Any rides you would NOT recommend taking a 5y.o. on?

[hkkatie]

Next year when we go to WDW, our twins will be about 5.5 years old, and I'm sure they will reach the height requirements for pretty much every ride. We also have older kids who will be 15 and 11 at the time of our trip. Since it's our first trip, I'm assuming that we are all going to stick together the entire time as I don't think I would be comfortable letting my older kids go off on their own when they're not familiar with the parks. I know we can do rider switch/baby swap, and I know I can send my hubby with the little kids to do other rides (he's not a thrill seeker), while I go on the big rides with the big kids. So, with all that said, are there any rides that you would just really recommend NOT taking 5 year old kids on? Anything that's just way too extreme?

 

[Meeko5]

At 6 my son loved everything he was tall enough for - including tower of terror which surprised me. It was his favorite that year, but the following year once was enough and he said he didn't like it anymore.

The coasters at Disney aren't extreme or too crazy, we showed mine ride videos before we went to he knew what to expect and that really helped ease any fears. Maybe try that and let them decide!

 

[Hikergirl]

It really depends on your kids, are they ok with bigger thrill rides or not? My youngest loved everything when he was little with the exception of Everest, but my middle child hated pretty much anything with a drop. He tried almost every ride but not ToT, or SM.
Personally I will never ever ride ToT again LOL.

ETA, WDW's version of thrill rides is much different than six flags and other parks, but they still can be intimidating to a kid who doesn't like those kinds of rides.

 

[keepswimming76]

It really depends on your kid. My son loves everything and had no problems with anything at that age.

But my daughter definitely did not like Tower of Terror or Dinosaur at age five. She's seven now and still says she will never ride ToT again! But she absolutely loved Space Mountain at age six. It can be really hard to gauge.

 

[jvz82]

Depends on the kid! My daughter was 5, close to 6 on our last trip and she was tall enough for everything and she loved everything.

 

[unrequited23]

It sounds cliché, but you know your kids best. My oldest was 5.5 yr old, 43.5" when we went. We had watched ride videos before we went because he does better if he has an idea of what to expect. He can focus on scary things and keep himself up at night. Given these two factors, I did not let him go on Dinosaur or HM. He thought Splash, SDMT and Barnstormer were 'too wild'. His little brother, the thrill seeker, kept wanting to ride Astro Orbiter and Barnstormer.

 

[katyjeka]

Our five year old daughter HATED it's A Small World but loved all the big rides....including Tower of Terror. Children are strange creatures at times!!!

 

[DopeyDame]

Both my kids rode ToT at 4.5 or 5 years old. Both did fine, and promptly said they never wanted to ride that again in their lives.
So that might be one that I would wait until later in the trip to try (you don't want them freaking out on the first day and then getting scared of all the rides thinking they'll be like ToT)

Dinosaur is really the only other one that I can think of that might be down-right scary, but my son looooved that at 5.
As a PP said, the roller coasters at Disney aren't nearly as crazy as most local amusement parks, so most kids will be fine if they are tall enough.

 

[jpeterson]

I would let them ride anything they show interest in. If they are scared, don't force them. My 5 year old loved everything. First trip he was under 44", 2nd trip he was just past it and can now do everything except Primeval Whirl and Rock n Roller Coaster.

Dinosaur scared him a ton the first time. He swore he would never ride it again. He rode it at least 2 more times since then.

 

[AZMermaid]

My 5 and 6 yo loved Everest, kali, Thunder, splash, 7D. My 6 yo didn't love space and both hated Haunted Mansion. They don't love the dark... so we didn't do Dinosaur. I suspected they wouldn't like HM, but I know Dino would have been way too much. We didn't go to DHS, but my son didn't like Tower at DL when he was 5. But... other kids may be fine!

 

[Dis703]

Unless you think your child has a particular fear or something, no there aren't any rides I wouldn't let a 5 year old ride. My 5 year olds were a little scared while on Dinosaur but afterwards they were so excited they rode it. No problem with any other rides although we didn't do ToT because none of the adults in our party like drops.

