Children refusing to ride and such

That is a really good idea Kevin :) I think that is what we should do!

That's why I'm letting my 11 year old go on her field trip in June instead of going with us.
We gave her the option of coming with us, but she knew she'd be sitting around a lot if she decided not to ride. She's only been on Gemini, DT and Wildcat, and I'm not sure how daring she'd be this go around.

I figured she'd be better off with kids her age, not to mention it's field trips like that you remember for the rest of your life. Logically, I like to think if her peers are riding things, she'll be more inclined to try them out, making our next family trip a lot more fun for her.

First thing I rode at CP was Magnum in 93. Started at the top and worked my way down. I tried to tell my daughter the same thing, but she wasn't having it.
I bribed her to get on Gemini, it worked, she liked it. No threats, bought her a Snoopy.

Peer pressure always gets a bad rap, but it can be a wonderful thing when it pushes you towards positive new experiences.

Like drinking;)

RonAnnArbor said:
No, you would call that child abuse -- but people will do whatever they

I was forced by my older sister to ride back in the day. I turned out ok. Then again, I was also spanked as a disciplinary action too. Again, I turned out ok.

Maybe laws in Ann Arbor would qualify forced coaster rides as "abuse" but it certainly isn't here in Ohio! O-H

I-O!

Kevin, I really like your idea. Affirmation from peers would help any child realize "they can do it too".

Fortunately for me, my 9yr old has no fear of anything at CP. (except maybe - guys from Ann Arbor) She wants TTD to be the first ride after Gatekeeper tomorrow. I am excited for her to get to ride Rapter as she has just reached the 54" mark.

When I was a ride host, I would forbid a parent to force their child to ride with them if they clearly did not want to. There's a difference between not wanting to ride and being petrified to go. Some can call it abuse, others can call it whatever they want, but no child should have to go through with something if they are that scared or not wanting to. Although it's not physical abuse (unless we're talking Mean Streak ;) ), it can still be emotional abuse. I understand the said parent paid $$ for the child's ticket, but there are other attractions, shows, etc. that can be done rather than forcing some of the bigger rides.

*I was trained by my team leaders to now allow a parent to force a child. I actually don't know if that's a company-wide policy or just what my team leaders believed, but it's what I followed.

CP_Obsessed_Freak1987 said:
Some can call it abuse, others can call it whatever they want, but no child should have to go through with something if they are that scared or not wanting to.

So if they don't want to learn how to swim they shouldn't have to? If they don't want to eat vegetables they shouldn't have to?

Ooh! On the one hand the law says they have to ride in a car seat in the back seat. One the other hand they don't want to. What should the parent do?

Making kids do things they don't want to (from picking up toys, to riding without training wheels, to eating sensibly) is part of parenting.

Question along these lines:

I'm wondering specifically about anyone with experience with a new 48" kid, as it relates to not just MF (my favorite ride), but also Skyhawk (my 2nd favorite ride). Don't haze me too much, but I think this is the 2nd best ride in the park, particularly given the line times on Skyhawk. Did your 7 year old handle one of these rides better than the other? Love them both? Hate one but not the other? Thanks!

CP_Obsessed_Freak1987 said:
I was trained by my team leaders to now allow a parent to force a child. I actually don't know if that's a company-wide policy or just what my team leaders believed, but it's what I followed.

Pretty sure it is company-wide policy. We're not supposed to dispatch trains if you can visually see that someone is upset and doesn't want to ride (child or not). While the parent may think their child is fine to ride, the last thing we need is for someone attempting to circumvent their restraints and get out of the train while going up the lift or something.

It's more of a safety issue than anything.

pjmd said:
Question along these lines:

I'm wondering specifically about anyone with experience with a new 48" kid, as it relates to not just MF (my favorite ride), but also Skyhawk (my 2nd favorite ride). Don't haze me too much, but I think this is the 2nd best ride in the park, particularly given the line times on Skyhawk. Did your 7 year old handle one of these rides better than the other? Love them both? Hate one but not the other? Thanks!

No one will be able to provide an answer that has any real significance for you. Every kid is different. So you just have to wait and see. I have a son who will ride anything and everything. My daugther maxed out at the Mine Ride and Iron Dragon (and won't ride Skyhawk or Maxair). Son visits CP every chance he gets. Daugther only goes once or twice a year. I have a lot of fun with both of them in the park.

