checking out daughter's idea for coping with frightening shows

[KIS]

We've yet to go to WDW. I've been explaining some feature to my 5 1/2 year old. For example, she knows that "Honey, We've Shrunk the Audience" has sensory visuals that make audience members feel like something is crawling on them, etc.

My daughter wondered if scared children can sit on laps. Has anyone tried this? -- Have the child sitting in their own seat and them climbing on board the HMS Mommy?

Are there any scarey shows for which this wouldn't be possible between the technical effects and/or disruption of view, not to mention possible waste of a seat for a fraction of the show.

Thanks.

KIS

 

[stinkerbelle]

Is HISTA a seat, or a bench?
I know ITTBAB is a bench
and Muppets is a seat
and philharmagic is a seat...

can't remember what HISTA is though.

of course scared children can sit on laps though! regardless! (but if there are 'seats' get her her own seat to start - then she can climb when scared!)

 

[NMAmy]

Mice freak me out and I'm a grown adult. Way grown. HISTA has a portion where "mice" escape into the audience and you can feel them on your legs. After the first time, my DD and I solved this by sitting with our feet in the seats. Then you can't feel anything. I must say seeing a 40 year old woman hugging her knees with her feet in the chair may look a little odd, but hey, when will I see those people again?



I've seen lots of kids on their parents' laps so don't worry about that!

 

[EmmasGrammy]

It has been our experience that not only do the special effects frighten the little ones, but they reacted to others reactions. (Confused?) Let me try to explain. If everyone in the theater is screaming or jumping up, this tends to frighten little ones. We have never sat through It's Tough To Be A Bug with out a dozen little ones being totally FREAKED OUT!!! Not only because the show is scary to them, but because one kid screams, scaring 2 or 3 others and so on until 1/2 the kids are scared and crying!!! The idea of sitting on mommies lap may help a bit but some of the shows add that 4th dimension, like squirting water or smelly odors.

IMHO a parent or someone that know the child and how the child reacts should try out the show before taking the child in.

 

[InstImpres]

It can be done on a true movie but may not be worth the risk. Also keep in mind on a movie/ride like "Body Wars" if a child goes from their seat to an adult it is considered "pullout" and the ride/movie is stopped by the operators. If the seating is stationary though (like TTBAB or HISTA)

Enjoy
Sandy

 

[Rosered]

It can definitely be done. When I took my DD to the world the first time she loved all the 3D attractions. When I took her again 10 months later she was scared in all but the muppets movie. She climbed into my lap and watched the rest of the movies, usually without wearing th glasses. Many parents had kids in their laps and no CM objected.

 

[AlisonB]

My 2 DDs first ever show/ride/experience in Disney was ITTBAB....wow did we feel the bad parents!! They were so unhappy! They absolutely hated it - found it dark, loud, intense and thought the extra bits going on (sounds, smells, bugs running around etc) far too much! They crept onto our laps for the remainder of the show.

And they've refused to EVER go in another 3D show since.....they are now 10 and 8.

We so regret doing that on our first trip - so my moral is, if in doubt - don't do it!

 

[MemaT]

We use ear protectors for my grand daughter. She is 5 and doesn't like loud noises. You can buy ear protectors in a sports store. They are used for things like target practice with guns, or landscaping work like chipping branches or blowing leaves. They do come in childrens sizes. They work quite well in blocking out frightening noises. we use them for fire works too.

 

[marcyinPA]

We did HISTA and ITTBAB on our last trip. While my then 3 y/o ds LOVED both, my then 7 y/o ds HATED them. He refuses to go back to either one. The sounds, smells, and "feels" freaked him out and he cried through both.

Needless to say, we'll be avoiding both on our upcoming trip.

 

[kilee]

If there's any doubt about the child being able to handle it-- I'd stay away. The expierence could truly ruin them on these attractions for a long time. Just because they are on your lap-- they must still being getting some of the sensory effects. Don't want to spoil any show-- but some come higher than the feet.

I actually can't believe how you can't go into a single 3-D show at Disney w/o hearing screaming kids. I would think that parents wouldn't try to force the idea.

 

[Disney Debbie]

Originally posted by AlisonB
wow did we feel the bad parents!!

I feel your pain!! We took DD to see Captain EO at Epcot for her first 3 D movie! She talked about that "bad man" for the rest of the trip(foreshadowing you think?? ) and was afraid of anything that looked the least bit dark - including Peter Pan! Luckily, she was over it when we went again at 6!

 

[Disneyland_emily]

I dont mind most things but in Bug the whole stinging in the back thing is soo not my thing- Ive learned to just slide forward and I enjoy the show soo much more.

The only ride I went on once and wouldnt do it again was Alien Encounter- WAY to intense for me. Now that stitches taken over Ill have to try it again-

-em

 

[KIS]

Thanks everyone. It's hard to know exactly what will or will not scare my daughter. She thinks she wants Body Wars, Space Mission as well as Honey I Shrunk. Tonight, some character on Dumbo scared her....untill I reminded her about "it's kinda fun being scared when you know it's not for real" (Barney still works on a 5 year old!) There's no real way to prepare for them in advance. If we had more time on certain days, I could scout it out beforehand as someone suggested. Otherwise, I guess we'll watch her reactions to various types of rides and build on t hem or something.

KIS

 

[Disney Debbie]

KIS - Sounds to me like you and your daughter have prepared very well. I'd let her try whatever she feels she's up to. Most of the time they are a lot more scared of what they THINK is going to happen then what actually happens. My DD was scared to death of ToT and wouldn't even consider it! Then on a Mother-Daughter trip I talked her into it and promised we'd buy the picture and a t-shirt. Well she LOVED it - as I knew she would - and it's been her very favorite ride ever since!

I also talked her into Splash Mountain - and she hated it! She's not ridden it again - but she's glad she gave it a try. It hasn't ruined her for life! (BTW - both times she was 11 - I wouldn't "talk" a little one into something they were really scared about!) I've always told her to try something once and then if she doesn't like it I'll never bug her about again. She has decided to try it again on this trip - when she'll be 18!!!

 

[barneythebassett]

We made a trip last week with other families. In order for everyone to experience the attractions we made it our policy that all kids (ages 5, 7, 7, and 9) would go on whatever....the only attraction that we experienced that I would absolutely not ask my child to ride again was Mission Space...although I find it very interesting that an attraction can make you "feel" like that, I believe it was rather shocking for the kids....the g-force sucks you back into your seat, you are tilted back and the visual on the screen makes it appear as though you are blasting off into space. The barf bags should be a big hint but I'm not sure exactly how you would throw up....it is also an enclosed set of four seats making it difficult to even see your child. We had told the kids if they didn't like the way the visuals made them feel to close their eyes....wrong answer....little did we know that this only serves to further disorient you...since you mention that your daughter may want to "do" this ride, thought I would caution you....someone tried to caution me...didn't listen....had to find out for myself...you won't believe if you don't actually experience it!

 

[DavidUK]

when my lil sis was 5 she was freaking out in the HM cue untill i started a convesation about how good it was that Walt made a funny ghost house and how silly all the ghosts were and she loved it she just laught when she felt scared and when she got scared in HISTA she laughed again and it ended up being her favorite ride