The Mountains, appropriate for a 6 year old?

[GoofGoof]

Yeah we didn't do Dinosaur or TOT with my 4 yo even though she was tall enough. I didn't want to scare her off of any other rides. My DH and I both agreed she wasn't ready.

My son was 4 also. You are smarter than me. I hadn't been to AK in about 7 years when I took him on dinosaur. I honestly forgot how intense the ride was and how frightening. It was a real bone head move. Luckily it was towards the end of the trip, but he wouldn't even do Peter Pan after it.

We returned this year and my son is now 6. He said he had no interest on riding the Dinosaur ride which he said "was not at all fun". He did desperately want to ride TOT. I didn't want a repeat so we waited until our last day there. He loved it and was barely even frightened. I think if we waited until this trip he may have been fine with Dinosaur too.

 

[George]

All kids are different. My daughter loves all the coasters including RnR and Everest, but is scared of HM, ITtBAB, and Dinosaur. You won't know until you're there. The kid will let you know if they are ready. If they aren't ready and you push them, it is possible to wind up in the boat where the kid doesn't want to do any rides and that is not a good boat to be in.

Edit: See above.

 

[Ember]

You are not alone! Our rule is: If you're tall enough to ride, you must ride ONCE.

We have this rule too! My older son (8) is a bit of a scaredy cat so we enlisted the one time rule and we stick by it. He went on ToT, EE, Splash, Space, and RnR last trip and liked all but ToT so as promised he never has to ride it again. Funny thing is that his younger brother (4) wants to ride it again.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

Our kids are 5 and 7. Our older one is pretty timid, but she rode BTMRR as an older 4 yr old and loved it. Our younger one rode it for the first time shortly after her 4th bday and loved it as well. Splash on the other hand scares them a bit since neither cares for the drop. I won't take them on ToT as both of them are still very scared of HM (so ToT would be torture)...although, DD5 rode Dinosaur back when she was 4 and liked it. Our older one finally hit the 44" mark and got to ride Everest and Space Mountain back in September. She absolutely hated Space Mountain, but is begging to return to ride Everest.

The big thing here...both kids had seen videos of the full rides and seen them in person before riding them...and in all cases wanted to try said rides. I know some parents push their kids onto rides so they can conquer their fears before they have time to build up over the years while others wait for their kids to decide their ready. I think the success of either approach boils down to the individual child ... i.e. how is that specific child going to respond to waiting vs. being pushed into it. You might try him on the Goofini coaster and see if he's up for more.

 

[mimitchi33]

If he doesn't want to do it, let him be. Every kid is different. Maybe you can try again when he's older?

 

[DisneyDad0056]

We got our 7 year old on BTMRR by starting him on Barnstormer. He was reluctant to even go on that, but his 3 year old brother wanted to go so he felt obligated to go so he wouldn't be beat out by his younger brother. Once he did the barnstormer he was excited to do the bigger rides, or as he then called them, "real rides!"
Maybe grab a snack and sit by the Barnstormer so he can eat it and watch the coaster.

 

[DRC68]

Couple of years ago, we took our DD (just days after her 5th b-day). We started her on Barnstormer/ Goofini in hopes she'd be OK on thrillers. At the end of the ride, when she finally took a breath, she had the biggest smime of her life and we were "forced" to ride again asap. We then went to get her on Splash mtn., loved it even more! Saw there was oly a 30 min. wait on Thunder Mtn., "do we dare push our luck". Her hands were up as much as my own. Later that trip, she rode em all, EE, ToT, hands up, laughing her head off on every thrill ride she was tall enough for. It really all depends on the individual kid though.

 

[buseegal]

4 year old grandson loved both TOT and Dino but hated HM. he rode everything he was tall enough for and HM was the only one he did not love. to each his own, he could not get enough of TOT and that is the first thing he wants to do when he gets back. he loves the drops and he has to be high enough to see over the rail.

 

[IWantMyMagicBand]

See how they are on the drop on PotC. My 3 year old freaks out so I know there is no point trying a coaster, and even HM freaked him as he thought a lap bar meant a fast ride! My 5 year old, at his age loved everything. If he is tall enough, he wants to ride. I let my older son, (when we return he will be six) but I won't let him on Space as the seating configuration does not allow for parent reassurance. Both Thunder and Splash allow you to hold hands or ride with an arm around.
My 7 year old has always been a daredevil but lately has backed off a bit. She loves coasters but hates drop rides.
We use parent swap a lot, each of my kids is so different. We are Merlin Pass holders so have access to lots of different theme parks. This year I intend to try and coax the youngest on the bigger rides in prep for our WDW trip in October, but bottom line is I use my judgement. They're my kids, if I think they're being wussy without reason then I get them on the rides. Though I wouldn't force them if they really didn't want to go. You Tube has been our friend, especially lights on rides. My 7 year old refused to ride Crush's Coaster in Paris as she thought it went upside down. We watched a construction video on Yu Tube to prove it didn't and she rode it no problem.
You know your child better than anyone, all we can offer is advice as to how we handle ours

