4 year old on tower of terror ?

[canoe86]

I find the idea of taking a 4 year old on that ride.....with all due respect.....insane.

 

[JMSMommy]

Took our oldest when he was 5 thinking he'd LOVE it since he loved all the coasters (this was also the trip that Mission Space had just opened and he rode it 7 times). Um, no. He was sobbing in terror by the end. He finally re-rode it on our last trip when he was 13, and he enjoyed it.

Took our 2nd child on it when he was 4. He said he liked it, but we suspect it was because it was something he could ride that his older brother refused to ride. He has not gone back on it. He was NOT overly enthusiastic about it, and now that he can ride coasters and RnR, he chooses to not ride it.

Our 3rd child screamed in terror on the People Mover when she was 4. Enough said, right? We are hoping she likes 7dmt this trip when she is 8. She hates anything and everything that is "fast" or even a tiny bit "scary"...and I highly doubt I ever get her on ToT.

Our 4th child, at the age 4, said she wanted to ride ToT because she wanted to show up our 2nd and 3rd children AND her cousins were riding it. This is our photographic proof - my family with my sister's family are all along the back row - my oldest is far left, oldest nephew is next to him, the 5 year old nephew is next, then my brother-in-law, my sister, my tiny 4 year old (you can see her face behind the guy's armpit), then my husband. What cracks me up is that the 3 adults riding with her were focused on her.

She came running up to me AFTER the ride, with these HUGE saucer like eyes and said, "Momma! My stomach went up into my eyes!" She declared it her favoritest ride EVER! We leave in less than 2 weeks for our next trip and she is refusing to ride it now after saying it was her favorite ride ever for 2 years.

 

[Betty Rohrer]

have a grandson who rode as a 4 year old, it is still his favorite ride. you have to drag him off and he will not sit in front row. he has to be able to see out when window opens. it is the bouncing that he loves. he calls TOT his indoor dark frog hopper

 

[hopemax]

On our trip a couple weeks ago, I rode in a row with a Dad and his daughter, who I'm assuming was about 5 or 6. Dad did an excellent job of quietly talking to her the whole ride, about what was about to happen. "This part we're just going to go up, and stop, and then up again." "This part the car is going to move forward for a little bit." "Okay, the drops are coming, when you see a bright light, that's when they take your picture." "Down, Up, Down, Up" He was really great with her. I'm not sure what she quite thought of it, but no crying or anything.

 

[RMolinaro414]

My 3yr old is 40" and he cannot wait to ride! It really depends on the child.

 

[summerw]

DS begged me for about 6 months before I caved. We go about twice a month to dlr. I have inner ear problems but figured if DS who was 3 at the time wanted to ride, I would have to suck it up. He almost bailed at both the pre-show and elevators but then the whole elevator clapped for him as he was making himself get on. He was thrilled and now I had no way of backing out. he loved it and made me go again that day. Then we brought his cousin a few months later and he freaked out in the preshow so we bailed. He has flat out refused when dh brings it up for the last two years. I don't think you can go wrong with listening and gentle encouragement if needed. You know your kid best.

I don't think the elevator scared him as much as the preshow. The ride was more gentle than I'd assumed/ been dreading. . Honestly the try to make you anxious before so if a child makes it into the elevator, they should be ok.

 

[Jfsag123]

DD rode it as a young 5yo. She did not enjoy the ride, but wasn't terribly scared by it. She said she is willing to try it again next time.

 

[auralia]

My 3 year old did it. He didn't want to do it again, but wasn't too scared. I told him it was like tigger bouncing really high. He said tigger goes a little too high let's not do it again lol. Taking him back for his 4th birthday and he wants to try the high tigger ride again he said.

 

[njmom76]

My DD went on 3x in a row when she was 4 - she was just tall enough and begged us. That was 2 years ago and it is by far still her favorite ride!!!!!

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[HM]

My 4 yr daughter rode everything she was tall enough for on our first trip including ToT. She did not like it, wasn't scared of it, just didn't like it. She also did not like Haunted Mansion (I think she was scared of it). For both of those rides it was years before she or her 6 yr old brother would agree to ride again. But, they both loved Splash Mountain and BTTMR.

