Planning help and Fantasmic - child w noise sensitivity

[akpetz]

Help me! We will be at DL staying at the Grand Californian for 3 days (But only 2 nights inside the parks) in Sept. We are DW veterans, but this is our first DL visit, and this trip is kind of last minute. My concern is my 6 yo son has a big fear of being too close to fireworks/shows and has a noise sensitivity. He loves seeing them, and truly enjoys it and is perfectly happy if we are back a little bit of distance (and we have headphones to mute the sound for him). If we get fastpasses or a dinner package are you very close to the action? Do you just have to go straight to where they place you, or is there some flexibility there? Not sure if this is a waste of time for us or not? Any advice is appreciated. I really know next to nothing about DL at this point, and didn't realize that FP were a "must" at Fantasmic until I came across another thread here. Ack. I just need someone to tell me what shows/events not to miss if I only have 2 nights (and small children).

 

[Geemo]

Check this out.
http://www.disboards.com/threads/fantasmic-viewing-area-locations.3381412/
You can see figment_jii has color coded the FP sections. Where it has in red "Tom Sawyer's Island" the light area is the stage for the show. The water projections I think are closer to the island. The rafts float by a few yards from the seating areas. The Columbia and Mark Twain are on the usual path.

You might want to watch a YouTube video to get a feel for the distances and possibly the sound.

I hope this helps and gives you an idea of the show.

Geemo

 

[cagirl4life]

The fireworks shoot off from the house on the island during F! and the boat at the end has the spinning fireworks (more like sparklers). Most is the same as the one in WDW as far as noise with exception of the Peter Pan part which has a loud cannon which makes me jump every time the first fire of it. Then there is a second one after the Columbia is near the end. The canon is easily heard from main street. So that should be something you factor in. I think the farthest you can get is the bridge over Pirates which is the green area on the map above. Not knowing your child I would say a) watch it on youtube to decide if he will even enjoy it and if he wants to b) check out the area before you grab the fastpasses. For that I would say the green, the back part of the yellow (in the middle) and blue, or the red on the splash side. Place yourself somewhere you can escape from if you decide in the middle it is not worth it.

 

[thatgrljme]

If your child is uber sensitive to sounds get some of these:
http://www.amazon.com/3M-Peltor-Jun...1437308109&sr=8-2&keywords=children+ear+muffs

My son is and we didn't have them last year and we had to leave because it was too loud for him. I got some for the fourth this year and he felt much better about the loud noises. These will be coming with us on all upcoming trips to the Land while his hearing remains sensitive.