(I think this goes in this thread, feel free to move it if it doesn't.)

I'm 20 & I've been going to Disney World since I was 3 & Disneyland (much more frequently) since 2006, & I am very curious about how some parents handle/feel about various things in the parks that I had never really noticed until now. I, myself, don't have access to any parents who do have small children now, & figured this would be the best place to ask around...

music -What prompted me to ask now is that I was doing homework last night when the Tomorrowland "rock" band Reunion did their little set, & one of the songs was John Mayer's Waiting on the World to Change. Now, I love that song & am a big John Mayer fan, but with lyrics like

Now if we had the power
To bring our neighbors home from war
They would have never missed a Christmas
No more ribbons on their door

And when you trust your television
What you get is what you got
‘Cause when they own the information
Oh, they can bend it all they want

it seems a big political for a Disneyland concert. I assume they play it because lots of people know it & the kids seemed to enjoy singing along, but is this the kind of thing that younger kids even understand, or is it just like, a good time for them? &, while my political views lean heavily to the left side, would any of you who are more conservative be offended or concerned about the choice of music? Or am I being overly sensitive?

fear factor-also regarding the Tomorrowland Terrace stage in DL, I love watching the Jedi Training Academy, I think it's adorable. But, if I were 4 (is that the average age? I can't judge kids' ages) & faced with a meticulously-makeup'd Darth Maul, I would probably be terrified & crying, not swinging a toy at him. I mean, I was a pretty nervous kid at times, but has anyone had this experience? Or are they old enough to know it's pretend?

-the "Alien Encounter" ride in WDW's Tomorrowland was terrifying when I went on it at age 10, & I distinctly remember crying the whole time, begging to be let off (& my mom repeating it wasn't real... no good). A poor lapse in judgment. But, when they reopened it with Stich, I figured it would be cute ] & tried it out again at 16. Once again, absolutely terrified. I think a lot of that had to do with the AE memories, but some other little kids in the theater who weren't excited when coming off, were crying... anyone else think it was a little intense for a ride centered around such a popular character?

-Snow White's Scary Adventures is very different in DL than WDW, & even my 16 year old sister found it spooky when she went on it for the first time last year. But, it's in Fantasyland, so obviously it's made for very small children. Do little kids find it frightening, or are they just excited? Like, I wonder if, as older "kids", we're scared because things jumping out of dark places have absorbed other more serious connotations, like being attacked by a criminal.

-Mr. Toad's Wild Ride ends with Mr. Toad going to hell... awkward topic to breach for anyone or are kids pretty oblivious to the implications?


I know I have more, but that's all for now... thanks in advance for any input, I'm just really curious about these things!

Your first assumption here is a common one among people who don't have an understanding of child development: you assume that 1- kids think like adults and 2- Kids are aware of these things the same way adults are.

musicis this the kind of thing that younger kids even understand, or is it just like, a good time for them? &, while my political views lean heavily to the left side, would any of you who are more conservative be offended or concerned about the choice of music? Or am I being overly sensitive?

The kids probably aren't paying attention to the meaning of the words and there's probably a lot of parents who aren't, either.

fear factor-also regarding the Tomorrowland Terrace stage in DL, I love watching the Jedi Training Academy, I think it's adorable. But, if I were 4 (is that the average age? I can't judge kids' ages) & faced with a meticulously-makeup'd Darth Maul, I would probably be terrified & crying, not swinging a toy at him. I mean, I was a pretty nervous kid at times, but has anyone had this experience? Or are they old enough to know it's pretend?

You're underestimating the ages of the kids on that stage. They're not 4. They're 6 to 10. There might be some younger kids up there but the majority of kids in that activity are older. And - they seem to 'know' that they're going to have the PixieDust Magic to be able to defeat Darth Vader and Darth Maul.

anyone else think it was a little intense for a ride centered around such a popular character?

Just because there's a ride at a Disney theme park doesn't mean that it's appropriate for every age level. One great example is It's Tough to Be a Bug. Parents can never assume that just because a ride is at a Disney theme park or features cute Disney characters, that it will be appropriate for all age levels. Good parents know this. Parents who haven't prepared may be caught off guard if Disney doesn't put up enough warnings (sometimes they do, sometimes, IMO, they have been horrible in their behavior, such as when DCA was desperate to attract parents and actually MARKETED ITTBAB to parents of very young children.)

-Snow White's Scary Adventures is very different in DL than WDW, & even my 16 year old sister found it spooky when she went on it for the first time last year. But, it's in Fantasyland, so obviously it's made for very small children. Do little kids find it frightening, or are they just excited? Like, I wonder if, as older "kids", we're scared because things jumping out of dark places have absorbed other more serious connotations, like being attacked by a criminal.

