Haunted Mansion Question

[yankspy]

I got my son familar with everything before he went on. I let him listen to the ride thru quite a few times. It got to the point where it became a favorite of his. I also showed him the ride-thru online. By the time we actually went on vacation and got on the ride he was quite comfortable with it. He was two the last time we went and he loves that ride.

 

[onelivelygirl]

Just got back and I rode HM with a 2 1/2 yr. old. The worst part is the Stretching Room and the scream before you even get on the ride. The recorded scream isn't very scary. The problem arises if anyone in the room decides to add their own soundtrack and begins screaming along. Little ones can be terrified. I asked the little boy we were with to look for all of the animals in the ride and we tried to make the noises of that animal. There are several ravens and cats and dogs. This made the ride a bit less scary. Just prepare the child for the stretching room and you should be ok.

 

[EvilQueen-T]

i found it helpful if they're old enough to watch scooby doo compare it to that. it gives them a frame of reference for something that's spooky but not going to hurt them kind of thing.

 

[mep517]

As a kid, the scariest part was the "Hurry baaack" at the very end. Freaked me out! I've shown my DD (age 6) ride thru videos of HM. You can't see much, but you can hear it and it's taken a lot of the "unknown" factor out for her.

 

[Spike-in-Berlin]

I rode the HM the first time at the age of 8 and I loved it and I am quite sure at 6 the experience wouldn't have been much different because I was even a little disappointed of the ride being so tame. But I have to admit that I loved everything with ghosts, haunts, spectres and haunted houses from my early childhood on so I am not a good example, there could be some scenes that are at least a bit scary for some small children. The by far scariest scene however was the skeleton bride in the attic in the 80ies and early nineties version which was replaced unfortunately (from my POV) and the new isn't even remotely scary so that should be no problem. Other at least remotely scaring scenes for children include the coffin scene in the conservatory and the corridor of doors.
But a kid that loves thrill rides should be tough enough for that.

 

[Spike-in-Berlin]

As a kid, the scariest part was the "Hurry baaack" at the very end. Freaked me out! I've shown my DD (age 6) ride thru videos of HM. You can't see much, but you can hear it and it's taken a lot of the "unknown" factor out for her.

That's Little Leota, yep she's is really a little creepy.

 

[slappy magoo]

i found it helpful if they're old enough to watch scooby doo compare it to that. it gives them a frame of reference for something that's spooky but not going to hurt them kind of thing.

Not a bad idea, anything that deals with ghosts or monsters but is "kid friendly" that you can see at home might be good prep for it. This old school Mickey/Goofy/Donald toon might also help prepare for the idea that ghosts like to be scary, but they can't really hurt you...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8AsnsHvp594

 

[OldYeller]

Two years ago, when my little guy was 4, he didn't make it into the stretch room. He yelled "too dark, too dark" at the top of his lungs and bolted for the exit.

We got him on it last year, when he was 5, and he loved it, realizing that its fun scary, not scary scary. Prior to our trip, we watched the youtube video of the ride, which was helpful. We rode it during daylight hours which seemed to help a lot. It doesn't seem as spooky walking up to it in daylight.

We also bribed him to go on it with a pin(ie. if you give it a shot and do a good job, you can pick out a haunted mansion pin). Kind of like a little badge of courage. I know it sounds awful but it worked. Only problem was, after that, the kid tried to talk me into getting him a pin to document his bravery after every ride, even freaking Pooh.