Just how SCARY is it?

[vald1977]

We are leaving on Friday (CAN'T WAIT! ) and I have a question about some rides at wdw. We have a two year old ds who is generally not very fearful. He's not scared of the dark, Halloween masks, etc. I have read enough on these boards to know that I should avoid ITTBAB. But just how scary are the following rides for your toddlers?
1. Haunted Mansion (MK)
2. Universe of Energy (Epcot) -- DS loves Dinosaurs
3. The Great Movie ride (MGM)
4. Pirates of the Carribean (MK)
Other than the height restricted rides, are there any others I should watch out for? DS has never been to a theme park and I am just trying not to traumatize him! Thanks for any help.

 

[mickeyminnie]

we told her it was Mickey Mouse magic and not to be afraid. She really loved them, the haunted mansion turned out to be a favorite, the ghosts are actually pretty friendly. I think the build up is scary than the actual ride, if you act all cool and like it is okay then the kids will be fine

Each kid is different and you know best, but try and take it slow in any case, don't rush right into the scary ones first. Pirates is really pretty tame. Universe of energy is louder more than scary, esp if you like dinos.

Jane

 

[tkd lisa]

I personally have never done HM, but my DH took my DS there when he was 3 1/2 and he really liked it a lot! DD, who was 5 at the time wouldn't go.

Universe of Energy is pretty dark at the beginning, and there's lots of fake smoke that bothered my kids. There's a relatively long section at the beginning before you get to the dinosaurs that he might not be able to take. Since you're in a moving train, I don't know how you could get out/off if you didn't like it.

Movie Ride. The gangster "jumps into the scene", which startled my kids, but then they thought it was fine.

Pirates didn't seem scary at all to mine. They thought it was cheesy!

Other things to be aware of. My DD FREAKED at Honey I shrunk the audience. She just couldn't handle the things coming towards her from the screen. DS wasn't too crazy about Muppets (in MGM) for the same reason. If your child is sensitive to things "in their face", I'd be a little leery about any of the 3D type attractions.

Have a great trip, and enjoy! You should get plenty of spectacular moments where you just wish you could keep that look on his face forever!

 

[melk]

What you'll have to do is start with other rides to judge his reaction. I would start with something like Peter Pan's flight--it's dark and Capt. Hook is there. Then you'll have a guess at his reaction with other rides. As far as the ones you mentioned, we've never taken the kids on haunted mansion or pirates of caribbean just for fear of a meltdown! Universe of Energy should be okay, but be forewarned, there are parts that may be a little boring for a two-year old. The Great Movie Ride may be a little intense. On the whole it's okay but there is a part from "Alien" that could be scary, as well as the wicked witch from "Wizard of Oz." Unfortunately you just don't know how a child is going to react to anything (my dd was scared in the Winnie the Pooh ride as soon as she heard "heffalumps and woozles"!!) I wish you the best and have a great time (I'm very jealous!).

 

[sha_lyn]

Our DD was 2 1/2 and loved all the rides/shows you mentioned including ITTBAB. What I did was talk to her ahead of time about how it is all make believe and Mickey wouldn't let her get hurt etc. I spoke to her about how sometimes Mickey will turn out hte lights to get the suprises ready. It all seemed to work very well

 

[pwoodham]

If loud noises bother him (which you may not find out until after the fact!), be prepared to cover his ears in PoC when the guns go off. I also second the scare factor of the Alien scene in GMR. My little ones have had two issues in the Haunted Mansion - first, the whole atmosphore can be scary and second, they kinda freaked when they saw the ghost in car with us at the end. You just never know!

 

[vald1977]

Thank you all for answering so quickly! I think we will start small and build up as melk suggests. I also really like the idea of telling him that Mickey is turning out the lights to get the surprises ready. Thanks also for the well wishes. I am so excited I doubt I will sleep for the next four nights. Oh well. At least I might get some rest on the looong car ride down!

 

[Jordan's MOM]

Another thing that I noticed in the 3-d shows was that the kids that were scared were not toddlers but 4or5 year olds. Holding a toddler on you lap to aviod the special effects and not putting the glasses on her, she might be just fine if loud noises don't bother her. I would however be ready to make a quick exit if you need to.

Jordan's mom

 

[cruisnfamily]

What is ITTBAB? Just curious, can't figure it out.

Regarding all of the rides you mentioned, your child will be fine. We've done those many times with our children when they were his age.

