Rank the WDW Dark Rides for Small Kids

[GoofGoof]

It's funny what things scare kids. My sons were 2 and 5 and were scared on the way into Haunted Mansion, but once we were riding they loved it. Peter Pan is really dark too. Can be scary.

Don't trust the height restrictions. I made a bad mistake and took my oldest on Dinosaur when he was 4. He was over 40" and likes dinosaurs so why not? I hadn't been on the ride in years and forgot that the Dinosaurs tried to eat you in the pitch dark. That was an expensive stop in the gift shop after the ride. But if it happens go with ice cream or a treat and work your way up to actual souvenirs.

 

[jkl2000]

^ Good to hear about that. Probably my DS4 will sense that Dinosaur isn't for him yet, but recently on a post someone said they brought their three year old on ToT and he loved it! But I think DS4 would see and hear the screaming window drops from outside and know he wasn't up for that - and I know he's not too!

We're going to take it slow - there's enough I know he'll love, and he can tell us what he likes best and we go for more of that type of ride.

 

[jkl2000]

I just got back from wdw with my 5 year old son and 2 year old daughter. The first ride for them was spaceship earth in Epcot and they were terrified to ride another dark ride after that. It is listed as not scary, but it's very dark at times, the animatronics can look creepy, and then the backwards part was scary to them. They then refused to get on living with the land (probably a good thing as it has thunder). Winnie the Pooh had thunder. I could only get them to try Pooh and Small world after much begging. They liked Small world, but Pooh scared them too. My children maybe more easily scared but I just wanted to say that you may be surprised at what they find scary and not to push too hard. And I could see Haunted Mansion being very scary to a four year old. But I hope your child has no fear and enjoys everything!

There's a very fine line between creepy and scary at those ages, sometimes, know what you mean.

 

[mweier]

Am I forgetting any? Oh, that Mexican one - I've never been on that, Pooh, Nemo, or Little Mermaid so those are really all equal and a bit unknown to me. But not very scary, I assume.

Imagination in Epcot is another great dark ride for kids!
Living with the Land is another pretty tame one though possibly a bit boring for some kids.
Spaceship Earth & Imagination have been faves of mine since age 7!
Ellen's Energy Adventure is also cool though again possibly a bit drawn out for younger kids.

 

[bearandbuzz]

My two were 5 & 7 when we went at Easter. My 7 year old will try anything, but my 5 year old is scared of the dark. We had to do a lot of reassuring every time we came to a new ride which was dark and I could tell he wasn't really enjoying these rides, but was at least getting on with less of a fuss each time.
The crunch came when we went on PotC and the ride broke down just when we were in between the cannon fight. We were stuck for about half an hour and They didn't switch the cannons off for the first 15 minutes so we got wet as well. Oh dear! Any good progress we had made with the dark was knocked on the head.
When we go next year I have already said that I would like him to try new things, but if he really doesn't want to do a ride then I will do something else while dh goes with my eldest. Thinking back to how stressful it was when we were on a ride that he was unsure of, I think that although it is good to face your fears it is also worth remembering to let them guide you as to what their limits are rather then pushing them.

 

[stevehousse]

Every child reacts different so who knows what they will like until they try. My 5 year old is usually alway the one to say he doesn't want to ride a ride, but then he gets on it and loves it! We are trying to convince him to try dinosaur or tower of terror on our visit for this Nov! His favorite rides are Pirates, Spaceship Earth, Living with the Land, TSMM, and Buzz!

