Disney Shows and Toddlers Advice

[disneyfan95]

Hello. I am going with my brother’s family to Disney World in the spring. I have been to WDW, but my brother and his family ( kids ages 3 & 2) have never been.

So this might be a hard question to answer because the answer may be it all depends on the individual kids. I guess I’m asking for other people’s experiences with their toddlers.

I LOVE the shows at Disney like Lion King, Nemo, Frozen show. I’d love to introduce my nephews to these shows.

Parents with toddlers, did your kids enjoy the shows? Did the kids have the attention span for these shows? I think kids have to sit still for the entirety of the shows? Every time I’ve gone to the shows I’m so engaged with the shows I’ve never really paid attention to the families around me.

I don’t want to make this trip about what I love to do. So if it’s a skip for now I’m happy to follow that advice.

My brother’s family is traveling far to get to WDW. I want to ensure a second trip!

 

[sponica]

To be honest I've never done those, my kids can't barely sit still through the country bears.

 

[Haley R]

We’ve never tried with our 2 year old. He barely made it through Tiki Room. I think it depends on their personalities because there are definitely toddlers who are willing to sit through things like that. Mine is not one of them

 

[MamaMermaid]

Our son slept through Lion King and Nemo when he was 2/3ish. He LOVES the bird show, though, at AK!! We don't really do too many shows - he doesn't enjoy them. I think it really depends on your kid and their interest level. He's 5 now and still probably wouldn't want to sit for it but I'm sure some kids love them!

 

[nancipants]

My son is almost three. He likes the Tiki Room and Muppets (although he refuses to wear the glasses and starts getting bored near the end). We recently did Lightning McQueen's Racing Academy and he had a hard time sitting still for it, but he was also hungry and tired. We haven't tried any longer shows yet because I don't think he has the attention span.

 

[DeeBee3]

I have gone to Lion King, Philharmagic, Frozen Sing a Long.
The younger daughter enjoyed Lion King and Frozen Sing a Long was a total winner.

Philharmagic and Muppet Vision scared her half to death and I had to walk her out and leave my husband and older child.

So for me, if she was engaged, it was no issue. The 3-D pop out stuff frightened her and she started screaming.

I've heard horror stories about Bug's life one so I have never attempted that.

 

[tinkerjo]

Lion king is definitely engaging enough to keep a toddler busy. Mine absolutely loved it!! Nemo on the other hand, is dark, cool, and almost soothing. We used it as nap time for them with a 1-2oclock show. It really just depends on the kid, the time of day, and the show. Maybe pick and choose and see how it goes

 

[Aimeedyan]

Lion King kept his attention for about half and then he was ready to go. Sitting still in tight quarters for that long was a no-go.

We had to leave halfway through Frozen - it's long with lots of talking.

Haven't attempted Nemo, Philharmagic, Lightening McQueen, or Muppets yet - he's newly 3 so we will probably wait until he's a little older.

Really depends a lot on the kid and time of day, honestly.

 

[MissScarlet]

We just went with our 2.5 year old and enjoyed Lion King, Nemo, Frozen. Sitting in the theater waiting for it to start was more of a problem. Also, for our toddler 3-D movies and fireworks were too scary.

 

[AmyMac1109]

My older kids (now teenagers) loved every single show and had no trouble sitting through them as young children. My youngest (a few months past his 4th birthday when we took him) is a different breed though. He has very, very little attention span (as in, I see an ADHD diagnosis in our future). We were rightfully worried about him being able to sit through any shows, and we had to take him out of several. However, Festival of the Lion King and Mickey's Philharmagic kept his attention and had him engaged the entire time. He mostly made it through Muppet Vision 3D (we didn't leave, but he was restless at the end). He slept through Country Bears and I suspect he would not have otherwise made it through. He didn't make it through any other shows.

I agree with the PP though about waiting for it to start being almost a bigger problem. You have to get there early to get good seats, but then you have to be prepared to wait. My kid is not good at waiting. He wasted half of his limited attention span before the shows ever even started.

 

[unrequited23]

When my youngest was nearly 3 he loved Lion King and Philharmagic. We also used Nemo as a rest/relax time as someone mentioned earlier. I know that you are not supposed to have food in the theatres but there were times that I was holding a pack of fruit snacks and giving them to my son, one by one, to keep hangriness at bay.

I guess a good way to gauge is if the child has the attention span for a movie, they should be good for a show

 

[Anna131517]

Ask the parents. They know their kids best. Mine either enjoyed the shows or slept through them. We do bring hearing protection to the parks for our kids because the shows and restaurants can be a bit loud for them sometimes. In fact I even wear little foam ear plugs at the shows (and can still hear everything fine).