Jordan's Mom is right it is the elementary age children who get scared. Our DS(6) used to go on everything (not rollercoasters though) without any concern, now he is scared by things that spin or move quickly or have drops. It's getting so bad that he doesn't want to go anywhere there are rides...can you imagine a 6 year old crying that he doesn't want to go to Disney world? Last time we were there, the one he hated the most was Norway at Epcot...go figure, I think it is a really mellow ride but he didn't like it. He also isn't fond of Buzz Lightyear, he likes the shooting at stuff but hates the spinning and fast motion of the cars. Every time we are in line for something he is crying and asking "does it spin, does it drop, does it go fast?" He is so stressed out over each and every ride beforehand. He usually likes most of them after he does them. We've though of leaving him home with grandma which he says would be fine but it somehow seems cruel to leave your 6 year old home and go to Disney World without him. Rides like pirates of the caribbean and haunted mansion don't bother him at all though.

Every kid is different and you know yours better than we do but my bet is he would do great on all the rides you listed!

 

[sha_lyn]

Sonya

ITTBAB= It's tough to be a Bug

Your 6 yr old sounds like my 10 yr old niece. I have been with her to US/IOA and Wild adventures ( a small amusment park in Ga. similar to Bush Gardens Tampa but on a much smaller scale). It took a lot of bribing but we got her on Jursic Park river adventure and The Hulk. She spent 1/2 the time crying that she was going to die and the other 1/2 laughing about how fun the rides were.

 

[crisi]

My 3 1/2 year old was down in Feburary. We thought he'd do HM - and he got to the doors before he freaked out and then wouldn't let us within yards of the place for the rest of the vacation. We made one big mistake, we tried it as the "last ride" before nap, so he was overtired on top of being scared. Doing it again, I'd do Peter Pan's Flight, Snow Whites Scary Adventures and then bop over to the Haunted Mansion as fast as I could first thing in the morning. (We rode Peter Pan's flight six times during our visit).

He did Universe of Energy just fine (he likes Dinosaurs, too)

He was a little scared of Pirates, sat between Dad and Grandpa - the dip in the dark early on scared him more than the Pirates. But he likes pirates better than dinosaurs - and was told there was a pirate store at the end of the ride.

We didn't do the Great Movie Ride. Started to, but the line got too long and we had to join the rest of the party holding a spot at Playhouse Disney.

 

[BevS97]

Regarding all of the rides you mentioned, your child will be fine. We've done those many times with our children when they were his age.

This line has me a little worried - it's not true that all kids will be fine - it really depends on the kid.

My dd was 3 1/2 last year, and while she is not afraid of speed, or spinning or drops, she is very nervous of scary characters popping out at her - she wouldn't go HM, she won't even walk past it, the building terrifies her. She was quite nervous on Pooh Bear, in the heffalumps and woozles bit, but she coped ok - we didn't even try Snow White, that witch would have freaked her out. She did Pirates last november (age 4) at DLP and enjoyed it, but she wouldn't go near it last may - so even 6 months can make a difference.

I would suggest starting slow and building up - a couple of rides on Its a Small World gave my dd a lot of confidence to try something new.

we didn't take her on Universe of Energy - I'm not sure how she would have coped, and it's a long ride if she was upset - there is no way to get off that I could see.

I also didn't take her on the Great Movie Ride, but I might consider it this year I'll see how she is coping with other things.

ITTBAB - No way is she going in there, or Honey I shrunk the kids- but she didn't mind Muppets 3-D, although she took the glasses off quite a lot.

Bev

 

[tkd lisa]

If it's dark that gets to your child, you can have a small flashlight that he can use. Just be sure to tell him to point it down to the floor. Also check with the CM to be sure it would be allowed. I know we used it on carosel of progress, the Energy dinosaur thing, Living with the Land.

My DD got freaked in Mr. Toad's Wild Ride on an early trip (didn't mention it before, because the ride is gone), and any ride that was dark, she started to get scared. We just let her push on her little flashlight and it helped a whole lot.

 

[Jacksmom99]

My DS will be 3 1/2 in August when we go. Last summer he rode Pooh, Peter Pan, Dumbo, and Goofy's Barnstromer 3 times in a row. I avoided Snow White at the time because I thought it would be too scarey. However, we now own that DVD and he's watched it 100 times. Snow White and Peter Pan are now his favorite movies....he has NOOO interest in Toy Story or any of the newer movies!!! I have never been on Snow White and have no idea what the ride entails. Can anyone tell me what it's like, or describe some of the scarier moments to me? My mother in law really wants to take him on the ride and "just see how he does", but I don't want to freak him out and ruin him for any other rides.
Thanks for any info.

