A toddler sitting through shows??

[MrsHuffy09]

My DS will be a week shy of turning 18 months when we are there January 2015. What has been your experience with your toddlers sitting through shows? DS is very adventurous and very energetic and based on our library story time experience is not very good at sitting still, haha.

Places like Disney Jr Live where you sit on the floor, are CMs understanding that he might move around? Of course I would never let him bother another family or invade someone's space. And if we are at some place like Mickey's Phillar Magic (though I'm not sure how he'd do with 3D glasses??) are we able to leave if he absolutely refuses to stay seated?

I'm probably way over thinking this, and he will probably be in awe of all the colors, lights and music, but this is our first trip with our son. Even though we've been many times, I feel like a first timer!

 

[Tylerandhayleysmom]

I had the same worries when we took our at the time 2.5 year old to WDW. We thought she was going to be all over the place and we had a not so bad of an experience with her staying focused and seated as she was in awe of everything going on around her. We did "Tough to be a Bug" experience, Monsters Inc Laugh Factory experience, Spirit of Aloha show and Enchanted Tales with Belle....she was well behaved in all. Now I believe it was Tough to be a bug where she needed to keep on glasses and she fidgeted with that (didn't like things on her face), but over-all very stimulated by the environment so no real melt downs (was thanking God for that). Maybe I was lucky..... But have a Magical Time on your vaca

~~Gina

 

[etoiles]

I'm going to be taking almost the same age toddler (almost 20 months) to Disney for the first time as well! We have planned not to do all the shows, only the ones that are more close up such as Festival of the Lion King but not NEmo since that theater is so much larger and the show is farther away.

This is based on his library time behavior. When it is a smaller, more intimate library time he will listen well and sit quietly for 20 min but if it is a crazy, wild library time directed more towards older kids he has a harder time with it.

I figure if he starts acting wild we can just pick him up and take him out!

We haven't shown him movies or much TV at all but he has seen a few short video clips which he loved so I don't think the movies will be an issue.

I checked out youtube videos of shows we haven't gone to to see if it looked like something he could sit through. I will be honest that I did not think he could make it through the Disney Junior one so we will be skipping that as well as the Frozen sing a long. I wasn't counting on either of those though so I don't mind missing them.

I would just say that you know your little guy best and you know what he can handle!

 

[mcjaco]

Short shows worked best for us last summer. The Little Mermaid at DHS was perfect. They sat through the whole thing.

At that age they were very inquisitive, and want to touch everything. The most fun we had was in the Animation Building. They just ran everywhere, and looked at all the colors, etc. And they met Sorcerer Mickey, Frozone, and Mr. Incredible all in thirty minutes. There was literally no one in there!

 

[MrsHuffy09]

Thanks y'all! I didn't think about Little Mermaid, but will definitely put that one on the list. And we'll probably choose FOTLK over Nemo at AK. My parents are also going with us (and DS thinks grandpa hung the moon!) So I figure between the four adults we can all shuffle him back and forth if he gets antsy.

 

[MSSANDRA]

I think it is easier than you think it will be. Most shows are busy and loud and so much going on so that even if he moves around a bit, he will not bother anyone. Mickey's Playhouse is so crazy with kids moving everywhere that ANYTHING would be ok. FOTLK is great and I think Nemo is great too. VOTLM would not be my choice as I think it is a bit scary for toddlers. Indiana Jones is also a bit scary but being outside, sort of makes it a bit less so. It also a good time for a snack if the show is over his head. My guys were not fans of the car stunt show when they were little. It was very crowded and loud. The movies are a toss up. Most toddlers are not going to keep the glasses on, but might enjoy it anyway. They however, are also LOUD. You can always leave a non moving show if you need too. COP is one that you can't. Carry a simply snack like fruit snacks or cereal to use if necessary. Some shows also makes a great place for naps!!!!!!

 

[Crystal824]

We took DD when she was 2. She really enjoyed FOLK, but we got really close seats and she even got to dance in the show. She also enjoyed The Little Mermaid (the bubbles falling from the ceiling help) and Beauty and the Beast and the Disney Jr. show. She didn't sit well through Mickey's Philharmagic or the Nemo Show. We didn't even attempt the Bug Show due to the scare factor.

 

[tina.tina]

Disney Jr. was all about kids dancing, singing, and interacting when we went a few years ago. At the end, gold doubloons (Jake & the Neverland Pirates) fell from the sky. If your kid is at all familiar with the Disney Jr shows, he would enjoy it.

