Age for Jedi Training

[HHMcG]

I know Disney says 4-12 for this. My youngest will be a month shy of his 4th birthday on our next trip. He wants to do everything Big Sister and Big Brother do, so I know he will want to do this. Has anyone bent the rules on this? Has anyone seem Disney check ages for this? (I know they didn't for my two oldest last trip.) Am I awful for considering bending the rules on this?

 

[Itinkso]

I know Disney says 4-12 for this. My youngest will be a month shy of his 4th birthday on our next trip. He wants to do everything Big Sister and Big Brother do, so I know he will want to do this. Has anyone bent the rules on this? Has anyone seem Disney check ages for this? (I know they didn't for my two oldest last trip.) Am I awful for considering bending the rules on this?

The JTA sign-up CM will ask your son some questions including asking his age. When he answers honestly, he won't be allowed to sign-up. If you feel comfortable training a 3-year old to lie, then that is up to you. I always think it is sad to see the underage kids who are on the JTA stage because it's a sure sign they lied and took a spot away from a child of the correct age. It's especially sad when the 3 year-old starts crying/screaming and has to be led off the stage.

 

[LilyWDW]

You would have to flat out lie to the CM and tell your child to lie to the CM.

The ages are there for a reason. I would suggest following them.

 

[theSurlyMermaid]

My niece had just turned four one month before doing the show. No one asked her her age but they did ask us. She did great in the show but she was a little intimidated by Darth Vader.

 

[WDSearcher]

If your youngest is a diehard Star Wars fan and knows the characters and has been dreaming of fighting Darth Vader, that's one thing. If he just wants to do it because it's what his older siblings are doing and it would be the same whether it was Jedi Training or dancing a jig, that's something different altogether, IMO.

I would NOT bend the rules just so that I can avoid a tantrum when I tell my little guy that "you can't do everything your older brother does ... he's older and he gets to; you'll just have to wait."

I MIGHT bend the rules if he was a big fan of Star Wars and was really excited about this one particular thing. But even then, I'd be sure to let him know that this was an exception and not a rule. And that it was a very special circumstance, not likely to ever happen again.

 

[MakiraMarlena]

Whether you are awful or not, there are a couple of things to consider:

They might ask you how old the child is, you would have to say this child is four, because if you say three, the kid isn't participating. And you might have the issue where the kid hears it and corrects you.

They might ask the child how old he is, in which case all bets are off unless you have specifically trained him to say that he is four in case that happens.

They may not have asked for the older two because they are obviously not on the cusp of the age requirement.

 

[ghtx]

Am I awful for considering bending the rules on this?

No, not awful for considering it, but you shouldn't do it. It's just a silly show; it's not worth teaching your children to lie.

 

[Meech Loves Mickey]

I know Disney says 4-12 for this. My youngest will be a month shy of his 4th birthday on our next trip. He wants to do everything Big Sister and Big Brother do, so I know he will want to do this. Has anyone bent the rules on this? Has anyone seem Disney check ages for this? (I know they didn't for my two oldest last trip.) Am I awful for considering bending the rules on this?

My youngest DS was a month and half shy of 4 years when we did this. We did not coach him or ask him to lie. The CM's did not ask him his age, they asked him the first letter of his last name and something about Star Wars if I remember correctly. He knew everything without coaching.

He loves Star Wars and and wanted to do it, so we signed him up. He was the last one of his group to go onstage with DV and he did great!

I personally don't think there is anything wrong with this if it's only a couple of months. I think it all depends on the maturity of your child.

I think you should try to sign him up. I don't think it's awful at all.

 

[Itinkso]

He was the last one of his group to go onstage with DV and he did great!

The reason why he was the last of his group is because the Padawans hold the not old enough/immature/can't follow directions kids until the end so they don't bog down the show, bolt in fright, or create "stage puddles" that become a hazard/health hazard to the other Younglings. If your son had been asked his age and if he answered honestly, he wouldn't have been allowed in the show.

The onstage CMs can identify the kids who are too young to be up there and their feedback is relayed to Managers and then back to the sign-up CMs.

 

[aaarcher86]

The reason why he was the last of his group is because the Padawans hold the not old enough/immature/can't follow directions kids until the end so they don't bog down the show, bolt in fright, or create "stage puddles" that become a hazard/health hazard to the other Younglings. If your son had been asked his age and if he answered honestly, he wouldn't have been allowed in the show. The onstage CMs can identify the kids who are too young to be up there and their feedback is relayed to Managers and then back to the sign-up CMs.

Yup. They'll just up the minimum age if people bending it by a few months end up disrupting the show enough.

 

[Mrsjvb]

My youngest DS was a month and half shy of 4 years when we did this. We did not coach him or ask him to lie. The CM's did not ask him his age, they asked him the first letter of his last name and something about Star Wars if I remember correctly. He knew everything without coaching.

He loves Star Wars and and wanted to do it, so we signed him up. He was the last one of his group to go onstage with DV and he did great!

I personally don't think there is anything wrong with this if it's only a couple of months. I think it all depends on the maturity of your child.

I think you should try to sign him up. I don't think it's awful at all.

so you think it is okay to teach a child that it is okay to lie to get what they want? where do you draw the line? hey, my kid is one month shy of 21, it's okay that he drinks alcohol because he really wants to?

what about that kid who last year was told he WAS NOT old enough to sign up but can't sign up this year because some one else decided their kid was so special they should lie about their age and took the spot?

