Fantasmic for 3 year olds

[twinmom319]

Hi all -

We are trying to plan our WDW trip for late May and my DH and I are currently debating Fantasmic. We've never been and would love to see it, but I am worried about how my just-turned-3 year old twin princesses will react. I am reading conflicting reports - some say it's a little scary but fine, others say absolutely not for toddlers. It's hard to predict how my kids will react to scary stuff - sometimes they are totally fine (for example, we just watched little mermaid for the first time, and they took ursula completely in stride) and sometimes they freak out

Anybody have any personal experiences with bringing young kids to fantasmic?
Thanks!!

 

[becka]

It is so hard at that age because they are react differently. DS was 3 1/2 when we took him to see Fantasmic and it was one of the highlights of his trip. He loved it and he thought he was helping Mickey fight the "bad guys". We have the CD of the show and it is now his favorite thing to listen to in the car. He has the show memorized and actually "performs" it for us in the living room some evenings.

We sat in one of the back rows just in case he ended up hating it so we could leave easily. You might think about doing something similiar and just prepping your girls for the "bad guys" and how it is pretend and that Mickey of course will win.

 

[Bibbidi]

We went in Sep 05 when our girls were 4 and 2. Both of them were frightened by the villains. I think for us it was a combination of things that added up to them not caring for it--they were tired after a week at disney, it is in a dark outdoor theater, it is loud and the lights are flashing at times, finally, my youngest gets more easily scared. Personally I will wait until they are more in the 6-8 age range to try it again. My husband and I had never seen it so we didn't exactly prepare them for it either--I had just heard it was a great show. I like the previous poster's recommendation to sit at the back for an early exit if necessary.

We had done the Fantasmic package so we were in the "reserved" seating section, but if we were to do it again, we'd just get in line and wait for a regular seat. We ended up sitting in the theater for about an hour before the show started and by the time it began, the kids were so tired of being there that that didn't help either.

 

[em-o-so'smom]

I am going next week with my 3 1/2 who is pretty timid but working on her fears...with her i am letting her know what to expect and putting a spin on it that the good guys win and we willl be there with her etc...my 2 1/2 dd is fearless about that kind of thing but i'm still trying to talk with her about the "mickey show". We'll see how they do!

 

[Jaymie]

We didn't take my 2 1/2 yr old son because we weren't sure how he was going to react. I was mainly worried about having to get there an wait for an hour or so for the show to start. After a long day in the park, one of 2 things would have happened. He would have fallen asleep on my lap and slept through it. Although since I'm not that lucky, I think he would have melted down before the show even started or just as it was beginning. He's a pretty patient kid, but an hour is a long time to wait. I think he would have been ok with the show, I can usually talk him out of being scared, which I had to do in the haunted mansion.

My suggestion would be to pass on it. With twin 3 yr olds you'll probably end up with two completely different reactions.

Good Luck.

 

[Ariel8676]

My girls were 3 and 2 when they first saw it and LOVED it! They weren't scared at all... Its a great show!

 

[tripplanner]

The first time we saw Fantasmic my kids were 3 & 4 years old. We sat near the front in the center. There were a couple comedians that did a routine before the show started. The kids loved that. Once the show started, it was another story. My 3 year old really got scared. I think it was a combination of the fire burning on the water and the scary villains. We were close enough to the front that we could actually feel the heat from the fire. The 4 year old loved it all. We skipped it for a few years after that. When we tried it again at ages 6 & 7, they both loved it.

 

[fenfur]

My boys LOVE Fantasmic. My 3 1/2 year old calls it "Mickey Light Show". We have been watching it with them for the past year, so they would have been since they were 6 months old and 2 1/2. But we go a watch it at DLR and it's not a big stadium, it's just on the water around the river.

I think it depends on their personality. My oldest is very outgoing so does well with new things, and well the younger one is exposed to it so early he's used to it.

I would say try it and if they strt getting scared just distract by asking questions about what they see. Like ask who that is and from what movie or things like See the dragon!, Where is Mickey?, What is Mickey holding?, Where's the mountain? etc. This will distract them from what they are seeing that is scaring them and seeing them as a character from a movie they saw. By the time they have answered or something that scene is over and has moved on to the next.

 

[2dogmom]

My 3yo doesn't like rides like Goofy's Barnstormer, Test Track or anything else that goes fast (so she is a chicken), but she had absolutely loved Fantasmic. I told her if it was too loud I would help cover her ears and if it was scary I would cover her eyes. No problems with her. My 6yo wasn't fond of it the first time she saw it when she was 3 but I think it was because it was loud and she was tired.

 

[lillygator]

I think all kids are different but my daughters were 3 and 1 1/2 (I think) when they saw it and were fine.

 

[Lil'DisneyMom]

All kids will probably react differently. We took our DS this past Sept. and he was 2 1/2 and he LOVED it!!

 

[kileybeth]

my 3 year old loved it. He nearly stole the show for those around us tho. . .

I had purchased him one of those light up swords and he was waving it so wildly and routing for Mickey to win the battle at the end. . . well, lets just say the rows around us were grinning like Mickey himself!

that, said, it's a long wait in line at the end of the day usually so. . .you have to be your own child's judge?

all mine have loved it tho even the more timid ones. now my 5 year old grandson just returned with his Disney Daddy fanatic and he was a bit frightened by the loud fireworks.

don't think to much about those ages. . .it will hurt your brain and you will label me a hillbilly or something worse. . .yes, 2 of my own are younger than my grandbaby. . .<grin> staying young with them all. . . at Disney!

 

[ginkyoo]

...but he just hid his eyes under my arm until he was ready to peek again. I'd say go for it and be prepared to leave if you need to.

Have fun!
Ellen