How do you convince a child to give certain attractions a chance?

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hominamad

New Member
I'm taking my 7 year old son to WDW for his first time in mid-November. In general he likes rides - but mostly he's only been exposed to carnival-type rides. This summer he also rode a fairly sizable wooden roller coaster in a nearby amusement park. Now in preparation for our trip, I've been talking with him about all the different rides and a lot of them he is anxious or nervous about and says he doesn't want to go on them. Haunted Mansion is one example, but I can understand that one at least. But now he's saying he doesn't want to ride Splash Mountain or Big Thunder Mountain. He's been on roller coasters bigger than these before and loved it - and he's been on log flumes, etc as well. He loves Aerosmith (the band) and at first was so excited about Aerosmith (the ride) but now he's having second thoughts about that too.

I'm trying to think about how I can convince him to give some of these rides a shot. It will be very frustrating if we get there and he doesn't want to go on any of the attractions. Based on what he's been on and enjoyed in the past, I know he would love these rides, but he is a bit afraid of the unknown.

One thing I'm trying to do is show him some YouTube POV videos so he can see what the rides are like, but that doesn't work very well for the dark rides. Anyone have any words of wisdom to share on this topic?
 
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NYwdwfan

NYwdwfan

Well-Known Member
Let him observe the rides when he gets there. Seeing people enjoying themselves may help him put aside his fears.

For Haunted Mansion, I would skip the stretch room the first time. It is a lot less scary (and claustrohobic) to just board the ride.

He probably won't be tall enough for RNRC and even if he is - I would advise against. It is intensely fast and there is no way to see what you are getting yourself into beforehand.

I would be honest with him and not try to trick him into riding - my friend had a daughter that kept complaining rides were "baby" rides so she let her ride Tower of Terror. The next day the kid refused to ride Nemo because she was scared of the unknown.
 
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hominamad

New Member
Original Poster
Thanks for the link. He actually is tall enough for RNRC but maybe unless he's begging me to go on it, I will skip that. I definitely won't trick him into riding anything - but there are some rides that kids are afraid of only because they just have no idea what it's like inside. For instance, I know for a fact he won't be scared of Its a Small World, but I could see him being hesitant about trying it.
 
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Pocahontas

Pocahontas

Well-Known Member
First, explain to him what the ride is, what it does, what it looks like. Then show them what the ride looks like. If it's Splash Mountain, show him the riders going down the big hill and say things like "Wow, look how fun that is!" If he still doesn't want to go, tell him that he might really like the ride if he just tried it! If you get him to go on a big ride, tell him how proud you are. That'll make him want to go on more big rides. :)
 
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JohnD

JohnD

Well-Known Member
Here is a great Vimeo Haunted Mansion video that shows the ENTIRE experience. The reason it is an hour is that is lingers on outside scenery for effect both before and after and this guy had to ride it multiple times to capture everything that happens in a single scene. As you ride, you only get a little. For example, you see the entirety of Madame Leota and the singing busts which you only get to see a brief portion when you actually ride.

As for Splash Mountain, tell him it's just like Pirates of the Carribean except for the last drop. He'll miss out on a lot of the audio-animatronic fun. You'll be with him for the last drop anyway.

Don't know what to tell you about Big Thunder. It is a roller coaster but it's outside and you can see where you're going, unlike Space Mountain. I'm not a big fan of roller coasters and I can tolerate this.
 
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Gabe1

Gabe1

Ivory Tower Squabble EST 2011. WINDMILL SURVIVOR
Editorial: This is one of the reasons I took my kids from 2 months and 14 months annually. They liked the rides before they had the fear.

But for the bigger rides with height requirements we gently bribed them. My kids are 5 years apart so it was getting old always having to split and divide our family of 4. Each 1st time biggie attraction we took a picture of them after the ride was over and after we hit up the gift shop. We went into the gift shop for a bonus souvenir for being a first time rider of the attraction. So we bought T Shirts, beach towels, maybe a small toy, something that related to their accomplishment. Maybe a few more souvenirs per trip but so dang worth it.

