Fantasmic ?s

[K and K's Mommy]

We leave in two days! I am still not sure about taking my 4 year old and 1 1/2 year old to Fantasmic. I think the scary part will go over my DD1 head, but I am not sure about my DS4. What has been your experience with preschoolers? Also, if we decide to go, is it possible to find your stroller at the end? I was thinking about taking a later nap and swim and just leaving the stroller at the hotel. That said, is it a long walk to the buses to carry them if they fall asleep?

 

[galaxy]

We are just back, my youngest son is 4 yr old and was a little frightened by this. We just told him to watch for mickey chasing the scary monsters away from his dream. He hid under our sweaters for the bits he didnt like!

Perhaps don't sit too near the front, the water mist and heat form the fire might add to any upset.

 

[NJ Kat]

When we were at DW last November, my granddaughter was 3 1/2 years old. We brought ear protectors for her. You can buy them at Walmart or Kmart, or any sporting goods store. They have childrens and adult sizes. They were about $10.00. They are the kind of ear protectors that tree surgeons use, and that you would use for target practice. We used them for the fireworks, and any noisy shows or rides. They were a big help. The dragon in Fantasmic still frightened her, but we told her it was a person dressed up in a Halloween costume. My 6 month old grandson was very frightened of the noises and dark.

 

[deirdrefitch]

I can only speak as an observer at Fantasmic with two children seated behind us crying wanting to leave because they were scared. They were probably 4 - 5 years old. On the flipside, I saw many other children who seemed to enjoy the show with no problems. I guess it just depends on each individual child, and their tolerance levels.

 

[yvettpal]

The only part my 4 1/2 y/o niece didn't like was when the villians came out. She didn't cry or hide her eyes, but just said she didn't like that part. I told her to watch for Mickey to come out and chase them away and she was fine with that. She also put her fingers in her ears because of the noise (she did this at many of the other stage shows and at the fireworks in MK). Other than the part with the villians, she enjoyed the show.

We also had our stroller, which we had no problem finding at the end.

 

[primax]

Each child is definitely different, my DD loved fantasmic at age 4 & 5. When she was 5 we sat in the front row and we had no problems. On the otherhand she is scared to death of the rides that are indoors, Winnie the Pooh, Peter Pan, Small World, etc. She does not like rides that go indoors into dark rooms. Go figure. On our second trip she was much better but did hesitate a little.

 

[mommystieg]

If you have a rented stroller, it will be gone when you come out of Fantasmic. If you take your own stroller, you can find it but it is like swimming upstream--it was very difficult to get to where all the strollers are parked when Fantasmic ends, and we waited for the main flood of people to leave. As a matter of fact, this year my DH wants to return our stroller to the car before we go to Fantasmic instead of trying to retrieve it afterwards.

 

[BevS97]

my dd has never been, she's seen some clips of the show on videos and is terrified at the thought of seeing it. I know she would be really upset watching, more because she gets nervous about things she thinks will be scary.

We really wanted to see it, so she went to the kids club and we went to see the show one evening.

Bev

 

[TraceyL]

Our DD was 3 1/2 when she saw it and the dragon & serpent did scare her a little. We told her Mickey was coming to chase them away and he would put the fire out. We bought her a Fantasmic Mickey to take to bed with her afterwards to keep all the baddies away ! It worked and she still talks about Mickey putting the fire out - 3 years later.

 

[welovedis]

It really depends on what your children have been exposed to and what is fearful to them. My DS was 3 3/4 when he first saw Fantasmic and he really enjoyed it. We saw it again the next night. Our next trip he was 4 3/4 and enjoyed it again but he is not too afraid of rides or scary characters...he kept saying (in a whisper) "I know it is just pretend".

As far as the strollers go, I have not really had a problem finding the stroller afterwards but you do have to look around a bit. With the park strollers, they removed the "family name" tag from the back and parked all those along the exit ramp. Then we could just grab one if we wanted and took it all the way to the park exit. The second year we had out own stroller and walked right up to the stroller parking area where it was waiting for me. There were quite a few people grabbing their own strollers so I had to navigate out for a minute and caught up with DH, DS and my mom who was using an ECV. However, we went in Sept/Oct both times so it was not nearly as busy as the summer or holiday season.

I personally would take the stroller just for the ride out if nothing else. I'm sure your little ones will be tired and the walk is not exactly short from the amphitheater to the park exit and then on to the buses. Depending on how busy the parks are you may have to wait to board the bus and it is alot easier to wait if they are seated and buckled in. Just my .02!

Have a terrific trip!

 

[K and K's Mommy]

Thanks to everyone! We leave tomorrow, and we are so excited! I think we may try Fantasmic as long as they do okay on some of the "scarier" attractions during the days. We haven't been in seven years so my husband and I would love to see it!