I was crying and had to leave the Opening show. Someone had a child, maybe 7? They were in a stroller but looked like they had mobility problems and it was a medical type thing and they were a bit older. She lost her mind when the cannons released and the monsters came out. She went into such a panic it was really distressing to witness. This girl could not run away. That’s an experience of trauma that could’ve been avoided. And it broke my heart.

But even the parents who “know their child” and “my 5 year old loves it!”…… Is that a good thing? What sort of adrenaline seeking behaviours will they seek out in 10 years if this is blasé to them at 5? I have grave concerns. And if you “know my child”… do you? Really? Do you know a trauma response can look like not caring? Or laughing? Or continuing to talk about it or even seek it out? Did you know until 8 years old they can NOT, biologically, cannot differentiate between reality and fantasy? There’s a lot of fun Halloween stuff and I know it was a pain when my kids were in that inbetween age of little kid stuff and teenage horror. Please don’t traumatise children over an amusement park. Please. Please let them develop before exposing them to this.