My 3 YO Nephew Went on Dinosaur! (My Fault)

[neoshinok]

Being the family Disney nut, I offered to book fastpass for my sister who was going to AK with her husband and 3 year old son. I mentioned the child swap option and booked a fastpass for Everest. She told me she remembered getting sick on that ride during her last trip years ago. I said no problem and changed it to Dinosaur, not thinking to reiterate the child swap factor. Having never been on the ride themselves, they take my little nephew who barely met the height requirement, onto what I would consider the most frightening ride on property. She texts me afterward 'Dinosaur was no bueno', I respond 'what?! That ride is awesome!' She replies 'Julian was bawling afterward' and I got this OH NOOOO realization that I may have scarred my nephews perception of Disney forever. I felt so terrible and kept asking if he was OK, she's just like 'well he survived to tell the tale'. I seriously felt guilt thinking of how scared he must have been. Anyways, just needed to share that with someone.

 

[mergatroid]

He's learned a valuable lesson. If scientists ever clone a dinosaur which then escapes, going on the rampage killing people and is in the area Julian lives in, he'll know to stay away

The sleepless nights and years of therapy will all be like water under the bridge if that ever happens and you'll feel completely vindicated, just need to find yourself some mad scientists next

 

[cdndisneygirl9]

My children were 3 and 5 (now 14/16) the first time they rode Dinosaur, they loved it. The picture of us on the ride is hilarious; they are smiling and I look like a deer in the headlights. I think it helped having a dinosaur obsessed son to help his sister not be afraid.
Your nephew will be fine and when he tells his wee friends about seeing dinosaurs in Disney...he will be the most popular boy in school/daycare.

 

[GoofGoof]

Being the family Disney nut, I offered to book fastpass for my sister who was going to AK with her husband and 3 year old son. I mentioned the child swap option and booked a fastpass for Everest. She told me she remembered getting sick on that ride during her last trip years ago. I said no problem and changed it to Dinosaur, not thinking to reiterate the child swap factor. Having never been on the ride themselves, they take my little nephew who barely met the height requirement, onto what I would consider the most frightening ride on property. She texts me afterward 'Dinosaur was no bueno', I respond 'what?! That ride is awesome!' She replies 'Julian was bawling afterward' and I got this OH NOOOO realization that I may have scarred my nephews perception of Disney forever. I felt so terrible and kept asking if he was OK, she's just like 'well he survived to tell the tale'. I seriously felt guilt thinking of how scared he must have been. Anyways, just needed to share that with someone.

Been there...done that. When my son was 4 the same thing happened. He was tall enough to ride but ended up being terrified. I thought he might like it since he loves dinosaurs, but it's dark, loud and oh yeah...a huge dinosaur tries to eat you. He was a little scared of dark rides for the next few days on that trip, but he got over it and he still loves dinosaurs. He's 10 now and has ridden the ride since and gets a good laugh about the story. There's no lasting damage.

 

[DuckTalesWooHoo1987]

My little boy insisted on riding the Tower of Terror as soon as he was tall enough. We decided to let him and man he regretted it hard. LOL! He's fine but initially I did regret letting him. Don't worry about this though. My little boy was also initially scared of Everest and the Haunted Mansion and even Dinosaur but now he can't get enough of them. In September when we done the DVC event at AK that was the moment when Everest became an obsession for him. Repetition on the ride really lets my little boy see that it's all just for fun and he's not in any real danger. Then it becomes just so fun for them and that's when the magic happens. Even the Mine Train and the Barnstormer initially scared him but now he would pretty much live on those rides. Don't feel so down on yourself. Your nephew will grow up a Disney fan and laugh at himself for ever being scared of stuff. It will make a great story in the long run.

 

[JIMINYCR]

Yeah we adults blow it sometimes. But they will get over it in time. You feel guilty as heck because you were only thinking of all the fun he was going to have. When DS was young I took him into a haunted house at a local fair and it scared him senseless. I really thought it wasn't that bad and he could handle it. That he was ready to experience the fun with dear old dad. Boy did DW give it to me afterwards. So when we went to WDW for the first few trips when DS wasn't sure he was ready to take on some of the rides.....DW reminded me of my previous error and I listened. He now loves all the rides, the faster and scarier, the better.
I now advise friends to prescreen attraction ride throughs online to see what they are like so they can make a wise decision about whats appropriate for their kids. Some kids are more ready for thrills than others.

