4 year old and Space Mountain Opinions

[liljunebugs123]

Hi, so our upcoming trip in March is quickly approaching and my DD just turned 4 she's very tall for her age and meets the height requirements. She weighs about 40 lbs. She's been begging to get to ride Space Mtn this trip. I'm nervous about letting her ride though. She loves roller coasters, but this would be her first one in the dark and sitting alone. Anyone have any thoughts?

 

[TiggerTrigger]

It really depends on the kid. I took my 7 year old on it for the first time back in September and she was terrified. On the flipside, she loved Everest. Had it been my younger one (who's not tall enough just yet), I think she'd be fine as darker rides like Dinosaur don't phase her.

 

[bumbershoot]

I would take a 4 year old on Space at Disneyland, but NOT at Disneyworld. Very very different rides, right down to how rough it is and the ride vehicle. At WDW you sit all by yourself with a t-bar keeping you in. You're in a ride vehicle with, I believe, 2 other people, but they aren't next to you. And it's VERY rough.

 

[ktaggie]

Sure why not. You will be right behind her. My kids totally loved it from the moment they were tall enough.

 

[arielmomma]

Like a PP said, it depends on the kid. My DS enjoyed it. My DD did not, at all!Yet she liked Everest. I say play it by ear. See how your child does on other rides then decide.

 

[Manders77]

Hi, so our upcoming trip in March is quickly approaching and my DD just turned 4 she's very tall for her age and meets the height requirements. She weighs about 40 lbs. She's been begging to get to ride Space Mtn this trip. I'm nervous about letting her ride though. She loves roller coasters, but this would be her first one in the dark and sitting alone. Anyone have any thoughts?

I would say give it a try. My 6 yr old wishes she could ride. Our last visit was when DD was 4 1/2 and she was sad she couldn't ride BTMRR. When she is tall enough and asks to ride either DH or I will take her.

 

[Manders77]

I would say give it a try. My 6 yr old wishes she could ride. Our last visit was when DD was 4 1/2 and she was sad she couldn't ride BTMRR. When she is tall enough and asks to ride either DH or I will take her.

. Oh I forgot to add she wasn't tall enough for BTMRR.

 

[GrtWtNorth]

I would suggest taking her on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad first. If she's fine in the dark tunnels, ask if she'd like to try Space Mountain. Tell her the truth -- it will be dark and that you would have to sit behind her rather than beside her. You could also tell her that it's slower than Big Thunder Mountain.

My daughter cleared the 40" mark on our last WDW trip, so she had fun riding Big Thunder Mountain repeatedly. Space Mountain at has a 44" height requirement.

FYI, Space Mountain at Disneyland has a 40" height requirement and DD loved to marathon ride it. We rode it six times in one morning alone. However, a few months earlier, I took her on Space Mountain Ghost Galaxy (the Halloween makeover) which scared her badly. As we exited the ride, she tearfully told me, "I liked the roller coaster part, but I did not like that scary fire ghost!"

 

[BubblyTrip]

My barely 5 yr old LOVES coasters, but I think we are going to hold off one more trip (he might not scrape by the 44 in anyway). I feel a bit uneasy about him sitting alone (I hold on to him on Splash and BTMRR) and in the dark you can't prepare yourself for the twisting and jerking. Makes me nervous for little necks and backs.

 

[MSSANDRA]

We choose to wait at that age. Its a pretty rough ride and as everyone has said, they are not beside you. DS did BTMR fine that trip but this is quite different. We gave him the choice on EE but just never mentioned that Space existed and he did not remember it from past trip. DS21 and I road it while he and DH were doing Buzz for the 100000 time, so no big deal. We knew we would be back frequent enough that it was not a big deal. This is now we are fine with his riding it at 7, and he has no desire. I suggest EE as a better test. They are different but it a big more intense than BTMR, but you can be beside him!

 

[SweetMissy]

As soon as our daughter met the requirements, she was on and loved it! She's a daredevil though, so I love it because I love those kinds of rides. I can't remember if she was tall enough when we went just before she was 4 or was it the following year, probably the following year. She was just barely tall enough to go on Rockin Roller coaster last year but she did and LOVED it! Our son doesn't like the scary or fast ones, annoys the crap out of me, lol. But every kid is different and I accept that. I think if she's tall enough and wants to go on a ride, than let her.

