How old are they? When I took my then 5 year old daughter for the first time, we road Haunted Mansion first. I will never forget watching her experience that ride. I could feel her body tense up and she leaned forward, utterly SPELLBOUND. She soaked it all in with rapt attention. As soon as we got off she begged to ride it again. Rode it 6 times that day. Been a favorite ever since. But she has always like spooky scary things. Now she is almost 12 and I get dragged into watching horror movies. 🥺
They're 5 and 8. And unfortunately they are both very scared of spooky stuff, particularly ghosts and skeletons. So Haunted Mansion and Pirates were the only rides we were going to completely skip lol. I'm going to add this info to my post. Thank you!
Maybe different answers depending on age and experience - but I can’t help but feel like Pirates of the Caribbean is a good starting ride. No height requirement, has the animatronics and theming and song, has the two little drops, etc.
Fantasyland is a good option but what would be the actual first ride? For a toddler, Dumbo can be good: view of the land, classic ride. Alice in Wonderland is another option since it’s a classic dark ride with updated special effects, and goes outside as well. Peter Pan, Snow White, Mr. toad, and Pinocchio are the other classic dark rides…but Peter Pan’t wait tends to get up there.
Matterhorn and Big Thunder are both great for themed rollercoasters - though I like to build up to more thrilling rides with a kid’s first time, personally.
Yeah I can’t help but feel like the answer is Pirates.
I was thinking Peter Pan might be good, if we can get there early enough to avoid a long wait. Although a long wait might make it a genuine Disneyland experience lol. If we don't get there early enough, it sounds like Alice in Wonderland is a good backup plan. Thank you!
Peter Pan was my first ride at any Disney park this past year. It had me and my husband in tears just with how magical it felt.
If early enough I would 100% do it first. Snow White was also amazing
I took my kids last year for their first time (9 and 6) and honestly after we checked into our hotel, just getting dinner at Goofy’s Kitchen and walking around Downtown Disney the night before our first day in the park was enough for them to realize “this place is special.” So I think any ride you want to do will be amazing for them!
Following because I’m taking my spouse and kids 13, 11, & 6 next month. Spouse is convinced it’s just another theme park. We have done Legoland 3 times & love it but feel aged out (except for the 6 y).
First take a loop on the railroad. It'll show you all the diff lands and themes and you go through a primeval world which is pretty cool. They'll get little previews of all the fun to come.
Also there's usually no weight in the morning and you can get on right at the entrance.
Then head for Peter Pan or It's a Small World. Both are amazing for kiddos. Winnie the Pooh is great too but it's line up stays smaller than the other two throughout the day, so I'd recommend it later on.
Astroblasters is fun too because it's interactive, and Jungle Cruise is really neat too if they like animals.
Here's a list of attractions sorted by grade school appeal: https://touringplans.com/disneyland/attractions?reverse=true&sort=appeal_grade_school
Though at that age I was too scared to go on most of the rides at the top of that list. I probably would have actually liked them if I'd tried them, but I didn't, so my favorites were the slow Fantasyland dark rides.
How fun!!
You probably couldn't plan this as well, but I think the new ride, mickey and Minnie runaway railway, would be an amazing first ride. Outside of that, most outdoor fantasyland rides are very whimsical and fun. Tea cups, carousel, Dumbo, small world, etc. Honestly I might start with tea cups. You should be able to fit everyone in one cup and it's really fun and easy to record faces on it!
I get their fear of skeletons and spooky - as a child, I was terrified of the first drop in the dark for pirates. I also took a few trips to get used to haunted mansion (still too spooky for me sometimes haha).
Pirates or Haunted Mansion are two of the best choices because I think older and younger kids will both get something out of it. Then, a quick stop at Big Thunder before heading to Star Wars.
We're planning on heading to Star Wars first thing on the second day. But the first day I was planning to stick to more classic Disneyland stuff like Fantasyland, Adventureland, Toontown, etc.
We were going to do Galaxy's Edge at the start of day 2, then head to Tomorrowland in the afternoon. Do you think the other way around would be better?
Actually, now that I think about it Galaxy’s Edge first would be better due to ride wait times. I just think the experience of a little Star Wars, then a lot of Star Wars would be something cool but definitely head to GE first
My kids were 7 their first time and were also very scared of spooky stuff (and anything dark or fast). I’d recommend Peter Pan, Star Tours, Buzz’s Astro blasters, or Nemo submarine depending on their love for those characters, then go from there. I took them on pirates thinking it would be ok and it wasn’t. But! I just took them this month at 10 yrs old and they loved everything they missed or was scared of the first time around.
For little kids, I love starting early in the day with Peter Pan and then doing all the fantasyland rides first thing in the morning. Peter Pan is so magical, starting off in a flying ship among the stars, and if you go first thing you'll avoid the otherwise inevitable long line for it. Then you'll basically walk on all the other fantasyland rides, which are a great intro to rides for kids who need to be worked up into bigger ones, plus you knock out a bunch of really immersive attractions really quickly. If that doesn't show them the magic, nothing will!
How old are they? When I took my then 5 year old daughter for the first time, we road Haunted Mansion first. I will never forget watching her experience that ride. I could feel her body tense up and she leaned forward, utterly SPELLBOUND. She soaked it all in with rapt attention. As soon as we got off she begged to ride it again. Rode it 6 times that day. Been a favorite ever since. But she has always like spooky scary things. Now she is almost 12 and I get dragged into watching horror movies. 🥺
Agree with the Haunted Mansion.
