Height req-ok, but is he too young?

[BethC]

My son did go on Big Thunder Mountain when he had just turned 3 years old. He just met the height requirement and we thought he would be fine. Wrong! He was sooooo scared, that he would not try it again for a couple of years (of course he rides it all the time now and loves it at age 7!).

The problem is that there is only one lapbar to go over the both of you. When you are sitting by a young child, the bar only goes down as far as YOUR lap. My son was slipping and sliding all over the seat- I swear he could have slid right under the bar!

For this reason alone, I would not recommend that young children experience this ride, until they are old enough to hold on tight, or until their feet can reach the floor.

 

[Jen D]

As everyone else has said, it depends on the child. Our daughter, who turned 4 the day before our WDW trip, rode TOT, Dinosaur. Test Track, Big Thunder Mountain. She skipped Splash Mountain because she hates any ride that gets you wet.

The rides were a challenge for her and she was a little freaked out by some, especially Dinosaur. But she was determined the try. I recommend you order the planning video and show your child the rides. Our daughter decided which she wanted to do based on the planning video.

The only attraction that was a disaster was It's Tough to Be a Bug. Pure terror, pure trauma. It will be years before she returns. And there is no height requirement for that.

 

[sm4987]

Watching the video is a great idea. I never would have thought of that. However, my daughter was to short to ride the first time around and she is dying to do it this time. She will be 4 by that time and she should be tall enough. It's tough to be a bug was hard for her to, but she took it like a champ. She wanted to go on it again as a matter of fact. Let the children decide. It's the only way they'll find out if they like a ride of not.

 

[Princess_Aurora]

My 4.5 year old rode everything just fine except for Tower of Terror and Dinosaur. We started her with Splash Mountain (we rode it 5 times in a row!) and we figured she was ready for ToT. I think she liked the ride itself, but it was the darkness of the ride that she didn't like all that much. Dinosaur was WAY to bumpy and just throw her around like a ragdoll. She was also just barely tall enough for Space Mountain and she semi-enjoyed it, but also the darkness of it kinda creeped her out. She did LOVE Big Thunder Mountain though. That, Splash Mountain and Test Trak were her favs. And if you ask her, she'll tell you she had a lot of fun on ToT and Space Mountain but if you ask her if she wants to ride them again she'll say not until she's 16

 

[ilovefh]

LOL....all your kids are braver than I am!! I hate ToT!! I rode it when it opened, when it changed for the 25th, and once last fall! That is enough for me. Oh yeah, and I normally need to be bribed to get on it!!

 

[SMHCPA]

We took my son for his third birthday and he decided that he HAD to ride Tower of Terror. For three days while we were there he begged and pleaded to ride that ride and I told him he was still too little, he insisted he was tall enough. There was no persuading him or distracting him so finally I said to my mom. lets just take him inside, he's too short so then you can just take him out the chicken exit. We prepared him by telling him that "the man" was going to measure him and if he was too short he would have to leave with grandma - no fuss - he agreed. Well "the man" apparently thought he was cute the way he wanted to go sooo bad, ruffled his hair a little so it stood straight up and LET HIM ON! I in no way encouraged this and my mom who had NO intention of actually riding it certainly didn't. So the three of us went, mom barely talked to me for the rest of the day and Evan said he didn't like the bumps but told EVERYBODY that he saw for the whole rest of the trip that he rode it. Last year (at 4) he said no way he was going on it until he was ten - it will be interesting to see what he does this year at 5 LOL!

Suzanne

 

[Jacksmom99]

My son rode Barnstormer at 2.5 three times in a row and LOVED it!! Last year at 3.5 we added the "dark rides" Snow White, Peter Pan, Universe of Energy (this was just an excuse to nurse DD in the airconditioning) We also did test track. He did not like the dark indoor parts, but LOVED it as soon as it went outside. I thought and still think that he is too young for Honey I shrunk the audience. I was going to take him on BTM and SM at MK, but it got to be naptime, so we went back to the hotel. However, I went in Nov.with my mom and we rode BTM. I'm not sure I will take DS on next year or not because of the lap bar issue. I'm not small, and I feel like he would be slipping and sliding all over the place, and HE might not feel secure or safe in the ride. We will definately do SM though.

Now, my MIL took DS to AK one day while I went shopping and DH played golf. She took him to Bug's life and Dinosaur after I had said "no" to HISTA. I didn't realize that I needed to be specific about which rides were inappropraite for MY 3 yo. I guess he handled ITTBAB ok, but he did not like Dinosaur. It did not tramatize him, but I don't know if he'll go near it next year.

He was not tall enough for TOT, nor would I have let him go at 3.5, but I know other kids who have loved it. He did go on Star tours and loved it. I guess you just have to let them decide when they get there.