Fantasmic...scary? not so?

[ARmomof2]

We are going to WDW in Feb. for our first family trip. I have 2 DD's, DD will be 31/2 and DD will be 14 mo. My DH wants to see Fantasmic, is this too scary for the kiddies? It seemed a little intense on the planning video. Am I being too "mama bear?" Thanks!

 

[KristiMc]

The first time our children saw it they were 2 and 5. Neither of them had problems with it. You could go out to youtube and watch it. Probably will show more then the planning video shows.

Have a great trip! We are going back in February also.

 

[ARmomof2]

Thanks! We will be there 5-9, at ASMu. See you then.

 

[nursegirl]

We took our DS who was 3 at the time and he did fine - a little tentative in a couple of parts, but enjoyed it mostly. We went a few years ago when he slept through the whole thing and sat in the very front - hot from the fire we thought and a little overwhelming for some little ones. So when we took DS at 3yo, we stayed towards the back to start just in case we needed to bail.

Saying that, we've been with our 4yo nieces and they were all about being close for the best view of the princesses on the boats.

 

[crisi]

Its intense. Some kids do fine, other kids do not. There is a lot of fire (or used to be, I haven't been for years) and a scary dragon. Good wins in the end (of course) but it is one of the darker things at Disney in terms of content. Its also pretty loud and happens at night - as you are trying to get them settled in for the evening.

Watch it on youtube and make your own decision on how well you know your kids and your comfort level.

 

[ARmomof2]

We are thinking about it for our first night, depending on EMH. But, we will have been up since 4am!!! Even with a nap, the kiddies (and mama! ) will be getting cranky. We'll just have to play it by ear. (HAHAH, by ear! cracked myself up!) I welcome any other tips for that first day.

 

[Manda]

It's very, very loud. If your littles ones are sensitive to loud/startling sounds, it could possibly bother them. My son is sensitive to stuff like that (as am I). We both watched with ear plugs in our ears and it was fine that way.

 

[ktlm]

My DD was 2 yrs 10 months on her 1st WDW trip. She is usually fearless. She loved the beginning and end of Fantasmic, but was absolutely terrified in the middle part with the villians which goes on for a very long time. Dh and I felt pretty bad about taking her. I had seen it before and watched it on youtube to refresh my memory and thought she would be okay. It is so much more intense live. We were down pretty close. If you go with ones that little, I would suggest sittiing towards the back where it will not be so intense and where you can get up and walk them out during the scary part if you need to.

 

[tam626]

I was wondering the same thing for my 4 yr old son. I was afraid it might be too scary. he does'nt like lots of loud noises either. He wears ear plugs for Wishes.

 

[weHEARTmickey]

We are probably considered "way too overprotective" with our DD8 & DS6. We've seen F! every summer since DS was almost 3 & DD was 6. To be honest, the first time it SCARED THEM TO DEATH! Each time since then, they just bury their heads in our laps/armpits during the scary parts.

It is very scary & intense with all of the flames, frightening music, & villains. If your children are used to seeing some of the scary Disney movies, then they may be okay. I know most people think we're wimps, but I just wanted to give you a pretty conservative point of view! (I personally LOVE F! & we're not going to see it on our trip next week, which makes me sad.) Have fun regardless!

 

[NateNLogansDad]

Youtube is a great idea toget them used to it first. We took the boys last year (they were 2&4 at the time) and at first they were a little scared but by the end they wanted to see it again and again and again, which is fine by me!

Another thing I'd do ahead of time is have them watch the original Fantasia from 1940. It'll warm them up to it in baby steps and give them a little background on some of it.


b/t/w The other day I brought up Fantasmic on my laptop and as soon as the music started the boys came RUNNING over and went silent! Thank you Disney!

 

[ilovedisneytoo]

My children ages 5 and 2 loved it. My 2 year old actually fell asleep in my arms.

 

[ARmomof2]

My DH and I watched it on youtube this afternoon. It was a little intense, but I think if we sit to the back it may be okay. I know she will love the beginning and end! We will definately add Fantasia to our Saturday Disney movie night. We are trying to watch a Disney movie every Sat. with DD, until we go to see the Mouse!

 

[luvmyfam444]

It scared mine! We saw it with a 7yo & a 2.5 yo. We haven't seen it since. Villians scare my kids & the extreme music does as well.

 

[Kims09]

We took our DD when she was 3 1/2 and she did just fine. There were a couple of intense moments for her where she hid in my arm, but she was over it quick. However, this was our 3rd day in various WDW parks, so she had gotten acclimated to the whole WDW experience.
Our first day at the parks, we went to Magic Kingdom and Philharmagic- now that was a huge mistake on our part. The loud noises, gusts of wind, etc terrified her. We tried it again at the end of our trip (six or so days later) and she was just fine. I'm now a firm believer in building up the intesity level of rides and shows during the course of our vacation.

 

[crisi]

We are probably considered "way too overprotective" with our DD8 & DS6. We've seen F! every summer since DS was almost 3 & DD was 6. To be honest, the first time it SCARED THEM TO DEATH! Each time since then, they just bury their heads in our laps/armpits during the scary parts.

It is very scary & intense with all of the flames, frightening music, & villains. If your children are used to seeing some of the scary Disney movies, then they may be okay. I know most people think we're wimps, but I just wanted to give you a pretty conservative point of view! (I personally LOVE F! & we're not going to see it on our trip next week, which makes me sad.) Have fun regardless!

Its interesting, by DISBoard standards I'm an underprotective mom. My kids do all sorts of things other DISBoarders wouldn't let their kids do. And no way at 3. Not my kids. BUT, I knew my kids would not like the loud noises at that age. I also knew (and still know) that if I challenge them and it does scare them to death, we are all punished by night terrors and insomnia - not a good thing to work through on vacation.

We did go at 4 1/2 - and that was challenging. We went again when the youngest was six. And that was fine. We haven't been back since and probably won't unless we bring guests who really want to go. The first time was magical...the second time pretty much everyone agreed that for us it was a "go once" sort of thing and no reason to schedule an evening around it.