enjoy it, so I had to adjust a lot after that. He is willing to try a few more rides this year than he was last year (Haunted Mansion, Test Track) but he's still boycotting the roller coasters. Well except Barnstormer.

 

[Queen of the WDW Scene]

You know your kid better than strangers.
If you don't think he'll do well on a certain ride then don't take him.
Young kids in my family don't seem to have an issue with those attractions you've mentioned.
We make sure they know its all pretend and we have fun on the rides.

 

[mickeymom629]

I would definitely start with "safe"/non-scary rides like Small World, the carousel, Dumbo?, and work your way up, if possible. It can be overwhelming and if you start with something that they don't like, it could be hard to get them on something else.

Many years ago, my niece was 2 and we went to VotLM show in HS and she was scared to death! She didn't want to go anywhere after that.

Some attractions have "scary" parts that, as an adult, you don't think of/notice.

 

[MerMermaid79]

Hi everybody,

we are going this year to the world this summer with our son, who will be just 3YO.

We were wondering wich attractions to skip. We have already decided to skip HM, It's tough to be a bug, GMR. But are wondering if maybe we should avoid POTC, Philarmagic too and Kali River (assuming he will have the height to ride this...)

Any advice would be really great !!!

Our 3 year old went on anything that she was tall enough for.
We skipped Its tough to be a bug because I am not a fan of the creepy crawlies.
She loved POTC and Philharmagic and actually GMR too - actually both the 3 yo and 7 yo loved GMR.
She was unfortunately not tall enough on the day to ride Kali but loved 7DMT - totally depends on the kid. With her she wanted to do anything big brother was doing and that has always been a huge motivator for her.

 

[DisneyMooners2010]

I'm in the you know your kid best camp. Probably because I took my kid to Philharmagic and had to leave with her screaming in terror (3D was too much for her). We watch ride videos on YouTube and try to gauge her reaction. Then we can talk about what she likes and work up her excitement.

One other note- I once read a trip report where a kid was suddenly scared of rides and it seemed to ruin the entire trip. Just remember 3yo is a hard to predict age and be prepared to adjust as you go along. My dd's favorite ride at 1.5 was Pooh. Scared her at 2.5. We had planned to hit it several times but instead rode her new favorites.

 

[SherriA1]

We went last summer when my daughter had just turned 2. She was extremely nervous of new things in general at that age, so we were very strategic about taking her first on the rides that we knew she would have no problem with, and then working our way up gradually. At Magic Kingdom, where we spent most of our time, we did the carousel, then the train ride around the park, then Dumbo, then the inside rides--Pooh and Small World. She absolutely fell in love with Dumbo, and we literally spent almost all of the rest of our time in MK riding Dumbo over and over! One thing to remember with toddlers is that they don't know what's there if they haven't ridden it! So, while my daughter might've enjoyed some of the other MK rides, she loved riding Dumbo over and over, so she had a blast at MK! Also, before we left for our trip, we printed out 4x6 photos online of various rides and used a cheap photo album to make a "book" of what we would be doing that day that we showed her each morning before leaving our hotel. That way she was less stressed about new things because she wasn't surprised by them. My husband and I also took turns riding some rides on our own so we wouldn't miss out on our favorites.

 

[DisneyPiPhi]

It really depends on the child. We took my daughter to WDW when she was two and three. She will ride anything she is tall enough for! It helps to start with really kid-friendly rides (the carousel, Dumbo, iasw, etc.) and work up from there.

When trying to see what our daughter wants to ride, outside rides are easy: stand where you can see the ride and ask, "Would you like to try that?" With rides our daughter cannot see, we describe the ride as accurately as possible and let our daughter choose. We also know our child: we discovered quickly on our first trip that she does not scare easily and likes thrill rides.

What I'm saying is, don't rule anything out. Start with rides you know the child will like, and then present other options. You never know!

 

[trixie1822]

Many thanks !

We often went to Disneyland Paris, so I know that IASW and Dumbo will be ok.

I was wondering about Fantasmic because of the loud music and the 3D glasses... but apparently it is not a necessity to wear those... maybe we will try this and see if he wants to put them in...

Many thank !

 

[PrincessWithABlaster]

Our DS was 3 last year. He is a dare devil when it comes to rides and not so much on 'scary' things. So he was fine on BTMRR but was afraid of POTC. We found out afterwards it was because he was afraid we were going to be hit with a cannonball. I didn't even think to tell him ahead of time that it's pretend. We had a running reminder when our girls were younger that Disney isn't going to do anything to hurt you so that might be helpful. No one in our family had any issues with Philharmagic and my oldest DD was very scared of scary movies for quite a while (cartoon BatB was not possible because of the wolves).

In short I think the previous suggestions of working your way up the intensity scale on each kind of ride (movie, dark ride, rollercoaster) makes a lot of sense if you're not sure what, if anything, scares them.

 

[DisneyMom2000000]

I would look up rides on YouTube and do a little preview. My daughter is 3. She HATES getting wet, and I'm talking, even a SPRINKLE of water is like the end for her. So, we have to avoid certain rides that others wouldn't have to. She's tall enough for a lot of things but not into it yet -- the Barnstormer, for example, is too fast. Every kid is different.


We took her 3 times between the ages of 2.5 and 3.5 and her likes and dislikes changed each time.

 

[disneyvoice]

My son was fine with HM at 3. We told him it was a "silly" ride that is supposed to be "like" a haunted house and pointed out all kinds of funny stuff to him during the ride and he thought it was great. He laughed out loud at It's Tough to Be a Bug. The only ride that has ever bothered him at WDW is Tower of Terror (of, course he was older than 3 when he rode the first time). Kiddo is 15 now and STILL won't ride it!