 

[MandiC]

I'm sure it depends on the child. My 7 year old loved Space Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain. HATED Expedition Everest. I don't know that I would put my 4 year old on Space Mountain though. It is really rough and as someone else said, you can't prepare for it cause it's dark. I think it's a good idea to try Big Thunder Mountain first and see how they do.

 

[Geordietyke]

My DD was 7 and tall enough for Space Mountain but she is very skinny and I was a bit wary letting her on. In the end, she absolutely loved it and we went on lots of times. Fortunately, both our daughters enjoy coasters and fast rides

I think it's up to the individual child, if they really don't want on a ride, I don't force them. They do however watch lots of videos of each ride before we go so they have a good idea what to expect.

 

[Rekenna]

When DS8 was 4, he had the desire and height to ride everything at WDW (except RNR, he was too short). He LOVED everything! The family story that year was him teasing DS11 at the time b/c he wouldn't ride ToT-"Bubby, you a chicken-baby 'cause you won't wide Towwer of Terwor'-all in a 4 year old lispy voice, it was priceless. It depends on the kid, but if they really have the guts then go for it.

 

[liljunebugs123]

Thanks for all the input! I think I will go with my gut on this and skip it this time around. I forgot how jerky it was! Maybe I can sneak on with my 2 DS's while DH takes her on something else

 

[ktlm]

My DD (7) wouldn't set foot on it until she was 6, and then she liked it. She is a bit of a thrill ride chicken too- she hates BTMR and EE, and is not a fan of Splash either. One of her best friends started riding it at age 3, and it was his absolute favorite ride at that age. I think they wound up riding it 4 or 5 times on his 3 year old trip.

If she is really begging, I would probably let her ride it. On SM, DH rides behind DD and keeps a hand on her shoulder the whole time, since it is single file.

 

[SweetMissy]

What I did was have DD sit in front of me or hubby and we leaned forward and held her head, because it is a little jerky. Last year being that she was bigger, she did fine.

 

[chris31997]

First time on it for our then 6 yr old DD, it was 6 times in a row. We had to stop her cause we were getting Jerky, dark, and all of it. She loved it.

Trust your gut and know what your kid is up for. The last thing you want to do is scare them off any or all rides.

 

[minniemous]

My Daughter is very tall for her age too. She was 4 when we took her in November.

She would have been able to get on almost every ride except for the rocking roller coaster.

We asked her if she wanted to go on the tower of terror. She really wanted too. I was so worried and last second almost left. She loved it! We went on about a total of 5 times during our visit.

She had been wanting to go on the Everest ride. She was tall enough for that too. We took her. All went well, except at the very end of the ride when the ride is coming to a stop it slows down and then makes a sudden jerking movement. I do not know if this was a fluke or part of the way it comes to a stop at the end. She did not have the strength to keep herself from jerking her stomach into the bar that holds you in.

When were standing in the picture area she said "the yetti got her" she held her stomach and dropped to the floor. I was scarred out of my mind! We picked her up and brought her outside. She took a second a felt better. It just kind of jammed into her tummy and made her feel woozy I guess. She is fine and was fine the remainder of the day. But I was so scarred.

I tell you this because in that moment when I was so scarred I thought just because she is tall enough and can ride and wants to ride...does not mean she should ride.

Later in our stay I went on space mountain alone and when I got off I told my husband no way is she going on this ride. She may be tall, but she is thin and does not have the strength that an older child has.

My personal opinion is my daughter will not ride Space mountain until I feel 100% comfortable about it.

She went on the Mission Space I think it is called and did both the green and orange. We did green first and she loved it. The Orange is much more crazy of an experience and when it started I thought.. what have I done now there is not way out! She loved it and was fine. I was the one who felt sick.

Space mountain is just different. You get thrown around a lot and I think many children who are at that height are much heavier because the child is older. Really think hard about which rides she can handle.

After our experience with the Everest ride I would not do that ride at 4 nor would I take her on Space Mountain. Tower of terror was just fine as long as she is not too scarred. Good luck!

 

[Sephora]

We have 5, 6 year old daughters who are above average in height and we are going in May. We went last Mar and didn't do SM but did Everest and BTMRR. They loved them! I didn't do SM cause we were in Tomorrowland end of day and it was late and the ride still had a huge wait time. We plan to do it this upcoming trip though and I bet my girls will love it.