 

[awoogala]

1. It's a Small World - both my kids= instant happiness.
2. The Seas with Nemo (is this really a dark ride?)= no problem my 3/4 yr. old would ride it repeatedly...for hours.
3. The Little Mermaid= neither one cared. Ursula scared them too much to watch this often enough
4. Peter Pan (I'd put PP befor=e Little Mermaid as probably milder, but I think the fact that the boats are hanging in the air may give him pause for a moment - he may think it's a flying ride of some sort)...my weird, freaked out daughter would not ride this until 8 years old. freaked her out that it was "flying"
5. Jungle Cruise (this could really go anywhere in the first half of this list - not scary, I think my son will LOVE it!)= both kids LOED- corny jokes, attention because they laughed/animals= happiness. 3 and 7, and they were in LOVE!
6. Pirates of the Caribbean= mild bump freaked out the non=coaster/thrill child..but ok in general
7. Haunted Mansion (a very mild ride of course, but DS4 will THINK he should be more scared than he really should.)= both ok, some scary issues in before stretching room pre=show= creepy skeleton guy scared them = we covered eyes and hummed.
8. Maelstrom (if he cottons on to the fact that there's some kind of storm, he might be scared of this. Also, he went on a dark ride called Ye Old Mill in Rye Playland (anyone know it?) which is sort of similar and the noise and the trolls scared him. I think he's going to associate this ride with Ye Old Mill.)...scared the HELL out of non=coaster kid. the fall was way too much for them!

Am I forgetting any? Oh, that Mexican one - I've never been on that, Pooh, Nemo, or Little Mermaid so those are really all equal and a bit unknown to me. But not very scary, I assume.

everybody was cool on both versions of mexico ride! pooh was great for everyone! LITTLE MERMAID- KIDS WERE BORED ..not scared!

 

[awoogala]

Imagination in Epcot is another great dark ride for kids!
Living with the Land is another pretty tame one though possibly a bit boring for some kids.
Spaceship Earth & Imagination have been faves of mine since age 7!
Ellen's Energy Adventure is also cool though again possibly a bit drawn out for younger kids.

My scaredy cat (who loves gore/zombies but thinks splash mtn. is the most horrible thing she's ever been on!) thinks energy is the best ride, followed by spaceship earth! My weird thrill/roller coaster fiend who can't stand anything scary is freaked by snow white's scary adventure (no longer a problem), but can't wait to go to UNI for the BIG coasters..lol

Living with the land... both my kids..scaredy cat and coaster lover......best ride ever! Everyone will have their own favorites, you won't know until you try..lol

 

[jlsHouston]

Thought this would be fun. I expect the dark rides will be the gateway to the more intense rides - in fact, my DS4 might do ONLY dark rides and the even milder rides this October on his first visit. But IMO getting him to ride a spooky dark ride like HM will be a big step because I think he'll be seeing that even if some things at WDW are a little spooky, nothing will hurt him - it's all in fun. So here are my rankings for the order in which I might have him try the dark rides. Of course, the touring plan will probably blow this all to shread, but... This is sort of a combination of what I think might be mildest to wildest, and also just the order I think might be most fun for him to get into the swing of things. Also, I'm including Jungle Cruise because while it's not dark, IMO it's more similar to all these other rides than anything else.

1. It's a Small World
2. The Seas with Nemo (is this really a dark ride?)
3. The Little Mermaid
4. Peter Pan (I'd put PP before Little Mermaid as probably milder, but I think the fact that the boats are hanging in the air may give him pause for a moment - he may think it's a flying ride of some sort)
5. Jungle Cruise (this could really go anywhere in the first half of this list - not scary, I think my son will LOVE it!)
6. Pirates of the Caribbean
7. Haunted Mansion (a very mild ride of course, but DS4 will THINK he should be more scared than he really should.)
8. Maelstrom (if he cottons on to the fact that there's some kind of storm, he might be scared of this. Also, he went on a dark ride called Ye Old Mill in Rye Playland (anyone know it?) which is sort of similar and the noise and the trolls scared him. I think he's going to associate this ride with Ye Old Mill.)

Am I forgetting any? Oh, that Mexican one - I've never been on that, Pooh, Nemo, or Little Mermaid so those are really all equal and a bit unknown to me. But not very scary, I assume.

Well we took a 4 year old with us this past summer for his first disney trip.... and I would have to say he was not impressed by HM and TOT terrified him but he was proud he did it but was never doing it again... His favorite rides were Dumbo ( new cue was a hit ) and Barnstormer....