Walking With Dinosaurs Question

I haven't been to Talking With Dinosaurs. But I went to watch the 3D Bugs movie at with my almost 4 year old and he was freaked out. Took his 3D glasses off and wanted to leave. Not hysterical and no nightmares. Not sure if that's any help.

Not sure if you've seen this particular site with your 2.5 year old, but you can check out some more of the videos at http://www.dinosaurlive.com/ and see if he gets scared before buying tickets. I would just re-assure him that it's not real. Different kids are definitely scared of different things.

My guy is 3.5 and I declined even though I really wanted to take him. Personally, I thought it was too intense for him and he did not develop a fear of the dark until just recently. I hope it is still around when he is 5 or 6. Maybe check to see what the age recommendations are on their website-usually this information is provided.

I took my boys (ages 2.5 and 4) last year to see it. They loved it and still talk about it. There were a couple of sections that my younger one was afraid of, but we reassured him and told him that it was okay to walk away from our seats and "take a break." The line between imagination and reality is a bit fuzzy at this age, but we tried to show him that these dinosaurs were not real, but that they were cool "robots." Watching some clips beforehand did not help because there no way to recreate the entire experience for them (darkness, loud sound, smoke, and GIANT dinosaurs). I think the more you guys can read about how the "age of the Dinosaurs," was a LONG, LONG time ago, and how "Walking with Dinosaurs," is PRETEND, then perhaps the better he may feel. Each child is so different, but I think it is well worth it, just be prepared to let him prompt you as he gets, overstimulated, overwhelmed, excited, etc. It definately provided for us the motivation to learn so many other things.....they ended up learning how to read on their own because they wanted to read all they could about Dinosaurs, after we went to see the show. All the best!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks everyone for your replies. We have decided to take him and we will talk him through it. We also are not sitting right up front, so hopefully a little distance will help and if we need to take a break, we will. Appreciate all of your insite!

Just wanted to add my .02:
We tried taking our fairly fearless four year old, and she had an issue with the noise level. You may want to take along some cheap foam earplugs or over the ear muff type protectors just in case.
It's quite a show, and it's too bad she couldn't enjoy it.
Hope you have fun!

Hope that you have a great time. We took our four year old daughter to a preview performance and she loved it...although she was a bit scared at first. It is a wonderful show!

Thanks again all. We just got back from the show and he did great. As we were leaving he was asking for more dinosaurs, so I don't think we traumatize him...yet anyway! He did start to get a little fidgety at the very end, but sat through the whole show (it was about 1.5 hours, so that is a good long time for a nearly 2.5 year old). He seemed quite captivated by the whole thing...almost in a trance. This is his first 'show' too, so it may have been a bit overwhelming (he was sucking his thumb more than usual but when we asked if he was ok, he always said yes).

I appreciated the tip on the noise level. I hadn't thought to bring his ear protection, and he decided he wanted to wear it for the whole show (taking them off at the intermission). I think dampening the noise also helped things seem not so scary.

The show was very well done and perfect for kids. My only issue (and this could be because of the lifestyle we have chosen to live...and it may only be the venue we saw it at) had to do with the snacks. I know this is a special thing for kids and treats and candy go along with that, which is fine, but there were no 'healthier' options what so ever (we had brought a few things with us as we weren't planning to buy anything anyway). I found that a little disheartening...especially since it was difficult to find water.