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  • On Jan 25, 2008
    Rhonda from ON Asked Note: This answer was provided prior to the change to planDisney and may still contain references to Disney Parks Moms Panel.

    Experiences, policies, pricing and other offerings are subject to change and may have changed since the date of this answer.

    We will be visiting WDW in April for the first time. At 46 in. my daughter is tall enough to ride almost everything. I wonder about the intensity of the rides. Do many 5 year olds ride on Space Mountain or Tower of Terror? She thinks she'd like it.

    My very petite 5-year-old is still not tall enough for Space Mountain, so I'm not sure about that one.  She rode Tower of Terror at 4 years old and was not scared.  I've also seen many teenagers a nervous wreck, so it really depends on your child.

    One thing we did before we left home was go to youtube.com and look up videos of rides.  Many guests have recorded the rides and attractions and post them there to see, so we showed my daughter all of the more intense rides on youtube,  That helped her a lot.  She knew what to expect on the ride, was able to watch it multiple times, we could explain it all and walk her through everything, etc.  By the time she got to ride for the first time she was old hat, recognizing lots of things along the way because she knew them from the videos.

    Also, in my opinion, Tower of Terror is intense more psychologically than physically.  My observation has been that kids get very nervous with all the build-up in the queue and the room where the video clip is shown.  Just in case that would be an issue with my daughter, I made sure to stand in the back of the room, farther from the screen, and while the video played I let her watch pieces of it interspersed with checking out the decor in the room itself.  The distraction worked well for her, and she had a great time on the ride.  We made sure to laugh and say things were silly instead of scary, and told her about the view of the park when the doors open, and the picture we'd get at the end.  It seemed all of our preparation either worked perfectly or was completely unnecessary, because she had a great time and wasn't scared at all!

    If you have any lingering doubts, ride it yourself first and see if you think it would be too upsetting for her.  And when she does go in with you, don't forget that there are opt-out elevators right up until the ride itself, so she can always change her mind later.  Good luck!
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Meet the Panelist: Heather, Kentucky

I'm a member of the original 2008 Moms Panel and am happy to be back again to help you plan! We are DVC members who visit 2-3 times per year with our 3 young daughters, and I am only one visit away from being able to say I've stayed in every Disney resort! Learn More About Heather

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