First time going to a movie theater?

My girls have never been to a movie theater and the only live show they saw was a local production of the Nutcracker that our sitter and her daughter were in when they were almost 2 (can you say DISASTER?!).

But now they are older and I think Ana would sit through a movie. I don't think Meara would because she is so high energy, so I want to plan a special outing with each. A bounce place for Meara, and the movies for Ana (probably to see Babies or Toy Story 3).

How old were your kids when they first went to a movie theater and how did it go?

 

Uhhhh, we went in April when they were a little over 2.5. Even after building it up for a week, they still turned into pumpkins. It was not good. But they've been to Dora Live with no issues.

 

My DS was about 3.5 when he went to the movies for the first time. I warned him that the lights would go out and that it would be loud. He did great! I haven't taken the girls since they were babies, but I'm going to attempt Toy Story 3 with them in a few weeks. I'm hoping they'll be ok since they love Toy Story 1 & 2. Good luck!

 

Hi Leighann, long time, no speak :air_kiss:

So, the movie theater. Yeah. We tried it. We took the girls on Xmas day to see the Chipmunk movie. I went with Dh and my father. Arwen did fine. Lorien, couldn't make it through. I had a feeling though because they don't really watch movies at home either. They don't have the 60-90 min attn span required for the Disney movies so I knew there was a chance they wouldn't make it.

My suggestion is to be prepared to take one of them out for a bit (Meara possibly in your case) to walk around and then come back in. It worked well for us. My dad saw that Lorien was just too all over the place so he took her into the lobby and to the game room (we were at the Movieland Cinemas in Coram) and she played a few games and hung out with Grandpa for about 30 min. Then she came back in and watch the last 20 min of the movie. I think they did pretty good, but it's really different for every kid. My friend has a son that totally sits through entire movies. But that's how he is, focused on whatever is before him (and not just with tv and movies, with everything).

I say it's worth trying, but just don't put too much pressure on yourselves for it to work out perfectly. We also did buy them some candies which helped for the overall movie experience and became a small distraction when they started to get antsy. Also, it helped that we did the Matinee so that we didn't feel like we lost too much money on the deal.

GL and enjoy opcorn:

Mel

 

We went to see Alvin and The Chipmunks the Squeakquel back in November, so 3 1/2, I guess. They did great and loved the movie. However, they really loved the first one and wanted to see the new one based on previews on TV. Plus, they really love opcorn: so that kept their attention as well.

 

We have yet to go and my girls are 4.5 BUT that said---they have yet to get through a full length Disney movie and home, adn until they can do that I am not spending the $ to go to a theater. Plus, one of my DDs is really sound sensitive and the noise/music of a theater would scare her. We do a lot of 30/60 min non-scary stuff at home (think Strawberry shortcake, My little pony) anything remotely spooky/scary/bad guys does not go over well at all.

But that said, most kids I know their age have been to the theater.

 

They just turned 4 and we haven't been yet, but plan to take them in a couple weeks to see Toy Story 3. Mine have been ready, there just hasn't been a movie I think they would like. They did sit through a live theater performance of Mary Poppins and loved it. We almost did Princess and the Frog, but we knew they'd be scared to death of the villain. We're sooo excited about Toy Story 3 though!

 

We went for the first time when they were 4 and 4 mos, to see.... The Princess and the Frog.
They did fine. I mainly wanted to wait until they wouldn't have to go potty 100 times, and they had sat through whole movies at home.
We went to a Disney on Ice show a couple months ago and they did great with that.

 

We took them when they were three. They did fine and we probably could have taken them sooner. They've only been twice, so far because we have a tight budget, though. If you go to a kids movie during the day, people tend to be better understanding of little noises and such.

 

Don't forget, summer time is coming up and they'll start up the summer movie camps at AMC. Also, if you don't think they'll sit through a whole movie there's something called kidtoons that plays shorter films for the younger crowd...but it's only in select theaters. Here's the link.... kidtoon films

 

We have free movie summers at the theater here, so last summer I took them to their first movie. Since it was free I didn't worry about whether or not they would sit through it. Once we went to a couple of those And I was confident that they would sit through them, we went to one that cost.

 

We waited until they could sit through a full-length kid movie at home and weren't being frightened by things like Nemo being captured by a diver (age 4 here). Then, we waited some more so we could see something we felt confident would hold their interest.

It made DH very happy that T&T's first movie in a theater was the Hubble film in an IMAX dome last month (they want to be astronauts now). And, I hesitate to even tell you that their second movie was How to Train Your Dragon in 3D... but it was and they loved it. I never thought we'd get from the point of the villain in Care Bears being too scary to watching Vikings fighting dragons in less than a year but things can change very fast at this age.

