Small Children & The Rides (Dark or Otherwise)

[Asylim]

Greetings MiceChat.

My wife and I were just discussing the ride situation and our son. When we go in May he will be about 21 months and we were curious what other parents out there think about some of the rides for that age group.

We are aware of the height restrictions on some of the rides and don't plan on taking him on those to begin with for obvious reasons.

I think my concern is mostly the dark rides and if they would be to scary for that age group. Last thing we want is to give the poor kid nightmares.

So I turn it over to those who have experienced that age group in the resort.

Appreciate the feedback.

[hyperskreem]

Pinnocchio and Snow White are IMO pretty scary for very young children...they are great attractions, but you may want to do a ride thru first, other than that, you are free to roam

[toonaspie]

There's a reason they call it "Snow White's Scary Adventures" after all.

Agreed that you might wanna skip Snow White and Pinocchio. Even Mr. Toad may be questionable if you're child is afraid of going to hell.

[hyperskreem]

LMAO!!! ^^^ "if your child is afraid of going to hell" hee hee

[mickeyfan4ever]

my cuzzion hes 15 moth he likes its small world and he licke peter pan and pirates and tarzan tree house tom soy or island whine the pooh and mickey house the tryain mark twain Dumbo
toy story mid way mania and all the in bugs land

[Mama2Girls82]

I've done Disney with both of my daughters at the toddler stage. I have to say, it totally depends on the kid. My oldest - now eight - is still not sure if she's ready for Haunted Mansion. Snow White terrified her when she was two and we had to work to get her to go on any other rides. We had to stick to open-air rides for the most part. My youngest isn't afraid of anything though. At three, she's counting down 'til she's big enough for Space Mountain, and the idea of singing ghosts thrills her to no end. Only you can guess how much your kiddo will enjoy certain rides. If he's not scared of much (or has an older sibling to try to be like) he'll do just fine. If he gets spooked easily, maybe lay off the creepier dark rides a little, and plan on lots of Storybook Canal Boats and the Disneyland Railroad.

[iheartdzny]

I know when I was little "Snow White Scary Adventure" scared me.
Especially the end when Monstro the whale comes out.

Any other ride that had loud music used to scare me too. Only because my ears were very sensitive to loud noises.

Other than that I was fine

[hyperskreem]

I remember crying all the way thru the haunted mansion when i was 3 years old, then cried because i wasnt tall enough to ride Big Thunder Mountain...go figure lol

[ShelbyH]

It really does depend on the child. My 2-year-old is on the timid side and isn't really a fan of dark places, so he clings to us in extended dark scenes but is fine when there's something to look at. For example, he doesn't like the first two drops of Pirates, but he's fine with the rest of the ride, or he doesn't like the part of DLRR when it's dark in the Grand Canyon diorama, but is fine when the scenes are there (even the dinosaurs). I'd also skip Snow White and Pinocchio as a matter of course, as well as Haunted Mansion with a fearful child. Actually he wasn't a huge fan of the nightmare sequence in Winnie the Pooh either. Really, just depends on the kid.

[sbk1234]

My kids all liked Haunted Mansion as very young toddlers. Never had a problem with any of the dark rides. My daughter was terrified of characters like Mickey Mouse. It truly does, however, depend on the child. If they do get scared by a 2 minute ride, it won't traumatize them, either, so don't sweat it too much. Honestly, I've found that the younger the kids, the less they'll be afraid of things.

[bayouguy]

When she was about the same age as your son, we took our daughter on all the Fantasyland dark rides and Small World and she did fine. Of course she didn't know what was going on but the darkness did not scare her. However, Haunted Mansion and Pirates she reacted with crying. Other things she was afraid of were the characters and the fireworks. But as long as we were there, I feel she was rather enjoying the Disneyland visits.

[ShelbyH]

Oh yeah, the fireworks were NOT a hit with my son when he was about 18 months. We thought he would be all into it, but instead he seemed to think that the sky was exploding and our deaths were imminent. Poor kid. He did much better with the fireworks at his second birthday.

[dfan07]

Take him on Peter Pan first. If that goes over well, then try Alice or Pooh. The Subs, Storybookland, and IASW should be fine.

[Asylim]

Thanks all for the advice.

My wife and I watched a few videos on a number of the rides (I've been to the resort twice and still haven't been on most of the dark rides yet.... I'm so ashamed... ) and have decided to avoid taking him on the dark rides this time.

He'll get to see them in four years when we plan on going again I think.

[neufmouse]

Oh yeah, the fireworks were NOT a hit with my son when he was about 18 months. We thought he would be all into it, but instead he seemed to think that the sky was exploding and our deaths were imminent. Poor kid. He did much better with the fireworks at his second birthday.

My mom has told me about my first Disneyland fireworks - the first one went off and she looked down to see my reaction - I had turned around and started running away! I thought the fire was going to fall down on us and I wasn't going to get burned!

My daughter was fine on Snow White and Pinocchio - but we had watched the you tube videos of the rides many times before going.

The one that surprised me was the carousel. She was terrified! She had been on ours before, but never on the outside horses, and I think Disney's spins a bit faster than ours does here. After that experience I decided to skip Dumbo because I didn't want her freaking out in the air.