Festival of the Lion King - Scary for Kids???

[JSDisneyMommy]

I'm taking my two sons, ages 4 and 2, to Disney in September. My 4-yr old is scared of Scar from The Lion King. Can anyone tell me if Scar appears in The Festival of the Lion King show at Animal Kingdom? If so, for how long and are his scenes scary?

Thanks!

 

[tmarquez]

My DD (4) was scared of him too. We went to the Lion King show in AK last year and she was just bored, not scared.

 

[crzy4mk]

I'm taking my two sons, ages 4 and 2, to Disney in September. My 4-yr old is scared of Scar from The Lion King. Can anyone tell me if Scar appears in The Festival of the Lion King show at Animal Kingdom? If so, for how long and are his scenes scary?

Thanks!

One of the live actors "portrays" Scar, and sings "Be Prepared". Scene lasts about 4 minutes, and can be kind of intense for little ones. Not really too scary, but the show can be dark at times, and also a little loud. When my 3 year old went for the first time, I had to hold her and cover her ears for most of it, but now she loves it. A lot of it depends on the child.

 

[lillygator]

My DD's 2 and 4 loved it...I didn't think it was scary.

 

[kahluacream]

My boys were 4 and 2 when we went last May, and I thought they would love it. All of the familiar characters and floats from the Lion King were great. But the Scar scene in FOTLK scared my 4-year old. When it got darker and the music got gloomy for Scar's "Be Prepared", he started to cry. This made his brother cry, too. It was the only time during our whole trip that they reacted that way. There was also a fire eater that sort of freaked my 2 year-old out.

All kids are different, and I definitely saw many younger children enjoying the show. If your son is already afraid of Scar, I might skip it and do Pocohontas and/or the Nemo show instead.

Have a great trip!

ETA: I just thought of something... You could probably find a video recording of FOTLK on YouTube or online somewhere. This might help you decide if the Scar scene would be too scary for your son.

 

[Nisa]

Two years ago we went with friends who had a 2 year old. He was so scared they had to take him out. There were several other little kids crying also. I think the noise might have been what got to him most but like what everyone else has said it is really how your child is & how they handle things like that.

 

[disneyfantotheend]

I agree that it all depends on the kids. We all love Lion King my children included. The first time we saw it my kids were 3 and 5, and it did not scare or bore them. But every child is different.

 

[Us3]

I agree with everyone else...depends on the kid. BUT, we saw the show with our 2 yo and she LOVED IT! And I have to add that she is a 2 yo that scares easily...go figure!?! She was even invited to go down and dance with all of the characters...she hesitated when the lady approched with hugh tusk on her costume, but then went and had a great time. And of course I cried because I was 1)amazed that she wasn't scared and 2) it was sooo cute!!!

 

[LilGMom]

I think it totally depends on your child. My oldest (now 5) has never been afraid of it and he was 10 months old the first time he saw FOTLK, even after he saw the movie he didn't get scared. My youngest has never seen the movie and was jumping and dancing so hard throughout the entire show that I think he left bruises on my legs and he was 1.5 this last trip. My youngest was even growling right back at Scar so he definately wasn't scared.

 

[tanyaandallie]

Oh no. I didn't even think about my kids being scared of this show. They are 2 and 3 (almost 4). My 3 year old does tend to get scared easily, esp. if it's dark and the music is scary. We missed this show when we went in the fall and we are going to the aK for a day just to see this and Nemo. Hmmmmmm, wondering if we should skip it. I don't know!!

 

[Shannon G]

I agree with everyone else...depends on the kid. BUT, we saw the show with our 2 yo and she LOVED IT! And I have to add that she is a 2 yo that scares easily...go figure!?! She was even invited to go down and dance with all of the characters...she hesitated when the lady approched with hugh tusk on her costume, but then went and had a great time. And of course I cried because I was 1)amazed that she wasn't scared and 2) it was sooo cute!!!

My experience with my DD was the same - she scares easily, won't go on Peter Pan, got scared on the Winnie the Pooh ride, had to leave Mickey's Philharmagic - but she LOVED FOTLK! Go figure!

 

[Tink Wanna Be]

My two year old was not at all scared in this show. She was, however, a little spooked (only to the point of sitting on my lap, not upset or crying) during parts of fantasmic.

 

[quiltymom]

Nope, not scarry for us. We had been to Cirque du Soleli just two days before, and our impression was that if you can't make it to Cirque, then get to FOTLK! My kids hardly paid attention to the story - they were to enthralled by the puppets, costumes & acrobatics! It was wonderful.

 

[mama4]

My kids were more afraid of Winnie the Pooh (the Heffalumps part) then FOTLK. They do find Scar scary as well but not in this show. I think it just depends on the child.

 

[TommyTutone]

My fearless 4 year old son got stage fright and shy when he was called up to be the warthog for our section, so I ended up getting that job, which is great because grunting like a pig in front of hundreds of strangers is great for the self-esteem when you are on the chunky side.

Beyond that though, our son seemed a little bored by the show itself, but getting to go backstage after and meet the dancers and singers and get Timon's autograph AND a souvenir from the show (it was a bead that had fallen off a costume that he noticed) was one of his (and my) highlights of the entire week.

 

[mistyt]

Just a tip...after working at FOLK for awhile I saw many kids who both loved it and hated it! Pack a pair of earplugs in your bag for the parks. That way if they get a little scared from the loud music they can still enjoy the show! I hope you get a chance to see it while you are there! It is an amazing show.