A tip for dark rides with small children...

[suevee]

get small penlight flashlights for the child. That way he or she can feel in control when the ride gets to dark. This was a tip I got form this board last year. I haven't seen it repeated for awhile. We did this last year and it was great!

 

[beccab]

I remember when my DS was 4. He finally requested that we stop going into outer space. The little flashlight might have helped on the dark rides.

 

[bobcat]

My DS wore his out on the last trip and I had to buy another one recently!

 

[Saffron]

I read that tip too on the old boards. I think it is a great tip. Just a reminder to have your little ones shine the light at their own feet if it gets too dark for them. That way they will not disturb the other guests.

 

[luvmy2sams]

Great tip!

Another tip I've read on this board is to buy those glow-in-the-dark necklaces/bracelets that they sell everywhere around Halloween. They give off enough light to comfort the kiddies, but they don't interfere with other guests' enjoyment of the ride.

 

[sillyspook13]

My friends at Haunted Mansion tell the little ones that the ride is "Scooby Doo" kind of scary. If I see a child that is afraid of Pirates of the Caribbean, I tell them that those boats are the same as the boats used at It's a Small World. Those usually work.

 

[BevS97]

We bought a light up pooh bear at SpectroMagic - it saved our trip. We did actually have a very small flashlight, but it really didn't light up enough to make a difference. Pooh on the other hand glowed, and he had some pretty fiber optic lights that looked lovely.
Since he didn't work in the daylight, Katie was actually quite keen to go on dark rides after she got him, so that she could see him working.

One thing to note - we went through 4 in our week. The first one didn't work very well, so we swapped it straight away, then the batteries went flat in the next one, so we put fresh batterys in it, and it still wouldn't work, so I took it back and got another one, which had flat batterys in it (since you can't tell if they are on in the daylight, I think they get left on in the store and the batterys just run flat). The last one lasted us for about 4 days, and came home with us.

If it stops working I would just take it back to anyplace that sells them, and request a new one (assuming it's not just the batterys) - everywhere we went was happy to exchange it, but they did seem pathetically flimsy. I guess you are just supposed to use it at the parade and then throw it away.

Bev

 

[Debi]

What a great tip! Thanks for sharing!