Service Dogs and 4D Shows

[Stag]

So, I'm heading to Disney next year-- YAY!

My question is this... what 4D shows would you NOT recommend with the dog? I'm thinking Mickey's Philharmagic will be fine-- but maybe the It's Tough To Be A Bug show won't because I remember things happening in the feet/legs area and I don't think that would be a good idea. Are there seats without those effects so I could still see the show? I know my dog would be ok with things like puffs of air, etc. but I still don't really feel comfortable with putting him on the floor if I know there's going to be all kinds of crazy effects going on.

(My first dog was distinctly unimpressed by Shrek 4D at Universal-- she wasn't scared, but she did not enjoy it and gave me the worst "What the heck was THAT?!" glares when we left the theater.)

 

[Mary976]

Mickey's Philharmagic and the Muppets movie at the Studios are pretty similar. I haven't been to Captain EO, so hopefully someone who has tried it recently can let you know about that one.

Mary

 

[SueM in MN]

We went to Captain EO in April 2011.
It doesn't have a lot of effects.
The whole floor seemed to kind of vibrate or shake at times, but I did not notice any things that came out of the floor or under the seats at you (unlike Honey I Shrunk the Audience, where I usually held my feet up to avoid the snake and mice).

 

[LockShockBarrel]

Any dog who's had noise/stimulation training...being exposed to lots of different noises so that they're used to it and rewarded when they do good...should be fine all all those shows. Any dog I've ever seen, my own and a couple others, rarely reacted to anything because they can't really see the screen or feel the effects. The ones I was with would sometimes perk up when they heard puffs of air or sniff if there was a scent effect but never in a distracting or bad way. We'd usually be on the end of a row or in the wheelchair row so the dog would be where a wheelchair would go. There's nothing on the floor that would interefere with a dog. I've been with a dog in Philharmagic, Muppets, ITTBAB, HISTA..I feel like I'm forgetting one...but not Captain Eo. If memory serves, the effect of the mice at HISTA was something within the seat, not by the floor.

 

[SueM in MN]

Any dog who's had noise/stimulation training...being exposed to lots of different noises so that they're used to it and rewarded when they do good...should be fine all all those shows. Any dog I've ever seen, my own and a couple others, rarely reacted to anything because they can't really see the screen or feel the effects. The ones I was with would sometimes perk up when they heard puffs of air or sniff if there was a scent effect but never in a distracting or bad way. We'd usually be on the end of a row or in the wheelchair row so the dog would be where a wheelchair would go. There's nothing on the floor that would interefere with a dog. I've been with a dog in Philharmagic, Muppets, ITTBAB, HISTA..I feel like I'm forgetting one...but not Captain Eo. If memory serves, the effect of the mice at HISTA was something within the seat, not by the floor.

There are not any other current 3D shows.
You may be thinking of Magic Journeys, which was the 3D show in Epcot before HISTAMINE. It moved to MK and was where Mickey's Philharmagic is now.
HISTA had some of the same general floor effects ( where the entire floor moved) as Captain EO. That was during the movie where the child picked up and moved the shrunken studio in the movie. My guess is to a dog on the floor, that would feel pretty similar to sitting on the floor for a few minutes in a moving car or van.
The other effects, as far as I know, came out of the top of the seat in front of the viewer and out of the underside of the seat you are sitting on ( the actual seat cushion, not the floor under the seat).

So, a dog sitting on the floor between seats might feel something, a dog in a wheelchair spot would feel things coming out of the seat top in front and a dog on the floor at the end of a row would only get the 'over runs'.

The back section of ITTBAB bug has wheelchair spots and also a lower ceiling than the rest of the auditorium. Some of the effects that come out of the ceiling dont come that far. The smells do, but not the spiders from the ceiling. Some of the other effects, like water, don't come that far.
The other thing we encounter every time is there will be a small child or 2 that becomes scared, cries and wants to leave. There are also screams. As was mentioned, those are people reacting to things that happen on the screen combined with what is going on in real life.
Since there are likely to be people leaving, you may want to sit in the wheelchair area or on an aisle at the show entry side rather than going all the way across the row to the exit side.

Just thought of - the one LockStoxkBarrel might be thinking of is Stitch's Great Escape. It is not a 3D movie, but has a lot of effects. Most come out of the 'restraint' harness that comes down over the shoulders. It takes place in almost total darkness at times and there are some smells and some sudden things that happen when Stitch escapes. Probably the dog will not enjoy it, but would give you some strange looks when leaving ("just WHAT was that supposed to be?"
I don't remember things coming out of the seat bottom in Stitch, but you can have the dog sit in a wheelchair spot and not have to sorry about it

 

[LockShockBarrel]

Now that you mention it, I do remember the shaking sensation at HISTA. I never really thought much of it to be honest because for the first several times I saw it, I thought it was the feeling of doors slamming!! It took me a long time to realize it was part of the show. It never seems to phase the dogs though, I think compared to other ride vehicles and other sounds in the park, it felt like nothing to them.

As far as the effects with the seat, I was referring to the mice part of HISTA. I once had a seat where I could feel what was like a rubber string coming from the bottom of the seat (I think I was sticking my bag under the seat and felt it hanging down) When the mouse effect happened, I know I felt this little string thing doing something but I didn't get the full effect so I always assumed it was part of what "made the magic" so to speak. Keep in mind this was YEARS ago so I could be getting a bit of this wrong.

Stitch was the one I was thinking of, but I barely remember it so I can't vouch too much for effects there. I also can't say how a dog would react there because I went "on" it by myself. What a waste of time....

Like I said before, I think most dogs that have been well exposed to noise will be fine in these types of shows. I'd be most concerned about home trained dogs or animals that started as pets that then became certified as service dogs purely because they may not be as apt to handle stimulation like the noises and other effects in these shows.

 

[Stag]

Whoa, thanks for the info! I definitely agree that any well-trained and well-socialized dog will be able to handle it without skipping a beat. I think what it is is I know people with... less than stellar dogs who have spoken about how, for example, one of them took her dog to a 4D show and the air puffed on him and startled him-- now he startles every time he hears that sudden poof sound.

Intellectually, I totally know that my dog will be able to handle it, but I think I'm a little nervous just because I know other dogs who couldn't, you know? And no worries about Stitch... didn't like that one the first time around so I wouldn't do it again! My first dog handled everything but Shrek 4D like a pro, and even that one, I just got awful faces. We went on Wild Arctic at Sea World... I had never been and wasn't warned that the whole room shook wildly, and my dog was trying so desperately to hold her down-stay as we were being jostled around!

 

[LockShockBarrel]

I think a dog being startled is fine...it just HOW startled that can be a problem. Picking their head up, perking up their ears, looking around are acceptable and understandable reactions. Jumping up, barking, growling, cowering are different. We'd usually have small treats or a few pieces of food with us to use as rewards when our dogs would get through particularly loud or different things, just to reinforce the whole idea of "it's ok, you're safe, you handled this great!"

 

[SueM in MN]

Yes, the mice on HISTA were thin rubber strips coming from under the seat. I hated the feeling of those.