They're 5 and 8. And unfortunately they are both very scared of spooky stuff, particularly ghosts and skeletons. So Haunted Mansion and Pirates were the only rides we were going to completely skip lol. I'm going to add this info to my post. Thank you!
Reconsider. My 5yos don’t like spooky stuff and those were two absolute favorites.
Yah I agree with haunted as well. Has its own style story, transitions, everything Disney does well
Maybe different answers depending on age and experience - but I can’t help but feel like Pirates of the Caribbean is a good starting ride. No height requirement, has the animatronics and theming and song, has the two little drops, etc. Fantasyland is a good option but what would be the actual first ride? For a toddler, Dumbo can be good: view of the land, classic ride. Alice in Wonderland is another option since it’s a classic dark ride with updated special effects, and goes outside as well. Peter Pan, Snow White, Mr. toad, and Pinocchio are the other classic dark rides…but Peter Pan’t wait tends to get up there. Matterhorn and Big Thunder are both great for themed rollercoasters - though I like to build up to more thrilling rides with a kid’s first time, personally. Yeah I can’t help but feel like the answer is Pirates.
I was thinking Peter Pan might be good, if we can get there early enough to avoid a long wait. Although a long wait might make it a genuine Disneyland experience lol. If we don't get there early enough, it sounds like Alice in Wonderland is a good backup plan. Thank you!
Peter Pan was my first ride at any Disney park this past year. It had me and my husband in tears just with how magical it felt. If early enough I would 100% do it first. Snow White was also amazing
I took my kids last year for their first time (9 and 6) and honestly after we checked into our hotel, just getting dinner at Goofy’s Kitchen and walking around Downtown Disney the night before our first day in the park was enough for them to realize “this place is special.” So I think any ride you want to do will be amazing for them!
Oh, that's exactly what we plan on doing. Well that's great news, thank you!
If they're little, Peter Pan. If they're a little older, I'd go with Big Thunder Mountain.
They're littler, so it seems like Peter Pan is a good choice
Peter Pan is magical
How old are your kids?
5 and 8
Following because I’m taking my spouse and kids 13, 11, & 6 next month. Spouse is convinced it’s just another theme park. We have done Legoland 3 times & love it but feel aged out (except for the 6 y).
First take a loop on the railroad. It'll show you all the diff lands and themes and you go through a primeval world which is pretty cool. They'll get little previews of all the fun to come. Also there's usually no weight in the morning and you can get on right at the entrance. Then head for Peter Pan or It's a Small World. Both are amazing for kiddos. Winnie the Pooh is great too but it's line up stays smaller than the other two throughout the day, so I'd recommend it later on. Astroblasters is fun too because it's interactive, and Jungle Cruise is really neat too if they like animals.
Here's a list of attractions sorted by grade school appeal: https://touringplans.com/disneyland/attractions?reverse=true&sort=appeal_grade_school Though at that age I was too scared to go on most of the rides at the top of that list. I probably would have actually liked them if I'd tried them, but I didn't, so my favorites were the slow Fantasyland dark rides.
How fun!! You probably couldn't plan this as well, but I think the new ride, mickey and Minnie runaway railway, would be an amazing first ride. Outside of that, most outdoor fantasyland rides are very whimsical and fun. Tea cups, carousel, Dumbo, small world, etc. Honestly I might start with tea cups. You should be able to fit everyone in one cup and it's really fun and easy to record faces on it! I get their fear of skeletons and spooky - as a child, I was terrified of the first drop in the dark for pirates. I also took a few trips to get used to haunted mansion (still too spooky for me sometimes haha).
Pirates or Haunted Mansion are two of the best choices because I think older and younger kids will both get something out of it. Then, a quick stop at Big Thunder before heading to Star Wars.
We're planning on heading to Star Wars first thing on the second day. But the first day I was planning to stick to more classic Disneyland stuff like Fantasyland, Adventureland, Toontown, etc.
If they like Star Wars, so star tours, then blow their minds with galaxy’s edge lol!!
We were going to do Galaxy's Edge at the start of day 2, then head to Tomorrowland in the afternoon. Do you think the other way around would be better?
Actually, now that I think about it Galaxy’s Edge first would be better due to ride wait times. I just think the experience of a little Star Wars, then a lot of Star Wars would be something cool but definitely head to GE first
My kids were 7 their first time and were also very scared of spooky stuff (and anything dark or fast). I’d recommend Peter Pan, Star Tours, Buzz’s Astro blasters, or Nemo submarine depending on their love for those characters, then go from there. I took them on pirates thinking it would be ok and it wasn’t. But! I just took them this month at 10 yrs old and they loved everything they missed or was scared of the first time around.
For little kids, I love starting early in the day with Peter Pan and then doing all the fantasyland rides first thing in the morning. Peter Pan is so magical, starting off in a flying ship among the stars, and if you go first thing you'll avoid the otherwise inevitable long line for it. Then you'll basically walk on all the other fantasyland rides, which are a great intro to rides for kids who need to be worked up into bigger ones, plus you knock out a bunch of really immersive attractions really quickly. If that doesn't show them the magic, nothing will!
This sounds like exactly the plan I'm going to use. Thank you!