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I'm not very adventurous when it comes to rides. I hope DD isn't either. Carnival rides scare me more than amusement parks though. I swear the rides always look a bit sketchy.

I have never felt comfortable with carnival rides. I worked on a committee for a large state festival for many years, watching the rides go up and down and seeing the people running them made me very hesitant to use them myself and now I'm not sure I would ever put my DD on them.

Amusement Park incidents seem more like actually accidents to me, the rides are permanent fixtures, have to be inspected, and workers (typically) go through more training to operate them. I still feel comfortable taking DD to places like this.

@bluestriped bee: I'm sorry, it seems like you took that comment personally. I wasn't say YOU were raising YOUR kids in a bubble. It just seems like - in general - this is the way many parents are headed. I'm not going to let my life or my kids' lives be led by or held back by fear.

We just went to Legoland and my 3 year old rode a kiddie roller coaster with us. DS was tall enough to ride and he sat with DH. We watched the ride it didn't look dangerous. I think it depends upon the parent to be the judge of the ride. I do agree though that rides at amusement parks seem safer than the ones at carnivals and fairs. When we went to the SD Fair DS didn't want to ride anything, just run through the "fun" houses. So no issue there with that!

@bluestriped bee: Ok, agree to disagree, then. I'm not going to argue about what I meant or your interpretation of it. You see it how you want to see it.

I don't enjoy most rides, so I probably won't exactly be encouraging my kids to go on them but I won't stop them either when they can make a choice... Probably just worry inside, and I will advise against something that I really do think is unsafe (like dingy sketchy looking local carnival ides).

I've always been uncomfortable with traveling carnival rides. I didn't grow up riding them, and will try to avoid my daughters doing so. I feel a little bit better about major theme parks (six flags, Disney), but we aren't thrill ride lovers, so I don't see these bring a huge part of family vacations in the future anyway.

I am fine with rides at amusement parks and carnivals.

Traveling carnivals and fairs - hell to the no. Those rides have always seemed so dangerous and rickety and haphazardly put together to me. I won't go on them and I don't think I'd let my kids either. I mean the kiddie rides maybe, but not the rollercoasters and all that.

Established amusement parks I feel differently about. Those rides are constantly inspected and maintained and are permanent structures.

We have been to Disney 4 times already but only once to a carnival when LO turned 5. I was relieved LO didn't want to ride anything because I too don't trust these type of quick setup rides. We just went into the fun/mirror house. Even that I was claustrophobic and freaking out that I couldn't find my way out and the sun was glaring in so hard I thought I would fry.

Side note: I was at a major fair event where there was a freak fatal accident of a little girl due to the novelty of the ride and not enough foresight to protect people. The 10 yr old was just about my age and our family heard the screams. My cousin doesn't go to theme parks anymore and has slight PTSD from several childhood events such as that. I am ok but. I am still very cautious and DH and I never put LO on our shoulders bc of what happened. I think some people experience secondhand ptsd from reading these kinds of things and the fear stays with them so they begin to avoid more risks. We all are different types of risk takers and have tolerance levels based on our personality and past experiences.

Just researched the incident I mentioned above and it was not a freak accident. It was negligence. It also mentioned there were no automatic safety guards (because of budget) and the young machine operator kept pressing the button for 10 more seconds after the screams as she wasn't told otherwise by a supervisor. Parents refused to settle as labeled as an accident.

Agree w/others - traveling fairs are a little sketchy. We live 3 hours from Disney and I'm sure LO is going to go a million times. I feel 100% safe on those rides. But will of course teach LO about safety - remain seated, always follow the instructions of the ride operators, etc.

I'm not a huge rollercoaster person but I love theme parks/themed environments (zoos, etc).

I don't mind rollercoasters at well-established parks. I love them for myself, personally. Most of them have been operating for many years without serious incidents. So those won't bother me (so stuff at like six flags or disney world). Except those rides that shoot you straight up into the air, I can't get on one of those since the story where the cable snapped.

Agree with others on the traveling carnival rides- so sketchy. If my LO really wanted to go, I'd probably let them if they were old enough. Knowing that the serious accidents are incredibly rare. And it might depend on the ride lol.

I'm still really sickened over the waterslide incident. That thing seemed to be messed up from the start. They had to demolish half of it and start over and the boats were flying off the tracks. It was delayed so many times. I don't mind heights or waterslides and I had NO desire to ride that thing. Water parks aren't really my thing anyway, so I'd rather take my kids to an amusement park over a water park.

I was a very small child. My larger cousin would always want to ride in the Zipper with me and I was bruised and slammed around in the cage. I also got a few days of whiplash on a water park ride. I swore the angle of the slide or safety directions were wrong for all sizes. Since the recent events could lead to possible legislation reform it reminds me of China. I have been there three times. Their safety restrictions are virtually nonexistent so there are a higher frequency of snafus.