Lion King show for sensible 4 year old?

[Fjrmum2]

Would love to hear thoughts from anyone with experience of going to the theatre with children. I am thinking about taking my son to see a matinee of the Lion King in London. He's just turned 4 (but he's extremely well behaved and sensible for a four year old I think! - though I'm sure I'm somewhat biased!). I wanted to do something special with him as with the arrival of his baby sister we have had very few opportunities to spend any time just the two of us recently. He loves music, dancing, singing, theatre etc and I have taken him to see a couple of shows before - though nothing quite as long or expensive - and he loved it and behaved very well. My question is has anyone else taken their 4 year old to see the Lion King show and if so how did they get on with a)the length of the show and b)the sad/scary bits! I have seen the show myself a few years ago and thought it was fantastic but I do remember crying at one point! 😬 Any advice/experience much appreciated.

It depends on the child. If he's lion king obsessed & is familiar with theatre eg pantos then I'd go for it, but if not you're probably be wasting your money & he will find it a bit long.
You can get a lot more suitable stuff for less money .

I wouldn't take my 4 year old. He loves the theatre but wriggles a bit and I think he'd been a bit overwhelmed by it all. I remember taking my niece when she was about 6 or 7 and it worked much better. We have seen a lot of Julia Donaldson shows - I'm sure they'll be one on in Feb and they're great for that age. There's also a concert at the Southbank in Feb half term (with Yolanda from Yolanda's Band Jam on CBeebies) that we're going to and I think our music-obsessed DS will love.

I couldn't even contemplate taking my almost 4yo. He absolutely would not be able to sit for so long! I'd also not want to inflict that on the other atendees. It is a really long show. It is great though.

I took my at the time 5 & 7 year old and they loved it, I was a bit worried I was wasted my money but it was all good. Following year took them to see Matilda and the youngest asked very loudly when could we go home 😬

DD fell asleep on the floor age 4 so I'd wait a couple of years

DS age 5 can't remember going at all

I however loved it

When DS was 4 I took him to see The Tiger who came to Tea

He was so terrified of the man in the Tiger suit we had to leave

When DS was 6 ish we went to see Toy Story 3 and he was so upset when they switched Buzz to the mean mode that he got up and stormed out of the cinema and loudly advised me not to buy him the DVD either

@anothernamechangeagainsndagain how did you explain the prostitutes to your DC in Les Mis?

Got super expensive seats for the Lion King when it first came out and my 4 year old slept through the matinee

They do regular relaxed performances of the LK maybe book one of these so that some movement, noise etc is acceptable. Just be aware that there will likely be people with autism/ learning needs attending too.

Please see

We took DC to see Lion King at 5.5 and 7.5 years. They LOVED it. First show and remains their favorite. They hate films (prefer shorter TV shows as they have low attention span for TV!) so we were a bit worried (theatre was a gift). But they sat through in total awe and really enjoyed it. We were very proud of the way they behaved. They have seen several shows since. But Lion King is definitely the favorite.

I've been taking my son to theatre shows since he was 3. He adores going.
We took him to the west end for the 1st time age 5 to the lion King and he sat perfectly and didn't misbehave at all. He was enthralled.
However, I found the show to be boring once you had got over the fabulous costuming, the singing when we saw it was flat and the storyline does drag.

You know your own child and if its a treat you are sure he would enjoy then go and have fun!

Thank you everyone, very helpful comments and anecdotes! I think I'm going to brave it! He's such a good boy and so enthralled with the theatre I hope he'll love it. Fingers crossed!

Enjoy @Fjrmum2 we are off to a sing along Matilda this year and hoping to take ours to see Sister Act in London, maybe The Wizard of Oz at our local theatre.