Fantasmic

[britfish]

Is this scary? This is our first time to WDW and it sounds like it might be a little scary for my 4 yo DD. I hope not, I'd really like to do this our last night there!

 

[MrsJ Henry]

It can be pretty intense for a child. But when we were there we saw MANY people with small kids. I know our daughter would hate it though. Too loud, dark etc....
BUT... We loved it when we went a few years ago.

 

[zdesiree]

I thought the same thing when we went the first time in 2005, so I went with my husband alone and loved the show. Then for this year I showed the kids first a video in http://www.youtube.com/ and the reaction was great so we took them and nobody got scared.

 

[gingermouse17]

My dd 6 and dd4 were ok- I made sure that I explained to them before and to my dd4 during the show that is was not real. My ds2 was afraid during some loud moments.

Even though my dd's weren't scared I could understand why children would be scared.

 

[dtripli]

I agree - If you explain it all to her before hand; especially the wonderful, happy ending she should be fine. We have always taken our kids since about 18 months (although they might have fallen asleep!). You know your dd best though. Children all have different personalities - whats the worst than cn happen? ---Don't answer that!---

 

[workinmomof2]

I suggest checking out the you tube videos. I showed them to my sons after someone here suggested it. My oldest does not want to see the show. That dragon really scares him. The youngest is okay with the dragon. Each child is different. We even read the Sleeping Beauty story where Maleficient turns into the dragon and that made it even worse. We have a fantasmic dinner package booked but we are really leaning toward cancelling it. The oldest keeps swinging back and forth. I am in the process of trying to figure out different plans for that night.

 

[SueM in MN]

When we went with my niece's child, who was 4. She was real familiar with nightmares because she had a lot really bad nightmares where she woke up in a terror. We explained the story to her this way:
When we are in Fantasmic, we get to see Mickey's dream. At first, the dream is nice and we will see nice things. But, after a while, the villains come into his dream and try to make him have a bad dream.
When that happens, Mickey sees scary things in his dream. But they are just in his dream; they can't really hurt Mickey and they can't do anything to us because they are Mickey's dream and we are just watching. But, Mickey doesn't know that and he thinks they are real.
At the end, Mickey realizes that he can stop the bad dream by just saying, "This is my dream. You villains go away." And, then the end of the dream is good again and will be really pretty with all sorts of pretty things.

That is actually a pretty complete summary of the story of Fantasmic and it worked really well with her. A couple of times when it was scary, she turned away. A couple of times she said things like, "Mickey, wake up and your bad dream will go away," ...."I wish he would hurry and wake up so we can see the good dream"......"Mickey you can do it."

She was scared at times, but really enjoyed it and it actually helped with her nightmares. She told her mom that if Mickey could stop his nightmare just by telling it to go away, she could too. She did not wake up in terror after that.

 

[justcantwait]

We just saw it for the first time last month. DS9 loved it, DS5 (and a half!) spent the whole show with her face buried in my arm. Of course, she was scared of everything this trip. Once she got into it, she loved everything (except Fantasmic), but come on... Winnie the Pooh's Honey Pots??? You know your child. Maybe showing the YouTube videos would help. I know my kids love watching them. It would prepare your little one with what to expect. Good luck whatever you decide.

Kathy

 

[ColleenG]

My kids were fine with it except for DS4. He has some sensory issues and thought it was too loud. He held his hands over his ears through the whole thing. He wasn't scared, just didn't like the noise. Next time I'm going to try to ger ear plugs for him. He's never liked anything loud.

 

[smacky1]

Thanks for posting this question. I never realized it was scary for kids and was planning on taking dd3, and ds1. I am now rethinking this! I saw it 10 years ago and remember it being amazing, but I was an adult and not at all thinking about kids at that point!

 

[bartleby1]

I suggest checking out the you tube videos. I showed them to my sons after someone here suggested it.

Thanks for the youtube suggestion! We've avoided this show every year because I was afraid my kids would be too scared. They are a little older now (8, 6, and 3) and I thought they might be able to handle it so we watched the youtube video and they are really excited about seeing it! So I think we will give it a go this time!

When we went with my niece's child, who was 4. She was real familiar with nightmares because she had a lot really bad nightmares where she woke up in a terror. We explained the story to her this way:
When we are in Fantasmic, we get to see Mickey's dream. At first, the dream is nice and we will see nice things. But, after a while, the villains come into his dream and try to make him have a bad dream.
When that happens, Mickey sees scary things in his dream. But they are just in his dream; they can't really hurt Mickey and they can't do anything to us because they are Mickey's dream and we are just watching. But, Mickey doesn't know that and he thinks they are real.
At the end, Mickey realizes that he can stop the bad dream by just saying, "This is my dream. You villains go away." And, then the end of the dream is good again and will be really pretty with all sorts of pretty things.
.

