The first ride/attraction?

[KenHutch]

When my teen was 5 her 1st ride was Dumbo (premove) and her 2nd was It's a Small World. At 18 her 1st ride is always It's a Small World. A nice relaxing way to start a vacation and very non frightening for a small one.

 

[MickeyWaffles]

My kids’ first rides were both It’s a Small World (at 12 months old and 13 months old.) The music, colors, etc. were mesmerizing for them. I’ll never forget the look on their faces. We rode it twice in a row both times. I’d do it again a second.

 

[LongLiveRafiki]

At right before 2, my son's first ride was the Speedway and he enjoyed it. He was frightened by the thunderstorm in Pooh, bored on the Peoplemover, and fell asleep on iasm and the Carousel. We never even made it on Dumbo, though he enjoyed the other similar style rides (Carpets and Triceratop Spin). He couldn't really shoot on Buzz or TSMM and they whipped him around a bit, but he still liked them. His favorites were definitely HM and Pirates in MK and Spaceship Earth in Epcot.

 

[Joyful2018]

My sons first ride was pooh as it was his favorite character, and he hated it! Too dark and load. I would suggest an outside ride that they can see while you wait

 

[Calee]

I know this may sound dumb, but if you are a parent that likes to document everything, you might consider an outside ride for his first ride. It will be hard to take a good picture in the dark. For that, I would do Dumbo if it were me. If not Dumbo, the carousel. If you don't care about that, I would do Peter Pan.

My kids LOVE Buzz, and I don't think it's a bad choice. However, it has broken down on us (for more than a minute or two!) every. single. time. we have ridden it. That could freak a kid out, or just get dull for a little guy.

 

[wvjules]

I never thought about the picture aspect!

 

[pahoben]

DGS will be almost 21 months when we go later this month. DD and I have talked about his first ride but haven't really decided.

Our first day will be at MK. We have decided that meeting characters first thing is not a good idea. He might feel a little overwhelmed/intimidated. Our first thought is Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger spin so that's what we got a FP for, as of now. Do you think that is a good first ride or would you choose something else? We don't want him to get scared on his first ride and then not want to do anything else.

Oh, maybe we should do the People Mover first? lol

I remember the first time I took my twin girls to the zoo at about 2. The main interest of one of them was looking in the trash bins. I constantly had to drag her away from her current inspection.

At Disney at 2 and 4 yrs of age. The inspector was never afraid of anything but her sister was often fearful. Now at 6 neither are afraid of anything and both even want to go on the Orlando Slingshot our next visit to Disney.

 

[monorailsilver]

When our kids were little, it was still paper FP so basically we went to a ride we knew would have a long line, it didn’t matter which ride.

 

[stewart715]

It's a Small World is always a good choice for a young kid. We brought our 27 month old daughter on Pirates and Jungle Cruise and she loved them both. I think every kid is different though so just use your best judgement.

 

[stewart715]

I also want to mention that a lot of young toddlers are afraid of fireworks. One tip that we used that worked is to let our daughter watch the fireworks show on the iPad a few times before our trip. She learned about the castle and fireworks and the music and loved it. Then when it was time for HEA she knew exactly what to expect and wasn't scared one bit.

 

[pahoben]

I also want to mention that a lot of young toddlers are afraid of fireworks. One tip that we used that worked is to let our daughter watch the fireworks show on the iPad a few times before our trip. She learned about the castle and fireworks and the music and loved it. Then when it was time for HEA she knew exactly what to expect and wasn't scared one bit.

Good approach. One or our girls at 4 was afraid of the fireworks and was absolutely certain that it was dragon’s fire from a bad dragon.

 

[TiggerTrigger]

My girls were 2 and 4 on their first visit. The 2 year old was 25 months at the time. We were going to wait until our Chef Mickey's dinner that night to try characters, but the 2 yr old saw Pinocchio when we entered the park and she had to meet him. The older one wanted nothing to do with him, so we just let their responses guide certain things. Their first ride (shortly after that) was Dumbo. I'm not a huge Dumbo fan, but there was just something so iconic about going there first on their first trip.

 

[Jacq7414]

Both times we went my daughter’s favorite ride was Pooh. We went first when she was 23 months and then again when she was 2 months shy of 3. No idea why she liked Pooh the best but tells everyone Pooh was her favorite ride and she wants to go again .

Tea cups were also fun. When she was 23 months she was not scared of Mickey and friends. She ran right up to them. I think meeting the characters were her favorite things both trips. The second trip she enjoyed meeting the princesses and Gaston the best (huge beauty and the beast fan).

 

[Lacoccinelle]

I would do Small World and then maybe Peter Pan and the carousel. This way he will see characters that don’t approach first.

 

[YesterDark]

Any darkride is good.

 

[saraheliz]

I'd start in Fantasyland. My oldest did Small World first, then next trip with two we started on the Carousel because they could see it...but we've always started in that area with PP, IASW, Carousel, Teacups, etc. All fun and no scary.

 

[DisneyDoesMyHair]

DGS will be almost 21 months when we go later this month. DD and I have talked about his first ride but haven't really decided.

Our first day will be at MK. We have decided that meeting characters first thing is not a good idea. He might feel a little overwhelmed/intimidated. Our first thought is Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger spin so that's what we got a FP for, as of now. Do you think that is a good first ride or would you choose something else? We don't want him to get scared on his first ride and then not want to do anything else.

Oh, maybe we should do the People Mover first? lol

Maybe the Ariel ride. Very similar to Nemo at Epcot, slow and lots to look at. The only scary part may be the Sea Witch section. Peter Pan, It’s a Small World, Dumbo, Carousel, and Winnie the Pooh would also be great. We started with Winnie the Pooh for our four year old, then moved to Peter Pan and it’s a small world. By the end of the trip, he rode every roller coaster sub disney except Space Mountain (we ran out of time) and Rockin Roller Coaster (too short). You just never know how they will do. Just keep it mild to start.

 

[KarenAylwood]

With DS5 we did buzz when he was almost 3 and he was freaking terrified. I framed our ride picture and have it hung in our house and he was only mildly traumatized by it. With DS1 we did the magic carpet ride because we had missed our other fast passes, he was melting, DS5 really wanted to ride something and... kids. It was one of the only rides I'd never been on and it meant nothing to me as a disney fanatic on her 30something trip, first with her second born. He was so happy though and loved it. No matter what you pick it will be special, really. Have fun.

 

[PollyannaMom]

We did a day trip when DS was 18 months, and I'm pretty sure his first ride was the teacups.

On his first "stay-there" trip at 5, he was very into trains, and insisted we start with that.

With FP+ now, and thinking ahead, I would say It's A Small World is probably the iconic choice.

 

[Lilsia]

I don't think we even thought about that when we first took our kids. Think we just went on the ride that has the shortest wait. LOL