 

[DrunkJam]

My 5year old was tall enough for Everest, so we did it. He is 11 now, and STILL tells me how much he DID NOT like it!
He is just one person though, so ymmv

 

[tinkerbellandeeyor]

Our five year old daughter HATED it's A Small World but loved all the big rides....including Tower of Terror. Children are strange creatures at times!!!

Sorry I was laughing so hard when I read about your daughter was it the song she hated a lot of people can't stand the song

 

[katyjeka]

Sorry I was laughing so hard when I read about your daughter was it the song she hated a lot of people can't stand the song[/QUOT

Sorry I was laughing so hard when I read about your daughter was it the song she hated a lot of people can't stand the song

She hated all the dolls. She said the eyes were following her everywhere. Kids!!!!

 

[luvmyguyz]

I agree that it depends on your kids. My oldest son has loved thrill rides for as long as I can remember - he was ecstatic when he was tall enough to ride RNRC!! My younger son loves thrill rides now, but at 5 he was afraid of everything with even a slight drop. We "ruined" boats for him by taking him on POTC because of the little drop, and then I was that crazy Mom trying to force him onto the Mexico ride in Epcot because I knew he would like it, but nope - it was a boat and he wasn't having any part of it! (P.s. - not my greatest mom moment)

 

[Tattylou]

Both my kids were scared of It's a Bug's Life when they were 4 and 5... it's not even a ride but it was dark and loud and they were screaming in terror. It was bad.
As for the rides, I think it depends on the kid. My older son is 9 now and still skips Big Thunder and Space Mtn. My younger son is 7 now and has rode all the mountains since he was tall enough and loves them.

 

[springtime]

Dinosaur and It's Tough to be a Bug left both my kids in tears. The ride photo from Dinosaur shows both kids cowering with their heads covered, and my husband and I each trying to comfort them. It was terrible!

After those experiences we didn't even attempt ToT or Haunted Mansion.

 

[SmallWorld71]

One suggestion I have if you are unsure about a ride is to wait until later in the week. Too much, too soon can cause kids to be distrustful and you may have trouble getting them on anything after that.
Also, be honest. Too often I hear people trying to coax kids onto a ride with 'it's not scary' and the child is terrified. You might want to watch some YouTube videos so you can describe the ride. I always did that and let my kids make the call.
Give them coping skills for if they don't like a ride. For example, close eyes, block ears, practice your roller coaster yell....

And, I agree with previous posters who say every kid is different. My boys were fine with all fast rides, but didn't like spooky. DD didn't care about spooky, she just didn't want to sit alone so waited to try space mountain.

 

[tinkerbellandeeyor]

One suggestion I have if you are unsure about a ride is to wait until later in the week. Too much, too soon can cause kids to be distrustful and you may have trouble getting them on anything after that.
Also, be honest. Too often I hear people trying to coax kids onto a ride with 'it's not scary' and the child is terrified. You might want to watch some YouTube videos so you can describe the ride. I always did that and let my kids make the call.
Give them coping skills for if they don't like a ride. For example, close eyes, block ears, practice your roller coaster yell....

And, I agree with previous posters who say every kid is different. My boys were fine with all fast rides, but didn't like spooky. DD didn't care about spooky, she just didn't want to sit alone so waited to try space mountain.

Could not agree more I remember back in 1993 I was 8 years old and my step dad told me and my step sister that big thunder mountain is just a train ride don't be that parent please

 

[Princess Minnie321]

I also agree it depends on your kid. MY friend just got back and said her 5 year old went on Everest and tower of terror. I would not try either with my 3 and 5 year old when we went because I knew from going to local amusement parks that they would not like them.

My mistake was booking the mine train. They went on a small roller coaster last summer and loved it so I thought they would love mine train too and they were so scared. I felt terrible.