 

[Chance's Mom]

I agree with Jordan's mom! My DS went on most of the rides mentioned through age 3 without incident. The last trip, he was 5 and we joked that we weren't going to ride anything, just walk around the parks! It seems that, like everything else, kids go through different stages about what they are afraid of. He loved ITTBAB, but refused to go on Winnie the Pooh because of the huffalumps!

One word of caution---The Snow White ride scared me!

 

[DisTwix]

Hey all -

I went with my best friend's and her kiddies when her middle DD was both 20mo and 3 1/2. When she was 20mo, she was fine on pretty much everything we put her on - HM, Spaceship Earth (she actually fell asleep!!), Maelstrom, etc. However, the trip at 3 1/2 was very different. She had different things that scared her - she didn't like the HM - didn't even like the building - and was nervous on a lot of the rides she was fine on before. She FREAKED in Pirates. The only thing in the Great Movie Ride that got her were the gun shots - just because they were loud and unexpected. She INSISTED on riding ToT @ 3 1/2 (she's tall) because her older sissy was riding and basically dared her to do it. We really tried to talk her out of it, but she was a dog with a bone! Every park, everywhere "When am I gonna ride Tower of Terror???" Relentless. So - we took her on, felt like freakin' criminals the whole time. She was fine with the ride, but when the doors opened and we were getting off, she freaked. I think she thought the ride was starting again, or something. Go figure. She still talks about it though, and about how she will ride it when she is "big" and not be scared.

However, I'd like to add she laughs like a fiend when the witch pops out at her on Snow White. It hits her funny bone for sure. She's a twisted little kid.

 

[Horizons16]

The great movie ride may scare them when the Alien comes out of the Alien scene. Other than that... go for it. Have fun@
~Steve

 

[SheDaisy0088]

Believe it or not my son actually begs us to go on all these rides every time we are at Disney World!! He loves HM!! Although when we get to the part with the screaming he makes me put my hands over his ears!! LOL!!

Now on the Great Movie Ride he loves the Gangster part!! We have even riden in the front a few times and he actually starts taking with the guy that plays the gangster!! Go figure that one!! LOL!!

He loves the Universe of Energy. He actually asks to go on it before any of the other rides. When i act scared he tells me that it is just a ride!! He calls it Ellen's Dream!!

He loves Snow White. We were actually sitting with another man and his daughter. She was freaking out and he reached back and tried to hold her hand and tell her that it wasn't scary!! I don't think she believed him however. She screamed the entire time!!!! I actually felt sorry for her!!

He loves ITTBAB!!! Sees the Tree of Life and heads right for the entrance!!

However, He does not like Honey I shrunk the Audience. I have to agree though!! It freaks me out. I hate snakes and mice!! Ugh!!

Splash Mountain is another one that he doesn't like!! He doesn't even want to try it!! We don't want to push it so we are just going to wait and see if one day he will go on it! I think it actually being able to see the big drop that freaks him out!!

Only you know your child though!! I can tell you all this and it doesn't mean a thing if you child isn't like mine!! He is very outgoing and sociable. Loves trying new things and is not easily frightened!! He is 5 years old and has been going to Disney since he was 3 and a half!! So he is pretty used to it!! We also live in Florida so we are there quite often!!

 

[vald1977]

Hi everyone,
We just got back yesterday and I thought I would write a quick line to let you all know how we did. DS actually ended up going on everything, including Snow White and all the rides I asked about and he liked them all. We did skip Universe of Energy because of the length of it. The only thing that scared him was Honey I Shrunk the Audience. I think he was more afraid of the people screaming than anything else. He also kept looking for the mice, even when we were out of the theater. He kept looking down at the ground and he would say "where's the mouse?". Because of this, we didn't bring him on ITTBAB. To be honest, I didn't mind sitting out with him on this one because it sounded kind of gross. Everything went great, better than I had hoped. Now we will have to see if he stays this brave because we plan to go back when he is four.

 

[elemusing]

My DS LOVED everyone of those that you asked about. But beware of the 3D movies. He is terrified of Honey I Shrunk TA. He thought we were REALLY shrinking. We are going to try ITTBAB this year next week. I will sit him in my lap, though cause of the seats that poke you and can feel like "real" bugs.

Angie