Intense Attractions for 4 year olds

[eeyoregirl]

Hi all:

In your experience, what attractions are too intense for a 4 year old? Is "Honey, I Shrunk the Audience" as scary as Birnbaum's says? What about the bug movie? I've never seen these, but I'd like to.

Advice? Input is greatly appreciated!

 

[CRCrazy]

Depends on the kid, and also on their particular fears. My 5 year old did okay with Honey, but she did take off her glasses! She was terrified of fire however - hated Fantasmic and even Kali River Rapids during the burning of the rainforest! Space Mountain and Test Track were favorites, though. We went back in December - she was 6, and 9 months made a huge difference - she actually enjoyed Haunted Mansion and Fantasmic!

It's Tough to be a Bug is a little more intense! The fog during the stink bug can be really thick - scary for little ones.

 

[Debbie7452]

My 4 year old loved "Honey,I shrunk..." but he is not afraid of anything. Only you know your childs tempermant. He also loved test track, BTTR, Splash...etc. He was very upset not to be able to ride Space Mountain. He is one tough little guy. In contrast, my 10 yo. DD rode none of these! She did however get to play the "assistant" at the Honey performance which was the highlight of her trip. Ask about this at the entrance to the movie if you have an older child who is the timid type. They really treated her nicely.

 

[eeyoregirl]

My DD loves rock music and monsters, if you can believe this! So maybe she'll tolerate "Honey." I'm still not sure about the "Bugs." Come to think of it, I'm probably more of a chicken, lol.

 

[Debbie7452]

Sounds like "Honey" would be fine then.

I forgot to mention Haunted Mansion. He did fine, but did get a little creeped out. That was the closest he came to being scared on anything. He gets REALLY quiet when scared. I tried desperately to convince 10 yo. to go in Haunted Mansion (not smart on my part) and she nearly had a panic attack. She got all the fears in the family while DS got none. She refused all "dark" rides and for her we needed an adult ticket? Oh well, my other two got good use for their child tickets.

 

[sm4987]

My three year old loved them all. She really thought Honey I Shrunk and Bugs was great. She loved the creepy crawlers and everything. She just screamed and laughed. I think it depends on the child. I didn't think any thing of it when I took her and my son. Let you child be the guide.

 

[crisi]

My 3 1/2 year old did the Muppet 3 D movie and really didn't "get it." And he wasn't the only little kid in the theatre that didn't.

With these types of attractions, I think part of how your kid will react depends on how good they are with regular movies. If they sit quietly in a regular theatre, they will sit quietly here. If they find regular movies boring, these may not be different. If they find regular movies too intense, these will be intense. I have one girlfriend whose kid couldn't go to any movie until he was seven - they were all too intense and he had to watch movies at home - another who has been taking their children to see movies like Spiderman since toddlerhood without a problem.

My advice is start in Fantasyland at MK with the small rides - Not Snow White! Dumbo, then Small World, then Pooh, then Peter Pan. If those have been handled with no issues, move up to Snow White. Still no issues, try the Haunted Mansion/Pirates of the Carribean. Still no issues, when you move parks you can try the scarier stuff, or try the thrill type rides that she is tall enough for in the MK. You may know quickly - as she pulls you toward Haunted Mansion saying "Small World is Boring!"

 

[catwho]

My 4yo ds has mild autism and he has tactile sensitivities. We can't do HISTK or ITTBAB or anything else that has that sort of tactile sensation during the ride. My 10 yo is creeped out by HISTK, but likes ITTBAB (go figure)

We usually find that letting our son watch for a while will be the best determining factor of if he will want to do something. He wants to do RnR this year, but not Space Mt. BTMMRR but not Splash Mt. Last year we found what helped was to get fast passes for the attractions we didn't know if he was going to like. This helped as once we got to our turn through FP and he freaked out. The CM told me just to go to the exit and do a baby swap and then come back through the FP line, since it was obvious that he wasn't going to go on the ride.

 

[eeyoregirl]

All of your suggestions are wonderful, and I appreciate all of your diverse perspectives! Thanks again.