Requesting Advice for getting a spot for Jedi Training

[Laketravis]

As Tink was saying...please don't do this if your child isn't old enough. Even younger 4 year olds are pushing it, IMO. I can't tell you how many time we've seen kids leave the stage in tears when Vader comes out. He's big, he's scary, and he stays in character, so he isn't going to coddle a child onstage. When the little, little kids get up there and are scared, it's so sad.

Funny thing, when Darth came out the tiniest kid in DS's group took a wide-foot stance right in front of him and pulled that hand-out stop motion like the kid in the car commercial. Darth played right along with it.

 

[ammag]

The minimum age is 4, he is seven weeks too young, not months. He is also in love wiht Darth Vader and has seen "him" with no issue at comic con. I am not one for skirting rules but a matter of weeks is really close I don't think it seems like a big deal?

 

[HulkBuster]

the minimum age is 4 not 3.87 sorry but thats the rule you want to skirt

 

[Itinkso]

It would be a big deal to a 12 year-old who can't get a spot in the show because parents of 3 year-olds don't think it's a big deal for their child to take a spot.

If you didn't walk near the JTA stage, your 3 year-old would never know JTA existed. And if he did happen to walk by the stage, you can honestly tell him it is for older kids than to plan on teaching him to lie.

 

[letsgoreds]

The minimum age is 4, he is seven weeks too young, not months. He is also in love wiht Darth Vader and has seen "him" with no issue at comic con. I am not one for skirting rules but a matter of weeks is really close I don't think it seems like a big deal?

Since this age rule is more about maturity than safety (can follow instruction, not be fearful), I see this as a gray area. For me, if you have a child that is uber confident (Darth is very big, being on stage is intimidating), is really good at following directions (demonstrated in preschool/classes), can handle themselves very well away from their parents, can remember some choreography, has an older sibling that they are going on stage with, and is a big Star Wars fan...then it doesn't matter to me if they are 3.5 or 4.5. Every kid matures differently. My oldest couldn't have handled it at 5, my 4.5yo nephew (very confident kid, big star wars fan) cried on stage during training, and walked off, but my youngest was sub-4 for our most recent trip, and did better than a lot of kids on the stage.

For me it is more a moral question...are you willing to encourage your child to lie about their age? They will ask the child directly how old they are. I explained the situation to my youngest, didn't tell him to lie, but didn't tell him not to. Not surprising, he was '4' when asked. He knew going in that there was a good chance we might just be watching big brother vs. participating. I wouldn't have given him the option if I didn't know he could handle a 'no.' He's good about dealing with height requirements too. I also considered when our next trip would be. If you will go again in a year or two, then just wait. We were facing a cross country move, meaning no more WDW, so that factored into my decision as well.

I strongly discourage anyone from trying JTA with a sub-4yo (or young 4yo) kiddo (for reasons listed above), but there are always outliers. Only you know your kid.

 

[Allison]

The minimum age is 4, he is seven weeks too young, not months. He is also in love wiht Darth Vader and has seen "him" with no issue at comic con. I am not one for skirting rules but a matter of weeks is really close I don't think it seems like a big deal?

But what you want to do is blatantly breaking the rules not skirting them. There are children the correct age who should get those spots.