Rides for a 33 month old (2yrs 9 months)

[vdub19]

Hi guys

Sorry if this has been answered elsewhere but i'm new to the board and was hoping for some advice.

We're taking our first family trip to wdw with our will be just under 3 year old in 2016.

What rides do you think are a must do? And qhat are a definite no-no?

He's currently 9 months old and stands at 30ish inches already (he was 21 inches long/tall when he was born)

Any help/advice would be greatly appreciated

 

[WantToGoNow]

He can ride anything he is tall enough for. My ds went on everything without a height restriction at 6 months. At almost 3 my dd10 was over tall enough for barnstormer. Neither were tall enough for the 40" rides on the trips at 3 but were on the next trip - at 5 Dr rode RnRC. I would not do TTBAB or Stitch.

 

[happymommy]

Same here. At 2 1/2 my DD rode Barnstormer and loved it. She rode pretty much everything except what she was too short for.

By 5, she rode everything.

There is very little that a 2 1/2 year old can't enjoy, but I agree Stitch is just weird and we saw some kids leaving.

Enjoy planning!

 

[leahlefler]

We haven't done WDW with a toddler, but we have done Disneyland. We took my son when he was 35 months old, just shy of three. He had a blast! For a rough idea, he was able to ride Peter Pan, the Autopia cars, Buzz Lightyear, Small World, Dumbo, the carousel, Gadget's Go Coaster (think Barnstormer), Pirates of the Caribbean, and the Jungle Cruise. He loved the Tiki Room. He is a completely fearless kid, and he just loved everything we did!

 

[puffkin]

My DS is very tall and was able to do all the 40" rides on our trip at 2 years 7 months. By age 5 he hit 48" and was able to do pretty much everything at Disney with no issues.

 

[rachael95]

Our DS is 36 inches and was 30 months on our trip. His favorite two rides were Barnstormer (rode so many times, I was getting motion sick but he still wanted to go) and Tomorrowland Speedway.

By the way, the kids get to drive the cars on that. The attendants actually encouraged it. You may want to be prepared. I was not the first time and when my DS yanked hard suddenly, he ended up with a bit of scrape above his eye as we jerked before I figured out how to hold him still. By the time we drove our 3rd or 4th time, he actually was doing really well and not jerking at all.

To me, Barnstormer was the only iffy ride. But that was more because it scared me slightly and since I'm larger and the bar goes down across both of us, I felt I needed to make sure I held DS in tightly.

 

[vdub19]

Thats great guys thanks for your help, going on his current growth spurts we're guessing he may very well be 40" by the time we go (his uncle is 6'8" and his granddads are/were 6'2" & 5'11") so height runs in the family. My only concern was splash as i'm not sure if the drops would be too much but i know he'd enjoy the animatronics and the singing.

 

[ebradley23]

We just took my son at 2 y 9 m. I prepped him prior to our trip by taking him to our local Busch Gardens (VA) with season passes. He had plenty of experience with rides, waiting in lines and meeting characters.

He loved everything he was tall enough for except Maelstrom (the trolls scared him). He was mad we couldn't ride 7DMT more than once. He was barely 38", so he wasn't able to ride ToT. Next year it's on though! I feel confident he'll love it. I was surprised he loved PotC so much. We rode it twice at his request. He also loved Haunted Mansion, but he really has no clue what a ghost is. We just pointed out the funny stuff on both rides.

I highly recommend prepping your child if you are able. Even at a local fair or festival. I truly believe it made our experience better. He knew what to expect and we knew he was going to love Disney. It took the stress out of worrying about his reaction for us.

 

[boogiebeaglemom]

We took my son at a year and again now at 2 and 6 months. At one year old he rode everything he could with height requirements. He loved Winnie the Pooh, dumbo and buzz light year. Buzz was his favorite cause we let him take the gun and shot whatever he wanted. We took him on pirates, at one he didn't know what to be afraid of but we put him between us and he was fine. He also loved the nemo ride at Epcot!!
I think the only other one we didn't do and technically he could was haunted mansion, I just didn't think it was worth it

 

[laura3773]

Just got back with DD who is 27 months and was 37" or so. She rode everything she was tall enough for and loved it all. Barnstormer ("Goofy ride") was a favorite - she rode it like 7 times in a row (didn't even get off the ride because of no line) at MNSSHP plus two or three times every other MK day. We showed her the rides on youtube before we went so she was prepared for everything we did.

