My kids are 10 years apart and on the youngest’s first trip, the oldest didn’t care a bit that the 7yo was riding everything (first ever coaster - RnRC). But DH did so I finally got him on some thrill rides!
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With the FPP system, and many big rides not having day of FPP availability, how do you “play it by ear” with a hesitant little one?
My daughter has done coasters at our local amusement park but was hesitant at Disney. I think not being able to see much of the ride (compared to the park near us where every part of the ride is visible) contributed to her unwillingness to try certain rides. And I hadn’t thought of showing her videos… Our last trip was relatively last minute, so we did not have FPPs. We were only there two days and RD’d each day to minimize waiting but my daughter didn’t warm up to the idea of trying the popular rides (7DMT, SM) until later in the day when lines were really long (and she was too young to still be up late night when lines may die down). Oh wise ones, advise for how to approach FPP plans with younger ones if you’re going to wait and see how it goes? Especially if they don’t warm up to a ride until later in the day?
I’m not sure I would call BTMR mild(compared to EE, but not to barnstromer).
I don’t have kids myself but the thing I hated as a kid was being forced to do something that was supposed to be fun when I hated it and/or was frightened without any sort of explanation(see water rides and wave pools).
My dad took my sister and me to WDW as a single dad. I was 10 and DS was 6 so we were going on everything together. This was when Alien Encounter was a thing and my sister was desperate to ride it(she is fearless). I was terrified and didn’t want to. I talked to my dad and he explained that it was only a ride, nothing bad was going to happen and it was the one thing that my sister absolutely wanted to do. If I said no, none of us could ride it.
This made me feel like I needed to do it and I tried it. I didn’t love it but it wasn’t nearly as bad as I thought. It was my sister’s favorite ride in the park.
My point is, could you do something like what was suggested above and talk it through with him to try it. Explain that if he doesn’t go it will mean you will sit out and not be able to ride these things that you love. If he tries it, you won’t force it a second time, but you would very much appreciate trying it once.
If he insists on sitting out, just sit. No treats, another ride etc.
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Thisis funny. When we went in 2016, my then 6 YO daughter asked me if the animals on Jungle Cruise were real. She said she could swear they were real and when I caved and told her no, she couldn’t believe it. I was thinking to myself “Just wait til we go on Kilamanjaro Safari”.
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Yes, if my daughter ever asks if I love her, I can tell her I braved IASW for her. Twice!!
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I live by Yellowstone & people do fall in the canyon, usually at least once per year, taking selfies.
But their dad is not as afraid as I am, so they hike the rim together and it’s on him. I hike by myself. I know they won’t do anything dumb but I just can’t stand watching.
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Not Yellowstone, but you know at Grand Canyon that glass observation bridge they build that goes out over the canyon? I swear I’ll pass out every time someone shows me a picture of that thing!
When I was a kid, we had a family vacation at the Grand Canyon. At one point, while I was keeping my 20 ft distance away from the edge, two of my older brothers were close to the edge. Then, one of them called out to me. I looked, and watched in horror as he pushed my other brother over the edge! I about died.
Well, it was apparently “all in good fun” because from my vantage point, I couldn’t see that there was another ledge about 5 ft wide a few feet below. A few seconds later, he popped his head up and they both started laughing their heads off at my reaction.
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That is horrible. I’d be scarred for life!
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Very cute! What was her reaction to KS??
My kids were in their tweens when we were on the Liberty Belle, and they “steered” and “docked” it. The next day we were in Cinderella’s castle and they asked the CM if it was real, had they really done that. The CM didn’t miss a beat and assured them they really did! I think to this day they believe it. You just never know what a kid is going to think about WDW.
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We had the same concerns during our last trip. The kids had never tried coasters and I wanted them to ease into it. We started with character meets, and easy classic rides/shows. Barnstormer was the first big ride after lunch on the first day. I had scheduled fast passes for BTMRR and Space later in the day just in case they loved it. I knew I could probably modify to something smaller if they didn’t. Either way, the adults were going to ride!
It turns out they loved EVERYTHING and even the 6yo was delighted to have been tall enough for RnR! Seriously - I had no idea they would be thrill riders! We watched every single POV video on YouTube before we went to help ease some of the 11yo anxiety about the unfamiliar. It worked really well for us!
I don’t think she blinked her eyes the whole time on KS. It is a different kind of ride than JC, but she loved both.
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Missed this before.
Yes. We are 100% upfront with real and fake. I want to be completely honest with my kids. They still love meeting characters and playing along.
We use the same policy of try everything once
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Ummm, I still can’t look at Stitch’s great escape building due to trauma caused from when it was the Extraterrestrial attraction when I was a teen and I’m pushing 40.
Try one ride and see how it goes. Play it by ear. We spent our first visit with DD using a lot of rider swap because she refused to ride anything. She didn’t mind waiting. We saw a lot of characters that year!
I still can’t look at Stitch’s great escape because I went on it when it was Stitch’s great escape…ugh! I was so happy it changed to a Stitch meet and greet when we were there in October. My son loves Stitch and there is no way I would ever have gone on that “ride” again.
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Now, see…that was when it was awesome! People getting eaten alive, blood spatters, etc. But then they converted it to Stitch and well, then it was just silly. Glad it is gone.
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