If they still couldn't muster going on the attraction they knew the next day or next trip the offer was still good but usually they did. It also helps to take a quick tour of the gift shop before entering the queue. : )
 
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Betsyboo

Betsyboo

Well-Known Member
I agree to skip the stretch room at HM. We had to bail at that point. The CMs are always nice about that happening. As for RCNR. I agree. Don't try it.
 
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jlsHouston

jlsHouston

Well-Known Member
gsam4ever said:
Force them...........................................................................................just kidding.
Click to expand...

Ummmm this was my daughter's method...:eek: Fortunately I wasn't around for it but if they met the height requirement they went on the ride....now this summer they were with me without their mom and convinced me to ride TOT for the first time and I yelled at them when we got off the ride! The only ride they both did not like and have only ridden it once at 6 1/2 and 4 1/2 is Space and I love Space...so go figure...

Seriously though, I think in general you just see if they want to try it when you get around the ride and if they are adamant about not wanting to you don't make them...I personally would not make a young child (under 10) ride anything they weren't comfortable with...It kind of depends on the child too I think if your child is prone to fits and high drama I sure wouldn't start forcing anything at WDW and end up with a scene on my handso_O

I think the bribery...I mean reward system is a good method too...especially for the mountain rides at MK, honestly the MK rides all children should do because they will enjoy them.
 
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luv

luv

Well-Known Member
If he doesn't want to ride it, let it go. Wait until he's older. He will want to in a few years.

Pushing and cajoling will just mean that he digs in deeper and is more apprehensive. He'll be ready when he's ready!!
 
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awoogala

awoogala

Well-Known Member
My daughter is still traumatized from her barnstormer attempt 4 years ago! :eek: She still won't go on Splash Mtn. EVER AGAIN (her words)
So it truly depends on the child. At almost 9, she's been talking for 2 months about trying Soarin'. Most days she says she is going to, but every few days she backs out. This is the girl who thinks giant roaches and Tarantulas make great pets, by the way- everyone has their own particular fears!
I would never force a kid, we do our best to honestly describe it, compare it to other rides "it's shorter than the one you went on at the carnival", etc. -even watch you-tube videos to be sure for our timid one. If they back out, we move on. Good luck.
 
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mweier

mweier

Well-Known Member
Build their confidence by starting with what they're familiar with. It's natural to fear the unknown so let him ease into it. Another thing we did was hit the Mall of America park here in MN before going to disney to see what types of rides they were comfortable with. Turned out that ds8 loves everything (esp ee) but ds6 was brave enough to try BTMR and SM but didn't enjoy them as much and wouldn't try a second time. He also was a bit freaked out by HM as it seems scarier than inremembered From when I was last there in the late 80's.
 
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D

DisneyDebNJ

Well-Known Member
HouCuseChickie said:
Would showing him YouTube videos help? We did it to psych up for trips, but I also do it so the kids can see aspects of rides they fear or have never ridden so they can "get" more of it in advance.
Click to expand...
Exactly what we do. Then answer any questions. You can also explain to one of the CMs working on that particular ride, that your son has some reservations and let him/her try to talk to him. We did this on test track when my son was younger. It worked!
 
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coltow

coltow

Well-Known Member
LOL we told my 8yo that RCNR was just a roller coaster in the dark, LUCKILY he loved it

We have tried many tactics to get him on ToT, mostly bribes and he still refuses. He did get up to the door once but when he saw the "cobwebs" he freaked out
 
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hominamad

New Member
Original Poster
I was watching some YouTube videos last night with him. I couldn't believe it but out of all the rides, he's set on going on Space Mountain. I don't know how he can think that and then not want to go on Splash Mountain. He really just has no clue what any of these rides are like. I'm going to start him out slow - was thinking of doing Peter Pan as our first ride of the day.
 
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