How scary is Fantasmic! For Little Ones?

[TheCharmingLizard]

I've never actually seen it, and I've heard reports it can be intense for the little ones.

Since it's not until later at night as well, I'm wondering if I should skip it this time around and wait until we come back in 4-5 years.

My kids are 3 and 5....

Thoughts?

Thanks in Advance!!

 

[MoniqueU]

I guess not at all for us, my kids don't get scared from things like that or dogs or whatever other fears other children develope. I am not even sure how kids end up scared of things like that. The most baffling to me is to be afraid of the cute fun characters. I guess show them the video online, tell them we are going to that and it will be fun and exciting. My kids always just took my lead and if I was ok with it they didn't see any reason to be scared.

 

[ash-n-brensmom]

Great question, I have a timid(to put it mildly) DD5 who I think would be upset by Fantasmic. Anyone with normal children out there want to comment...no offense, but to answer something like this when you have brave children isn't going to help the OP. I'm happy for you that you have such outgoing and brave kids, but my DD5 isn't and I would appreciate any constructive info...

 

[skoi]

We went the first time when oldest ds was four, and oldest dd was eight. He loved it. She had nightmares afterwards. There was part of the show where they project the villains' faces on water or something- and the changes and distortions scared her out of her mind. She finally went back when she was 11 or so, but it's not her favorite show.

It can be loud, and I seem to recall a giant snake? We haven't taken our two youngest, because we had just brought ds home from China a few months earlier, and just plain old Disney by day was enough to overwhelm him.

 

[Snow Shoe]

We took our DGS and his family 2 yearsago, and his father had to do some tall talking to get him through it. This DGS is not that afraid of many things, but this show to him was a close eyes and hand over ears at times. Every kid is different, and if I had to do it over again I'd wait a year or two, if i had my druthers.

 

[5 for WDW]

Our kids love Fantasmic. Our daughter was a little nervous when we took her at 3 but, she is 5 now and asks to go.

When she got scared we just told her to hide her eyes. It was really only during the dragon part. But, once we told her there would be a surprise at the end she was fine.

I can see parts of it being scary to small or timid kids but, there are lots of fun parts that balance that out as well.

Did that help at all?!

 

[thebeesknees]

We first went when my DS was 4 and my DD was 2. Neither one was frightened, as I recall, but we had talked to them ahead of time and told them that it was all just pretend and that everything always ends with the "good guys" winning. However, it is REALLY loud, and that did bother my daughter. She kept her hands over her ears the whole time. So if your child has a problem with loud noises, I'd wait until they are older. It was enjoyable for my DH and I, but my kids don't even remember it now. I'd say it could safely be skipped for now. You'd have something to look forward to on one of your later visits.

 

[ILoveKohls]

We first went when my DS was 4 and my DD was 2. Neither one was frightened, as I recall, but we had talked to them ahead of time and told them that it was all just pretend and that everything always ends with the "good guys" winning. However, it is REALLY loud, and that did bother my daughter. She kept her hands over her ears the whole time. So if your child has a problem with loud noises, I'd wait until they are older. It was enjoyable for my DH and I, but my kids don't even remember it now. I'd say it could safely be skipped for now. You'd have something to look forward to on one of your later visits.

My DD and DS were both 5 when they saw it. Neither were frightened, but DD enjoyed it much more than DS, which sort of surprised me.

 

[PrinceCharmingsMom]

Well if you asked me this a few months ago I would have said my little one loves it, however his opinion has changes quite a bit. When he was 7 months he LOVED it, when he was 13 months he LOVED it, when we went most recently he was 19 months turned 20 months on the trip. He hated it. All of it. The loud kabooms, the evil villans, the fireworks were awful and even some of the creepy music freaked him out. So we decided for our upcoming trip even though its our favorite show we will not be attending since it was so scary for him this last time.

 

[Skip to my Lou]

When me and my family first went to WDW 2 out of 3 of my DD were 3 and 5. They were perfectly fine with it.

 

[pyrxtc]

I would wait, not only might they be scared of it, but to ahve a good seat you will be expected to sit for at least an hour if not more. Very hard to do with kids that age. We saw it finally last year and noone in my family even cared for it much. It was nice to finally see but nothing any of us wanted to rush back to. My kids were 4, 7, 11, and 13.

 

[MyPeanut&Bug]

Great question, I have a timid(to put it mildly) DD5 who I think would be upset by Fantasmic. Anyone with normal children out there want to comment...no offense, but to answer something like this when you have brave children isn't going to help the OP. I'm happy for you that you have such outgoing and brave kids, but my DD5 isn't and I would appreciate any constructive info...

Totally get where you're coming from! We were there last month, my kids were nearly 3 and 4.5. My 4.5 DS is extremely shy and timid (and like you say, that's putting it mildly ) He covered his ears and wanted my arm around him during Wishes, he didn't want me moving the Dumbo up and down, he cried during Haunted Mansion and it took us 3 times of walking through the PotC queue before he would go on - however, Fantasmic, he was 100% fine with. I really don't know why it didn't freak him b/c I was all prepared for it too - I had an aisle seat and was ready to bolt with him!

 

[*pixie*dust*]

Between the long wait leading up to the show, the creepy music,the loud booms the villian faces and the dragon thingy-- I would say wait.

 

[MouseLover]

If your kids seem somewhat timid about mildly scary things, then they may be scared.

Have you watched a video of the entire show? There are several posted on Youtube.com I watch them periodically to get my Fantasmic fix. (It is my favorite!)

It is quite a wait. Be in line early enough to get an actual seat and bring something to entertain your kids during the wait.