Going to the Movies with Kids

Discussion in 'The Toddler Years(1-3)' started by kstar, Jun 27, 2008.

  1. kstar

    kstar Well-Known Member

    My DH really wants to take the girls to see Wall-E on Sunday morning. He read a review that said it is a great first movie experience for 2-3 year olds. I have my hesitations that the girls are ready to sit through a movie in the theater. They watch a full movie at home, but they do walk around a bit while watching it.

    Has anyone else taken their kids to the movies at 2 1/2? How was it?

    Thanks!
     
  2. Moodyzblu

    Moodyzblu Well-Known Member

    I took mine to see Shrek 3 for their first movie experience and they kinda got restless. But they hardly sit through a movie at home though. I think it depends on the indivual.

    We're excited to see this as well. A friend of mine went this morning and she said it was awesome !
     
  3. JDMummy

    JDMummy Well-Known Member

    I just asked my sister because she took John to it today. She said it is kinda long and they will most likely get restless in the dialogue parts.
     
  4. r-twins

    r-twins Well-Known Member

    We've been to a few movies but we've never made it past the first 30 min or so. And they will sit and watch an entire movie at home just fine. I think it's just a different experience to be in public, in the dark, in new seats. I'm sure some kids do fine. I personally wouldn't waste the money trying to do a movie like that for their first one. We go to the $1 movies or the free movies in the Summer to get them used to the theater. It's better than having to leave early after paying full price for everyone! :)
     
  5. NicoleT

    NicoleT Well-Known Member

    Mine just went to their first movie (KungFu Panda) yesterday at age 3 1/2. DH took them and said they did great but did kind of get ansy for the last 10 minutes or so. Personally for us, mine at just over 2 1/2 would never have been able to sit through a movie at the theaters, but I think you know your kids personalities best.
     
  6. naomi02

    naomi02 Well-Known Member

    I've been thinking of taking the kids to see that, too! I hate to admit it, but ds is totally addicted to the tv. He is dead to the world when a movie is on! The house could be burning down around us & I don't think he'd notice. Dd, on the other hand, likes to wander during a movie. My mom wants to take us, so I was thinking we'd try it.....I have a feeling ds will be ok as long as he doesn't get scared when the lights go down. I'm just planning on letting dd sit on my lap & bringing some special treats. :)
     
  7. moski

    moski Well-Known Member TS Moderator

    We haven't done it yet. They will sit through a movie at home about 50-75% of the time. I am thinking sometime this summer we will attempt it.
     
  8. Ange2k25

    Ange2k25 Well-Known Member

    We're going to go to one of the free movies at Regal cinemas in the next couple of weeks to see how the girls do without having to shell out a bunch of money. Here is the link where you can select your state and see if there is a theater near you:
    http://www.regmovies.com/nowshowing/family...e.aspx?state=WA
    It's on the WA page, but you can click on the drop down menu that says WA and choose a new state.

    Angela
     
  9. blessedby2

    blessedby2 Well-Known Member

    We took our kids to a few of movies already, and just this past week they were able to sit through it completely. Just be prepared to walk out if you have to and it might be at a good part in the movie too.
     
  10. jakeandpeytonsmommy

    jakeandpeytonsmommy Well-Known Member

    Depends on your kids...
    Jake hid his face the whole time and Peyton screamed his butt off, so we left (Alvin and the Chipmunks). I was so upset b/c I spent all that money. Going to check out that website above, thanks!
     
  11. Moodyzblu

    Moodyzblu Well-Known Member

    QUOTE(Ange2k25 @ Jun 28 2008, 03:07 AM) [snapback]850303[/snapback]
    We're going to go to one of the free movies at Regal cinemas in the next couple of weeks to see how the girls do without having to shell out a bunch of money. Here is the link where you can select your state and see if there is a theater near you:
    http://www.regmovies.com/nowshowing/family...e.aspx?state=WA
    It's on the WA page, but you can click on the drop down menu that says WA and choose a new state.

    Angela

    What a great tip !
     
  12. Debb-i

    Debb-i Well-Known Member

    Depends on the child. I guess you don't know until you try? We just waited until they were almost 4yrs old and no problems at all. We have seen 3 movies at the movie theater over the last 6 months (including Wall-e...yesterday) and they really enjoy the whole experience. I personally had no desire to take them when they were 2 or 3. I knew how my boys were at that age.

    There's virtually no dialogue in "Wall-e" for about the first 40 minutes. Its more of a silent movie/Charlie Chaplin slap stick of Wall-e wondering around. So I think it does appeal to a very young child. The theater was packed with many young children. There were alot of kids 2-3 yrs old. I did notice that closing in on the first hour, many of them got very vocal...the parents had to walk out with them, go to the bathroom a few times,etc. At times, it looked like a fire drill. A 3 yr old girl behind us announced that she had to go #2...about every 5 min during the movie. Her mother kept taking her and she refused to sit on the big potty. So it can be very disruptive.