You forgot about Pinocchio's Daring Journey. That's another scary one, too. Some kids get frightened, some kids don't. Depends on the kid. Can't generalize all the time.


-Mr. Toad's Wild Ride ends with Mr. Toad going to hell... awkward topic to breach for anyone or are kids pretty oblivious to the implications?

You're over thinking it. Adults do that a lot with little kids. It's a fairy tale ride and developmentally, young kids will only mostly understand it as a fairy tale concept.

Adrienne

Also, the things that any particular child may find threatening or intimidating are quite subjective, and not necessarily logically consistent with other things they enjoy. Many very young children find cute and cuddly characters very scary, mostly because they are so much larger than they are. My younger daughter would freak out in any dark ride, even if it wasn't moving fast, or the theme was not scary. The same kid loves the POTC movies, which are pretty intense and some of the characters are pretty yucky looking. She likes the ride, also, which is, for the most part, is not nearly as intense as the movies. She is still freaked out, however, by the Haunted Mansion, which is sort of "cute scary," if that makes sense. In short, there is not necessarily any rhyme or reason why a kid may find a ride or attraction scary or great fun.

Your first assumption here is a common one among people who don't have an understanding of child development: you assume that 1- kids think like adults and 2- Kids are aware of these things the same way adults are.

You're right-- I don't have a very good understanding of child development, but I do plan on (hopefully) getting into that class next semester, haha.


Just because there's a ride at a Disney theme park doesn't mean that it's appropriate for every age level. One great example is It's Tough to Be a Bug.

I always wondered why it's in the bug's land section!



thank you VERY much, though!

My six year old high tails it past the Tommorrow land stage if there's a hint the show is about to start, she can't stand being anywhere near the scary/bad guys. She doens't like any of the fantasyland dark rides except Peter Pan and Alice, and she's relaly not even that crazy about Alice. She doesn't like the Matterhorn because of the monster. She loves any roller coaster she's tall enough to ride on as long as there's no monsters.

I don't make her do anything she doesn't want to do, there's plenty of other things to keep her occupied.

music -What prompted me to ask now is that I was doing homework last night when the Tomorrowland "rock" band Reunion did their little set, & one of the songs was John Mayer's Waiting on the World to Change. Now, I love that song & am a big John Mayer fan, but with lyrics like <snipped>
it seems a big political for a Disneyland concert. I assume they play it because lots of people know it & the kids seemed to enjoy singing along, but is this the kind of thing that younger kids even understand, or is it just like, a good time for them? &, while my political views lean heavily to the left side, would any of you who are more conservative be offended or concerned about the choice of music? Or am I being overly sensitive? I doubt they pay attention. It is something *I* don't pay attention to half the time. If you object to the music, post a complaint in City Hall.

fear factor-also regarding the Tomorrowland Terrace stage in DL, I love watching the Jedi Training Academy, I think it's adorable. But, if I were 4 (is that the average age? I can't judge kids' ages) & faced with a meticulously-makeup'd Darth Maul, I would probably be terrified & crying, not swinging a toy at him. I mean, I was a pretty nervous kid at times, but has anyone had this experience? Or are they old enough to know it's pretend? Most are old enough to understand its pretend. Most of the kids are considerably older than 4. My nephew was one of the youngest ones when he did it at age 5. I had other friends children who were closer to the "average" at 7-10yos. One thing I really have noticed though is generally, when they line the kids up to fight the Darths, the younger kids (5-8) fight Vader, while the older (9-12) ones fight Maul.

-Snow White's Scary Adventures is very different in DL than WDW, & even my 16 year old sister found it spooky when she went on it for the first time last year. But, it's in Fantasyland, so obviously it's made for very small children. Do little kids find it frightening, or are they just excited? Like, I wonder if, as older "kids", we're scared because things jumping out of dark places have absorbed other more serious connotations, like being attacked by a criminal. We take 4-7yos with us, and they have never had issues with SWSA. I think adults can "get" scary things easier than kids. Kids think differently than adults.

-Mr. Toad's Wild Ride ends with Mr. Toad going to hell... awkward topic to breach for anyone or are kids pretty oblivious to the implications? See above.

Oh. My. GOD. My DD, almost six years old (I think, maybe it was after she was six- it was in the past year or so and she's coming up on seven), coming off of Autopia and around towards Star Tours, sees there's a show starting! The Jedi Training Academy. Wants to watch, but not go into the theater area, so OK, she's hanging on the railing sort of behind stage left. A bunch of kids are picked and are right in front of us, facing away from us, training, right? This is fun! Then... the music changes, there's some commotion we can't see, and the kids in front of us are commanded to GET DOWN, NOW! And they do. And there's my daughter, face to face with armed stormtroopers across the backs of all the kids who are now down on the ground. My daughter, who is very sensitive, had NOT seen Star Wars, has probably seen some pieces go by on the TV at grandparents, videos of war or bad guys. OMG. Yeah, she knew the stuff earlier was show, but seriously what was to tell her that THIS was part of the show, and not a really serious terrible thing happening? Well, I was there, with her immediately, telling her that, getting her away from it, in tears. And Mickey ice cream sandwiches all around helped enourmously. But, I guess I'm just saying... yeah. That show can be hecka scary.

