SDD a bad idea for first ride for five year old?

[CanadianEmily]

Ugh, I'm struggling with this. We are spending a Monday-Friday in Disney World in late February. In all of the FP craziness yesterday for MFSR, I ended up dropping my Friday SDD in exchange for that. Then, this morning, I managed to grab another SDD for first thing on Monday morning! That's not how I wanted things to work out at all.

My five year old really thinks he wants to ride SDD, but his ride reference is a toddler coaster at a carnival, and for height, a ferris wheel, which he loved. At the same time, he's scared of the second floor railings at our mall, so his fears are very unpredictable. I definitely didn't want SDD to be his first ride, but I also didn't want to bypass the opportunity to get a FP.

I absolutely won't force him to go on it if he decides he doesn't want to, but I'm worried he will want to, and it will scare him and ruin our entire week. But SDD and MFSR (and RoTR, wish me luck) are what he's most excited about for the entire trip. I should be thrilled to have FPs for both, but I'm definitely worried.

It depends on the kid, but what's your experiences with SDD?

 

[firefly_ris]

My youngest was 5 when we went this time last year and she did fine on SDD. I think it's generally mild, you can see what's happening ahead of you for the length of the track (nothing dark or hidden). But of course, all child dependent! This same kid also rode Dinosaur, Splash, Big Thunder, and Barnstormer without issue. Dinosaur isn't a coaster but it's rough, dark and scary so compared to that SDD was nothing, haha.

 

[petrola]

this is a tough one. It really depends on the individual. My DS, 5 went on Barnstormer and it completely freaked him out. Turned him off to all roller coasters - so he would not even get near SDD. In retrospect I should have waited - now he will not go on anything that isn't Small World, Winnie the Pooh, TSM, etc. My niece on the other hand, is 6 and she is fine with SDD.

 

[Afabena]

My kids were 6 and did not like it. They went on SM, SDMT and BTMR without issue but they would not ride SDD a 2nd time. They were in the back though which is usually more intense on coasters. I have asked them if they’ll go on again during our next trip and my daughter says no.

 

[CanadianEmily]

My youngest was 5 when we went this time last year and she did fine on SDD. I think it's generally mild, you can see what's happening ahead of you for the length of the track (nothing dark or hidden). But of course, all child dependent! This same kid also rode Dinosaur, Splash, Big Thunder, and Barnstormer without issue. Dinosaur isn't a coaster but it's rough, dark and scary so compared to that SDD was nothing, haha.

Brave girl! We're not planning on doing any of the other rides you mentioned other than Barnstormer, lol. Something like Dinosaur would scare my son more than anything, I think. He doesn't want to go on the Buzz Lightyear ride because of the spiders. Sigh.

 

[CanadianEmily]

My kids were 6 and did not like it. They went on SM, SDMT and BTMR without issue but they would not ride SDD a 2nd time. They were in the back though which is usually more intense on coasters. I have asked them if they’ll go on again during our next trip and my daughter says no.

Yes, I was wondering if, because we have FPs, if I could request the front seat for us, even if it meant waiting a bit more. My main concern is that it will turn him off of SDMT, because we've already shelled out big bucks for EMM the next day.

 

[firefly_ris]

Brave girl! We're not planning on doing any of the other rides you mentioned other than Barnstormer, lol. Something like Dinosaur would scare my son more than anything, I think. He doesn't want to go on the Buzz Lightyear ride because of the spiders. Sigh.

On the flip side, on our first trip in 2015 my oldest at the time was just under 5 and the first thing we went on was Peter Pan's Flight and she was t-e-r-r-i-f-i-ed. I couldn't even get her to go on Small World after that. She made such a scene that our keepsake ornament for the trip was Captain Hook, lol. But then this last trip she was totally fine and did everything including RnR.

Soooo in conclusion, who knows?! I'd book it and just play it by ear... you could always swap it out for something else while you're there if he gets cold feet looking at the ride.

Another thing that helped my kids was watching ride videos on YouTube. Our favorite for ride POVs is SoCal Attractions 360.

 

[Afabena]

Yes, I was wondering if, because we have FPs, if I could request the front seat for us, even if it meant waiting a bit more. My main concern is that it will turn him off of SDMT, because we've already shelled out big bucks for EMM the next day.

Yes you can request front seat. I requested front row when I was in the front of my group for the other coasters. I was in the back of my group on SDD and my husband just went along with where they told him to go which were the last seats. When I realized we were in the back I took the chicken exit and my kids rode with my husband and father. My husband said it was intense for him and he’s a thrill seeker.

