Beware Scary Fantasmic!

[casjen72]

Holy toledo was I surprised by how frightening the villian portion of this show was! I didn't have my boys with me, but there is no way they would have survived this!

When the villians came on there was a mass exodus of hysterical kids and parents. I saw so many kids running out crying with their hands over their ears.

Just an FYI. I was surprised Disney took it that far. Those giant villian heads laughing and saying "we must get Mickey" were over the top.

It was a wonderful show, just a bit too scary!

 

[tanyaandallie]

I just returned last night and took both of my kids to see Fantasmic. I was really worried about the scary factor b/c my dd tends to get scared pretty easily. We waited until one of the last nights of our trip so she had already seen some semi-scary shows and rides. Suprisingly enough she did really well. I think there was enough happy stuff (the princesses on the boats in their beautiful dresses) that she survived the scary stuff. She buried her head in our shoulders during all the loud/scary parts and during any fireworks. But, she stuck through the whole show.

If we had gone the first or second night of our trip we would have been out of there pretty quickly.

 

[mom2of2]

not that I doubt you saw what you say you did "mass exodus of hysterical kids and parents" but I have seen Fantasmic at least 15 times over the years and I just saw it Saturday night. I have never seen a mass exodus or anyone hysterical. I have however seen groups of people get up and leave as Sorcerer Mickey makes his appearance to avoid the leaving crowds.

Parents need to know that there are villians in the show and they should tell their children they may be scared but Mickey will always win.

 

[Stitchfans]

Never considered it scarey, myself. This is the first time I ever heard anyone say they thought it was scarey. With all the music and such you would think that would outweigh the villians portion.

 

[SueM in MN]

We have been to Fantasmic many times and have seen a few scared kids, but most just bury their heads in mom and dad's lap for a few minutes and then are OK. We've seen a small handful leave because the kids were scared.
The smallest child we went to Fantasmic with was my niece's almost 4 yr old DD. We told her beforehand that we would be able to see what Mickey was dreaming and the some of it would be very nice, but some of it would be a little scary when the 'bad guys' tried to take over Mickey's dream. We told her Mickey would fight the bad guys in his dream and when he told them to go away, he would have a very good dream. We told her that since it was Mickey's dream, we would all be able to see it, but nothing would happen to us and since it was a dream, the bad giys couldn't hurt Mickey either. (That is actually the story of Fantasmic). The explanation made sense to her and when she got scared, she would say things like "I hope Mickey wakes up and has his good dream soon" or, "Mickey, tell those bed guys to get out of your dream." She buried her head in her mom's lap a few times, but soon she was back to telling Mickey to wake up.
My niece said the explanation helped a lot and that she was sure her DD would have been scared without an explanation.

 

[casjen72]

with young children as the villian sequence started. I would never say "mass exodus" unless it was. My DH and I looked up there were so many people leaving. The people sitting around us commented on how many people were leaving. I am sure plenty of families prepare their children ahead of time, but obviously many had no idea what to expect. I was just posting to let people know that there were many frightened childen. Also, I thought people would like to know so they could choose whether or not to test to see if their children can handle it. I know my own children frighten very easily and covering their eyes wouldn't have been enough for them to help them survive. Not to mention the nightmares my 3 year old would have after seeing it.

Also, I did see people leave en masse when sorcerer mickey came to avoid the crowd. But I didn't think it was that hard to get out when it was over.

 

[trstno1]

I was worried about my 4year-old twin daughters, and also my 6 year-old daughter who tends to be a little sensitive. I have told them what will happen, and I also showed them a video clip of Fantasmic, found on YouTube. I hated to ruin the surprises, but I wanted them to be prepared, and I think they will still be amazed at the show when we see it in January.

 

[GEM]

Wow. That's too bad. I've never noticed anything like that happening. In fact, it happens to be one of my 3 year old's very favorite things at Disney World. He's loved it on all the trips - 12 months, 18 months, 28 months, 34 months, and most recently at 3 1/2. I'm sure it does scare some kids. I've never noticed any great numbers evacuating though. Like I said, our little guy loves it and always has. All kids are different, though.

 

[RDCAnthony]

My DD's 5 & 8. loved the show, not scared a bit

 

[akamom]

My kids, 5 and 3 LOVED it! They wanted to see the second show.

