to think that the London dungeon is not the most suitable place for 5-7 year olds?

[mumof2222222222222222boys]

My friend who doesn't have children is taking her god daughters out for the day...will they have a good time or not? From what I have read, I wouldn't want to go and wouldn't be taking young children either. Interested to hear your views!

I've never been but I taught a year 2 class. One of the girls took all her friends there for her birthday treat and by all accounts they all ended up in tears! It sounded frightening and I really think it's aimed at older kids and adults.

The Science Museum and Natural History Museum are loads better for that age. And probably the Aquarium too (I've never been).

My dd would probably lov eit though. she's 6.

i went years ago, and then went to vino veritas next door. maybe she could take her god daughters next door to do some winetasting??

I went to the London dungeon back in the late 80's and even then it was far too gory even for a teenager!

I took my younger brother there at that age and he loved it!
Can imagine that my DS will love it in a couple of years too (he is 3 now)

As long as they arent shy little things that get scared at the drop of a hat they will be fine! (I'm sure she wouldnt be taking them if thats the case anyway!)

much to my shame i took my friends daughter there last year - she was 8 at the time and totally hated it, so much that we had to leave via a fire exit. i had never been before and as there were so many kids in the queue i thought it would be ok - its not!

Ds at 5 would probably love it and want more details of exactly what was done and how. Dd (4) would hide and whimper. Depends on the children I think, but they would need to be fairly robust. I assume that she has asked their parents? If not, she probably should.

We went to the York Dungeon (in the same chain, I think) just over two years ago. There was a couple there with two young daughters who looked around 4 and 6. They were really scared and crying from the beginning. We were quite annoyed at the parents, who were clearly finding it funny that their daughters were not enjoying seeing plague/werewolf victims and diembowelled corpses.

If it's of any help, I was terrified and I was 39 at the time

I could see small boys loving it, though.

The London Dungeon has changed a lot since the 80s. Then, it was far more "wax worky", and some of the tableaux were very gory. They also had an "adult" section IIRC with Dante-esque scenes of Hell (and naked souls in torment etc).

The last time I went it's become more interactive, with actors taking the role of characters from London's scary past. You are moved from section to section where various scenes are played out and there are lots of loud, sudden noises etc. To my mind, there is now less to look at - though what there is is very gory still - and more emphasis on the play acting, which I think would go over the heads of most younger kids.

I really don't think that most 5-7 year olds would enjoy this. My 5 year old daughter loves Doctor Who for example and isn't fazed by the monsters at all, but this is a step beyond that. I also think they'd get extremely bored and fractious waiting in the queue ..... this is often as long as 1.5 hours to get in.

YANBU!!!

My dh got a bit scared when he went with my brother!

I've been couple of times but about 10 years ago - unless it has been completely diluted to a Disney standard then it is way too scary for littlies unless they are hard as nails!

Don't go there! It's horrific. I went with my DH pre children and I thought it was really gross. It was just being penned in listening to tapes of groaning people and looking at dummies with eyes popping out of their heads made me feel completely sick. It goes way to far I reckon.

Maybe the kids who go and enjoy it take it more at face value and don't appreciate that this is no fantasy - the reality that it all really went on makes it totally disturbing.

I took a year 6 class a couple of years ago- a tough East London group. Half ended up in tears, the most street-wise lad in the class clung to me all the way around! Some were fine though and insisted to scaring the others.

Totally unsuitable.

And why would you want to intrduce horror and unimaginavble cruelty to young children as a form of entertainmment? The mixture of fact (plague) and fiction (werewolves, a satanic santa as i gather they are now featuring) only serves to make it more frightening and less educational. Awful. And VERY expensive. And smely. And tawdry - I go past regularly and the costumes of the would-be actors are truly naf and falling apart.

Older kids, yes, but not 5-7s.

Thanks all - nothing I didn't expect to hear. I have passed on your thoughts to my friend. I won't be taking the Dss any time soon!

It's a really horrible place, and totally unsuitable for young children. Torture is not entertainment IMO.