 

[Lupeix]

We went when DS was about the same age. He loved dumbo and anything similar (Aladdin, triceratops), it s small world, Winnie the pooh, etc (he was too short for the barnstormer).

He is pretty fearless but Pirates of the Caribbean scared him. He was actually exited to see "pirates", but the drop at the beginning in the dark with smoke did it. Haunted Mansion on the other hand was fine.

You know your kid best, but the dark rides can be scary to a lot of toddlers. Stitch is probably the worse in that sense, although it was a lot worse when it was the alien ride.

What he enjoyed the most was meeting the characters at the meals, we did Crystal Palace and Tusker house and he was beyond himself. Although some small children are afraid of the big costume characters, I will make sure to schedule at least one character meal, it is a more relaxed way for them to meet them.

 

[slzer0]

Subbing. Is there a list somewhere of ride height restrictions? DS is 35“ barefoot and may meet the barnstormer requirement depending on how they measure. DH has been helping him "stand tall" against the wall to measure his height.
I saw stitch and a few other rides mentioned that I didn't realize kiddos so little could ride.

Re: dark rides..
My DD18, back when she was 6,i tool key on pirates first, because it's awesome. She SPAZZED at the first gunshot and couldn't be pried from under the seat screaming bloody murder. Meanwhile, the 3yo in front of us was telling her "it ok, it ok".
Each kid is different.
The entire rest of the day, every ride, she asked me apprehensive if this one would be as scary as pirates.
My advice would be to start out tamer and work your way up.

 

[MSSANDRA]

If he stays on the same growth curve, he may very well be 40 inches by your trip. Thing is, that is 2 year and a ton of personality changes and growth away. MOST rides are for all ages and heights, and while there are some he will love more than others, he can go on all of them. He might be a child that at that age, is afraid of the dark rides, or a child that loves startles and surprises. He might be a child that loves the thrill of flying in Dumbo or heights may terrify him. There may be some of the 40 inch rides that he would love, or the speed and intensity may scare him. IMHO, many are two intense for three year olds and I would choose to avoid most of them, though if he is 40 inches, he would be safe and some kids at three love the thrill. You just have to wait and see where his own special personality is at that point. Many kids begin to experience fears around three when they start to understand danger, so even if he is not ready for the more intense rides at 3, does not mean he will not love them at five! I would start small.....Goofy's coaster (i know it has a new name I can't remember) and see how that goes, then on to the the mine train and on up. I would never put a preschooler on Dinosaur or TOT but again...some do them and love them!!!! Enjoy him as he is right now....and see where he is in two years.

 

[tinkerbesh]

I would also recommend NOT doing Great Movie Ride- many loud gunshots, some fired by the driver of your car. And if you get the cowboy version, hot fire explosions also.

 

[bohemian74]

Subbing. Is there a list somewhere of ride height restrictions? DS is 35“ barefoot and may meet the barnstormer requirement depending on how they measure. DH has been helping him "stand tall" against the wall to measure his height.
I saw stitch and a few other rides mentioned that I didn't realize kiddos so little could ride.

Re: dark rides..
My DD18, back when she was 6,i tool key on pirates first, because it's awesome. She SPAZZED at the first gunshot and couldn't be pried from under the seat screaming bloody murder. Meanwhile, the 3yo in front of us was telling her "it ok, it ok".
Each kid is different.
The entire rest of the day, every ride, she asked me apprehensive if this one would be as scary as pirates.
My advice would be to start out tamer and work your way up.

this cracked me up, I would have been that 6 year old! One thing we realized when we took DD the first time at age 4 is every dark ride pretty much has thunder which would scare her for a second, but she got over it. We did small world first. As we first got started she said "how are we going to get out of here?!?!" and would ask that as every ride got started. As she got the hang of it she was fine. It will be interesting to see how my boys do who will be 2.5 on this trip, hopefully their 7 year old sister showing them the ropes will help.

 

[supertinyluckycat]

My daughter is the same age your son will be when you go and her favorite was Barnstormer! She rode it many times with no wait. The last night of the trip she wanted to ride one last time. For some reason it was packed that night and the wait was 30 minutes...no way would she have waited. I actually went and switched my fast pass for the mine train (90 minute wait or more) so she could go on barnstormer one last time! haha. She's only 36 inches so thats the only ride with a height requirement she could go on. She also really loved small world and haunted mansion. We got a disney songs dvd that had a haunted mansion song on it. I think being familiar with it made her love it. It was such a great age to go! I took her when she was almost 10 months and it was terrible. This time was amazing though!!