FOP for younger kids

[KelNChrisKYDis]

We're going to WDW in May with our 8 year old and 4 year old, who will turn 5 while we're there. She's already tall enough for FOP (My hubby & I went on an adults only trip in Oct and rode it 3x's) but I'm concerned it's too intense for her, or that she may not follow the instructions well. Anyone have experience with their 5 and under kiddos on this particular ride? I'm not concerned about any of the others. We have season passes to our local amusement park and she'll ride anything.

 

[FireflyTrance]

My daughter rode it at age 4 and loved it. She actually still talks about the "banshee ride" being her favorite ride Once they are strapped in the seat it is very engaging so I doubt there would be a problem. All kids are different though.

 

[katyjeka]

You know you child better than anyone, go with your gut. Maybe see how she handling other rides and work up to it.

 

[JessicaW1234]

If she is gung-ho on rides in general, this should be ok for her.

 

[stace1214]

My daughter is five and although she's usually great with rides and very little scares her, she was so scared on FOP. She closed her eyes and cried through most of it. I felt like the worst mom in the world, I was so sure she'd be okay. You never really know for sure what the reaction will be. Luckily, it's really a short ride, so if your kiddo doesn't like, it's over fast.

 

[lisa cameron]

We got a FP for our Feb trip for FOP and are going to try with our 5 year old boy. We rented the Avatar movie to show him the flight itself and hold him the Avatar were “Nature Super Heros” and protect the plants and trees. He loves super heros so now is excited...but I know he might still be scared since it is like a real life experience but at least it won’t be quite as shocking to him? Guess we will find out in a couple weeks!

 

[AZMermaid]

My daughter was 5 years and 3 months when we went last June. This was the first trip where she didn't freak out on the tamer mountains (Splash, Thunder). We already decided beforehand that even if she did freak on those rides, she was riding FoP once. We live in AZ and WDW is a once every 4-5 years trip for us. Well, she loved those mountains (plus 7DMT) so we were good to go. I wouldn't say she loved it, but she did enjoy it and would have ridden again. My 6.5 year old totally loved it. He was willing to wait 4 hours to ride again, but the rest of us were not- lol.

 

[KelNChrisKYDis]

My daughter is five and although she's usually great with rides and very little scares her, she was so scared on FOP. She closed her eyes and cried through most of it. I felt like the worst mom in the world, I was so sure she'd be okay. You never really know for sure what the reaction will be. Luckily, it's really a short ride, so if your kiddo doesn't like, it's over fast.

This is my fear... she's cool on small coasters and other thrill rides, but FOP is admittedly a different type of ride, and on the others, she is right at my hip, and she'll be "alone" on this one. The good thing about having a big brother though, is she wants to do everything he wants to do, and he can't wait. Hopefully that helps.

 

[Ava]

This is my fear... she's cool on small coasters and other thrill rides, but FOP is admittedly a different type of ride, and on the others, she is right at my hip, and she'll be "alone" on this one. The good thing about having a big brother though, is she wants to do everything he wants to do, and he can't wait. Hopefully that helps.

Does she like other simulator rides, like Soarin’ and Star Tours? That may be an indication of how she’ll handle the 3D aspect of FOP.

 

[KyGirl]

We just got back and took our 5.5 year old DD on FOP. She is a brave rider as far as roller coasters go but she is somewhat afraid of the dark. The ride she was most concerned about was the Haunted Mansion. She did it once and was proud of herself but didn't want to do it again. She LOVED Expedition Everest though, so she can handle rides obviously. She is somewhat small for her age but not teeny tiny. She was maybe an inch over the 44 minimum.

Anyway, this was my first time on FOP too so I wasn't able to prepare her as well as I could for rides I'm familiar with and I was afraid there would be some element of darkness that would scare her. There wasn't. All the buildup was a little much for her. She didn't exactly the get the whole parasite thing and the avatar matchup and all that takes so long that she was starting to get apprehensive but she handled it and we moved on.

In the end, she absolutely loved the ride. BUT two things I hadn't thought of were: 1. The glasses were enormous and she couldn't keep them on. We didn't have that problem with other 3D shows but you're not really moving around much in those. I'm not sure if there's something you could do to help with that. Maybe a hair tie or something? But it kind of bummed her out. And 2. She complained that the ride hurt her chest. I guess because it hit her in a weird spot being so short? I don't know.

