Overheard funny family discussion the other day.

[musketeer]

Overheard a funny, slightly annoying, conversation the other day while waiting for the magic kingdom to open. There was a family behind us, a mom and dad, probably early to mid 40s, and three boys. Probably 5, 7, and 9 or something like that. They, both the mom and the dad, were talking to the 9 year old, saying things like, "you ARE going on Space Mountain, no question." "I don't want to hear you be a baby about it or change you mind while in line." "You're going to be in trouble if you try to back out." Things like that. Now, I kind of understand pushing your kids to do things that maybe they are apprehensive about, I do that with my kids. And although the things they were saying were kind of mean, that's not what the kicker was. What got me was, right after all of this, the kid, the 9 year old, said something about how he'd like to go back on the Tower of Terror, and the mom imediately responded with, "Oh NO WAY!!! I'm NEVER going on that!!!" What hypocricy. To be that firm about how her kid HAS to do something he's nervous about, but to then make the stand that she'll NEVER even try a different ride.

And for the record, I do kind of think a 9 year old shouldn't be a wuss about space mountain and be strongly encouraged to ride it.

 

[Nemo14]

Did the 9 year old say anything about that?

 

[Figgy1]

Overheard a funny, slightly annoying, conversation the other day while waiting for the magic kingdom to open. There was a family behind us, a mom and dad, probably early to mid 40s, and three boys. Probably 5, 7, and 9 or something like that. They, both the mom and the dad, were talking to the 9 year old, saying things like, "you ARE going on Space Mountain, no question." "I don't want to hear you be a baby about it or change you mind while in line." "You're going to be in trouble if you try to back out." Things like that. Now, I kind of understand pushing your kids to do things that maybe they are apprehensive about, I do that with my kids. And although the things they were saying were kind of mean, that's not what the kicker was. What got me was, right after all of this, the kid, the 9 year old, said something about how he'd like to go back on the Tower of Terror, and the mom imediately responded with, "Oh NO WAY!!! I'm NEVER going on that!!!" What hypocricy. To be that firm about how her kid HAS to do something he's nervous about, but to then make the stand that she'll NEVER even try a different ride.

And for the record, I do kind of think a 9 year old shouldn't be a wuss about space mountain and be strongly encouraged to ride it.

If one of mine were ever afraid to ride something so be it. Why get a child upset in such a magical place. that's why Disney has parent swap!!

 

[awoogala]

I don't have any problem with my kids choosing not to ride anything. I think it's absurd that you would categorize a kid who doesn't want to ride space mountain as a "wuss". Same thing with adults. If an adult has the right to refuse a ride, why should it be different for a kid? Why would anyone force their kid on a ride? To get their money's worth? I would never make my kid ride anything.
My daughter only goes on little rides. No roller coasters at all ever. I have no problem with it. That's her prerogative. She would mmuch rather watch a show, ride the carousel, then wander and look at disney.

 

[Joseph Robinson]

Eh, I choose not to make judegements based on overhearing a conversation that I might not have the full context on. This kid might have done that before (gone through the whole line on Space Mountain talking it up and then backing out at the end). My little brother used to do the same thing with Test Track when he was younger. It might not seem "nice" to you; but for all you know they are teaching their son to follow through on the things he says/facing his fears.

Mom can be afriad of Tower of Terror if she wants, I see no hypocricy with that. Different people fear different things.

TL;DR: Don't make assumptions when you can't know the full context of a conversation/situation. Enjoy your damn day at Disney and let other people do what they do.

 

[Nemo14]

My daughter is our dare-devil, but our son is considerably more cautious. When they were growing up, he'd wait in lines with us but knew the choice was his as to whether to actually ride or not. As he got older, he eventually tried them all, but he's still not crazy about thrill rides. Every kid is different, and there's something at WDW for every one.

 

[DfromATX]

Last time we went, my son was about 7. He decided to ride Space Mountain and sat between me and my husband. During the ride I could hear his muffled cries, but of course I couldn't do anything about it. It was a horrible feeling and I know my sweet baby must have been so scared! Now he's 10 and we're going in June. He says he wants to ride TOT, but I am not sure about letting him or not (because it scares the crap out of me, but I love it). I would never force my child to ride anything. Some rides we *encourage* because we know it's the anticipation of it that is more scary and that once they do it, they will like it. But, some rides ARE too much for a younger child.

 

[musketeer]

My whole point was pointing out how it didn't seem fair for the mom to force something on her kid but then have the stance that there is no way she'll ever do another, very similar in thrill-ness, ride.

 

[Nemo14]

My whole point was pointing out how it didn't seem fair for the mom to force something on her kid but then have the stance that there is no way she'll ever do another, very similar in thrill-ness, ride.

Welcome to thread-drifting!

We were in line behind a set of twin 3 year-old boys once who were acting like pirates all through the line. They were behind us on the boat and they screamed in horror through the whole ride.

 

[powlessfamily4]

My whole point was pointing out how it didn't seem fair for the mom to force something on her kid but then have the stance that there is no way she'll ever do another, very similar in thrill-ness, ride.

I agree with you. How do you "force" your child to face their fears and then back out of your own? If junior wants to ride ToT but not SM, a smart Mom would barter the issue. "If you ride SM with me, I'll ride ToT with you!" Now if the kids talks big and then ALWAYS backs out that is a different thing. My personal belief is that as parents we should strongly encourage our children to try new things and face fears when they are ready to do it.

 

[Joseph Robinson]

My whole point was pointing out how it didn't seem fair for the mom to force something on her kid but then have the stance that there is no way she'll ever do another, very similar in thrill-ness, ride.