 

[MJCota]

Maybe you can show him a YouTube video of the ride in action? We showed our son the Tower of Terror (by far my favorite ride) and it showed it from beginning to end! He LOVES twilight zone so he's excited about the ride. I explained further that the ride just drops us suddenly a few times and we will laugh our butts off. He is so excited. I think if we just showed up at the ride and he wasn't prepared, he wouldn't have done it. He's excited for the roller-coaster!! Heck when we were at Myrtle Beach last summer he wanted to do the sling shot ride and I was like, "No way mister!!" LOL. That is my suggestion He might change his mind if he see's it in action.

 

[eliz603]

Of course, all kids are different. I thought for sure my then 5 yr old would be timid. Not so! Her favorite ride was Expedition Everest. She loved Tower of Terror, Space Mountain and BTMRR. Splash Mtn was down for refurb, but I'm sure she would have been fine. EE is what she's super excited about this time!

 

[C.M.O]

Here is video of my daughter when she just turned 6 on Barnstormer. Maybe it will help? It was her favorite ride. I think we rode it like 20 times. She also loved BTMRR. The only scary part of Splash mountain is the drop the rest of it is fun. My daughter even rode on Expedition Everest, she didn't want to go on again but she wasn't crying or scared of it. We didn't get to go on Space Mountain because it was closed when we were there.

 

[erasure fan1]

It took my 4yr old son the whole trip to get the nerve to ride splash. We knew he would love it and he so wanted to ride but was scared of the drop. We told him whenever he was ready to ride, we would let him pick out a special souvenir when we got off the ride for being brave. He finally decided he was ready on our last day in the park, and the pic going down the drop, priceless. We will encourage, encourage, encourage but never force. We know the kids limits so there is no reason to try and get them on something they are not ready for.

 

[SAV]

My son was 7 last trip and loved all 3 mountains...and Dinosaur...and EE...and RNRC. The only thing he was hesitant about was TOT. He did finally want to go on it, but we were heading out of the park after Fantasmic! So he's gonna go on it this coming trip for sure.

 

[meeskamickey]

It really does depend on how comfortable your child is on these types of rides. When my middle child was 5 she went on all the mountian rides and loved it. My 7 year old, not so much. I will say that my 7 year old didn't pay attention and got on the space mountian line with my 5 year old and I (he did hear me say that it was space mountian but I'm guessing it didn't register). Anyway, he got on and enjoyed it...so you never know what will happen when you get there .

 

[MickeyisMyBestFriend]

Maybe if you show him photos and videos then ease him into may help. You can also him younger kids going and coming off the ride happily. Hope it helps and he can enjoy these great rides.

 

[HRHPrincessAriel]

It totally depends. My kid will be 3.5 when we go. If she was tall enough I wouldn't hesitate to take her. She loves all things crazy. She knows the drill of any coaster she is able to ride. She pulls the safety bar to her and throws her little hands up. I'm quickly directed to do the exact same and FAST. She's 40 inches so I have no doubt BTMRR and Test Track will be two of her favorites.

 

[G8rchamps]

I know we all sound like broken records, but every kid is different, Do Not Focre It! I "made" my daughter do Space a month before her 6th birthday last June and she is still mad at me. Now BTMRR and Splash are 2 of her favorites and she said she will try primevil whirl next week (we'll see). I think part of it for her is the dark of Space (and Rockin RC). Age and height not withstanding, its up to the little man!

 

[mcurtiss]

My DD was 6 last year when we went and she *LOVED* BTMRR. Rode it maybe 6 times over 4 days. She got a little freaked out on the last run when it was dark but otherwise it was one of her favorite rides.

She rode Everest but probably got a little freaked out by it.

 

[Todd L]

I have two kids 11 years apart...My Daughter would ride ANYTHING as soon as she was tall enough.

Shes was on the Hulk by the time she was 8 and loves that kinda thing.

My Son Is 8 and get very nervous about things he not use to...we had to talk him into riding the Safari at AK and now he loves it.

Hes been On Goofys Barnstormer a few times and Its Always hit or miss with him.

We are hoping he will get on The Mountains this year But wont push...Its just not worth upsetting him and Ruining everyones good time!

Good Luck!