Trying to get my 9 year old to go on RNR..Help?

[jonnyc]

I was the same way on our first trip (I was 9 at the time), my dad had to pay me $10 to go on TOT.

I now go on absolutely everything and I love it.

So in conclusion...

MONEY! :drevil:

 

[DisneyGigi]

Don't you just love master yoda???...The backwards part of EE doesn't bother her.....she loves that ride, which like I said she'll go on that but not RNR....Someone had mentioned taking her on so she can check out the inside but not nessesary ride it, can you do that ?? Not to sound moronic But I did'nt know If I could do that??And then swap her with hubby?
Because whether or not she's going I know hubby and I will switch off the kiddos because we aren't missing out!
Sad thing is my youngest who is 5 wants to go on sooo bad but she just has a couple of years to go...Last year she was so excited that she could finally go on TOT....SHe loved it ( she's my little daredevil)!!!...But yet my oldest did'nt go on it, go figure!

Yes.. not only is he very informative but witty too.

I have seen alot of people doing the swap thing and it does let them see more so maybe it will make her cave in.

I have to say though if your five year old loves ToT she is braver than me. It took some major begging to get me back on it after riding it once in 2007. I rode it 6 times in a row but I am already getting nervous about riding it in November so I am sure I will freak out the first time again. ( I hate elevators)

 

[Master Yoda]

Yes.. not only is he very informative but witty too.

I have seen alot of people doing the swap thing and it does let them see more so maybe it will make her cave in.

I have to say though if your five year old loves ToT she is braver than me. It took some major begging to get me back on it after riding it once in 2007. I rode it 6 times in a row but I am already getting nervous about riding it in November so I am sure I will freak out the first time again. ( I hate elevators)

Funny story....I am waiting in the ToT queue and behind me there is a group with one guy that was intending on using the chicken exit. He was not afraid of the drop but he was deathly afraid of elevators. You should have seen the look on his face when he found out the chicken exit was an elevator.

 

[SirGoofy]

Funny story....I am waiting in the ToT queue and behind me there is a group with one guy that was intending on using the chicken exit. He was not afraid of the drop but he was deathly afraid of elevators. You should have seen the look on his face when he found out the chicken exit was an elevator.

:lol:

That's an awesome story.

 

[DRC68]

Here's what I did to get my 13 year old cousin on his first 'real' coaster 15 years ago..."Go on it with me, if you don't enjoy it, the rest of the day we do whatever you want. I don't care if it's antique cars and carousels...the rest of the day is your's to control." The entire time up the first hill, "I should've listened to mom...I don't wanna be here..."
From that moment on, he's a true roller coaster fanatic.

 

[Dads 2 Boys]

When we went in 2007, my 7 & 10 yr olds went on it twice but they didn't know there was a loop on it. I do believe kids get a "Disney Bravado" once there so she may be ok.

My kids don't like regular loop coasters @ say........Six Flags for example because of the "sight" factor. Disney doesn't have that issue because all rides are encompassed by the attraction itself.

Don't force it.....just go and focus on the audio & the visuals, i.e. the instruments. Get her listening to Aerosmith before the trip. Have her play the Guitar Hero Aerosmith game so she'll have positive feelings about the music and that may help overcome the anxiety and build excitement.

Another option is tell her it was refurbed and they took out the loops due to guest concerns. LOL :ROFLOL:

 

[Phonedave]

Our 10 yr DD wants nothing to do with RnRC, Everest & M:S .... :brick:
yet my 7 yr DD (who wasn't tall enough yet) was begging us - go figure:shrug:

Now that she is, I've told my DH that we just have to go back

My 8 y/o daughter is the daredevil - she wants to try every ride, she wants to go hang gliding, she saw people parasailing on Bay Lake and said "When will I be old enough to do THAT"

My 10 y/o on the other hand is more interested in tamer pursuits. She loves BTMRR, tolerates EE, HATES ToT.

My kids had never ridden RnRC because my 8 y/o was too short, until just this August.

My 10 y/o was very apprehensive (Mainly because of the loop) and if she said no, I would not have forced her. But one of the big "life lessons" I try to teach my kids is to try something at least once. Be it food, a subject in school, or any experience.

