As the parent of two college kids and a 12 year old, it was interesting to watch the whole Jackson Seven Dwarfs Mine Train situation. First, it seemed as though there was such an overemphasis on how they didn’t force him on it. I’ve deduced that Tim seemed to be really pushing him to go and no matter what editing she did, it would be hard to clean it up, so she pushed the narrative of his choice.
Our 12 year old really loves coasters, so I’ve had to become his coaster buddy because my wife really abhors them. Anyway, he was so excited about Guardians and we finally got a virtual queue time. About two or three minutes before the load, he started getting clammy and nervous about the ride. I talked him through what it was supposed to be like and what we’d seen from the footage out there. I told him that it was his choice if he still wanted to ride even though I knew with how much he’s been loving coasters that this would be a huge hit with him. We got to the load and he was uncomfortable, so I asked if there was any type of child swap or I’d just exit with him. A cast member was super friendly and escorted him out the door at the loading area down to my wife. He still wanted me to ride it along with his brothers and after going on it, I told him that he’s going to love the ride. Now, he’s really looking forward to it, but if he doesn’t want to go for any reason, no worries. I’ll take an Omnimover or boat ride any day. Lol. It’s really obnoxious when people force kids to go on attractions that they don’t want to do. My wife’s parents did that garbage to her repeatedly as a child.