Originally Posted By crazyformickey <I will warn that if your kid grows up to be a teen or young adult, goes to a park with his thrill seeking peers, and chicken out on the rides, that could be a recipe for disaster.> I usually let most things I read on here go but I do not agree with this statement. So we should make our children go on rides they are not ready for just so they won't get picked on when they are older?? As a mother of 2 children the first thing I have taught my kids is to do things that they want to do and not to do things because of peer pressure. I think let kids be kids not all young adults will want to ride thrill rides and thats ok.
Originally Posted By NikkiLOVESMickey <<Let’s say two people go to a theme park. One person has there heart set on going on a thrill ride. The other person is scared to go on. One of three main possibilities would happen. 1. They both go on the ride. The one who is into thrill rides loves it, and the scared one does not like it. 2. Neither person rides the ride, and the person who was looking forward to the ride is bummed that he/she missed out on the ride. 3. They both ride the ride, and they both end up liking it. Number 3 is the only truly good outcome. If they ride the ride, they have a chance of getting the ideal number 3. But if they don’t ride the ride, then for sure they won’t get a number 3!>> How about Number 4 - person who wants to ride the ride goes on it alone, and the person who doesn't want to ride takes a rest and enjoys a beverage, a snack, or both. I've pulled a number 4 plenty of times with my mom, and neither of us are any worse for the wear. <<I am not a teenager.>> So you're at least 20, but probably not much older.
Originally Posted By Coachbagfanatic1 <<Now that I think about, I think this kind of thing should be decided on a case by case basis. If you know your kid will hate the ride, don’t force them on. If you think your kid might like the ride if they were to give if a try, then it might worth convening the kid to ride.>> Schoolsinger, I am glad you realized what everyone was saying.
Originally Posted By schoolsinger I do think that it can be a bad idea to drag a scared kid on a ride in some circumstances. But I am in disagreement with the ones who say that one should NEVER EVER to pressure ANYONE to ride a ride they have I fear of under ANY circumstances. What I am trying to say is that SOMETIMES (not always), pressuring a scared person on a ride can end up working for the good, like with the case of my younger sister.
Originally Posted By NikkiLOVESMickey There should be no "pressure" involved. Either someone wants to ride a ride or they don't. No one should be twisting anyone's arm to experience a ride. I just don't see what the big deal is - is someone going to die if they don't get to go on a ride? I skipped Splash Mountain on a couple of trips because people didn't want to ride, and I can't say my life has been adversely affected by it in any way. Trying to get someone to ride a ride they don't want to because you want to is selfish.
Originally Posted By NikkiLOVESMickey BTW, I'm not saying that sometimes it can't turn out well and that someone will love a ride they were reluctant to ride, but I just don't see why someone should be "pressured" into riding something they don't want to. When we first took my niece to WDW at age 8, she flatly refused to go on Space Mountain. Now that she's older, there isn't a ride she won't ride (she's been on Mission: Space and loved it, unlike her chicken aunt who can't even walk into the building). You should let people decide to do things at their own pace, not play the "if you don't ride this, other kids won't think you're cool" game.
Originally Posted By schoolsinger If no one was to pressure my younger sister to go on an upside down roller coaster, she might have still been scared of them to this day. Sometimes having people face their fears head on can cause them to permanently overcome them. But if the person does face their fear and overcome it early on, they could potentially still live with that fear for years to come.
Originally Posted By schoolsinger "But if the person does face their fear and overcome it early on, they could potentially still live with that fear for years to come." Should read "But if the person does NOT face their fear and overcome it early on, they could potentially still live with that fear for years to come."
Originally Posted By crazyformickey or scare them so much that they are scared and won't go near it again.
Originally Posted By BlazesOfFire There is a different way of thinking then when you are a kid to a teenager. When a teen, you look at the ride differently. Maybe it wont be as scary, maybe it will. When you are little, everything is big. I do not think that there would be a bigger disaster if a kid chooses not to go on a ride later with his friends when they are a teen. That is so stypid! I should force my child now to conquer a ride so when he is older he wont be embarrassed? Im sorry but that is just stupid. So completely and utterly stupid.
Originally Posted By schoolsinger Let’s say you went a theme park with three kids. They are not little kids, but they just young enough that you would not trust them to be by themselves. You are the only adult, so child swap is not an option. One of the three kids is scared of going on a certain ride. The other two kids were really looking forward to that ride and would be upset if they did not get to ride it. You also have a desire to ride the ride. The question is this. Should the majority all bow down to scared one?
Originally Posted By NikkiLOVESMickey <<Let’s say you went a theme park with three kids. They are not little kids, but they just young enough that you would not trust them to be by themselves. You are the only adult, so child swap is not an option. One of the three kids is scared of going on a certain ride. The other two kids were really looking forward to that ride and would be upset if they did not get to ride it. You also have a desire to ride the ride. The question is this. Should the majority all bow down to scared one?>> Let the two kids go on the ride and stay outside with the scared kid. As the ADULT, your responsibility for the children should weigh out over your desire to go on a ride. As an adult, it should be ok for you to miss out on a ride once in a while. I love Rock n' Roller Coaster and skipped it on my last trip because my nephew was stuck to my side and couldn't handle it. I didn't whine like a baby because I'm 32 years old and realize there are more impotant things in life than going on a ride. Maybe you should think about that, schoolsinger.
