Newbie questions: Fantasmic & Star Wars, Garden Grill Breakfast, "Scary" rides

Hi all! I’ve been reading here for a couple of months so first - thank you all for so much helpful information. DH, DD5 and I are going to the World 46 days! DH has been before, but 1st trip for DD and I.

Hoping you can help me with a few questions?

  1. Fantasmic/Star Wars fireworks. We have the Fantasmic dining pkg. There’s one showing of Fantasmic at 7:30 with the Star Wars fireworks at 8 pm. I read somewhere that you could use the second exit at Fantasmic and possibly catch the end of the fireworks. Just wondering whether anyone has done this? If so, was there much of a view of the fireworks? Or would it make more sense to just choose one or the other. We will only be at HS the one evening.

  2. Garden Grill. I have seen this question asked elsewhere but not found an answer. Can anyone confirm whether they have regular pancake syrup as well as the chocolate? Considering a pre-RD breakfast as our potential plan is to RD Soarin’, but the syrup could make a difference lol.

  3. DD is a carousel, mild ride kind of girl. So we won’t be attempting anything with bugs, Tower of Terror, Dinosaur if it was open, etc. Hoping she might enjoy Soarin’, Barnstormer, 7DMT, Splash Mountain, Fantasmic, Kali River Rapids. Does anyone with a timid child have some experience with those you could share?

I’m 90% certain we got regular syrup at GG for breakfast. The chocolate is a Nutella syrup IIRC, so they have to offer an allergy free alternative for those with nut allergies. We enjoyed the breakfast quite a bit.

Splash Mountain may be my favorite ride in all of WDW, but it is a 50 foot drop which could be rough on her if she is really timid. Now it’s a great ride and if she handles/enjoys the drop and getting wet it might open her up to more thrills, but that one could be a tough call - especially if she’s afraid of heights as well. Barnstormer is a good intro coaster - if she enjoys that then going up to 7DMT and/or Big Thunder would make sense.

We have two little girls who would not enjoy the bigger rides…we find that we enjoy: Pooh, PeterPan, Ariel, Magic Carpets, Jungle Cruise, Safari at AK, Buzz, Toy Story, Dumbo, ect…we still have a blast! :slight_smile:

I think the Fantasmic/Star Wars was easier with the old fireworks. You may see the end of the fireworks but I do not know if you will be able to see any of the projections.

I am concerned about Kali being on your list. The potential for spinning and getting soaked my not be pleasant for your DD.

My DS4 was timid and afraid of all characters and fireworks. We stayed too long at Epcot one night and left with him in the stroller screaming and covering his ears as we ran to the monorail as Fantasmic started. He was too small for most of the larger rides at that time, so I can’t speak to those.

I think your daughter will be good with Soarin, but definitely not Splash. That is a huge drop. maybe Barnstormer if she’s feeling brave. I wouldn’t try 7DMT unless she goes on Barnstormer 1st and loves it. For Kali, it depends on whether she is ok being majorly splashed and getting soaked. In my opinion, there are so many wonderful mild ride options at that age that you don’t need to push it if you’re not sure she’ll like something.

We took our non-timid four year old DS on everything he could go on with his height, and for months after he would talk about how he DID NOT like Tower of Terror, Dinosaur, or Splash. :grin: So we might have traumatized him a bit with those. He loved 7DMT, Big Thunder, Kali, and Soarin, though!

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Don’t forget, you’ll be able to utilize the rider swap for some of the rides your DD doesn’t want to go on. Have a great trip!

Thanks, @Damavs I figured they probably had to have regular syrup too.

I’m glad to hear Soarin’ seems likely to be ok for her. It would be the first ride of our trip, so I’m hoping to start off on a positive note. She watched the video for that and was excited about it. We do plan to ride Barnstormer first as a test for 7DMT. She’s getting braver as she gets older so sometimes if we encourage her a little she will find out she enjoys something she initially is nervous about. Splash isn’t a must do, so we may change the plan on that. Kali would be on the last day of our trip, so we can judge that based on how she has done on other rides and what the temperature is.

You can observe the plummet at Splash while walking by on the way to Big Thunder. I would suggest having her watch a few falls and see if she’s intrigued or scared by the thought of the big drop. Overall it’s a fairly smooth ride with only 1 other mini fall, although it is a dark ride for part of it. Then there’s the anticipation of being pulled up the hill, the fall & the wet so the thrill part is over pretty quickly. But seeing it before committing to the line might help in judging if she can handle it/wants to try…

Kali is a slow spin and the thrill is more the anticipation of “how will the spin turn out and how soaked will I get because of it?” There aren’t too many big falls etc. on it. But know that you will get soaked so either wear moisture wicking clothes that dry fast (my preference), poncho up or ride it as your last thing at AK to avoid ruining your day walking around the park soaked. Nothing worse than jeans on Kali early in the day as they won’t dry…

Personally I would choose one or the other. I would spend most of Fantasmic worrying if we would get to SW and would wind up enjoying neither.

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LOL I can picture myself doing that exact thing…

Getting her to watch Splash and see how she feels about it might be the best idea. Thanks!