 

[westie55]

SDD is pretty intense for a coaster, but it doesn't go backwards or upside down so in that sense it's not. Having said that, I took my not yet 4 year old on it last summer after he loved 7DMT and he did fine. There were plenty of other kids his age riding it. We were in the front car. Will it be too much for a 5 year old? Impossible to say. As others have noted, all kids are different. Turning off my son to all other rides after a bad one was a concern of mine, too! I've known others who had that experience.

 

[CanadianEmily]

Yes you can request front seat. I requested front row when I was in the front of my group for the other coasters. I was in the back of my group on SDD and my husband just went along with where they told him to go which were the last seats. When I realized we were in the back I took the chicken exit and my kids rode with my husband and father. My husband said it was intense for him and he’s a thrill seeker.

Yes, the location can make a huge difference. I remember one big coaster I went on at a theme park near where I live. The first time I went on it, I loved it! I usually don't like coasters, but it was amazing. I was near the front. I tried it again another time, and I was near the back. I didn't realize how much of a difference it would make. I hated it, lol. Watching the videos of SDD, it seems to go fairly slow down at least the first big hill if you're in the front. I also saw a tip on another thread for the adult to sit on the left, because of how it tips to the left rather severely at one point.

I guess I'll just have to hope that my son can make his own judgement call and he's right about whatever decision he makes. He seems to love being up high to be able to see everything from a high vantage point, but he's never had that combined with high speeds and drops, so we'll see.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

It really depends on the kid.

When my son was 5 he was very cautious about rides. He wouldn’t ride ToT or RnRC or anything that looked too intense.

At 5 DD rode everything she could including ToT. Only ride she wasn’t tall enough for that trip was RnRC. My son actually rode it for the first time that trip because he didn’t want his little sister to show him out.

 

[YesterDark]

Do it. It'll build character.

My 6yo last year wanted to go on all the rides, so she did SDD, Space/Thunder/Splash/SDMT, Everest etc.

Previously her only experience was carnivals and the barnstormer.

 

[CanadianEmily]

Do it. It'll build character.

My 6yo last year wanted to go on all the rides, so she did SDD, Space/Thunder/Splash/SDMT, Everest etc.

Previously her only experience was carnivals and the barnstormer.

If anything, this response will make me not feel so bad if we do it and he doesn't love it, lol. I guess we'll know after that ride what his tolerance is, lol.

 

[DLgal]

When my niece was 5, they went to WDW and they rode Seven Dwarfs Mine Train first and she hated it so much she wouldn't ride anything else that was even remotely "fast" the rest of the week. And this girl had been to Disneyland several times prior and had familiarity with theme park rides in general.

SDD is more intense than SDMT, so I would not recommend this as a first ever Disney ride for your child. If it ends up being a bad experience, your entire rest of trip may be a struggle.

 

[Orionreplay]

Daughter at 6 rode all the rides. She was only post-ride hesitant about Everest and it took her a couple more trips to return to it, which she gleefully does today at 12. SDD wasn't around back then, but she would have ridden that too, I know it. I hate Space Mountain because its so herky-jerky, but SDD is sooo silky smooth. Its just plain fun.

 

[Sandiz08]

Barnstormer first since it’s over quickly, if all goes well then sdd. I’d also try sdmt before sdd, it was surprisingly more thrilling than sdmt. That’s what we did with our kid, and he was fine.

 

[kmhowell]

My little cousin went on SDD back in September (at the time she was about a month shy of turning 3 years old) and loved it! I think she went on just about anything she was tall enough to ride. But she's also the type of kid that will try just about anything once. Her dad was also quite the daredevil growing up, so his genes could have had something to do with her fear factor...

 

[Lumpy1106]

My youngest loved it when she was 5, but my oldest would not have gone on it when he was 9. Will ride now but he was scared to death back then. I'd keep your plans to ride but be prepared to skip or parent-swap at the last minute.

 

[CanadianEmily]

Barnstormer first since it’s over quickly, if all goes well then sdd. I’d also try sdmt before sdd, it was surprisingly more thrilling than sdmt. That’s what we did with our kid, and he was fine.

Yes, I would have loved to do it this way. Unfortunately, the only time I could get a SDD FP after what happened with MFSR yesterday was the first day of our trip, first thing in the morning. Though, we are going back to HS on Friday, so we do have the option to wait until then and try to ride without a FP. So this is my issue. I can either try to ride it first thing with a FP, or I ditch the FP and ride it standby on Friday, which we might not have time for.

 

[OHVolunteer]

We went last February when my daughter was 4.5 (who is generally timid and doesn't like to try new things) insisted we ride it and it was her first roller coaster and she loved it so much she made me ride it with her again (we had rider swap). I am not a fan of roller coasters, so requested we sit in the front and it was fine but she still talks about how much she loved it and can't wait to go back and ride it again.