I LOVE your story explanation! I think I will "borrow" that, if you don't mind, to tell to my kids. I've never seen the show (except on youtube) so any help explaining it to my kids is welcomed!

 

[Aliceacc]

I'm planning to take my 5 year old, who hates loud noises.

If it gets too intense, one of us will take her out, while the other stays with the older 2. No balking, no trying to convince her that it's not scary-- if she's afraid, she get to leave. That same philosophy applies to any ride or attraction.

No one ride or attraction is worth a child being terrified.-- my favorite piece of advice from Tour Guide Mike.

 

[TheCooksLuvDisney]

I've taken my DS every year since he was 16mos. He too doesn't like loud noises, so I bought a set of noise cancelling headphones for him last time (4) and that did the trick. I tried earplugs, but I just couldn't get them to fit. The headphones work great for fireworks too! They don't cut that much of the noise out, but enough.

 

[vicki845]

When we went with my niece's child, who was 4. She was real familiar with nightmares because she had a lot really bad nightmares where she woke up in a terror. We explained the story to her this way:
When we are in Fantasmic, we get to see Mickey's dream. At first, the dream is nice and we will see nice things. But, after a while, the villains come into his dream and try to make him have a bad dream.
When that happens, Mickey sees scary things in his dream. But they are just in his dream; they can't really hurt Mickey and they can't do anything to us because they are Mickey's dream and we are just watching. But, Mickey doesn't know that and he thinks they are real.
At the end, Mickey realizes that he can stop the bad dream by just saying, "This is my dream. You villains go away." And, then the end of the dream is good again and will be really pretty with all sorts of pretty things.

That is actually a pretty complete summary of the story of Fantasmic and it worked really well with her. A couple of times when it was scary, she turned away. A couple of times she said things like, "Mickey, wake up and your bad dream will go away," ...."I wish he would hurry and wake up so we can see the good dream"......"Mickey you can do it."

She was scared at times, but really enjoyed it and it actually helped with her nightmares. She told her mom that if Mickey could stop his nightmare just by telling it to go away, she could too. She did not wake up in terror after that.

Thanks for posting your explanation of the story. We are thinking of taking ds who is 4 and I think explaining it this way will help!

 

[Disney1976]

I second what others have said about youtube, and Sue, great explanation!

One more thing when you are watching Fantasmic. A lot of people start leaving before the end of the show because they think it's over or because they are trying to avoid the rush to the exit at the end (very annoying when you're trying to watch and people keep getting up in front of you) and they therefore miss the best part! If you do decide to go see it, you'll know when it's over -just don't leave until you hear Mickey talk at the end of the show and the lights come back on.

 

[rmjkharrisfam]

We took DD3 and DS5 this year and they both LOVED it. This is one we do every trip!

 

[SueM in MN]

Thanks for the youtube suggestion! We've avoided this show every year because I was afraid my kids would be too scared. They are a little older now (8, 6, and 3) and I thought they might be able to handle it so we watched the youtube video and they are really excited about seeing it! So I think we will give it a go this time!



I LOVE your story explanation! I think I will "borrow" that, if you don't mind, to tell to my kids. I've never seen the show (except on youtube) so any help explaining it to my kids is welcomed!

go ahead, anyone who wants to use it.
that's why I posted it.

 

[KSG'sDisneyMem]

I have taken DGS for past 2 years (age 2 1/2 and again at 3 1/2) and DGD (then 18 mos) went last year as well. They both loved it. When Mickey first appeared my DGD was so excited "Mickey! Mickey!" she yelled. My DGS has loved it both years. He brings a light toy in to keep on if he needs it. We talk about Mickey's dream. At the end, last year, DGS told us all to clap for Mickey saving the day. The next day, we had breakfast at Chef Mickey's. When Mickey came to our table DGS said "Thanks for saving the day last night Mickey!" I had to explain to Mickey that we had seen him "save the day" last night when we saw him in Fantasmic! He nodded and kissed my DGS on the head. It was priceless. Just explain about Mickey's dream and that the children must cheer him on in his dream. It is an excellent show and definitely not to be missed. If loud noises are frightening, use ear plugs. I brought them both years and did not need to use them. Good luck and have a wonderful time.

 

[Hubbleo]

Our 4 year old DS was a bit scared at parts but I just held him and explained it was all Mickey's dream and I bet he would win in the end....he was fine after that.