How can I get my 10 yr old son to ride Haunted Mansion? - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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How can I get my 10 yr old son to ride Haunted Mansion?
My son absolutely REFUSES to ride the Haunted Mansion.
He threw an all out FIT in 2010 when we were there. I was so frustrated with him that I told him I was going to stick him on a plane & send him to his grandparents while we finished out the vacation. My husband, myself and our daughter wanted to go on, but of course we couldn't leave my son alone, so 1 of us (me) had to sit out with him. After a breather and a reminder that we were in the HAPPIEST place on Earth, we forgot about the whole ordeal.
Now, we are 2 weeks out from our trip, and I've approached this subject numerous times over the last year when we've discussed our Disney plans. He still refuses.
What irritates me even more now is that he'll get together with his friends that live here in our neighborhood and they go "ghost hunting" and tell stories of some ghost named Slenderman (seriously?!? Most ridiculous name I've ever heard) and a few other names that are currently escaping me. Him and another friend discussed all this with a 3rd friend and scared the 3rd friend so badly he didn't want to go to sleep that night (!!!!). Now, this "ghost hunting" they do, they do with the assumption it's "real" --- so why not go on Haunted Mansion? It's clear that it's NOT real.
We've showed him youtube videos, explained the ride at length, etc. I'm once again frustrated that he doesn't want to go on it as a family (the other 5 of us going on the trip would like to go on). Even the fact that his younger sister has gone on it doesn't entice him. He doesn't care that she's more open minded & brave to go on things than he is.
He's not a roller coaster rider, and we don't push him to do those. I can understand not wanting to go on fast moving, high rides, etc. But Haunted Mansion? @@
I have some friends in the same boat. My kids love the ride, but our friends have kids about the same age and they refuse. Don't try and convince him. He's getting to the age that the more you talk about it, he will want to do the opposite. Maybe he'll ride it someday with your grandkids.
To put it bluntly, you can't make him go. Nor is there anything you can say or do to make him go. Here's what you can do. Everyone else goes on the ride, except for you. You have him sit on a bench while everyone else goes on the ride. Then when they come out, your husbands sits with him while everyone else goes back on the ride (assuming not a long wait). He has to sit there for quite some time. No fun, no running around, no going on other rides. Maybe he'll see that he's missing out on fun. Even if he doesn't really like it, he might decide its worth it just to go on it and then get moving onto other things.
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I agree that you may have to let it go, for now. Everyone has different comfort levels. I definitely would not bring it up again until you are there. Remind him that nothing in WDW will hurt him. Maybe doing something while riding will entice him? Do you ever look for Hidden Mickeys on rides? Start doing that around the parks and it will be one more place to look.
My DD did it at age 4, but refused every year after that until she was around 12 or so. I often rode alone. For years I rode ToT alone because no other family member would join me. You just deal with the situation as best you can. No use getting mad.
We had similar issues with a ride in California Adventure. Nothing we said would budge our youngest onto California Screamin'.
My DH and I wee making plans to take turns when a woman who had overheard us turned to him and told him how much fun she and her daughter had. He reluctantly agreed to go.
I could see he was nervous. He didn't say much for most of the line. Once the ride was done, he got off and screamed "Let's do it again!"
It had to be his decision, but I was thankful that the lady turned and commented to him.
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For my daughter, to take the scarieness out of the ride, I told her the ghosts were just have a huge party. They were having dancing, music and cake in the ballroom, in the graveyard they were playing music and playing hide and seek (the ones popping up). I didn't have any kind of explanation for the attic scene but maybe I distracted her by talking about the ballroom we had just left. It worked for her - since then we've been on the ride several times. It's not one of her must ride many times during the trip rides (thankfully) but it's not a ride she avoids or is afraid to go on.
Of course in your case, I did like the suggestion of making him sit there and wait (with one parent and then the other) while everyone else goes on as well.