Your point was understood, and on a base level I would agree with it. It was the anecdote that you tried to use to support that point that isn't working for me. You used an overheard conversation in front of a not yet open MK to say "take a look at this $&*#!" when you can't know the context of the conversation (see the scenario I outlined above).

That would be like me watching you in a restaurant forcing your kid to eat a salad while you ate a nice juicy burger and thinking to myself "What a hypocrite!" But what I didn't know is that you just got back from a doctor's appointment and your kid needs to eat more vegetables or risk disease.

Context. Is. Everything.

 

[bmarkelon]

We do not push ours to ride anything. My DS5 wants to ride absolutely everything while my DD7 is much more hesitant, she was afraid of any of the mountains and some dark rides up until our last trip. We have a magical and fun form of bribery that we have used for the past two trips. They are both pin collectors so whenever they are "brave" and try a ride/attraction that they haven't before, for whatever reason, they get to pick out a pin commemorating the event. They only ever get to get one pin per ride, they love this deal. And it's not something that we put any pressure on at all, it's just one of our many Disney traditions.

 

[J_Carioca]

I remember once being at the top of Humunga Kowabunga at TL and there was a man who was forcing his (very small, very young) daughter to go on it. She was begging him not to do it, and she was actually crying. Same thing happened last time I was there, with the shark reef. A tiny little kid lost it as soon as the mask went on his face. The mother tried to force him to do it anyway and he was in hysterics. Instead of just accepting that maybe a 5 year old found the idea of snorkelling with sharks to be scary, she held up the whole line for 5 minutes while she tried to persuade him to do it.

Why? Disney is supposed to be a fun experience. It's not supposed to be about teaching your kid to overcome fears, or worse, belittling them or publicly embarassing them. Anyone who's stood at the top of Humunga Kowabunga should understand that it's pretty damn scary and respect if a little kid doesn't want to ride it. As someone else said, everyone (kids and adults) are different and we have different tolerance for thrills. I understand that parents have to encourage kids to do things they don't want to do (chores, homework, etc...) but why turn a day at Disney into a "lesson"?

 

[awoogala]

Last time we went, my son was about 7. He decided to ride Space Mountain and sat between me and my husband. During the ride I could hear his muffled cries, but of course I couldn't do anything about it. It was a horrible feeling and I know my sweet baby must have been so scared! Now he's 10 and we're going in June. He says he wants to ride TOT, but I am not sure about letting him or not (because it scares the crap out of me, but I love it). I would never force my child to ride anything. Some rides we *encourage* because we know it's the anticipation of it that is more scary and that once they do it, they will like it. But, some rides ARE too much for a younger child.

yes. My daughter tried space mtn. once. and spent the whole ride sobbing and hysterically screaming. I actually tried to talk her out of it, since barnstormer had sent her over the edge.lol
My son likes big rides, but even at 9, has walked off tot 4 times. Not an issue. It's the theming that scares him. The castmembers usually give me a fp, so I caan avoid waiting the next time I go without him.

 

[awoogala]

My whole point was pointing out how it didn't seem fair for the mom to force something on her kid but then have the stance that there is no way she'll ever do another, very similar in thrill-ness, ride.

Yes, but then you said that if he didn't ride, he was a wuss, which is exactly the kind of attitude these parents were using.

 

[DfromATX]

yes. My daughter tried space mtn. once. and spent the whole ride sobbing and hysterically screaming. I actually tried to talk her out of it, since barnstormer had sent her over the edge.lol
My son likes big rides, but even at 9, has walked off tot 4 times. Not an issue. It's the theming that scares him. The castmembers usually give me a fp, so I caan avoid waiting the next time I go without him.

Your poor daughter! I had to laugh about the Barnstormer part tho. This son of mine who says he wants to ride TOT, is the same boy who last time we went, made me ride that kiddie Taurasaurus spin (whatever it's called) about 10 times in a row while our older children were in Dinosaur. Of course he's older now, but you see why I'm hesitating to let him ride TOT... lol

 

[rsoxguy]

Welcome to thread-drifting!

Yeah, some people! Anyway, how about them Red Sox!

 

[awoogala]

Your poor daughter! I had to laugh about the Barnstormer part tho. This son of mine who says he wants to ride TOT, is the same boy who last time we went, made me ride that kiddie Taurasaurus spin (whatever it's called) about 10 times in a row while our older children were in Dinosaur. Of course he's older now, but you see why I'm hesitating to let him ride TOT... lol

this is the girl who isn't sure she will go on peter pan, since it "flies in the air" ...now that one, I try to chat about, but I don't need to wait in the line, anyway..
ToT is a pretty "big" ride. It's not a coaster, but the build-up is emotionally intense, which makes the scare factor a lot higher, especially for kids.

 

[DfromATX]

this is the girl who isn't sure she will go on peter pan, since it "flies in the air" ...now that one, I try to chat about, but I don't need to wait in the line, anyway..
ToT is a pretty "big" ride. It's not a coaster, but the build-up is emotionally intense, which makes the scare factor a lot higher, especially for kids.

That makes me smile... little kids. Yep, TOT is pretty darn scary to me, but I love it!

 

[Master Yoda]

It is really hard to make a judgement without knowing the entire background. When our middle daughter was around that age she had a very bad reputation for deciding she did not want to ride attraction mid wait or right at load. We got to the point where we probably sounded like this family. I said "If you get in line you are riding. There is no backing out!" about 20 times a day up until she was about 12. I probably threw the "wuss" comment out there a few times out of frustration as well.