 

[JMSMommy]

The reason why he was the last of his group is because the Padawans hold the not old enough/immature/can't follow directions kids until the end so they don't bog down the show, bolt in fright, or create "stage puddles" that become a hazard/health hazard to the other Younglings. If your son had been asked his age and if he answered honestly, he wouldn't have been allowed in the show. The onstage CMs can identify the kids who are too young to be up there and their feedback is relayed to Managers and then back to the sign-up CMs.

Heh. My 4.5 year old daughter was the last of her group to go. But she was the shortest and smallest of all the kids. Her older sister did it the first time at four years and 2 months as the smallest in the group. Both girls are 5th percentile for height. My younger daughter was one to do Jedi Training academy only because her siblings did. My older daughter wanted to fight Darth Maul longer when she was 4. She didn't want it to end.

So, honestly, they weren't too young at all. But since they went in reverse size order, they were last to go. I mean the second time my older daughter did it she was almost 6 and was next to last to go because she was still just barely 41 inches tall. The only shorter child was my younger daughter who exactly 40 inches tall at 4.5!

For what it's worth we could have proven their ages as well and they do look much younger than they are.

 

[Itinkso]

For what it's worth, the show is systematically and efficiently run and the kids who the Padawans deem as "young" or who may be problematic go last. The "last one" is never chosen as the Youngling who does the special "Force push" against the Storm Troopers... that child is chosen by the Padawan as she creates the line-up.

The arrangement of the kids allows the Jedi Master to assess and determine if the child is allowed to "train" against Vader. Even if a child makes it to the stage, the onstage CMs can decide if it's best to just have the child meet Vader after the show rather than participate in the one-on-one training. Vader is also signaled before the "last one" so he is prepared to deal with a too small child who isn't in his line of sight.

 

[amcc]

I don't think twice one way or the other what other people do but I have to tell you that the last time we did this, the training guy on stage (wearing the robe and the microphone) asked a child on stage nicely during the show how old he was. The child answered 3 - on stage, in front of the audience - and the training guy into his microphone said "I guess your parents lied when they signed you up" He said it nicely, kind of funny and they didn't take the kid off stage and did let him finish the show (and he did fine), but it was a definite shot at the parents.

 

[mariethecat]

There was a child under four at the show my nephews were in. It was very obvious when the child was on the stage so the Jedi Master made the comment that his parents got him to lie about his age. I would have been very embarrassed if it happened to my child.
One of my nephews was 4 years old and is usually very adventurous and out-going but he found it a little intiminating to be up on a stage with Darth Vader.
The decision is yours but they will ask the child how old there are most of the time.

 

[set1208]

The best you can do is try. Sometimes it is easier to say no to a preschooler if the CM has the final say. It takes the heat off of you.

If he doesn't participate, maybe buy him a light saber as a consolation or give him your phone to be the "photographer" of his siblings performance so he feels included. They've got a photo pass photographer there capturing all the great shots of the kids.

 

[tulipgrl7]

It isn't like anything magical is going to happen in 30 days as far as maturity is concerned. Either he is mature enough now or he isn't.

Our son was a month shy of 5 and is very small, but he DID NOT go last or even in the bottom half (this was in April). They did ask his age and he told them.

The kids are separated from you and up there alone (he couldn't stand by siblings either). I would make sure 1- obviously you are ok with lying if they ask, because they do sometimes ask. I mean at that age we practice the new age number anyway because it takes them awhile to understand so "lying" might be a stretch. 2- that he will be ok with being with DV by himself. His siblings aren't out there together the whole time. 3- It would also help if he knew his left and right.

Our son loved it and had a great time and he turned him into a star wars fan. Our daughter wants to do it and I hope we can get her a slot now (she is 4 and now has the ability to follow directions most of the time

 

[Meech Loves Mickey]

so you think it is okay to teach a child that it is okay to lie to get what they want? where do you draw the line? hey, my kid is one month shy of 21, it's okay that he drinks alcohol because he really wants to?

what about that kid who last year was told he WAS NOT old enough to sign up but can't sign up this year because some one else decided their kid was so special they should lie about their age and took the spot?

If you would have actually read my thread correctly you would have seen this sentence "We did not coach him or ask him to lie.".

If a parent or CM tells a child that they can't sign up, that really has nothing to do with me. I made the decision to try and sign up my child. He passed their screening process and got a spot. If they really want to keep someone younger than 4 out of it, then the CM's need to be stricter.

 

[Meech Loves Mickey]

The reason why he was the last of his group is because the Padawans hold the not old enough/immature/can't follow directions kids until the end so they don't bog down the show, bolt in fright, or create "stage puddles" that become a hazard/health hazard to the other Younglings. If your son had been asked his age and if he answered honestly, he wouldn't have been allowed in the show.

The onstage CMs can identify the kids who are too young to be up there and their feedback is relayed to Managers and then back to the sign-up CMs.

Unless you are a a CM who has worked onstage at JTA, then I'm not really sure how you would know this. Yes, he was last. Was he shy? No. Did he know the routine? Yes. Did he have a great time? YES!!!!

My son passed their screening process. As I said above, if they were really intent on keeping those younger than 4 out, they would be stricter.