Has he been able to tell you what about HM he doesn't like? I have claustrophobia, very mild, but my parents relate it back to when I was 4 and went on HM in DL. Whether I had it before that we don't know, but that was the first place they noticed it. When we got into the stretching room, and they said there are no doors or windows I went into a complete panic, hyperventilating and nearly passing out. Once the doors opened my parents took me to the side and got me calmed down and the rest of the ride I was fine. I still don't like being in crowded closed in places, the preshows on all attractions are difficult for me, but I just place myself near a door or wall. I love HM now as I know I will get out (at 4 I didn't know that).
Maybe try to find out what specifically bothers him, if he is not afraid of other scary things there may be something mundane that you are not aware of. Could be flashing lights, the stretching room, a certain scene, pictures with eyes moving. Then try to figure out if you can avoid that specific problem. Ask a CM if you can use an alternate entrance the skips the stretching room, warn him before scenes that are the ones that bothers him and let him close his eyes (my DS wears a hoodie backwards so he can put the hood over his face when he is overwhelmed).
With my son he is very into technology and how they do things, so we have talked about how to do all the effects, then he is less scared because he wants to try and figure out how they are creating the effects.
Has he seen the movie The Haunted Mansion? I know it's incredibly horrid and not really the best movie, but it is very funny and really makes light of the HM. I wouldn't tell him you are going to watch it, just turn it on and maybe not let him see the beginning credits to know that it is the HM and have him come in part-way through. My kids find the movie hysterical and not very scary.
That's all the possible suggestions I can think of. Other than that you really can't force him to go as if something is truly scary to someone you need to let them get to it on their own terms. Good luck!
Has he been able to tell you what about HM he doesn't like?
That's the thing .... there isn't anything specifically .... I think it's just the whole idea in general. It's kind of frustrating....
Thank you everyone for your suggestions. My mom agreed that she'll sit it out with him. She doesn't mind. I feel bad having her miss out, so maybe we'll be able to hit the ride twice so she can go on as well. Depends on wait times, etc when we get there.
And in the meantime, I'll just drop the issue and see if he comes around on his own. It just gets to be frustrating because he threw a fit going on Pirates of the Caribbean (which hello --- lame! Not personally one of my favorites AT ALL), he didn't want to try out the Stitch ride (he reluctantly did), he crabbed about going on the water raft ride thing at AK (I forget the name) -- there's been so many rides he's NOT wanted to do simply because he can't see them (any of the "internal" rides).
Oh well. Maybe he'll come around at some point, otherwise he's just going to be missing out on a lot and we'll all have to rotate & sit out with him while everyone else rides.
No matter what his reason is for not wanting to ride HM, I don't think you should try to force him. If he's actually scared to ride it, I think "punishing" him by making him sit on a bench and not letting him do anything while everyone else rides is just mean. But that's just my opinion. I'm not saying you would do this, but I have seen too many people in lines at WDW with crying children being forced to ride things they are not comfortable with, and it really bothers me.
Edited to add: Glad your mom is willing to sit with him, and I think not pushing the issue is best for now. Maybe he will eventually come around.
You could try and assure him that Disney is meant for fun and nothing is meant to truly scare you. But like everyone else has said, you can't make him ride it if he doesn't want to. Best of luck to you!!
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Slenderman is a character that you can find on youtube. Sort of like a urban legend. There are several videos where they point to a spot in the woods and say its him, like bigfoot. Could you try to have him try to spot him in the haunted mansion ride. The ghost that plays the piano (his shadow is long with long arms) could be it. Maybe if he makes a game of it, he would ride, and then tell his friends that he found him on HM. It's worth a try. My son is fancinated with the Slenderman, in such a way that he scares himself with the youtube videos. If he likes them HM will be a piece of cake.
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Originally Posted by DisneyDana
Ugh, he sounds like the type of kid that I would be making stay at home with the Grandparents or a sitter while the rest of the family went to WDW! I refused to take my 5 year old step son, and pay all that money for him to get in and just eat! He stayed with my parents while we went on vacation. He was afraid of any kind of dark ride. I figured, not only would I be frustrated as all get out, but he would be in his own personal h*ll in a world of dark rides!
I'm sorry, Dana, but that sounds kind of mean to me. Poor little scared kid.
Just let him sit it out. Stop trying to convince him and just accept that he isn't going to change his mind. Maybe some day he'll change his mind, but things could be a lot worse.
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Poor little scared kid.
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