I just said to my 10 y/o - Try it once, if you don't like it you never have to ride it again.

She went on, and the entire time though the ride she was screaming "I LOVE THIS RIDE". It's now one of her favorites.

I guess the OP could try relating all of these stories about kids that were worried about it, but turned out liking it.

And for the record, she took the chicken exit on ToT - But she has tried it once before.


-dave

 

[kch4095]

neat trick

When my 7 year old was finally tall enough, he decided he wanted to try to ride it. He too was a little nervous about going through the loop. His dad and I told him that we could simulate the loop by each one of us getting on a side of him, holding him by the knees and flipping him over back on his feet. He loved that trick and we had to perform it many, many more times. After seeing how much he enjoyed being inverted and how much fun it was with mom and dad, he was excited to ride. He is 9 now and always heads straight to RNR during our annual visits!

 

[dixiegirl]

Another option is tell her it was refurbed and they took out the loops due to guest concerns. LOL :ROFLOL:

That was a thought of mine already!! After offering her $50.00 to go on it and she still said no! LOL!!
Sad thing is she knows Aerosmith's music because of Guitar Hero !!! I do love the idea of taking her inside the ride because to see it in person versus a video can be two different things! A nd if she chooses to she can use the "chicken" exit!

 

[dixiegirl]

My 8 y/o daughter is the daredevil - she wants to try every ride, she wants to go hang gliding, she saw people parasailing on Bay Lake and said "When will I be old enough to do THAT"

My 10 y/o on the other hand is more interested in tamer pursuits. She loves BTMRR, tolerates EE, HATES ToT.

My kids had never ridden RnRC because my 8 y/o was too short, until just this August.

My 10 y/o was very apprehensive (Mainly because of the loop) and if she said no, I would not have forced her. But one of the big "life lessons" I try to teach my kids is to try something at least once. Be it food, a subject in school, or any experience.

I just said to my 10 y/o - Try it once, if you don't like it you never have to ride it again.

She went on, and the entire time though the ride she was screaming "I LOVE THIS RIDE". It's now one of her favorites.

I guess the OP could try relating all of these stories about kids that were worried about it, but turned out liking it.

And for the record, she took the chicken exit on ToT - But she has tried it once before.


-dave

We have always used the "try it once if you don't like it you don't have to do it" ....With anything as well, this is how she loved BTM and SM and Splash Mountain ans EE as well...And yes she too was scared of BTM but after the first whip around she was yelling as well "I love this Ride"!!!!

Please I told her that I'm conquering my fear (I think hubby is too) of going on Summit Plummit Finally...Oh I am scared to death..(not that my daugher knows) But I was trying to proove a point...PLus I want to say I went on it as well...LOL!!

 

[DisneyGigi]

Funny story....I am waiting in the ToT queue and behind me there is a group with one guy that was intending on using the chicken exit. He was not afraid of the drop but he was deathly afraid of elevators. You should have seen the look on his face when he found out the chicken exit was an elevator.

I found that out on here so once I had made it that far I knew I might as well do the ride. It is an awesome ride but if you are afraid of elevators like I am it is quite an experience making yourself do it. I screamed so hard when it dropped every time there was this little girl couldn't have been over 4 laughing at me, so I can definately feel for the guy!

 

[EpcotServo]

Ah yes, dangerous waters. On one hand you traumatize them, but on the other hand they end up missing out on the best rides for most of their lives. I think it has to do with stubbornness. I'm extremely uncompromising, so it's only been like Five or Six years since I've been riding real rides now.

:lol: :hammer:

 

[lebeau]

this is just me, but I won't pressure a kid on a ride. Most of my memories from my first trip to the MK (or any theme park for that matter) consist of my dad badgering me to ride things I was uncomfortable with. Some I ended up liking. Many I didn't. But I resolved never to apply pressure to my kids about something that's supposed to be fun. The most I will ever do is offer encouragement if they are considering it.

My wife is a little more forceful. Not to the extent that my dad was, but she will apply some pressure. More than I'm comfortable with, but as I said before I'm really not comfortable pressuring a kid at all.