    Wall-e is 1 hour 37 min long. However, keep in mind that there can be 20-30min of trailers before the movie. If your child is young, I wouldn't plan to go and sit down until then. We went to the 1pm movie yesterday and Wall-e finally started at 1:30. It may help you get through the whole movie if you're worried about them sitting longer than 1.5hrs.
     
  13. Sue1968

    Sue1968 Well-Known Member

    I still haven't taken my boys to a movie theatre. I do not think they could sit still through more than half of a movie. Last weekend, DH and I took them to a live children's show in town and they were great for the first 40 minutes and then they got really antsy even though the show was engaging.

    I want to see Wall-E so badly but I think we'll wait until it comes out on DVD so everyone can watch it at home.
     
  14. Jocelyn5173

    Jocelyn5173 Well-Known Member

    I took mine to the movies for the first time today. They are a little over 4 and overall did great. I did let them walk a little bit on our row, but then again, the movie was not packed. I think expecting them to sit still in one seat for 1 1/2 hours is too much to expect. (or at least for mine) We made it through the whole movie with only one potty break, but I saw others leave and come back several times, so I guess it varies.
     
  15. Emerald

    Emerald Well-Known Member

    I have taken the kids pretty much from the beginning to see movies.
    Now, we make sure to go during slow time, I always get a big bucket of popcorn and we sit in the very fron of the theatre.
    We go during slow times. That is pretty self explanitory. Less people=less people to bug. I find other parents generally do the same thing, so you are all in enough of the same boat that the extra noise the kids (yours or anybody elses) will bother the other patrons less.
    I get a big bucket of popcorn (but take my own jiuce for the kids). Two of my kids will sit with the popcorn and watch darn near all of the movies with no problems, except the potty breaks.
    We sit in the front for the third kid. Nobody else ever wants to sit there, so if she gets up and runs around and deaks in and out of the isles, it bothers nobody. I will sit in the seat closest to the exit (there is one exit way in and out of our local theatre except emerency exits) and let her run around the bottom of the theatre until her heart is content. Our theatre also has statium seating, so to get up the seats, you have to climb up past a small balcony and up the stairs. She is pretty easy to track because of that.

    The hardest thing about the whole movie experience with kids are the potty breaks IMHO. But taking kids out into a public restroom is always a hassle....
     
  16. kstar

    kstar Well-Known Member

    Well I couldn't talk my DH out of it and we ended up taking them. We made it about 1/2 way through the movie and they were done. My DH had the time wrong and we thought it was at 10am and it really started at 10:20am so we were there way early...that was our first mistake. They have way to many previews for a kids movie, so many kids in the theater were like, where's Wall-E?

    They didn't melt down which was good, just kept asking to go get lunch and by then it was 11:30 and that is their lunch time. We will give it another year I think, but I guess you have to try these things or you won't know.
     
  17. Utopia122

    Utopia122 Well-Known Member

    Does your hometown have free summer movies? Our theater has free movies twice a week during the summer and maybe you could try taking them to that if it is available to test the water. Of course the movies are older, but at least it would be free. My DH and I are going to do this next week to see how the girls do. I'm too afraid to spend a lot of money before I know for sure.
     
  18. naomi02

    naomi02 Well-Known Member

    We tried it too yesterday. Had to leave, but they gave us a refund! I totally agree about having too many previews......ds got scared from a few of them & kept saying "too loud!"

    He was really interested in the short cartoon with the magician, but once the movie came on he lost interest. I talked to dh about it & thought it's probably over his head.....he's never seen a robot before, so he didn't know what it was. Plus, dh said it was too "silent" with only beeps for noise. Then my mom pointed out something else which I agree with.....there wasn't enough color. At the beginning with all the stars, he was interested. But later, everything is just all brown!

    But, I'm glad we tried. You never know til you go. Maybe next summer! :)
     
  19. kstar

    kstar Well-Known Member

    Totally agree. The fact that there was no dialogue for the first like 45 mins and the color was so drab I think caused my girls to get restless. They love Cars and Finding Nemo, but that has so much more going on. Glad you got a refund, we didn't because they only give refunds for the first 30 mins and we stayed longer than that. Oh well.

    Good for you for trying.
     
  20. r-twins

    r-twins Well-Known Member

    QUOTE(naomi02 @ Jun 30 2008, 12:44 PM) [snapback]853348[/snapback]
    We tried it too yesterday. Had to leave, but they gave us a refund! I totally agree about having too many previews......ds got scared from a few of them & kept saying "too loud!"


    Some of our local theaters do the free movies for kids during the summer. They are older movies that they've already seen, but it helps them "practice" going and they turn the volume down a bit so it's not as loud as a regular new release movie. And they don't show previews either! :good:
     
  21. twindependent

    twindependent Well-Known Member

    I'm glad you tried, anyway!

    Wall-e was my boys' first movie ever, too, on Friday. There were exactly 11 minutes of previews (I checked beforehand) so that's when DH took them to the potty. After that, it was smooth sailing. They LOVED it and didn't even need to go potty during it (a small miracle in and of itself).

    They are completely obsessed with robots, though, so I think that REALLY helped! ;) Also, they are a 3 and a few months...I bet next summer you will have great luck with yours!
     
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