Originally Posted By serendipityaey Our family is traveling to Disneyland in November - we have an almost 5 year old daughter and we've been many times, but she's very cautious and careful and scared of many of the rides, even though she's been on many of them already - she's afraid of Pirates (my favorite!) Peter Pan, all the fantasy land rides, Radiator Springs, Star Tours, Pooh, and hasn't tried any of the rollercoasters (not planning on trying those though I'd love to take her on BTMR) She's also very tall for her age, around 47 inches right now. We are traveling with extended family, and her 5 year old second cousin, who is not afraid of anything and will ride everything she can. We think this might encourage her to try more, and we give her little rewards for trying things as well. She's quiet and well behaved for the most part and has said she wants to at least wait in the lines with us and her cousin to spend time with her. Does anyone have any tips regarding this? Would we be able to do a 'baby' trade this way on any of the rides? Can we easily do 'baby' trades even though she's almost tall enough to ride everything and looks much older then she is? Any thoughts or tips would be much welcomed!
Originally Posted By TMICHAEL Do not, and I repeat as a former attractions host, do not force her on anything she doesn't want to go on. Even if she has been on it before. With her same age, braver cousin going, it will probably give her more courage, so I think you might not have anything to worry about. BUT, nothing pissed me off more than an adult belittling a child because they were afraid to go on.....especially on the Haunted Mansion. Try showing her youtube videos of the attractions and just reason with her that it's all fun make believe. Also, the drops on Pirates are not drops.....which has a negative connotation to kids, but they are SLIDES. All kids love slides. And tell her it's ok and even fun to scream on the slides, don't hold it in. If you make no big deal out of these things, they become less afraid of the unknown. Yes, she may have gone on these rides before, but the child's imagination in making things bigger than they are can cause major anxiety. Like I said, with the other 5 year old leading the way, she may just surprise you and blossom in to a brave little ride-aholic.
Originally Posted By 1disneymom3boys YouTube is a very effective tool. Show her complete ride through videos so she knows what to expect. Many times children fear these rides because they don't know what is beyond the doors.
Originally Posted By RoadTrip <<Do not, and I repeat as a former attractions host, do not force her on anything she doesn't want to go on. Even if she has been on it before.>> Absolutely! A terrified child isn't having fun, their parents aren't having fun, and other guests nearby are having their experience spoiled too.
Originally Posted By amazedncal2 Little glow bracelets or rings that don't detract from the ride can help in the dark rides. If she'll wear a baseball cap or floppy hat my kids would just push the bill down over their face if they didn't want to look. The hat with goofy ears was especially helpful as the ears could also be used over their eyes I'm guessing your DD will prefer a princess crown though A very small stuffed animal to hold on to can work in the same way. TMICHAEL, I LOVE the idea that its a slide in POTC and not a drop
Originally Posted By Kidz-n-k9s <<Would we be able to do a 'baby' trade this way on any of the rides? Can we easily do 'baby' trades even though she's almost tall enough to ride everything and looks much older then she is?>> My son is also very tall for his age, and was tall enough for most rides also at 5, but also not mature enough to want to go. The only rides with baby trade are those that have fast pass (to my knowledge, this might have changed). So when it came to Pirates, one of us would go do something else with him while the others went on the ride. It may be ride specific, but normally you cannot wait in the same line if you are doing baby trade. They give you a pass at the fast pass lane, and you wait outside the line. I tried to wait with my husband/daughter on RSR, and was told I could not as there wasn't a place at the end of the line for me to wait for them and no way to exit. So you can ask, but it may not work that way. I'm with the others - do not force a ride on a kid. My daughter and I were on SM with a mother that had three kids with her, two of which she LIED to about the drop to get them on! They SCREAMED in terror when they realized she lied to them as we went up to the drop, and were terrified for the short part of the ride that was left. The mother said after that she was the worst mother in the world, and I agreed with her. That was horrible and I bet her kids will never trust her again on any ride. Very sad.
Originally Posted By hbquikcomjamesl Hmm. Hadn't really thought about it, but yes, they are slides on Pirates. And Splash Mountain. It's things like ToT that have actual drops. That said, don't force the kid to do anything. And no griping if you get to the front of a 2-hour line, only to have the kid chicken out at the last minute. (As a kid, I changed my mind at the last minute after a long line to ride Autopia, although it wasn't really a "fear" thing so much as a "distaste" thing; I still haven't ridden it, although I rode the equivalent at Knotts a few times.)
Originally Posted By ImTempest With my son, we started out small and worked our way up. We went to the little kids area in California Adventure and rode the caterpillar train, followed by Flik, Ladybug Boogie, and finally Tuck n Roll. As he became comfortable with these rides, his confidence grew. That was the key. After lunch, we moved over to Fantasyland - Dumbo was a perfect start there. And I totally agree with the You Tube Preview idea - brilliant!
Originally Posted By Bellella Any tips for when the parents are so dumb they don't check the refurb schedules before they visit the park? As in- the little kid comes to D-land to find one of his favorite rides closed. He throws a huge screaming fit, and the parents act as immature as he does, i.e. aggressively asking cast members why the ride is closed and blaming them for their child's tantrum.
Originally Posted By CuriousConstance Ugh, Bellella speaking of tantrums you bounce from one thread to the next throwing one whining fit after another. It grows old after awhile.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros I bet that most parents don't check the refurbishment calendar. Unless it's something really big (like last year's Big Thunder closure), Disney makes it very hard to find any information about refurbishments, so I'm not sure it would do much good anyway. The only people who really keep up with those sorts of things are online nerds like us and people who are in the parks on a weekly basis As always, everything is subject to change without notice
Originally Posted By Bellella Ugh, Constance you don't know the meaning of a rhetorical question. And it seems that you enjoy throwing whatever you think I toss right back at me. Talk about growing old after awhile. Seems to me that someone is curious about how many ways she can have whining fits over perfectly valid opinions. I thought that was the whole point of this fan forum- to state how we feel. I certainly didn't think that whenever I'd post on a thread I'd open myself up to online verbal abuse. Oh, how does that feel?
Originally Posted By darcy-becker Back to the original topic, I used the slide logic last week. I was waiting in line for Pirates and there was a dad trying to convince his I think 5 year old that she would be fine. I could tell that she had done Pirates before and he was telling her that they were just small drops. So I told them they weren't drops they were slides. It seemed to work. In an other instance I was getting in line for Haunted Mansion and a mom and her daughter were arguing. They had already gone once and the mom wanted to go again but the daughter didn't. Finally the daughter said very emphatically that the answer was no. I thought, "good for her." They didn't go again.
Originally Posted By Yookeroo "Ugh, Bellella speaking of tantrums you bounce from one thread to the next throwing one whining fit after another. It grows old after awhile." But the comedic value...!!
Originally Posted By RoadTrip The "verbal abuse" in this thread is nothing compared to what I have dealt with here at times. But whatever. Folks here get damned cranky at times and it is better not to respond and just let it die. I found that out far too late. :-(
Originally Posted By Marlin Perkins Anyway.... Have you tried showing some videos of the ride and what takes place inside? It may or may not help, I don't know. But, most people, of all ages, get at least a little anxious when they do something for the first time, or go somewhere new. Even standing at the exit for some of the attractions and watching people laugh and smile when they're finished, might add a positive vibe.
Originally Posted By koolaidmom marlin- that was genius, standing at the exit to see how people liked it!!!! I am gonna try that. We are taking a timid 5 yr old in 39 days.