 

we took them last year (can't remember what their first movie was - bad mommy!) and they did ok...popcorn and soda were a real treat...we also took them to see Princess and the Frog - they did ok...Ian can get a bit antsy...

I can't WAIT for Toy Story 3 - that will be the next hurrah!

 

Mine are 4.5 and we still haven't been. They can't sit through an entire movie at home (especially not one they're watching for the first time -- they get more into it the more times they've seen it), so I wouldn't expect them to do it in a theater. Also, they are scared by EVERYTHING and there probably isn't a new-release movie in the world that wouldn't terrify them.

Amy's been to the Nutcracker (last Christmas, just after 4th b'day) and did great, but got a little fidgety during the second half. We took them both to another Christmas musical show that was about 1.5 hours (including intermission) and I practically had to remove Sarah after the first half because she was getting so whiny.

So, no movies for us for awhile!

 

Leah's first movie was Up. So she was at least 4. The boys havent been yet, but I am intending to take them to Toy Story 3 this month or next.

 

We went for the first time when they were 2. It was an Elmo movie that was about 45 minutes, but there was a 1/2 hour of previews in the beginning. If it hadn't been for the previews, I think they would have been fine. After about an hour they got antsy.

Since then, we've been about 5-6 times, mostly to the Kidtoons movies because they are only about an hour-ish long, so it's perfect!! We did see Princess and the Frog in the theater and they lasted, but got antsy in the last 15 minutes.

Not sure how they do Kidtoons in each area, but around here it's only $3.50 per person to get in and after the movie they have storytime and give the kids a free slice of pizza. Totally worth the cost!! They also give us a coupon for a $3.50 kids popcorn combo which includes a small drink, small popcorn, and another snack (m&m's, fruit snacks, etc.). I got this only once and it was enough for the three of us to share.

 

Our first movie was the Alvin & the Chipmunks squeakuel. We have been pretty lukcy in that the first 2 movies we went to see we took them during the day and pretty much had the theater to ourselves. We waited til they would sit through a whole movie at home, and for the most part they sit still in the theater pretty well. Our issue is being too loud. Most of the time they just laugh louder than most people and at random times, but a lot of the time they ask a lot of questions and really loud! We just constantly have to remind them to use an inside voice. They have only been to 3 movies now, but each time getting better. They love getting the popcorn, candy and drinks and I think that helps keep them in one place.

Good luck and it will be so much fun!

 

We took ours around 3.5 years old to see, "Princess and the Frog." It was their first movie experience and a great one! They sat through the whole thing and really enjoyed it. We went with our 4 year old niece, 2 1/2 year old nephew, and 6 month old nephew. The 6 month old needed to be walked around in the back at times, but that was it! The rest of them (including the 2 1/2 year old) behaved really well. They did have some snacks, but no liquids.

They are very excited about going to another movie, but we've been waiting for a rated G...so I think the next one will be, "Toy Story 3." My only suggestion would be to either find a theater that caters to young children/families so that if there is any disruption...it's no big deal. Or perhaps go to a non-popular movie time. Good luck! Have fun, too!

 

Thanks everyone! I didn't think about the potty issue. Originally I was going to take one or both by myself, but I think I might need a helper just for the potty trips alone! We took Toy Story 2 out of the library yesterday and watched it... there was some crying and screaming at the scary parts (Zurg and the chicken man), but overall they enjoyed it just as much as the first, so maybe we'll make Toy Story 3 their first movie (b/c I really want to see it :blush.

 

Depends on how much they go. The first time we went I took dh because it was their first experience (and they were in diapers still so the potty thing wasn't even an issue) but every time since I have done it solo. I make sure they go just before we are leaving that way they are good through the whole movie. Lauren can do 2-3 hours (Emma, MUCH longer) without having to potty so we've never had an issue. Have FUN!!

 

We just now have been to a movie & it went ok. I think, for us, a lot depends on picking a movie they're interested in. We saw How to Train your Dragon; ds was riveted & loved it, dd got a little ansy towards the end. Then we saw Shrek 3; dd did fine, but ds was getting tired.

I took them by myself both times; they did fine, but it might have been easier with someone else. Snacks were also key; 1st movie we had to take a break in the middle to get popcorn b/c I didn't think they'd want any when we got there.

 

3 was good but 4 is great. The girls loved princess and the frog and we have plans for toy story 3 next month

 

We went at 3 and the boys were fine. We've been to 2 movies. We just take a break and go potty when it is scary or they are squirmy.

 

We will be taking them to their first month this month! They love Toy Story 1 and 2 and watch the whole thing at home. I'm hoping they enjoy it but I wouldn't be surprise if I did need to take them out since they are still so young.