 

[BackOTheLine]

At that age he's got a few more years of irrational/unfounded fears to work through. All of which will have nothing to do with riding Dinosaur - so I think you're in the clear. If they try to make you the patsy - don't let them!

My 3yo rode the Barnstormer like 20 times on one trip and the next trip screamed and had a fit when we tried to get her on it....go figure. She's 6 now and loves Space Mountain and Everest.

 

[Worldlover71]

I understand your guilt. Before we went, I asked my nephew if he liked coasters. He kind of shrugged and and said yes. I figured we would start easy so we went on Thunder Mountain first. He loved it and wound up going on it 5 times. In my mind, Everest isn't much wilder (I may be wrong!) so we went on it a few days later. He did NOT like it. Well, now we know.

 

[ninjaprincesst]

Stop feeling guilty all kids are different, my daughter rode it at three and loved it, rode TOT loved it, but then A Bugs life scared her so bad my mother had to take her out. It was a mistake but believe he will not be traumatized for life or anything, ,my niece loved at 4, it scared her to death at 6 and by 8 loved it again.

 

[Cosmic Commando]

I'm worried I'm getting ready to do this! My youngest will be 4 on our trip, and LOVES dinosaurs. We're going to work up to Dinosaur and see how he does on the other rides first.

 

[neoshinok]

I'm worried I'm getting ready to do this! My youngest will be 4 on our trip, and LOVES dinosaurs. We're going to work up to Dinosaur and see how he does on the other rides first.

If I had planned for this I might have played a ride video on YouTube to see how he reacted first. Turn it up LOUD since the volume of this ride especially the finale, is a big part of what makes it scary to me.

 

[Cosmic Commando]

If I had planned for this I might have played a ride video on YouTube to see how he reacted first. Turn it up LOUD since the volume of this ride especially the finale, is a big part of what makes it scary to me.

That's actually a really good idea. I wouldn't think to do it for ToT or other rides like that, but Dino is scary in a different way.

 

[GoofGoof]

I'm worried I'm getting ready to do this! My youngest will be 4 on our trip, and LOVES dinosaurs. We're going to work up to Dinosaur and see how he does on the other rides first.

Maybe wait until towards the end of the trip. He could be fine but if it scares him he may be afraid of other dark rides. My son was reluctant to ride PotC again after his Dinosaur scare and we had already done Pirates earlier on the same trip.

 

[Cosmic Commando]

Maybe wait until towards the end of the trip. He could be fine but if it scares him he may be afraid of other dark rides. My son was reluctant to ride PotC again after his Dinosaur scare and we had already done Pirates earlier on the same trip.

Yeah, there's definitely got to be some kind of feeling out process. My older son will be turning 11 at the end of this trip, and I don't think he would enjoy Dinosaur now. My daughter loved Dinosaur when she was 6, and wouldn't hold my hand on ToT when she was 3; she's a redhead.

 

[Dead2009]

At least you were aware that Dinosaur is a pretty scary ride. It coulda been worse like the time someone took their kids on the Haunted Mansion and had no idea how dark it got, apparently.

 

[GVentola]

Several months ago, my Mom and a friend went to Animal Kingdom without me, and rode Dinosaur. My Mom does not like thrill rides (except for round raft or flume rides for some reason), and she got mixed up, thinking Dinosaur was the Universe of Energy at Epcot. Boy, did she regret her mistake!

 

[GoofGoof]

Yeah, there's definitely got to be some kind of feeling out process. My older son will be turning 11 at the end of this trip, and I don't think he would enjoy Dinosaur now. My daughter loved Dinosaur when she was 6, and wouldn't hold my hand on ToT when she was 3; she's a redhead.

Yep, every kid is different. The younger siblings typically are "more brave" since they try to keep up with the older ones, but that's not always the case either.

 

[GoofGoof]

Several months ago, my Mom and a friend went to Animal Kingdom without me, and rode Dinosaur. My Mom does not like thrill rides (except for round raft or flume rides for some reason), and she got mixed up, thinking Dinosaur was the Universe of Energy at Epcot. Boy, did she regret her mistake!

Oops My grandparents had a similar experience at MK. They were both in their 70s and when they asked me for ride suggestions I told them to make sure they road the train at MK because it's a nice leisurely ride around the park. Unfortunately they made a wrong turn and instead of going to the railroad station in Frontierland they got in line at BTMRR. Combined they had a bad back, high blood pressure and a heart condition, but at least nobody was pregnant We got a good laugh about it after we found out they both survived the ride.

 

[BigRedDad]

A Mickey Ice Cream popsicle fixes everything.