'Course, I never liked the robbers on the train at Knotts as a kid. Freaked me right out- same thing, you know? How do I, as an 8 year old or whatever I was, know that THESE masked men shooting guns are not as real as the ones on the news?

Lyrics don't bother me (or my DDs) at all (and those, in particular, would not bother me, in particular).

Rides, we let both kids work through what they do and do not feel comfortable riding as they grow. I'm taking my younger DD on Space Mountain next time we go- she'll be four in a couple of months... my older DD? She is not at all wanting to do that. Very different kids.

Sometimes kids are also extremely inconsistent about what will scare them. For the first few months that we went to DL, MOST rides scared my then ds3. He was terrified of Mr. Toad and the carousel, etc. but Haunted Mansion? One of his favorites!!! <shakes head> A LOT of it has to do with the context in which it was introduced. On his first HM ride, my dh convinced him that they were not scary ghosts, but silly ghosts. The ones in the graveyard were not popping up to scare him, they were playing peek-a-boo, lol. This is one of his very favorite rides (with the exception of the end of the elevator, when it goes dark and everyone screams).

I think you've asked some good questions that I wish more parents asked themselves at the park too :cool:. I've seen too many kids come off of rides crying hysterically when anyone who'd opened a guide book would have known that was a bad idea. I've yet to meet a 4 year old who could handle It's Tough to Be a Bug. Not saying it doesn't happen, I've just never seen one. My DS was 4 at the time and loved Jedi Academy... the idea of fighting evil was perfect for him! But the Yeti on Matterhorn freaked him out because he couldn't "do" anything. He cries quietly every time on the HM elevator but then begs to go again because he loves the rest of it.

Moral to the story- you have to know your own kid and have a policy that you will not force them to do things that are inappropriate just so you can go on the ride anyway. I've seen people drag their screaming kids off Space because and yelling about how much they paid for the tickets and they're not missing a thing. That's not fun.

That being said, I made my kid go on several rides he didn't want to go on- because he was nervous. He was begging to go on Indy so we let him and it tainted the whole trip. Everything after that was questioned... even stuff he'd been on a hundred times.

Alien Encounter was the scariest most horrible thing I've ever been on. I had nightmares for months... and I was an adult on my honeymoon when we went.

Alien Encounter was the scariest most horrible thing I've ever been on. I had nightmares for months... and I was an adult on my honeymoon when we went.

I remember insisting I would be just fine on it, that I was so over being scared of things because I could finally go on the Great Movie ride without flipping out during the Alien scene... nope! I am so sorry that you had to experience it on your Honeymoon, too :eek:


But then again, I think I'm really sensitive to scary rides because I really buy into the whole immersing myself in the magic of Disney thing... like, I know how the ball rolling towards the jeep on Indiana Jones works, but every single time, I find myself instinctively ducking, like, just in case this time it's different. It's also why I have to always sit in the front row... I scream too loudly to be behind anyone.

The point about each kid different is soooooo true!! My oldest (now 17) was kiddie rides ONLY until about 9 and HISTA almost killed her (she was seriously TERRIFIED!) when she was 6...wouldn't do a 3-D anything until she was like 12!! She's a senior now and totally loves everything...the scarier the better. Did some truly hair raising ones in Germany and loved them.

However, the youngest....ITTBAB at Animal Kingdom when 2 1/2....thought it was hilarious!! TOT when he was 3 1/2 and again at 5...one of his favorites. He is fearless. Rode Space Mtn 17 times in one trip when he was 3 1/2. (He is 6 now...very tall for his age...almost as tall as his sister!!) He is soooo excited to be tall enough for Screamin'....and he's only 6!! No way would the other kids have thought that was a good idea at that age...but he should be ok judging from past experiences.

I remember going on Space Mtn in 3rd grade and being completely terrified. I was balling and shaking when I got off. Didn't ride another roller coaster until junior high! That same trip my sister (1st grade) almost jumped out of the boats in Storybook when the fireworks started...lol! They completely freaked her out!

My middle son is a bit on the short side and was sort of ok as things came up, but not over the top either way like the other kids. When he was tall enough for something...like Indie...it was a little too much, but not really bad.

So, it totally depends on the kid. The very best advice is to work them up to things gradually and take your cues from them. Lots of kids tolerate things the first time through, the real test is when you ask them if they want to go again :eek: