Just wondering how others feel about this... You know how it is with some of the little ones (and some of the bigger little ones) - you get in line and they start in with the "it's scary, I don't wanna go" or something similar.

Examples: my 3 1/2 year old and pirates and haunted mansion. I LOVE these two rides in particular. My 3 year old says "no pirates mommy and no house either." So, being the MEAN Mommy that I am, I make him go anyway. (Okay, I've done it 3 times now.) Last time we got off he says "Wow Mommy, I was so very brave that time." He's stopped covering his eyes...but I can't help but wonder....am I traumatizing him for life? :confused: :eek: :rolleyes:

I should also add that he was afraid of Space Mountain and we made him go by telling him it was Buzz Lightyears Rocket Ride. He was a little unsure....but now says that he loves it...

So....do you MAKE them go?

Personally, no, I don't force them. I have been a lot and I can chill with them and enjoy people watching or {twist my arm} do some shopping.

But, it seems that he has gotten over it, and is fine. That is great!
He has gotten over his fear which is a good thing.

I mostly don't force them because my husband and the others take to teasing them into getting on which totally gets my dander up. So, I tell them to ignore them and do what they feel is best for them. Either way, I will wait there for them. Be it one kid or however many. I will watch kids who aren't even mine {lol, no, not strangers but nieces and nephews}.

I hate teasing and so I go the opposite direction.

{I have not been above trickery, such as Buzz Light Years ride idea, sometimes it works sometimes it doesn't}.

A funny sidebar to this. Even the safe things can be sacry.
When we took our first son to DL for the first time,
he was only about 3 yrs old.
Tried to get the coveted picture with the mouse.
He hid behind us. Wouldn't come out. He just couldn't
deal with a 4 1/2 foot mouse with a 2 foot head.
And at Country Bear, the large talking heads on the
wall scared him too. So watcha gonna do ?
( He hates it when we tell this story :D )

Teasing them and making fun of them is just wrong... but sometimes they do need to be "forced." :D ;)

Example: My son will ride Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, Matterhorn, Thunder Mountain...he begs to go on those...but he's afraid of the drops on Pirates! :eek: But I make him go on it anyway. He always comes out saying how fun it was, but for some reason the next time we go there it's back to the old "No! Not Pirates!" :rolleyes:

My daughter hates it when I tell the story of how she was afraid to go on Storybook Land Canal Boats. She couldn't get over the enormous whale that was going to swallow her. That was about 2 years ago. Now she rides Screamin and Maliboomer with her hands up the entire time. (She got over it when she finally went with Daddy who said "suck it up" and made her go on everything.

I say let them go at their own pace. I'm a prime example.

The two rides I resisted for years because I was scared were Mansion and Space Mountain. Mansion because of the whole ghost thing (I loved Pirates, btw). I kept chickening out. It wasnt until I was about 5 or 6 that I finall went on it. And, of course, it is now my favorite ride in the world. Space Mountain always scared me thanks to WDW. I was very young when we went, and too short to ride it anyway. But I remember that the sign outside showed a SM train on a completely vertical track. Of course, now I know that that is nothing but a sign designed to attract riders, but it stuck in the back of my mind that there was some sort of insane vertical drop in Space, so I refused to go. I was TWELVE when I finally went on it. TWELVE!! But you know what, I am now a coaster freak. I love Magic Moutain and will go on any coaster there no problem.

So I say let 'em wait. Especially if the reason you're thinking of forcing them is because it's one of your favorites. Forget trauma, you'd be running the risk of making them resent the ride! How much would it suck to raise a kid who hates Mansion because you forced them to ride it before they were ready?

I have mixed feelings on the "make them go" issue, only "you" know your child well enough to make the decision, I have "made" my nephews go on things like IASW and the dark rides in Fantsyland because I wanted them to be able to say they had ridden every thing in the park, (coasters were NOT an issue, they love them) I never make Brandy go on anything she doesn't want to, I respect the fact that she needs to feel a bit of control in her life since there is so little that she can actually make the 'final' choice about. I have been on rides where parents MADE the child ride and they screamed hysterically and basically ruined the ride for others and then at the exit the parents were scolding their child for being afraid, I personally think that is so wrong. If you are fairly sure that once your child experiences a ride like pirates or HM that they well enjoy it then a bit of trickery or even a "mommy moment" of you ride it once and if you hate it you never have to ride again isn't over the top, depending on the age of the child and as long as you respect the choice made after the ride, if your child hates the ride is terrified to the point of hysteria and tears then you are not doing them or yourself any favors. Oh and ITA with NOT teasing because they don't want to ride something, I NEVER ride teacups because I always turn this lovely shade of green and the rest of my day is impacted by that motion sickness. I get teased frequently because of course that is a "kiddie" ride and I refuse to ride.....

Well, I wouldn't force a kid. That's just seems wrong. I can't stand it when you go into It's Tough to Be a Bug...and there are signs and disclaimers everywhere about it being too scary for young children. Yet, here are these parents dragging their screaming kids into there...and then the kid SCREAMS through the whole thing. Not only is it traumatizing to the kid, it's rude to the other people sitting there. I mean, where are these people's common sense?

I have a daughter who loves roller coasters and fast rides. Yet, you show her a rubber snake or spider and she absolutley goes bonkers. Her sisters are so mean...when ever we get on or off The Jungle Cruise, they always grab a snake at the vending stand and try to scare the snot out of her. It takes an hour to calm her down...and it ruins that hour for the rest of us. Now, luckily she is old enough to tell them to stop it...but she still hates it.

I wouldn't force my kid. Why don't you go on the ride with one child, and leave the one that is scared with Daddy? That is what we always did. Then when they were old enough to go on because they wern't scared, we all went on together. While my kids wer little, we unfortunately had to split up a lot to accomodate them. It was a pain...but we did it. Doing that won't be forever, just now while he is young. Time will change all of that.

I just use the "leash" and tie my kid up to the nearest fence with a sign that says "Daddy's on a ride I was a scared to go on"...:D j/k
Actually I enjoy waiting outside with my daughter while everyone else is on the rides.
This is the best time to sneak the Churro/Ice Cream. Also I really enjoy the time spent watching her look at everything around there and the people. To see DL thru her eyes again just brings back the magic....
So no I don't "force" my child on any rides she doesn't feel comfortable going on.

My perspective may change once I actually have children, but for now I don't think I'll make my kids go on any rides they don't want to do. I see nothing wrong with a little gentle prodding, the same way I encourage skittish adults to go on certain rides, but if they'd don't want to do it then there's no sense forcing the issue. The reason is because I've seen too many screaming children forced to go on rides with their parents. "We're at Disney World and you WILL have fun!" I don't know if it scars the kids for life, but it sure doesn't look to me like they're having fun. They will have plenty of opportunity to ride the more thrilling/scary/intense rides as they grow up.

I'm not above a little bribery or the just ride it once trick if I'm pretty sure that my child will like the ride once he sees it. I never force them if I know they will hate it and scream the whole way. We talked the six year old into Indiana Jones in December and he was pretty nervous, I was pretty sure he would love it and he did. He never would try Space Mountain though and I didn't push it. I want the kids to have fun and will push them a little to try new things but if they don't want to and I'm not pretty sure they will like it we just do the parent swap.

I think it depends upon the child. Only you know your child well enough to determine how they will respond to a ride they were 'forced' on. My son, 4, we encourage (strongly :D ) to go on all of the rides because his fear level is pretty high and his personality is very easygoing. We called Space Mountain the Buzz Lightyear ride and that got him on it and now he loves it. He's been riding Matterhorn since he was 2 1/2 (yes, we are one of those parents) and has loved it from the beginning. After his first experience on Soarin', he refused to go on it again no matter how much begging we did. Since he's ridden it once and knows what it is about I'm not going to force him on it again but I will continute to ask and one of these days he will surprise me by saying yes.
My daughter, 2, we would never force to go on a ride. She is too high strung and tempermental. Even if Matterhorn didn't have the minimum height requirement now we wouldn't have put her on that ride because it's not in her comfort zone.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that each child is different and will respond to being forced on a ride in their own way and only you know how it will affect your child in the end.

I guess I'll just back up what everyone else is generally saying:

--You know your child best, and how far to go in encouraging "stretching opportunities".
--Some children need a little "push"
--Some experiences are best left until the child makes the initiative.

We struggle with this issue every time we go to DLR. My youngest is five and without our "encouragement," would not even sit on a carousel horse (or seahorse). I feel like an abusive mother dragging her on the platform and strapping her on with her crying and begging to get off. But I know my child--as soon as the ride begins and she is reassured, she loves it.

Now, I've not strapped her screaming onto Indy even though I she is unusually tall and would meet the requirement. I accept the fact she is a (hyper)sensitive girl and may never go on any eticket rides. But I draw the line at the carousel!! :rolleyes:

Wow, justagrrl, how big is your 3 year old that he can go Space mountain??!!! Then again my 3 year old is pretty shrimpy... As for forcing him on the rides, I don't. Even if it means not going on any of the rides we love that day. I took him on PotC once, he hid his head the whole time. Maybe next time we'll try it again. And I don't think the actual Mansion ride will scare him, but I'm pretty sure the elevator ( the lights out, hanging man, "there's always my way", screaming) will.

Originally posted by SoCalSnowWhite
Wow, justagrrl, how big is your 3 year old that he can go Space mountain??!!! Then again my 3 year old is pretty shrimpy...

He'll be 4 in August...and he's over the 40" mark by a little bit. When we first got the passes in Jan. he didn't meet the 40" mark by a little bit. Within a few weeks he was right there. I was so surprised!

As I recall, I was well into my teens before I rode HM or Pirates, and about a year after that before Space Mountain. And the closest I've EVER come to riding Autopia was when I was still too short to ride alone, and I got about halfway through the queue before changing my mind.

Of course, there are a few at DCA that I haven't ridden because the weather wasn't quite right (i.e., a break in the rain on a wet, but not especially cold or windy, day, for GRR).

I'd probably be disinclined to put a kid on a ride he or she was disinclined to ride, especially if there was something about the ride that "got the kid where he/she lives."

One observation about Soarin': I'm more than a little afraid of falling from a great height, but not of the height itself. For example, when I worked at the late, lamented, Costa Mesa Ice Chalet, I worked on the roof, around the cooling tower and the storm drains, with some regularity, but you never would have found me up on the big ladder, or a scissor-lift, changing lightbulbs over the ice, and likewise, I rarely ventured out where, if the roof didn't support my weight, I'd have had nothing to break my fall. Or on the roof of my home, I'm fine if I'm tied off, but terrified if not. Thus, Soarin' doesn't bother me, because it's rather obvious that the seatbelt alone could support my weight.

No ride presure at all from this dizdad. Maybe some encouragement, after that I skip it, then next time they usually want to do it.

Originally posted by hbquikcomjamesl
One observation about Soarin': I'm more than a little afraid of falling from a great height, but not of the height itself.

(taking this a bit off-topic)
Oh man can I relate to this. Just looking at a photo of someone standing on the edge of a cliff makes my wrists hurt from some sort of anxiety or something...it's wierd. I can be high up - no problem...but if there's a chance I could fall then I feel this odd sensation... There was one movie my dh rented about cliffs or something...cliffhanger?...I dunno...I couldn't even bear to be in the same room let alone watch it. Just glancing over to see someone hanging on by there fingertips makes my palms sweaty. So...you're not the only one...and you're right...it has less to do with heights and more to do with the chance of falling.

I missed this thread last week, so I'm going to reply now...

First off, my 3 y/o is big enough for many of the coasters now, too! He loves Thunder Mountain, but if he had said no, I wouldn't push him to go on it. BTW, he's a giant. He could pass for 4 1/2 or 5.

For awhile, Matthew didn't like Pirates and we didn't push it. Then, when a friend of his wanted to ride it, he tried it and now he likes it again.

I'm a big believer in knowing your own kid on any issue. I totally agree with LisaP-- I've known kids who cried and then got on rides and loved the rides. Matthew has been like that at times, too. I also know kids who say no and mean NO.

The most important thing for me is that I do not tease him, lie to him, or call him names to get him to go on rides. I do not say something's "not scary". Some things that are not scary to me will be to him. I tell him that nothing will hurt him because that is true. I don't say that it's make believe or pretend because that's not a concept that he has a full grasp of at 3. I tell him that we'll be there on the ride with him if he gets scared.

Adrienne K

My dh and I love DL so much that our children basically have to go on the rides because that's the way it is. That being said, with the exception of Pirates, my dd who is 3.5 loves all the rides, even space mtn. She is afraid of the 'drops' in pirates. I do make her go on the ride and she sits in my lap, every time we go on it she tells me how much fun it was when it's over. It's the drops that make her nervous. Lately she's been saying it's her favorite ride (that changes all the time).

My children have never cried or protested so much that I had to really talk them into a ride. We talk up DL so much they are salivating to get into the park. I have my 2 year old now, and he seemed frightened at first of the Fantasyland rides, then he was fine. He never protested in line, but he did seems afraid. He's funny on Pirates because he gives me a death grip then he's fine.
He may turn out to be the one who cries and then I guess I wouldn't force him to go on the ride.

I do not think you are traumatizing your child for life. The rides last a few minutes and you have their entire childhood to cover those minutes :D . But seriously, I was terrified of Pirates as a child and I am just fine now.