Scared kiddo

[sweetmama17]

My 4.5 (will be 5 when we go again) kiddo has developed anxiety over riding new and unknown rides. This was never an issue for our previous trips as he was less than 3 and we used rider swap for all the big rides. Now that he is over 40 inches I'm not sure how to handle rides such as BTM, SDMT and especially the new Star Wars rides (rides that I think he would like but may throw a tantrum if we make him). I think he will still be too short for FoP , RnR and Evererst which I would not make him go on anyway. The 7 year old LOVES all things thrill.

If we all have FP and he throws a fit, will be able to do rider swap? Would we swap before we enter the line or at the ride (since he's tall enough)?

I plan on showing him a bunch of you tube videos of the rides to prepare him but he may even throw a fit for Soarin'.

 

[sponica]

You should be able to do an internal swap if need be, like if you got him through the queue and he freaked out at the last minute.

Personally I would try for that, unless he's a big NOPE from the get go. Technically speaking RS is supposed to be available if a child is unwilling to ride the ride, but I feel like that's a your mileage may vary experience.

 

[Klayfish]

You know your child best and it's a decision you'll have to make on if you want to push the issue. I know many here disagree with me, but I forced our kids to try rides they thought they were scared of at WDW. They were rides that I had a fair degree of confidence they would actually like, and we started "small". For instance, DS12 was afraid of roller coasters when she was 6 or 7. But I was pretty sure she'd like them. So we started with Barnstormer. She was clinging to my arm and in tears when we got on, but those tears turned to laughter by time we got off. Then we moved onto BTMRR (7DMT didn't exist yet). Rinse and repeat. Now she's the biggest coaster lover in our family. Not everything is a success doing that. DS15 didn't like ToT the first time I took him, I think he was also about 6 or 7. Fine, no problem. At least he can say he tried. He now will ride it, but it's not his favorite, as he just doesn't like vertical drop rides as much as other things. Actually, that's kind of like me. I'll do ToT, but it's not my favorite.

 

[KayaWildfire]

You could show if YouTube videos of the rides he is unsure about. There are lots of them and go from the POV of the rider so he can go through the queue and the entire ride to see what it is. Might help.