Would you take 2 4yr11m old girls to watch The Lion King in the West End?

[DaffodilDandilion]

We’ve done pantos and the cinema. Planning a trip to London and wondering if they’re old enough to enjoy the theatre yet? My gut says yes but it could be a rather expensive experiment…

@ExtremelyDelighted

If it takes snacks, changing seats and whispering to keep them quiet then please don't.

I absolutely agree with this. We've had a couple of performances recently ruined by talking children, loud crisp rattling and kicked seats. It's actually quite distressing and disappointing for all.

No I wouldn't recommend it. I took DD to see The Lion King live when she was almost 6 and it terrified her. She ended up sat on my lap crying that she wanted to go home while I was thinking, I paid £60 a ticket , we aren't going anywhere. She settled down again in the second half.

We are going to see it again in March (touring) and I have told her that she is not allowed to sit on my knee again. (She is 14 now )

Obviously all kids are different, but DD was scared by the Hyenas and by Mustapha's death. It is all very different to watching it on a cartoon.

I took DD to various shows after that as she grew up and she loved them, like Annie, Mary Poppins, Joseph , Shrek, etc.

I think this is too young. I would stick to a children's show at that age personally, unless you really know they have the ability to concentrate and not be alarmed for that long. And definitely a matinée!

I took mine to see it when he was 4, he was fine. Depends on your kids, if you know they can sit still for a couple of hours then go for it!

I took my 4 year old to see Frozen recently and she loved it and focussed the whole time.

It depends on the child.

I took my ds and 2 pals to see it when they were 5, very expensive disaster, we left at the interval. I thought it would be fine as they were all used to the cinema but it was far from fine!

I think it very much depends on the child. I took my just turned 6 year old to see Mary Poppins in September, and he loved it, but he is a child who will watch a film without wriggling, and not really need interaction during the performance. He has sat through films at the cinema etc for several years without issue.

My older child would certainly not have been the same. I think he was just 7 when I took him to Matilda and it was a test for him. He managed it, but there was lots of fidgeting and wriggling.

You know your child best, and if they're not ready, there are plenty of great children-focused plays out there.

How about something like the tiger who came to tea?

If they are on at the moment the My First Ballet by the English National Ballet are great. They have a narrator explaining the plot.

I would not take them at that age. There are lots of other shows for younger children, that have been mentioned on this thread.

It's a lot of money if they don't like it! Not quite the same but we took DTs to the Rainforest cafe when they were three, they were terrified, as were lots of other kids, howling when the thunder started etc. Cost a bloody fortune too.

Ha yes, been there, done that with DS when he was 6. He hated it!

We just took ours at age 6 and 9 and I think it was perfect. Old enough for the youngest to understand what was going on. The loved it!!