In my opinion, the kids will ride the big rides when they are ready. Sure, they may miss out on some things. But every time they ride will be fun. No unhappy memories - or at least none caused be me.

 

[wdwwdeagle]

I agree w/lebeau. No pressure or it's no fun for anyone. You get stressed, the kids are stressed... yuck!

Also, though, just FYI - you really don't need to "switch off" for any rides unless you are uncomfortable leaving a young child. For the past several years we have left DD w/the cast members while the rest of us rode the ride together. In some rides where you end somewhere diff. from where you start (SM, RNR, TOT), they take her to wherever we end up (chicken exit) and wait there w/her, while in others (TT, Dino), they stand with her until we get back to the starting point. I guess this has been since she was 8-9 or so. Younger than that, we switched off.

A couple times the CMs tried to bribe her w/fastpasses good for any ride to try to get her to ride. She stuck to her guns, and both times they wound up giving her the FPs anyway!

This year, at 13, she decided to try EE - could have knocked me down! She did it and hated it, but she did it -- in her own time, on her own terms, and we're all proud of her accomplishment. It's a good memory rather than an ugly one, because we don't have to hear for the rest of our lives how "we made her go on that horrible ride that time."

Good luck, but try not to stress too much about it. This is something that your child can be in control of, and really, who cares one way or the other? Save your "have to's" for when it really matters, like the seatbelt in the car on the way down.

 

[Jaytrod]

I wouldn't pressure her too much, but maybe if you gave some sort of incentive (lol yes a bribe :drevil for her to try it she would be more willing.. Maybe before you ask her to go on it, take her in the RnRC shop and have her pick out a special souvenir she could get for riding it. It would make it like a trophy of sorts for her being brave enough to try it.

 

[mouselvrmom]

It's really hard when you have a child that would absolutely love a ride, but is afraid to try it.

We have that with our oldest, she is 14 now and is really nervous about anything she hasn't tried before. We actually haven't gotten her on RnRC yet mostly due to it being down a few times for refurb and the last trip she didn't want to try it. She loves California Screaming, but doens't want to try it because it's in the dark. :shrug:

Usually it takes some motivation from her braver younger (I mean 6 years younger) sister. :lol: My oldest didn't want to do ToT, so my little one went on (she must have been 5 or 6 at the time). She really shamed the older one into doing it. Now, she should be tall enough next time to ride RnRC, so we may be able to get our oldest on it yet! :lol:

Do you have a younger sibling to shame the older one?

 

[SWatsi]

When my 7 year old was finally tall enough, he decided he wanted to try to ride it. He too was a little nervous about going through the loop. His dad and I told him that we could simulate the loop by each one of us getting on a side of him, holding him by the knees and flipping him over back on his feet. He loved that trick and we had to perform it many, many more times. After seeing how much he enjoyed being inverted and how much fun it was with mom and dad, he was excited to ride. He is 9 now and always heads straight to RNR during our annual visits!

Clever idea!

I think I had a similar problem when I was young with coasters in the UK (i think it was before going to Disney and other coasters in Florida). 'The Big One' rollercoaster in Blackpool. I would do other similiar rides, but the drop always looked too steep for me. If i'd agreed to go on it though I would have loved it!

Off-topic but related: I tell friends who are too scared to ride big rides about my Nana, who went on every single rollercoaster and thrill ride (TOT, Splash) at least once to try it. She was in her 70's. Enjoyed it but never again. We however, had to go back to apologise. :lol: She puts my friends to shame. Rest in peace Nan.

 

[GrannyJill2]

My 7-year-old grandson is currently afraid to go on certain rides. When I asked him why, he said that he would fall out. That may be her secret fear.

 

[slappy magoo]

And I know once she trys it, she'll love it....

You're probably right. But you could be wrong.

Sometimes you gotta make kids do things they don't want to do, for their own good. But I don't ever think a rollercoaster is one of those times.

 

[Pumbas Nakasak]

This is why the West has gone soft, too much pandering to juveniles. Tree hugging hand wringers..........