Originally Posted By Coachbagfanatic1 <<How about Number 4 - person who wants to ride the ride goes on it alone, and the person who doesn't want to ride takes a rest and enjoys a beverage, a snack, or both.>> This is my husband, always goes on the rides by himself and my son and I sit until he gets off. Once in a while my son will go but not too often. I would love to ride but my stomach is just too weak. Even if I was able to handle the rides, I would sit out because my son does not like to ride.
Originally Posted By NikkiLOVESMickey ^^^^My mother is 77 years old (but she's a spry 77) and won't ride any type of roller coaster or Splash Mountain. If I want to go on those rides I get her a cup of coffee and go on the ride alone, or I just skip the ride until my next trip. Goodness knows that I go to Disney enough that anything I miss on one trip I will catch on the next one.
Originally Posted By schoolsinger >>>Let the two kids go on the ride and stay outside with the scared kid.<<< While that is an interesting answer, I specifically said in my question that the kids were still young enough that you did not trust to be by themselves. This includes the kids that want to ride. While I know that you yourself would willing to miss out on the ride, I want to know if you would be willing upset TWO kids had there heart set on riding a certain ride to please the ONE kid has who has a fear. Does majority rule, or does fear override everything?
Originally Posted By crazyformickey Have the two children ride the ride and the parent stay with the scared child. On my first trip to WDW I think I was 15 or so, my dad, step mother and younger sister wanted to go on space mountain. I was willing to try but my brother was getting scared which made me scared. We both sat out while my dad, step mother and sister rode. It didn't scar me or damage me for life...10 years later second trip now with my own family I got the nerve and went on with my son and husband. I loved it and now it's my favorite ride. I say feel it out if the person is just nervous then I can see trying to get them on, but for fear let them be they may (or may not) decide to try later.
Originally Posted By jodiefra Have you considered buying the "Walt Disney World Guide for Kids by Kids" ? My two boys (6 and 10) thought that was a very cool book because it rated things on their terms, like scary, wet, rough, dark, and fast. That was also useful to assure the youngest one that some things were not scary (like he was afraid of Spaceship Earth because he couldn't see the ride itself, but the book said it wasn't fast or rough so he went and loved it). Sometimes when they won't believe their mom they will believe the book : ) It also has a kids' planning section and a countdown... Just an idea ºoº
Originally Posted By jodiefra I would also throw in a plug for not forcing kids -- I dragged mine on Indiana Jones because I thought he'd love it and he hated it (and me!) for a long time after! This is also the exact reason we try to travel with a larger group when possible. The grandparents, for example, love to sit on the bench eating popcorn with the less brave in the family... Or if you meet up with another family even for one day the adults can split up and ride the thrills without traumatizing the kids...
Originally Posted By schoolsinger Since I got a lot of complaints about my car comment, I think should tell the long version of the car argument use to reduce people’s fears of roller coasters. Keep in mind that I only use this augment with older people, because it will go over the heads of the little ones. It goes something like this. “While thrill rides may look dangerous, they are very safe. Theme parks are not looking to find ways to kill you. Theme parks go through a great effort to keep you safe. There are three main reasons for this. One, they care about your safety. Two, they know that if someone was to get seriously injured, they will most likely sue the park for millions of dollars. Three, if someone dies on a ride, it almost always gets on news, hurts the companies reputation which causes their park attendance to drop. Speaking of the news, if people were dieing on these rides all the time, why would such incidents be news worthy? The reason they get on the news is because it is rare! Because of the reasons I listed, theme parks do almost everything in their power to prevent accidents from happening. They design the rides to be very safe. Not only that, they inspect the rides on a daily basis. When they these daily inspections on roller coasters, they even go as far as to have someone walk the entire track to make sure every inch of track is in tip top shape. Theme parks have an incredible safety record. There are only few major accidents a year at amusement parks nations wide. When you consider that there are over 100 amusement parks in this country and there are millions of people who go to them, that is a darn good safety record. Even most of the few major accidents that do happen are cause by the riders doing something stupid, and not ride malfunctions. The chances dieing on a thrill ride are super slim. You are more likely to be struck by lightning. You are more likely to be injured playing a game of pool than riding a theme park ride. More people have died from slipping and falling in the shower than on theme park rides. The chances of you getting into a major accident on a theme park ride are one out of millions. The chances of you getting into a car accident in your life is 1 out of 4. You are in much more danger riding in a car to the theme park than riding on any rides. So why do risk your life on a daily basis riding in car, but you find it too risky to ride a ride that is over a million times safer once?!â€