As someone noted, you have to be somewhat careful with pushing kids to ride the bigger rides as it may backfire. I have seen kids put on rides before they were ready who then refused to ride much of anything for a while. Parents are in best position to make that determination.

Kids, especially in young and middle childhood, develop a whole host of irrational fears, and it sometimes makes no logical sense why they are brave enough to try or experience one thing, but avoid something else that an adult may perceive as "less than" in terms of scariness.

This holds true for adults as well, by the way.

In working with young adults with roller coaster phobias, there are some who will ride TTD and MF, but won't go anywhere near Mine Ride because of the wood.

Like GoBucks said, there is simply no way to tell which your 7 year old may or my not be scared to death of, if any. And I personally love SkyHawk. :) It's my favorite non-coaster ride on the planet, actually.

There's a pretty obvious (not a fine one) line between a parent who is pushing their kid to try something, and forcing a child who is kicking and screaming. The latter would, for obvious reasons, not be a good idea, but we've probably all seen it.

Last year we ended up at the point on the very last day. Cold, windy so not much was running. She really wanted to hit the haunted houses so it wasn't going to be a loss, but when we got up to the (Eden Musee I think?) and I had just stepped foot inside she suddenly changed her mind quickly and stopped mid step. Didn't force the issue, and didn't poke fun (but the guy at the door was hilarious and didn't let her go unscathed).

When their ready, their ready. But sometimes we have to help them overcome their fears when we as parents feel the time is right. That definitely wasn't her time and she thanked me for it later. She also tried to change her mind on the Maverick as we just started toward the lift hill, but way too late and she found she liked it alot.

There is no point to this post I think, except as parents it is our call and each kid is different. At least my co-pay for BCBS on counselling visits isn't bad in case I whiff the call badly.

My 7 year old had no fears graduating through the coasters until he hit MF. Took him a couple hours to agree to try it. Now he loves it. Skyhawk, too. Actually skyhawk IMO is not nearly as intimidating to look at as it is to ride it.

If the ride cycle were maybe 2 swings longer, I would agree that it is the best non-coaster on the planet.

Captain Hawkeye said:

CP_Obsessed_Freak1987 said:
Some can call it abuse, others can call it whatever they want, but no child should have to go through with something if they are that scared or not wanting to.

So if they don't want to learn how to swim they shouldn't have to? If they don't want to eat vegetables they shouldn't have to?

Ooh! On the one hand the law says they have to ride in a car seat in the back seat. One the other hand they don't want to. What should the parent do?

Making kids do things they don't want to (from picking up toys, to riding without training wheels, to eating sensibly) is part of parenting.

You're comparing apples to oranges. A kid not eating vegetables is completely different from riding a ride. Vegetables are good and healthy, and have a negative perspective to them, especially from kids, that they are gross. A kid swimming? You're implying that they must swim, but maybe they don't want to? There's a big difference from making a child eat, pick up toys, etc. from riding a ride they might not want to do.

Coaster Krazy said:

CP_Obsessed_Freak1987 said:
I was trained by my team leaders to now allow a parent to force a child. I actually don't know if that's a company-wide policy or just what my team leaders believed, but it's what I followed.

Pretty sure it is company-wide policy. We're not supposed to dispatch trains if you can visually see that someone is upset and doesn't want to ride (child or not). While the parent may think their child is fine to ride, the last thing we need is for someone attempting to circumvent their restraints and get out of the train while going up the lift or something.

It's more of a safety issue than anything.

Lol, it's funny to think that because a panicked human fears for their safety on a roller coaster they would in fact remove a safety restraint for whatever absurd reason.

You'd be amazed what people do, for any reason.

I would try to pep-talk the nervous kids into riding, heck.. on Dragster, I had to do it to some adults, too. "It's only 17 seconds... even if you don't like it, it's over by the time you realize that you don't like it."

If the kid was seriously losing their $*!&, however... we were trained to not allow them to ride. If they're unwilling to participate in that ride, they pose too much of a safety risk. Kid can wait on the exit while parent rides.

Your post said "no child should have to go through with something if they are that scared or not wanting to." There is no qualifier on "something"

I'd argue swimming is an important skill--ask any drowning victim :)

And, BTW, overcoming fear of height, fear of flying, etc is probably an important act of parenting. If not sooner, than later.

My quote "no child should have to go through with something if they are that scared or not wanting to." was in reference to riding rides.. I thought that was obvious. It's not necessarily important that someone get over a fear of height or flying. It may come to them naturally as they get older. I could see flying if that was a means of travel with the family, but still.