Children can be funny little creatures. At two and four, both of my children loved the Haunted Mansion® Attraction. A year later the oldest was terrified and the youngest was still in love. Next year both were terrified. By the time we were planning our next trip I knew we needed to start planning coping tactics. Here are a few tricks and tips I’ve discovered.
1. Check the potentially scary rides out before you go
YouTube is great for this. You can bring up almost any ride and let your child see what the ride entails before you go. It will also give you a good idea so that you can judge which rides are going to be too scary. Once you are in the parks you can remind the child that they saw these rides on the computer and that there is no reason to be afraid. This doesn’t just apply to the large rides. I’ve met kids afraid to go into some of the dark rides in Fantasyland®, and a video beforehand can help them know it will be okay.
2. Glow bracelets
Many of the rides at Walt Disney World® and Disneyland® Park are indoors and some are scary to young kids just because it’s too dark. The glow bracelets you can buy in packs at Target are great for these locations. I would not advocate anything brighter because you don’t want to bother other guests, but a small glow bracelet can do wonders to calm down the child who is afraid of the dark.
3. Introduce the fun aspects of the ride
Remember my problem above with the Haunted Mansion? There was a simple solution to my problem. I purchased the song Grim Grinning Ghosts and put it on a CD for the kids. My previously terrified kids were the ones calming the others in line and telling them about the party at the end of the ride.
4. Know your child
Our last trip our youngest decided he hated roller coasters. Then he started hesitating at every ride that was unfamiliar because he was afraid of it. After having to “sweet-talk” him onto the People Mover (one of the calmest rides in the parks) he figured out his gold standard for the trip. Any ride that didn’t require a seat belt was not going to be scary. While we still had to have discussions about rides that required safety belts, being able to say “Look! You don’t even need a seat belt!” was enough to calm him for the rest of the rides instead of making them stressful for him.
5. Skip some rides
We all know our kids best. Even though both of mine have been tall enough, I know better than to take them on Tower of Terror. Disney offers Fastpass® Service, single rider lines, and child swaps to help adults ride while kids take a breather. Otherwise, you might be riding It’s a Small World® five times in a row. Trust me, you’ll have that song in your head for weeks to come!
Jayme has been a Travel Specialist with Wishing Well Travel since 2013, you can contact her at Jayme at wishingwelltravel.com, find her on Facebook or Request a Quote from her online.
