What To Do When Your Child Is Afraid of a Ride

What can you do when your child is afraid of thrill rides?  First of all lets breakdown the reasons why some children do not like thrill rides. 

-          The Dark:  Some kids are afraid of the dark. Anything they can’t see tends to freak them out.  If you really break this down it’s a fear of the unknown that most kids outgrow or get over through experience. Problem is if your kid is afraid of the dark rides like Dinosaur, Tower of Terror, and even tame rides like Pirates can be a deal breaker.

 

-          Noise: You can also call this the loud factor.  Some kids are freaked out by loud noises.  Let’s face it Disney can be crazy loud at times.  Whether you like it or not your hearing is most likely worst than your child’s. So the big boom that made you jump made your kid jump, was louder to them, and they have no positive experience with loud noises which means it’s going to be a negative.

 

-          Drops: This is a big one. The human body was not designed to feel an accelerated plummet. It’s just not a natural feeling.  Our minds naturally resist the sensation.  For adults the mind can segment bad from good when it comes to this.  For kids that might not be the case. 

 

-          Reflection:  Reflection is the parents.  Parents can amp a kid up or calm them down.  For example. My niece and her parents went on Splash Mountain.  Her mother hates all rides. I’m not sure if she’ll ever be turned but she freaks out!  She freaked out bad while on the ride. Guess what happened.  My niece freaked out so bad she refused to ride any rides for the rest of the trip.

 

Those are just some of the most common things that freak a kid out.   You could also add characters for some kids but we are talking about rides.

Do not underestimate the impact of the above on your kids.  You know your child. You know what freaks them out.  Do not force them to do something they are not comfortable with.  Doing this will make things worse.  However, don’t despair. Children can overcome their fears.

First let’s do a small case study of how a kid broke and how, and when, he came around.

The kid in question was not afraid of the dark or of loud noises but he was petrified of drops. This fear came about as the result of an incident when he was very young.  His family attended a theme park which had a Snoopy roller coaster.  The child did not want to ride but the rest of his family coerced him.  The fact that Snoopy was on the roller coaster helped. This brings us to rule number one.  Never coerce a child onto a ride they are nervous about. Why?

When a child is nervous or intimidated the body releases ACTH (adrenocorticotropic hormone).  This hormone serves for one purpose. Get to your adrenal cortex and cause a dozens of other hormones to flood the body.

The sudden spike of hormones like epinephrine, norepinephrine and dozens of others causes your heart rate to spike, pupils to dilate, blood-glucose to spike, and your digestive system to shut down.

The funny thing is the same thing happens to someone who wants to go on the thrill ride.  The difference is its impact on the person’s brain.  If it’s not a willing event it can lead to post traumatic stress. Your brain treats the event must differently if you willing seek out the event.

So what happened to the kid?

Bawled his eyes out and screamed even after the ride was over.  He also didn’t willing ride another ride with a drop for a decade.

The parents tried give him tough love from time to time by dragging him on a flume ride or similar ride.  His friends even tricked him onto a roller coaster where you couldn’t see the drops.  Instead of helping these events made things worse.  The reason is same as above.  They were not willing experiences.

How did this kid ever start riding thrill rides again?

Positive reinforcement was the key to getting this kid to like thrill rides.  Remember this kid only had negative memories associated with thrill rides.  Positive ones had to be established.  Positive ones could only be created if they kid willingly got on the ride.

One warning – compensation IS NOT positive reinforcement.  If you tell the kid they will get a treat or everyone will do something they want to do if they ride the ride it’s not positive.  They are not willing getting on the ride.

So how do you get the kid on the ride?

First things first, tell the child the family is going on the ride and they can wait in with another family member.  This works well in Disney World because of child swap.  Try to avoid play areas.  You want the kid to be bored.

After the family has gone on the ride DO NOT tell the kid how fun it was. That can kick in a defensive mode or make the kid feel bad. Instead have the other family members talk about their favorite parts in an excited and positive manner.  Do not use any negative adjectives like “scary.” Do not discuss the ride with the kid unless they ask questions.  When they do, answer the question in a positive and calm manner.  When you do this you are making the kid feel like they are missing out on something without telling them they are missing out on something. This method draws the kid to that conclusion on their own.

If the child asks to ride the ride, after everyone has ridden the ride, tell them you will later.  The reason for this is reinforcement of the missing out but it also lets you redirect to a less intense ride.  For example if your kid is afraid of roller coasters and you use the above on Space Mountain, redirect to Big Thunder Mountain.  For most kids BTM is must less intense. Then you can build up to Space Mountain without overloading the kid.  Try to avoid rides like Pirates or Splash for this.  The combination of dark and drop could be too much.

There is a good chance that once they start willingly getting on these rides they will quickly start riding everything.  Even if they still balk from time to time – LET THEM.  Forcing them could undo any progress you have made.

This even works for teenagers.  The kid in the example was 16 when he finally got back on thrill rides.