When we take our kids to a theme park near our home, we treat shows geared toward grownups like snack/rest time. Our DS9 has always loved live music and performances. He is always the one clapping the loudest.

 

[Feberin]

My daughter was 23 months. She didn't do so well with some of the shows. Monsters INC we only barely managed to make it through without having to leave. We had her one the ground walking from one end of our group of seats to the other. We had to leave Turtle Talk since she couldn't stay put for it.
Other shows went a little better. Mickey's Philomagic we saw a lot to dodge rainstorms. She fiddled with the glasses but seemed to enjoy the show. I think she really liked the music. Indiana Jones went really well because when she got wiggly the explosions got her attention. My four-year-old was scared of that one though so it probably depends on your child. Enchanted Tales with Belle went fine. She didn't participate other then getting a bookmark/picture at the end but she was interested enough that it wasn't a huge struggle.
The Disney JR show was kind of special since she fell asleep in a carrier before it started then woke up near the end screaming. I took her to the back and swayed back and fort to calm her down. I think she may have enjoyed it if she hadn't woken up in the middle of it.
Those were the only shows we saw since some of them were such a struggle.

 

[Miumiu4me]

My 14 mth old loves Mickey and has seen everything except the Nemo show. She's a very mellow kid ; we only had one melt down during a show. She got upset during the Lion King musical and I couldn't get a cast member's attention (we needed one to walk us out), so we had to deal with it. That's a hard show to leave due to the floats blocking the exits.

We haven't done the Bug show in a few months; she doesn't like the dark much these days and she would probably cry. We've done the Frozen singalong 2x; she loves that show. We've also done Muppets, Monsters Inc, Enchanted Tales, and Beauty and the Beast numerous times and we've always been fine. The Disney Junior show was a hit with her; my husband and I weren't fans. We've seen everything else (except Nemo) 1-2 times and it's generally been fine. My kid will sit for long periods of time focused on one thing though, that's just her.

 

[olafgypsy]

Not meaning to hijack the thread, but I wanted to piggyback to ask those who have taken toddlers to shows....did you find that child's ability to sit through show correlated with how well/long s/he could sit through TV shows at home, or that just apples to oranges?

I'll be taking a 21 month old who I think has a pretty long attention span (30 minutes or so), but that's based entirely on TV viewing / story time.

 

[Miumiu4me]

Not meaning to hijack the thread, but I wanted to piggyback to ask those who have taken toddlers to shows....did you find that child's ability to sit through show correlated with how well/long s/he could sit through TV shows at home, or that just apples to oranges?

I'll be taking a 21 month old who I think has a pretty long attention span (30 minutes or so), but that's based entirely on TV viewing / story time.

Yes. My daughter watched Frozen in its entirety. She sat through (well, danced on her seat) the Disney cruise shows. Those shows are about 60 minutes long. She loves to dance, but she's not a super active kid.

 

[MrsHuffy09]

Not meaning to hijack the thread, but I wanted to piggyback to ask those who have taken toddlers to shows....did you find that child's ability to sit through show correlated with how well/long s/he could sit through TV shows at home, or that just apples to oranges?

I'll be taking a 21 month old who I think has a pretty long attention span (30 minutes or so), but that's based entirely on TV viewing / story time.

DS will watch Disney Jr all day long if we let him! So he is very familiar with the characters which is why I think he'll love Disney Jr Live so much, and because if he's interested he'll pay attention.

I was basing my concern off of our library story time. He likes to explore, touch and wander around, but it's also just a lady reading a book, so kinda hard to compare Ms. Doreen to FOTLK

I would think if your LO can sit through a TV show, then he/she would would be fine since these will be much more interactive than just a screen. And for my DS I think we'll be sticking to shows that are energetic and "busy". I do not see us sitting through Monster's Inc. (which is my fave, sniff sniff) or Storytime with Belle.

 

[mcjaco]

Not meaning to hijack the thread, but I wanted to piggyback to ask those who have taken toddlers to shows....did you find that child's ability to sit through show correlated with how well/long s/he could sit through TV shows at home, or that just apples to oranges?

I'll be taking a 21 month old who I think has a pretty long attention span (30 minutes or so), but that's based entirely on TV viewing / story time.

I'd say so. One of my boys sat through Nemo in it's entirety the other day. The other one.....made it about half way. It's the same with Bob the Builder and Thomas. The one will sit through them without blinking and eye, the other has to get up and do stuff. At 15 months, we had no real issues with either of them, as they were completely mesmerized by what they were seeing.