"Little mermaid scary, mommy"

[sammieJ]

Just got back from a fabulous four day trip, but wanted to caution other families that, like it said in one of the online guides, the little mermaid show in MGM CAN be too scary for some toddlers. Like, for example, my two and a half year old son who LOVES the movie and talks about little mermaid all the time. It was too dark and loud during the storm scenes, and he clung to me and cried. So, of course, I had to leave, but couldn't leave completely since my 4 1/2 year old was there. A fabulous CM let me sit on the couch to the side, and the little guy calmed down. He still had a great trip, and liked seeing the pictures of little mermaid et al from the outside, but will still say, at least once a day, "little mermaid scary mommy. too dark. too loud."

 

[fakereadhed]

Good to keep in mind as I have no idea how my 2.5yo DS will react. I didn't remember that attraction as being scary.TFS your experience!

 

[skuttle]

I was worried about our DS last December. He was also 2.5 at the time. He wasn't scared, though. I was thinking of trying Pirates and Haunted Mansion in January with him, but we watched the planning video and he said he didn't want to see the scary pirates, so I don't think he's ready for those yet! Funny how you just never know how they'll react.

Did you happen to try Fantasmic? We skipped it last year because I thought it'd be too much for DS. We were going to try it this year, but I'm not sure. He's seen the dragon several times in the movie, but I'm not sure if he'll be scared.

 

[eyeheartgoofy]

Thanks for the info - I will NOT be taking my 2 1/2 year old to see this. She is terrified of thunder and I am pretty sure this attraction would not be fun for her.

 

[NotUrsula]

VOTLM is usually not as intimidating when you sit toward the rear of the theatre. To get that spot, you would want to stand against the far wall of the pre-show room, and let a lot of the crowd precede you into the theatre.

 

[WantToGoNow]

I couldn't even get my ds5 into the theatre -- he saw a poster on wall in the que of Ursula and that was it. We went into the preshow and he screamed and cried until dh took him out. Dd2 on the other hand loved it.

 

[disneydancer1969]

that is so cute! poor little guy. that is so cute. i remember one day my sister was working at cr so i had to watch her kid's while she worked. so we went to mgm and little lilly was 2 and we walked in. she saw the pictures and demanded to go on it. BIG MISTAKE!!!! she was screaming and crying i had to leave and take cole and cody with me. they were not paying attention at all and were glad to leave. so i was very tired that day and everytime now that we saw that poster for it or walked by it she would break out into tears. she is so cute though and i still love her as she said "i love aunt ashley"

 

[3princesses+aprince]

Oh I hope my dd5 and dd2 will like it, because my dd7 lOVES the little mermaid. Well dh will be with us anyone, so he could take one out if neccessary

 

[CTtwins]

DD and DS, both 4 1/2.... were so excited to see the show. Ariel is DD's absolute favorite... she couldn't wait to see the show.

First, King Triton "scolded" Ariel... his voice was booming through the auditorium... Then they were almost too afraid to even look at the stage to watch any singing.... when the storms hit and Ursula came out.. they were terrified. Absolutely terrified. Ursula is very big on the stage... she's practically the height of the full stage. We wanted to take them out, but we had sat down in the middle and just couldn't get up... so they sat shaking and clinging to us for the whole show.

I was really upset because I was avoiding scary rides.. and had read in "The Unofficial Guide" that the fright potential was "Not frightening in any respect" --- what???? Saddest part was - While waiting to get in, DH and I had said to them over and over that it would not be scary... big mistake!

I'm sure some kids wouldn't mind... but if your kids scare about these types of things (like my kids), I'd think twice about it!!

 

[Stephres]

I think anything in the dark is scary to some kids. My littlest was terrified by this show when she was 2 but loves it now that she is 4. She wouldn't even go on Peter Pan or anything in the dark when she was a toddler.

 

[crashbb]

I know it is a different ride but I wanted to warn people that I found "Tough to be a Bug" to be absolutely terrifying (as did the little boy sitting behind me). By the end of the show I had my bug glasses off and was sitting on the edge of my seat, mostly with my eyes shut. The little guy behind me was in his mom's lap with his head pressed into her.

He looked to be about 5. I'm 30

 

[Addicted2TheMouse]

Ok, I LOVE Disney but this is a petpeeve for me. Why do they have to make things so scary? Like the poor little boy who loved the little mermaid and now he thinks she's scary. That's kind of sad, IMO.

 

[WantToGoNow]

I know it is a different ride but I wanted to warn people that I found "Tough to be a Bug" to be absolutely terrifying (as did the little boy sitting behind me). By the end of the show I had my bug glasses off and was sitting on the edge of my seat, mostly with my eyes shut. The little guy behind me was in his mom's lap with his head pressed into her.

He looked to be about 5. I'm 30

We're you there the first week of November? This very well could have been my son. The first day at Disney we went to AK -- we saw the Lion King and then Pocohantas. Then I made the worst mistake ever -- we went to the Tough to be a Bug show. My ds5 and dd2 screamed almost the entire time - not a wimpering cry - but a blood curdling, scared to death scream. Dd2 recovered quickly and had a wonderful time the rest of the trip; ds5 was afraid to go into any theatre and had to be taken out of several que lines during the 10-day trip - I even had to drag him crying up 3 flights of stairs to see Lights, Motors, Action which I knew he would love (and he did). That evening I asked him what his favorite thing about that park and was his least favorite thing was (we did this every day). He said he would never, ever, ever go into that bug show again -- I believe him, he was that afraid.