 

[CaptainAmerica]

My kids are 8, 5, and 2 and we've been going since the oldest was six months so we've had a baby or toddler for many years at this point. The only show we skip is Carousel of Progress. Because it's technically a "ride," there are safety requirements where the cast members can't allow anyone to stand up. So if a kid gets fussy or needs a diaper change or something, there's no quick escape.

EDIT: 3D shows are a problem too. The glasses just don't work for them.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

You have to get there early to get good seats, but then you have to be prepared to wait.

I do not recommend this. I think it's better to sit in the back or off to the side so that if you need to bribe the kids with snacks to sit still, or sneak out a back entrance, you're not disturbing anyone. If you're lucky enough that the theater isn't completely full, sitting towards the back might also get you some space between you and any neighbors. This lets the kids stand, dance, sing, etc. without bothering anyone.

 

[Haley R]

We tried the Nemo show at AK last Sunday with our 2.5 year old. We made it through the whole show but he had a snack and was still super wiggly. Dh and I had to pass him back and forth between us. We didn’t get in line until about 10-15 minutes before the show started and sat at the end of a row. I’m not sure we’ll be trying another show for awhile. My son is one who won’t sit through a movie

 

[JacksonAcreWoods]

Hello. I am going with my brother’s family to Disney World in the spring. I have been to WDW, but my brother and his family ( kids ages 3 & 2) have never been.

So this might be a hard question to answer because the answer may be it all depends on the individual kids. I guess I’m asking for other people’s experiences with their toddlers.

I LOVE the shows at Disney like Lion King, Nemo, Frozen show. I’d love to introduce my nephews to these shows.

Parents with toddlers, did your kids enjoy the shows? Did the kids have the attention span for these shows? I think kids have to sit still for the entirety of the shows? Every time I’ve gone to the shows I’m so engaged with the shows I’ve never really paid attention to the families around me.

I don’t want to make this trip about what I love to do. So if it’s a skip for now I’m happy to follow that advice.

My brother’s family is traveling far to get to WDW. I want to ensure a second trip!

Our three kids ages 5, 3, and 1(almost 2), did great during LK. We timed it (via LL) around snack time so while we waited for the show to start we used hand sanitizer and snacked away. By the time the show started their tummies were satisfied. They did great during the show. Our almost two year old needed a bit of us engaging him in the show "Look, theirs Simba!" and "Lion says ROAR!"... stuff like that but all in all he did great. With young ones just time EVERYTHING around snack and nap. Also, we had the kids walk (not sit in strollers) leading up to the show. So they got their energy out beforehand. Maybe we just got lucky but I would definitely say its one of the more kid friendly activities.

 

[ktlm]

Depends on the kid. Mine loved all the shows at age 2 and 3. Once they started she was completely into them and not restless at all. The waiting for the show to start wasn't the best when you got there early to get a good seat, but it was manageable with snacks or little toys to keep her busy.

I would avoid Bug's Life-- we didn't do that until she was older and she still hated it.
Also for age 2 and 3, if you do Fantasmic, I would recommend sitting farther back. When DD was 2 we sat in dining package seats that were pretty close and parts of that show really scared her-- I think it would have been better when she was farther away. Also, one thing that surprised us when she was 2 was that she had loved the fireworks on the 4th of July, but a few months later was terrified of them at MK. I didn't think about how much louder they were inside the park than when we saw them at home. We wound up having to run inside a store with her where the sound would be muffled. You could also try some sound cancelling headphones- if I had thought about it ahead of time and really wanted to see the fireworks, I might have done that.

 

[Specter]

Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately for you if they like them) you hit the nail on the head, it does depend on the kid. I can tell you from personal experience that anything longer than It's Tough to be a bug and DD3.5 is not going to be into it. And she loves Frozen and Nemo, etc. On our trip in November she didn't even want to check out the Muppet's show, even when the choice was that or go back to the resort for rest time. That said, she did enjoy the Laugh Floor.

I think in general, though, at the age you're talking about, there is a good chance that they just won't have the attention span for it. I can also confirm that when we went with our niece and nephew when they were younger they were also not really into the shows.

Again, your nephews could be different but I would go in with low expectations and then hope to be pleasantly surprised if I were you.

 

[DVCSince99]

Talk to them about the shows before they go or have them watch them on Youtube to get them interested. That way they will be more engaged when they see the "live action" show. Good luck!