Haunted Mansion Question

jimmyjam1973

Member
Original Poster
We leave for DW in 10 days and one ride I've never been on was the haunted mansion. As a kid I was scared to death of "haunted/scary" rides so I never rode it. I have a 6 year old girl who LOVES all rides expecially thrill rides (rollercoasters, etc) but she also never been on HM, and don't want to freak her out. Any thoughts?
 

greebomusic

Well-Known Member
As a kid the only part of the ride that ever scared me was the hall of doors. No idea why as it's far less scary than a local Halloween haunted house, but scared me it did. The rest of the ride I never had an issue with.
 

bgraham34

Well-Known Member
As a kid the only thing that scared me was the name, Haunted Mansion. I would not ride it the first trip to Disney when I was 8 i think. You just need to explain its not scary its meant to be silly.
 

Mike&AllisMom

New Member
We just got back yesterday and both of my kids loved it, we rode it multiple times. My son is 9 & my daughter is 7 and they did not find it scary, they compared it to "Scooby Doo scary" if that helps.
 

Hot4Hudgens

Member
It depends on the child. If you say she's into thrill rides and such, a mostly tame-ish haunted house may be no biggie. I've been on with kids as young as 3 and it wasn't a problem.
 

NewfieFan

Well-Known Member
I find the stretching room to be the scarest part for my kids. Keep them close and explain that the ride coming up is not scary. I start pointing things out to my kids as they ride and that takes their mind off the fact they were scared in the first place. My kids are now 7 and 5 and they're both fine on the HM but they have rode it multiple times now. Make sure you take her through the interactive queue, it's fun for the kids and may ease some fears before getting on the ride.
 

NYwdwfan

Well-Known Member
I find the stretching room to be the scarest part for my kids. Keep them close and explain that the ride coming up is not scary. I start pointing things out to my kids as they ride and that takes their mind off the fact they were scared in the first place. My kids are now 7 and 5 and they're both fine on the HM but they have rode it multiple times now. Make sure you take her through the interactive queue, it's fun for the kids and may ease some fears before getting on the ride.

My daughter (7) and I were chatting with a CM as my husband parked the stroller and I told him I thought she'd love the ride...but may be scared of the stretch room. He directed us to go towards the exit - a CM was there lining people up who wanted to skip the stretch room. After a few minutes he led us in through the exit and we boarded the doom buggies as others were disembarking. We then rode through the loading area and continued on through the ride. She had a great time - although the ride did stop 7 times while we were on it and it's a bit hard to be scared of something when you stare at it for 5 minutes. :hammer:
 

ArtieJim

Well-Known Member
Tell her Mickey has her back and nothing will happen to her. Growing up I was always more afraid of the giant splinter in Body Wars than anything else at WDW.
 
When I was little, that ride scared me a lot. I got off sobbing and wouldn't ride it again for three years. The thing that snapped me out of it was that I rode it with my grandfather, and he talked all about how silly the affects were and "look nothing happened to us" and "gosh that looks funny" and "aren't those ghosts silly?". He reassured me that Mickey would never want me to feel afraid in his park, so he made a funny haunted house instead of a scary one. I LOVE that ride now. I just needed someone to tell me that its Disney, and it isn't meant to be scary.
Have you ridden the ride recently? Prepare her. If not, go to youtube, and show her some of what she'll see. The more prepared she is, the better she'll do. Just make sure she knows that its all in good fun. Also keep in mind that the castmembers on this ride often act creepy, so tell her that too.
 

HouCuseChickie

Well-Known Member
what's the stretching room?

It's in the very beginning. It starts out looking like normal paintings/portraits and as the room "stretches" it reveals more silly/creepy images.

Our girls are 2 and 4- both love kiddie thrill rides - but were terrified in HM. They've made us promise to never take them on again. I think this all comes down to the kid. Knowing what scares my kids- I thought they's be scared. I did not want to take them on but DH convinced DD4 to try it.
 

jennc2001

New Member
I find the stretching room to be the scarest part for my kids. Keep them close and explain that the ride coming up is not scary. I start pointing things out to my kids as they ride and that takes their mind off the fact they were scared in the first place. My kids are now 7 and 5 and they're both fine on the HM but they have rode it multiple times now. Make sure you take her through the interactive queue, it's fun for the kids and may ease some fears before getting on the ride.

I agree about the stretching room. My son is 6 and this is the ride he has to ride MANY MANY MANY times while we're there. Every time we're in the stretching room (the room you're in before you actually board the ride) he covers his ears and then happily makes his way to the "doom buggy" when it's time to ride!!! If she's into thrill rides and such, I think she'll be just fine!! I hope y'all have a great time!
 

charmmy

Member
My two year old daughter loved it- I was the one on the edge of my seat, clutching my DH's hand like a fraidy cat (hate scary stuff, haunted houses and iffy on halloween time). Getting off the ride, I was like wow, I was afraid of that? :lol: I would explain the silly aspect, the ghosts are having a fun party, and if she does end up being scared, no big deal, it happens. get a mickey bar, take her on a fun ride after like pan or pooh and she'll probably forget it.
 

The3Webbs

New Member
My 2 year old was scared the first time we went but when we went back in february when he was 3 and understood it was fake he loved it and was making ghost noises although there is still one part that scares me still and it's the part where the bride is she is scary haha.

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Cosmic Commando

Well-Known Member
I agree the stretching room could be tricky. If a kid gets freaked out right at the beginning, it will probably ruin the whole ride for them. We covered my son's ears for the scream at the end of the stretch room spiel because I think that might be something that could set kids off. The last couple times I've whispered to him that there's going to be a scream in a couple seconds and haven't covered his ears.
 

meeskamickey

Active Member
We just got back from DW this past week. My kids are ages 6,5 and 2(as of yesterday). We took all of them on this ride and they all loved it. My 5 year old was scared to go on the ride but we explained what it was all about and that it was actually more funny than scary. She said she would go as long as daddy carried her, which he did. She loved it. My suggestion would be to just describe the ride to her so she can decide if she wants to try it out or not. Have a fun trip!
 

MansionGoer13z

Active Member
I remember my first time going on the Haunted Mansion and the painting of Master Gracy decomposing scared me. That I buried my face in my dad's shoulder and covered my ears. During the time that passed, I think I fell asleep in the stretching room and woke up at the end of the ride. If your daughter loves thrill rides then there should be no problem for her.
 

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