Is Fantasmic Show too scary for 2 yr old?

[Disneyonmymind]

I am planning a summer trip with two families including two 9 year olds and a 2 year old. We have never seen Fantasmic but do not want to miss it this year. I have heard that it's too scary for little ones. Those of you who have been there, what do you think? I realize that it varies from kid to kid, of course, but maybe someone has some good insight that I can apply to my child.

Also, I was wondering what we might do if we decided not to take the little one. We plan to get a dinner package. Could we all eat at the same PS time but reserve tickets for different show times? That way, we could do a "baby swap" of our own. The Moms can take the older kids to the show while the Dads hang out with the baby. Then the Moms can take all of the kids and enjoy the park or go back to the hotel while the Dads go to the late show. Or something like that...

What do you think?

 

[sunny04]

Well, the show has a lot of the villians from movies all at once. If your child is scared of the villians during the movies, I would say it will be too scary. I have only heard one child get a little scared during it, and it was during the part with all the villians laughing about what they are going to do. It has a giant snake, and a giant dragon, but I would say most of the show is nice. Mickey triumphs of course! If you do the package, I believe you have to do the first show, because I just got my PS for the package a few minutes ago and I asked if you could choose which show to do and she said no, you would go to the 7pm one. So I believe that you are automatically put in this one.

 

[TDC Nala]

I have friends who would not take their children because of the villains and because they thought the kids would be afraid of the fire and water effects. If this stuff worries the kids, you can try sitting in the back so you can leave if necessary. The theater is large and you can sit pretty far back.

 

[bigbabyblues]

My 3-yo got scared during it, not the whole time, but some parts. We reminded him that it was just pretend (as we did throughout our trip), and he sat with his hands over his eyes when he was scared. I kept him close to me and talked to him through it, and told him when the "nice people" were back out so he could look. I asked him a couple times if he wanted to go out, and he said he wanted to stay. We talked before the show about it might be a little scary, and if he wanted to leave that was ok. His Buzz Lightyear light spinner helped quite a bit too. 15 month old somehow slept through it, and all the fireworks shows.

 

[swilphil]

I found that it was too loud for my 2 year old. We were toward the back, but close enough to the speaker where the loud noises bothered him.

 

[SeeDisney]

My 2 1/2 year old boy wasn't afraid of Fastasmic. I saw lots of other young children about the same age and they seemed to be fine.

 

[GEM]

Not quite two -

but we were there in December with my then 20 month old and he LOVED Fantasmic!

Actually, Illuminations was his very favorite thing from the whole trip, but Fantasmic and Wishes were tied for a close second.

So, I think it just depends on the kid.

 

[ms.ojo]

my ds 2.5 really loved it! Went back when he was 4 and dd was 1 and they both were fine. (She was probably still too young to be bothered by it) Just don't sit down front where you'll get wet and that would probably add to the scare factor. If your child is enjoying some of the dark rides, I'd say go for it. We brought a small flashlite toy jic but he was fine. Oh, and don't jusge reaction on snowwhite scary adventures....NO little children seem to like that, yet they like other dark or slightly spooky things at Disney. I really don't understand that snow white ride at all. It could be so much better.

 

[YourMajesty]

My DS was 20 months old and was scared during the show. It is very loud and dark. He was also frightened at Indiana Jones because it was loud.

 

[minkydog]

My son is 9yo, but mentally about 2yo. We took him one time to Fantasmic and he was hysterical. Too loud, too dark, too much fire, just plain too scary! He climbed all over me trying to get away. Poor thing...next time we split up and Dad took the big kids and I stayed in the hotel room and let him play with toys. Much happier!

Cathy--mom to John, 18, Eleni, 11, and Christian,9

 

[WaltD4Me]

It really depends on your child. We took my 2 year old nephew and he was fine with it, but my 4 year old niece was scared of the villains, fire and the snake. When the villians came on my nephew just said "Ooooo, scary." But my niece definitely didn't like being so close to Malficient!

On a side note, BOTH kids were scared to death on the Malestrom ride in Norway at Epcot! I don't recommend that attraction to any kid under 12! LOL!

Lisa

 

[cindy_k]

I took my 3 year old niece to the show. She was nervous about it but I calmly told her while we were waiting for the show to start that this was Mickey's show and that some bad guys and a big dragon would try to get Mickey, but don't worry cause Mickey is going to WIN!

Then I sat her in my lap during the show. She would ask once in a while throughout the show when the dragon was coming but when Mickey beat the the bad guys in the end, she cheered and then wanted to watch the show again.

As with everything, your milage may vary.

Have a good trip!
Cindy K in NY

 

[MelAnderson]

I took my almost 2 DS to Fantasmic June 2004 and he was fine. I sat near the edge just in case he became scared and we had to leave early. Of course, he is not afraid of the dark, so you may need to factor that in as well. He doesn't like loud noises, but I think that we were sitting back far enough that it didn't bother him. Sometimes I think that because he was little, that he didn't "know" to be scared. I am planning on going to Disney this May and Fantasmic is on the schedule. I do wonder how he will react since he's older, but I'm think that he will be fine.

HTH
Melodie

 

[Stacerita]

Overall I wouldnt say Fantasmic was scary. But if your child is afaid of the dark, loud noises and villians, I would not take him to see this. At two my sweetpea wasn't scared of anything, so taking mine to see it was never an issue. But we all know our kids and if you have doubts, I would let the 2yo skip the show and wait till he was older. Moms know best.