Anyway, those were two things I never considered preparing her for. Or the amount of time spent in the preshow.

Otherwise, best ride ever! For us grownups and for her!

 

[KelNChrisKYDis]

We just got back and took our 5.5 year old DD on FOP. She is a brave rider as far as roller coasters go but she is somewhat afraid of the dark. The ride she was most concerned about was the Haunted Mansion. She did it once and was proud of herself but didn't want to do it again. She LOVED Expedition Everest though, so she can handle rides obviously. She is somewhat small for her age but not teeny tiny. She was maybe an inch over the 44 minimum.

Anyway, this was my first time on FOP too so I wasn't able to prepare her as well as I could for rides I'm familiar with and I was afraid there would be some element of darkness that would scare her. There wasn't. All the buildup was a little much for her. She didn't exactly the get the whole parasite thing and the avatar matchup and all that takes so long that she was starting to get apprehensive but she handled it and we moved on.

In the end, she absolutely loved the ride. BUT two things I hadn't thought of were: 1. The glasses were enormous and she couldn't keep them on. We didn't have that problem with other 3D shows but you're not really moving around much in those. I'm not sure if there's something you could do to help with that. Maybe a hair tie or something? But it kind of bummed her out. And 2. She complained that the ride hurt her chest. I guess because it hit her in a weird spot being so short? I don't know.

Anyway, those were two things I never considered preparing her for. Or the amount of time spent in the preshow.

Otherwise, best ride ever! For us grownups and for her!

Thanks so much for your input!! Sounds a lot like my kiddo. We live close to King's Island in Cincinnati, and she started riding the "Haunted House" ride there, although it took some working up to. When we were there last time she was only 2 so she doesn't remember anything and wasn't big enough for the more thrilling rides. Our AK day is later in our trip, so I'm hoping we can get a FP for it. She will drive everyone nuts if she stands in that line, haha. Thanks for the 3D glasses tip, we'll see if we can rig something up, she'll complain the whole day about that!

 

[Ava]

1. The glasses were enormous and she couldn't keep them on.

Yes! The glasses on FOP are huge. My 8-year-old could barely keep them on, and I even felt like they were loose on me. I wish Disney would make kid-size 3D glasses for all the attractions that use them. My 4-year-old loved Star Tours on our last trip but had to hold the glasses to her face the whole time because they were way too big.

 

[DduzDis]

We just got back and took our 5.5 year old DD on FOP. She is a brave rider as far as roller coasters go but she is somewhat afraid of the dark. The ride she was most concerned about was the Haunted Mansion. She did it once and was proud of herself but didn't want to do it again. She LOVED Expedition Everest though, so she can handle rides obviously. She is somewhat small for her age but not teeny tiny. She was maybe an inch over the 44 minimum.

Anyway, this was my first time on FOP too so I wasn't able to prepare her as well as I could for rides I'm familiar with and I was afraid there would be some element of darkness that would scare her. There wasn't. All the buildup was a little much for her. She didn't exactly the get the whole parasite thing and the avatar matchup and all that takes so long that she was starting to get apprehensive but she handled it and we moved on.

In the end, she absolutely loved the ride. BUT two things I hadn't thought of were: 1. The glasses were enormous and she couldn't keep them on. We didn't have that problem with other 3D shows but you're not really moving around much in those. I'm not sure if there's something you could do to help with that. Maybe a hair tie or something? But it kind of bummed her out. And 2. She complained that the ride hurt her chest. I guess because it hit her in a weird spot being so short? I don't know.

Anyway, those were two things I never considered preparing her for. Or the amount of time spent in the preshow.

Otherwise, best ride ever! For us grownups and for her!

The hair tie for the 3D glasses is a great idea! My DD5 will be riding FoP for the first time, but also likes the other attractions with glasses. This will be super handy.

 

[KelNChrisKYDis]

Just wanted to follow up on this. The glasses were too big, and I totally whiffed on remembering something to hold them on, so she ended up just taking them off. She rode the ride, and didn't complain about it, but afterwards she said she wasn't ever riding it again, lol. She didn't like "getting wet"; I believe the real reason was she was just scared of the "height". I'm not sure having properly fitting glasses would've improved the experience for her. She loved NRJ though.