Taking my granddaughter on SM?

My youngest granddaughter will be 5 when we go.
We all know that Splash Mountain is a fantastic ride but watching the 50 foot drop from the walkway seems to scare a lot of kids from doing the ride.
Would I be wrong taking her on the ride and not saying anything about the 50 foot drop?
We usually take the train to that side of the park, so she wouldn’t even have to see the drop.
Has anyone ever done this? Will this traumatise the kid?

I think you should tell her, but not as if it might be scary.

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I would probably tell her. I used SM as the test ride when my niece was 5 to decide what level of ride she would tolerate. She loved it and was on RNRRC by the end of the week.

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I would definitely tell her. But can’t you test her on other rides first? Although there is only 1 drop in Splash Mountain, I always hated it (and still do). Although BTM is a roller coaster, I think it’s easier on kids and a good test.

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I would tell her about (and show her) the drop. I also agree with the prior post that BTMRR is a better first “thrill” ride than SplashM.

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We used Youtube a lot in advance of our first trip, since we needed to make FastPasses and I really didn’t want to get them if the kids didn’t want to do a particular ride. Kids liked local log flumes but that drop just looked like too much to them. Four years later and they still aren’t interested, which is fine by me because I’m not either! But if you’re looking for a way to check in advance, Youtube’s not a bad idea. Actually, we just used to for my daughter to check out BTM for our next trip.

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YouTube makes it look less scary. My DD4 was so excited for 7dtmt and SDD. We rode BS first and she was terrified. She no I get wanted to do the other rides.

I tried to dig through my previous posts on this subject. I really need to bookmark it.

I’m a former ride attendant. I can tell you from years of personal experience, do not surprise your child with this drop. The negatives completely outweigh the positives of surprising her. This will potentially wreck your vacation as your child refuses to do any more rides or basically breaks down crying for the next hour or so afterwards.

Maybe it could go well, but you are spending $1,000’s on this trip. Why risk it? She’s five years old. There are, potentially, many more WDW trips in your future. You don’t have to do it all this time.

Take your granddaughter to the attraction and show her the drop. If she’s hesitant, explain that it is perfectly safe and fun even though it “looks scary”. If that doesn’t work move on. There’s always next time.

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In addition to YouTube we also got our kids a children’s guide to Disney - Walt Disney World for Kid’s. It has ride reviews from other children. My younger one tends to avoid thrill rides. We had to plead with him to do Pirates and now it’s his favorite. The mountains are all out of the question for him. Which is fine. I understood it could be that way going in and helped me to plan out a trip where both kids were happy even if it meant we sometimes split up the family.

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Three years ago we took my nephew on the Jurassic Park ride at Universal without telling him about the drop(this was unintentional, I simply didn’t think about it). He refused to go on anymore rides for the last two days of the trip.

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We had a similar experience on Jurassic Park when my oldest was 5. He was ok with the drop but we didn’t know about the dinosaur you go under. He was terrified. He wouldn’t even repeat rides he’d already done and loved.

Well you seem to have the most experience with this subject and most people agree, I will NOT surprise my granddaughter. I will show her youtubes for all the potentially scary rides and try to gently convince her that the ride will be exciting and not scary.
thanks for everyone’s input.

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My oldest loved when he was that age, but my youngest was in tears after we did it this past February (at 4 y/o). I think it totally depends on the child. My oldest is more of a free spirit, while my youngest is definitely more cautious. I had not planned on doing it with him, but he saw it was a “water ride” and insisted. I even made him watch multiple boats go down the big drop and he still wanted to do it. Even though he was a complete puddle after the last, big drop - he enjoyed the rest of the ride leading up to it and I still remind him of how proud I was when he was so brave that day. :slight_smile: He also asked CMs on subsequent rides (e.g., It’s a Small World) if there would be any drops. :woman_shrugging: :upside_down_face:

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In my opinion, I wouldn’t tell her. Parents often prep their kids too much and fear and anxiety builds up. Kids pick up on your cues that it’s scary when they may not experience it that way. Just tell her, “We are here to have a good time, and you can hold my hand anytime.” We had APs to DLR when the kids were very young and they rode all the rides that their height allowed even the dark Fantasyland rides. They loved it because we were experiencing it as a family.

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It sounds as if you have made up your mind but also, when is your trip? The RR is closed now.

May 2020

It will probably be open then. But nobody really knows! When Will Walt Disney World Railroad Reopen? - Disney Tourist Blog

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I hope that she gets to go on the ride. Of course, only if she wants to. We had to skip it during trip when Dgs was 4, due to some mishaps those 2 MK days.

When we finally rode with him now 6 & his sis now 4, it was his fave ride that trip. Dgd 4yr old rode as well, with some trepidation, but she loved it as well.

The majority of the ride is so joyful and fun, that kiddos do love it. The drop is at the end of course, and lasts just a few moments. But each kiddo knows his or her own likes and dislikes.

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We did the Villains After Hours with DS (now 10) in June. He does all the rides at Disney now (and Batman at the local Six Flaggs!). But Space Mountain at Villains is in complete dark with scary music piped in. We rode the Peoplemover so he got a taste of it before we went to the ride. He said he didn’t want to do it, my niece and I spent the next 20 minutes convincing him it would be fun. Halfway through the line, he had a complete panic attack. Of course at that point we weren’t going to make him ride, but the night was ruined. He couldn’t pull it back together to enjoy himself at all and we bailed from the event after only riding the Poeplemover! And this is a kid who knows the rides and generally loves them all.

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