La Nouba – Is It Worth the Money?

La Nouba is an amazing show full of stunts, artistry, and music. Parts are funny, parts are creepy, and parts make your jaw drop. That all sounds great but, is it worth $90+ a ticket?

I’ll start by saying that I sat in the “Front and Center” section. That section is not worth the money. It is too close to the stage and too much happens behind you to really enjoy everything. It was really disappointing. Do not but those tickets. That’s odd too because those are the most expensive tickets in the house. If you sat in the second section back in the middle you would have perfect seats.

There are some odd parts of La Nouba. Some parts could scare a young child and other parts would bore them to death. For a kid La Nouba is not worth the ticket price.

The cheaper seats are well worth the money. It is an amazing show. That is worth seeing at least once. I don’t want to ruin the show but the bikers stand out. The other amazing scenes are the trampoline scene and the Asian Jugglers. If you’ve seen it you know what I am talking about.

The only real drawback of La Nouba is the volume. It is almost painfully loud. My ears rang for about two hours after the show. It really needs to be turned down a little.

Year of a Million Screams

It’s funny what grabs your attention when you go on vacation. In December of 2008 my wife and I were amazed by the number of ECVs that could be found in the parks at Disney World. In February 2010 something else grabbed our attention. It seemed like every time we turned around there was a kid melting down.

I really think they Give a Day, Get a Day should be replaced with “The Year of a Million Screams.” The meltdown is something that has always amazed me. In many cases meltdowns can be avoided but if parents did that I would have less to write about.

There are two very different types of melt downs. The first is the classic scream as loud as you can / disagree with everything meltdown. These tend to be cause by utter exhaustion. These often happen after 3pm depending on the age of the child. The scene is classic, a screaming kid and a parent who looks half dead carrying / dragging them. These can be avoided by a noontime break / nap. These can also be avoided by not keeping your kid awake for the 9:30pm Hoop Dee Doo or the 9pm La Nouba or ANYTHING that late.

I know this is off subject but – WHY WOULD YOU DRAG A KID TO La Nouba IN THE FIRST PLACE! That is not a kids show. The 9pm show just blows my mind entirely.

The second kind of melt down is the acting out followed by the stern lecture by a parent. This is like a double melt down because both the parent and the kid are melting down. These are some of the funniest melt downs. The canned lecture is awesome. They always include a reference to how the kid is ruining the vacation for someone else and a reference to how much money is being spent. You think I’m kidding? I quote:

“The way you are acting is ruining this vacation for your mother. I spent a lot of money for this vacation and I’m not going to let you ruin it.”

I overheard that by the cash register in the Emporium on Main Street USA in the Magic Kingdom.

Another classic is when the parent threatens the child with something ridiculous. I overheard a parent threaten to leave the park and drive home. This was about an hour after the park opened. Kids are not dumb. You need a real threat.

What cause this kind of melt down? There are two things. One is a total lack of ever discipline your child. The other factor having an overly structured vacation that results more attention being given to doing everything than enjoying time with your child. To prevent this take it easy, be flexible, and remember that enjoying what you are doing is better than trying to do everything. If you kid wants to do a ride again, do it again. It’s their vacation too.

Disney to Test Parents before Entering the Parks

Disney announced last week that it will start testing parents before they are allowed to enter the parks. The test will be used to determine whether the parents are smart enough to bring their kids into the parks. Any parents who fails will need to hire a Disney certified nanny for the day.

Disney stated in a press release that this new program came about because of a number of incidents including the following:

- Parents dressing their babies in multiple layers of clothes when it’s 95 out

- Parents leaving their kids in the sun while they go into a store to shop

- Parents letting their children run rampant as soon as they are in the gate

- Parents have been leaving kids in the child swaps

- Two kids were found in the lockers

- Parents using their strollers as a battering rams

- Parents have been changing their kids in the middle of Main Street

- Numerous complaints about breast feeding in the middle of crowds

- Kids have been tossed at characters in parades to get autographs

- Parents claiming their kids are handicapped to bypass lines

- Complaints about naked kids running around

- Goofy was assaulted by a pack of pre-teens with no supervision

All of the above have been tied to parents who are physically capable of having kids but are lacking in every other area. There has been a spike in stupid parents across the country and Disney has not been exempt from their impact.

Disney also announced that parents who pass the test may be required to hire a nanny if they exhibit “exceptional dysfunction” during their time in the parks.

Some people are really excited about the new program. They have lauded Disney for doing what no one else was brave enough to do.

“I always wished someone would start requiring a test before allowing people to have kids. I think this is a step in the right direction,” stated a social worker from California.

Other people have taken offense to the idea and are considering legal action.

“I’m an American! I have the right to do what I want with my kids as long as they don’t get hurt. It’s not like I give them beer to shut them up. I stopped that last year,” stated a gentleman with a neck redder than an apple.

Regardless of the feedback, the program is expected to start this fall.