 

[graygables]

I had forgotten why we didn't like it in 2003, so I took 10 & 8yo DDs back last month and remembered. Sorry, but it is too dark for little kids (or for me, for that matter). I don't want my children seeing people get shot at Disney World, c'mon. Yes, it's all pretend, and goody, Mickey triumphs over evil, but getting there is too long and too scary. My 8yo was shaking and nearly crying before it was over with. In the movies, there is a short, intense period before it lightens up. I even saw an interview with Jackie Chan, of all people, talking about limits people have on viewing violence or uncomfortable material and most of the time, fight scenes and such are tailored to those levels. Not so at Fantasmic. We, too, saw MANY people taking children out both times we saw it and we will NOT take the time to see it again. I wish we had just stayed and enjoyed the Osbourne lights, certainly a better use of our time.

 

[Disney4Drew]

My 3 year old DS loved every minute of it.

 

[bobbiwoz]

Our DSs were in their teens when Fantasmic made it's appearance. I was surprised at it's intensity, and I know that DS#2 would never have made it through without nightmares resulting. We had to put away all Resuers books because of the wicked woman...I don't remember her name.

It's going to be awhile before our DGC get to see Fantasmic. We had to take them out of Philharmagic, the walking water buckets were too intense. I know that talking about it ahead of time will help, but really I was surprised about their reaction to Philharmagic.

All kids are different, that's for sure.

Bobbi

 

[crisi]

Fantasmic can be intense for small children. Much of MGM is intense for small children - the car stunt show, the Indy stunt show, Great Movie Ride. Parents need to do their research and be aware of what is going on.

Different children are scared by different things. We avoided fireworks when my kids were little knowing my son was sensitive to loud noises. My girlfriends son was frightened of scary content. Some kids don't like dark. Fantasmic happens fairly late at night for the tot set - at the end of a long day - and has lots of scary triggers - dark, loud noises, fire, fireworks, and villians - including a large and scary dragon. Have people seen Sleeping Beauty? Yeah, THAT dragon - which I remember scaring the bejebus out of me when I was five.

I'm not surprised Disney takes it "that far" - after all, the movies Fantasmic draws from have scary monsters, death, guns, etc in it. And Disney is a vacation destination for all kinds of people - not just families with little kids. I am always a little surprised how much people trust Disney and don't bother to do their research. Sure, the height restriction on Space Mountain is relatively short and you are at Disney - but SM is a roller coaster in the dark and if your kid thinks thats scary, they'll be scared.

 

[Deb & Bill]

Just was there about two weeks ago during Thanksgiving week. This must have been about the 10th time we have seen the show. I have never seen a mass exodus out of the theater. Besides, it's dark and they ask you to stay seated until the show is over.

 

[belle&beast]

My DD was 4 when she saw it and was a little nervous, but we told her it was Mickey's dream. Then at the end she cheered with the crowd. She never said anything further about being afraid. DS was 2 at the time and he fell asleep during the show and didn't wake until the next morning!

 

[mumzie2three]

My girls, 5 and 7, liked it and weren't scared. I didn't notice anyone leaving. The level of violence was no worse than the movies that were represented and the girls were familiar with them, so no surprises there.

We had more of a problem with It's Tough to Be a Bug! I'll never do that show again after getting "stung" in the back! The spiders coming down from the ceiling scared the heck out of the girls. No fun.

Every kid is different.

 

[MiniGirl]

My girls, 5 and 7, liked it and weren't scared. I didn't notice anyone leaving. The level of violence was no worse than the movies that were represented and the girls were familiar with them, so no surprises there.

We had more of a problem with It's Tough to Be a Bug! I'll never do that show again after getting "stung" in the back! The spiders coming down from the ceiling scared the heck out of the girls. No fun.

Every kid is different.

I agree. My girls (now 7 & 4) like it very much. My older one not as much because she does scare easily. My youngest is mesmerized by it though. It says in the park map that it can be scary for young children, so that shouldn't be a surprise to anyone.

Now, "It's Tough To Be A Bug...." Man it took awhile to get them calmed back down after that. The next few visits they got upset if they even thought we were going in there again.

Oh well.... shows how different all our kiddos are.

 

[DisneyChic07]

When I was around 4 I saw fantasmic for the first and last time for a very long time! I saw it again for the first time in about 9 years on my last trip. It is not that scary to me now, but I was hysterical when I first saw it, I was sreaming and crying on the villians part, but I was a scardy cat anyway.

 

[minkydog]

Thanks for the reminder. We usually pass on the fireworks since DS11 is very sensitive to them but i was thinking maybe Fantasmic would be better than Illuminations. I had totally forgotten about the bad guys--he would freak! Guess we'll just got back to our room and drink apple juice instead