In this post I’m going to attempt to discuss the rides / experiences that are the scariest for small kids and toddlers at Walt Disney World. I’ll go park-by-park discussing any elements of the rides that our toddler has found scary or that I’ve heard or think might be scary for some little ones. I’ll also include a few tips to prepare you kids to make it through some of the rides if you’re on the fence. Read on to get prepared for scares at Walt Disney World!
Related Posts
This post is one in a series of posts focused on planning Disney World trips with toddlers / small kids. Other ride-centric posts you might be interested in are:
We also have a post on the Best Disney World Hotels for Kids and, of course, a Complete Guide to Visiting Disney World with a Toddler, along with tips for visiting Disney World with an Infant or Newborn.
Things to Keep in Mind
For the purpose of this post, we’re only talking about rides without height requirements. There are several with height requirements that even many adults find scary, like DINOSAUR, Expedition Everest, and Tower of Terror, but we won’t be discussing them in this post. We have a separate post that discusses height requirements at Disney World in detail.
Probably the most important thing to emphasize is that you know your little one better than me. It’s entirely possible I leave a ride off on this list that will scare your kid (I included one from our own experience that probably hasn’t made anyone else’s list, for example). The best way to learn about rides is to go to YouTube and do a search for “(ride) at (park)” like “haunted mansion at magic kingdom.” You’ll find videos of the entire experience to help you decide what’s right for your family. (You can also show these to your little ones if you want them to be somewhat familiar with the ride beforehand.)
Remember that these things come and go in phases. Particularly if you’re a repeat visitor, you might be surprised that your kid goes from loving a ride, or at least being ambivalent about it, to hating it. For Zoe, the toughest time so far from from about 15 months to two years. Before 15 months they just didn’t much have a sense of fear (though there were a few scary moments on some rides), and after 2 years they became more susceptible to distractions / preparation.
A general preparation tip that I’m not going to mention for every ride is to get your kid familiar with the characters from rides. A kid familiar with Ariel, Pooh, Peter Pan, and so on is going to have an easier time recovering from any scares on the dark rides than one who has no idea what’s going on.
And one last thing that applies more to rides with height requirements but probably to some rides here, too—consider using Lightning Lanes for rides your little one is nervous about. The nerves will not dissipate while waiting an hour in line. You want to get on these rides with as little wait as possible.
Finally, this post contains spoilers. I can’t discuss what might be scary without discussing what happens during the rides.
Scary Rides for Small Kids at Magic Kingdom
We’ll start with Magic Kingdom, the park with the most rides for little ones and the one where families with small children are likely to spend most of their time. For more on visiting Magic Kingdom with toddlers, click here.
First, I want to mention the rides we’ve never seen any issue with (again, you might): Dumbo the Flying Elephant, “it’s a small world,” Main Street Vehicles, Prince Charming Regal Carrouselm and theWalt Disney World Railroad.
Next up are a pair of rides that we’ll say you should be cautious about.
Haunted Mansion
Unsurprisingly, Haunted Mansion can be quite scary for little kids. For the most part, the ride isn’t a BOO! jump at you scary experience, but it’s no “it’s a small world” either.
The pre-show has some darkness and screams, and the ride is overall quite eerie, even if it ends on a whimsical note. We’ve had more trouble with the pre-show than the ride itself, which Zoe has been mostly fine with since about 2 years old. Approach with caution.
To help prepare for the ride, you can listen to “Grim Grinning Ghosts,” the song from the ride, on most music services. It doesn’t really kick into gear until the end of the ride, but it can give some sense of familiarity to the ride. There’s also a Haunted Mansion Golden Book.
Pirates of the Caribbean
We think of Pirates of the Caribbean in two parts. There’s first few minutes—which include an eerie opening, a plunge (with splashing) into the darkness, and the initial cannon fire of the rest of the ride, and there’s the rest of the ride, which is mostly just a boat ride through some whimsical pirate scenes.
While I’m sure some kids could be bothered by the entirety of the ride, it’s mostly the first part that causes us trouble. Then, because the rest of the ride still isn’t the most fun / bright / colorful, it can be a little tough to recover from.
Personally, I’d say it’s worth it and holding them tight during the drop (which occurs as you see the illuminated skull overhead) is most important. But still, approach with caution.
To help prepare for the ride, create some familiarity with pirates (“ARGH” is as easy to learn as any animal sound) before your trip and listen to Yo Ho (A Pirate’s Life for Me).
The next few rides are ones we’d never skip, but that might have moments or elements that cause a short bit of fright.
Astro Orbiter
Generally I don’t think any of the aerial carousels have anything scary about them. I have heard small kids remark that the Astro Orbiter is too fast for them, and that one certainly does seem to have a bit more centrifugal force than the other two.
Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin
This ride is a dark ride with mostly neon / glow-in-the-dark coloring. There’s one tunnel portion that lasts a few seconds that might be a bit scary for some kids.
Jungle Cruise
A short bit of the ride goes through a dark temple.
Magic Carpets of Aladdin
You can get “spit on” by a camel on this ride, and even if it’s actually just water it will probably come as a bit of a shock to everyone.
Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
There’s a short storm scene in this one that could scare some kids. Zoe went through a phase where basically every dark ride involved a little bit of fright, and that scene was a trigger, but not enough to warrant skipping the ride.
Peter Pan’s Flight
Peter Pan’s Flight is a dark ride where you’re suspended above the scenes. That combination of darkness + heights certainly could scare some kids, but we’ve never had a huge issue. Zoe went through a phase where basically every dark ride involved a little bit of fright, but not enough to warrant skipping them.
Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover
A portion of PeopleMover passes through Space Mountain which—unless the ride is shut down—is in darkness. This can cause some scares but the vast majority of the ride is leisurely and enjoyable.
Under the Sea ~ Journey of the Little Mermaid
A portion of this ride goes (slowly) backwards, and when Zoe went through the “everything is scary” phase, that gave us some spooks. Otherwise, there is a creepy Ursula scene, but that has never caused us any problems.
Bonus: Mad Tea Party
The first few times we went on Mad Tea Party, Zoe either was ambivalent (too little to care) or loved it. Then one trip, something happened. We were waiting in line and Zoe was watching the ride when the fun little mouse popped it’s head out of the teapot in the middle of the ride. From that second on, for months, Zoe wanted nothing to do with the ride and wouldn’t take their eyes off the teapot when we rode. They even took to pointing at teapots and saying “ma” (for “mouse”).
So, this is a great example of how hard it can be to predict these things. Frankly, if you’d asked me before that, I wouldn’t have even known about the mouse. I’ve ridden the ride probably 50 to 100 times, but it’s not a detail I ever cared to notice. Zoe noticed, though.
Scary Rides for Small Kids at EPCOT
Remember, we have a full post with more information on visiting Epcot with toddlers. We’ll start with the rides we’ve never had or seen any issues on: Gran Fiesta Tour and Living with the Land. Next, our “approach with caution” rides…
Frozen Ever After
This one pains me because Zoe loves Frozen, but we still haven’t had a purely enjoyable ride experience since they were too little to care. Frozen Ever After is mostly a nice boat dark ride, but there are a few things to know.
In the middle of the ride, leaving Elsa’s castle, the boat goes backward. This scares Zoe every time, and honestly the situation isn’t helped by the intensity of “Let It Go” be blasted.
Just after that, you’ll encounter Marshmallow (Elsa’s giant bodyguard snowmonster), and he’ll blow smoke at you as you drop again, this time forward (and with some splash).
Overall we’ve never skipped the ride as we always hope Zoe’s love for Anna and Elsa will prevail, but it’s been a bit tough each time. Approach with (optimistic, because duh, Frozen!) caution.
Journey Into Imagination With Figment
There are a couple intense moments in this ride (like the sound of a train approaching in the darkened sound lab), but the real thing to know is that at the end you’ll go through this upside down house and then enter the last room of the ride. The room is incredibly boring to start, but then “explodes” into a very bright scene. It’s an intense change that will even make adults jump. Approach with caution.
Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure
Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure is a pretty intense ride for small kids, in large part just because of the overall plot—you’re a rat being chased around a kitchen. Adding to this is the use of 3D glasses. These don’t add any “jumpy” effects, but they are novel for most small kids. It isn’t easy to handle both the intensity of the ride and keeping the 3D glasses on. This is the only ride at Walt Disney World we consistently let Zoe skip because of one very bad experience. Approach with caution.
Finally, two rides at Epcot that we’ve had minor issues with.
The Seas with Nemo & Friends
This is just a standard dark ride, but it’s one of the darker ones and has some eerie moments, plus the very disorienting East Australian Current tunnel. Still a must-do for us, though.
Spaceship Earth
Spaceship Earth’s problem for little kids is, I think, mostly that it’s long and boring for many of them. I never recall Zoe being scared of the ride specifically, but it’s not easy to distract them once things get tough for any reason.
Scary Rides for Small Kids at Hollywood Studios
There are only two rides without height requirements at Hollywood Studios, Toy Story Mania and Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway. We’ll talk about the second one more below, and you should also know there is other stuff for toddlers at Hollywood Studios.
As for Toy Story Mania, we’ve never had any negative experiences with Zoe on it. The ride is a game beyond the ken of most small kids, and managing the 3D glasses isn’t easy, but there’s nothing scary about it.
Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway
Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway probably walks the line of “exciting for toddlers” better than any other ride in the resort. While it feels like every scene has something that’s a little much for small kids, the bright colors and fan-favorite characters manage to keep everything fun.
That said, if I feel like the ride walks a fine line, you might well find yourself on the wrong side of that line with a toddler who wants nothing to do with it. I was going to say “specifically of note…” here, but in reviewing the ride, almost every scene is a mix of scares and fun.
We’d ride it every time, but I’d say to get your kid familiar with Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Goofy, Donald, and Daisy so they’re comforted by those familiar faces during the adventure.
Scary Rides for Small Kids at Animal Kingdom
Before we even get to the rides, let’s talk about It’s Tough To Be a Bug. It’s Tough To Be a Bug is a 3D show in the Tree of Life and it is scary for most kids. It’s super fun, I love it (mostly because of the other guests)
I’m eagerly awaiting / fearing the right day to take Zoe to it, because the screams and jumps you experience in that theater are not like any you’ll see anywhere else in Disney World. Approach with extreme caution.
As for the rides, we’ve never had any problem with any of the rides without height requirements: Kilimanjaro Safaris, Na’vi River Journey, TriceraTop Spin, or the Wildlife Express Train to Rafiki’s Planet Watch. Animal Kingdom is actually a ton of fun for any animal-loving toddler.
The only thing I’d note is that Na’vi River Journey is a dark boat ride. It’s sort of as if it’s nighttime (actually I think the jungle is just supposed to be super dense, creating darkness) in a bioluminescent jungle. There’s no jumps and it’s a pleasant ride, but the darkness could get some kids.
All Your Other Disney World Planning Questions Answered
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