 

[KB'sMom]

My DD has been on similar rides (without the storyline) and loved them. She hated ToT at 5 though b/c of the *creepy* boiler room where you wait for the ride. If not for that I think she would have loved the ride.

 

[SpringSprite]

My 5 year old LOVED it (despite being a little bit apprehensive initially)

Unfortunately the 4 year old didn't make our FP reservation since he was flipping out (non ride related, LOL) and my husband had to take him back to the resort....I was totally bummed since I think he would have enjoyed it! But we did take the four year old on EE...I have never yet been able to successfully post pics here, but might have to figure it out now just to show you the total deadpan face he had on EE.

Is is planned for the end of your trip? Dinosaur did freak out my 5 year old, only ride that did. I was scared reading stories about doing a ride and then not wanting to do any more, but fortunately he recovered well and just said "I did NOT like that ride" - didn't affect anything else...

 

[AmbyJ88]

I am taking a 4.5 year old with me and also wanted to ride tower of Terror and Dinosaur! Hopefully she will enjoy them!!

 

[disneyfantotheend]

My daughter was 3, son 5 on their first ride. Neither seemed bothered by it, but son went back on. Daughter didn't want to on that trip. Now they live for the thrill rides, so I guess taking them on at young ages, didn't traumatize them.

 

[theSurlyMermaid]

Took my son on on a few months before he turned four. Bad idea jeans. He did, however, ride it again this past trip at age 7 and loved it. It didn't ruin his life that he hated it the first time. A similar thing happened with Space Mountain. He rode it when he was 5 and a half and HATED it. Kept saying he didn't want to ride it again this last trip because of the bad memory of it. HOwever, I knew he would like it now (I know him quite well and he was starting to really enjoy the faster rides at Busch Gardens, etc.) and told him he was trying it again. He loved it, rode it three times and it was his favorite in the park. He also tried Rock n roller Coaster and loved it too. So I guess my point is, don't worry about it even if the experience is bad. Show your child the ride videos, show them the drop, and let them decide.

On another note my niece who just turned 4 insisted on riding ToT as well this last trip and, yeah. NO. She was terrified. We told her about the ride, let her watch it, but it was waaaay too intense even with those preparations. Oh well. She wasn't traumatized for the other rides.

 

[linzjane88]

I think I still have PTSD from being forced on at 9! By the time I was off the ride there was no color to my face. There was excessive hysteria. On our September trip I thought "I am going to do it. I'm tough.".
YA, NO! Same amount of hysteria but in full adult form. I don't think I sobbed but I may have sported a few trauma tears. I definitely grabbed the legs of those seated on either side (truth be told I think it was inner thigh. High up. ) and luckily it was my husband and cousin. My husband wasn't even sympathetic, just annoyed that I freaked like that! I also ended up somehow curling in a fetal position while seated and my purse fell open knocking EVERYTHING out. Cards, chapstick, hairpins. Ya, hubs was not happy with me.

Honestly once it was over I thought it wasn't *quite* as bad as I built it up to be. But it was pretty close.

 

[vatali]

My daughter loved it, but she is a daredevil. She went on anything that was 42' and wasn't single rider (so no space). She loved BTMR the most.

 

[jitterbug]

My DD says it's her favorite ride. She was 5 last year when she got to ride it for the first time. My DS who was 3 yo at the time made the height, but he didn't even want to make it through the preshow and we had to ditch at the chicken exit. The sweet CM offered us a rider switch, but I wasn't sure if he would settle enough for me to leave his side. In hindsight, I should've taken the rider switch so I could've rode with my DD later. This was at DLR, though so at least no FP wasted.

 

[pharm55]

My 8 yo DS is absolutely terrified of the pre show. Thinks we are going to be electrocuted. There is no reasoning with him and the second time we tried to take him on it (he said he wanted to try it again, we weren't forcing him) he freaked out after the film and a cm ended up taking him and my dh out an exit. If they didn't have a preshow to it I think he would probably be fine. He loves RRC and CS (at DLR) etc.

 

[julluvsdisney]

Older son did tot at 7 was terrified younger son did it at 4.5 and he was fine I believe he rode it twice even. The older one was the one that "had" to go on it . The 4 year old was talked into it by my older son . Go figure! Older son loves roller coasters and the younger one isn't a fan! So each kid is different!