Help! Ride fear in 4y.o.

[Highland_Holly]

My sister just called me from their FIRST trip to WDW with their 4 y.o. boy and 7 y.o. girl. This is day 3 and they are miserable! The 4 y.o. is hysterical in any ride line... won't meet characters, etc. He has never been like this at home. We (dh & I ) are seasoned WDW vets and have taken our kids several times and have NEVER encountered this! Mine are all WDW enthusiasts... no fears! Every trip has been fun and magical!

My sis called asking for advice as her dh is becoming impatient. I suggested changing tactics... opt for shows and things that are open-air (skip the rides with him) and maybe split up, each parent with a child. I also suggested slowing the pace... maybe starting tomorrow with a leisurely morning at the pool.

Any other suggestions would be appreciated... tip/tricks for making the dark lines/queues better. I would hate for the remaining 4 days to go like this... I want their trip to end on a magical note!

Thanks!

 

[RogueHabit]

Just to add my $0.02, I think the lesson here is that whilst it may seem great to the parents to 'spring' a surprise trip, it can really backfire on you if you don't 'aclimatise' you young ones prior to their trip.

Our son was 3 when we first took him and our daughter was 13 months. We've been most years since that 1st time with our son and never had a problem.

Lines; well you have to keep them occupied. The Magnadoodle is a great idea, our daughter loved it.

Rides; well as hard as it might be for the parents, you just have to let the young ones set the pace and choose which rides you do.

Boredom; never had this problem, our little ones are quite adventurous and always found something to interest them.

The question you have to ask yourself is; who is the trip for? The Parent and the kids are just along for the ride, or the family? If the answer is the former then it may be better to not take the kids...

 

[firedog31]

This is just an idea but maybe if they read some of the the rides names off he could pick one that he could identify disney with such as peter pan. Not sure if this makes any sense but by picking a ride with a theme he likes it may make it a little less stressful on him and the family.

Also not sure if the child has any play disney characters bu if he does then maybe try saying soemting to the effect of would you like t go meet them or see where they live meaning the ride.

Again I have no children so i all honesty I have no idea what could work but it sounds good:lookaroun

 

[Theresonly1]

my cousins littlest (just turned 4) is going for the first time in a few weeks, she too is scared of costumed people...I have been working with her showing her pics of all the characters I met at my last visit, and she would ask, "are they nice?" to almost everyone. Of course, I told her yes, and they like meeting kids, now, she is very excited and I think She will be willing to go up to them. I wish I was going to be there to see her reactions.

 

[RogueHabit]

my cousins littlest (just turned 4) is going for the first time in a few weeks, she too is scared of costumed people...I have been working with her showing her pics of all the characters I met at my last visit, and she would ask, "are they nice?" to almost everyone. Of course, I told her yes, and they like meeting kids, now, she is very excited and I think She will be willing to go up to them. I wish I was going to be there to see her reactions.

We tackled this one by making sure that the first charctr we visited with was our sons favorite. After that he was fine with all the characters.

 

[Highland_Holly]

The very first character my nephew met this week was Pooh... a "safe" one right??? Wrong! Pooh was teasing him by not giving back the pen from the autograph, and toussling his hair. Those were the deal killers right there. So, apparently there will be no more character meets for him this week!

Great point, Catch22, about "who is the trip for". I think in this case, my bil is a bit put-out that it is NOT the trip he envisioned. I am sure better planning on the front side of the trip would have helped... and believe me, I offered. ~ sigh ~

Good ideas, Momketeer. I will share when I talk to my sis tonight. The thing that makes me sad about this whole thing is that my bil is so irritated by it all that he is missing the fact that the 7 year old (girl) is having a WONDERFUL time. He needs to focus on that magic a bit, I think!

Holly

 

[smk]

Age 4 is such a great age for many reasons, one being that they are so imaginative at that age. This of course leads them to pretend a lot and it is also a prime age for imaginary friends. Reality and fantasy are the same thing to many 4 years olds, kids are NOT just minuature adults and parents would do well to remember that at all times. WE know that there is a person in the mouse costume , they don't, and it can be very scary and overwhelming to them. They also don't know that their parents have spent a great deal of money and time in providing them a vacation to WDW, so they don't know to be appreciative and adventuresome. If he can slow down a bit and have someone tell him that it is all "pretend" and maybe even spoil the magic and tell him a person is "dressing up" as a mouse to have fun he will be better. If that doesn't work, then sit on a bench and eat ice cream all day and let him relax and be safe. As for rides, if he doesn't want to go don't force him, that will really make him dig in and resist even more. (also not much fun for those around him) I bet he will be okay to go again, he isn't doing this on purpose and he will have fun in WDW one day, just not right now. All that I wrote is easy for me to say, I am not in WDW right now with a scared 4 year old, a happy 7 year old and a grumpy husband....but I have been there. All parents have been in similar situations before and we can all understand.

I hope he gets better and I hope your sister's family can have some fun.