Is Grizzly River Run at California Adventure Too Scary for Your Child?

The Grizzly River Run attraction at Disney's California Adventure theme park is a very popular ride. Grizzly River run is a raft ride, which sends riders on a fun water adventure. The Grizzly River Run attraction has a rider height requirement of 42", which means that very young children will not be able to ride. Many children grow tall enough to meet the 42" rider height requirement by the time they are three or four years old. However, parents will need to consider the different elements of this ride to determine if it might be too scary for their young child. If you are trying to decide whether or not the Grizzly River Run attraction at Disney's California Adventure might be too scary for your young child, the following information may be helpful to you.

Has your child been on other water rides? If your young child has been on other water rides and seemed to enjoy it, then Grizzly River Run might not be too scary for them. Try to recall whether or not your child was upset at all by getting wet on other water rides they rode, though, because the potential for getting thoroughly soaked on Grizzly River Run is pretty high.

Does your child find it scary to get water in their face? The main difference between a child getting wet on a different attraction, such as Splash Mountain at Disneyland, and getting soaked on Grizzly River Run, is that on Grizzly River Run it is very possible that your child will get water in their face. And while many young children might enjoy getting splashed with a bit of water on their arms or legs during a water ride, having large amounts of water pour over their heads and face is often a scary experience. Since the round rafts on the Grizzly River Run attraction spin around freely, those who are seated backwards when the raft plunges into a wave often have a large quantity of water come splashing up over them from behind their seats. At times, this can feel a lot like being underwater momentarily. I have personally seen this happen to small children on this ride, and they became panicked and very frightened. If your child does not like to get water in their face, then Grizzly River Run might be too scary for them.

Does your child mind large drops on rides? Grizzly River Run has two pretty significant drops during the ride. If your child is frightened by large drops on rides, then this ride may prove to be too scary for them.