London theater w/ child

Old Dec 12th, 2006, 03:10 AM
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London theater w/ child

We have four tickets to see the Lion King in London next week, but have a dilemma: There are FIVE of us, including an almost 3 year old.

How likely is the theater to admit our youngest and let her sit in our laps without a ticket? Naturally the theater has a policy of not admitting anyone under 3.

Thanks for any guidance you can provide!
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Old Dec 12th, 2006, 04:09 AM
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This will not be what you want to hear but I found the following guidance on Ticketmaster regarding children for Lion King performances at the Lyceum Theatre. It seems quite clear that everyone must have a seat...

"Children under the age of three are not admitted. Children aged three years and older are admitted providing they can sit in their seats and not to be a distraction for other members of the audience. However, this show is not recommended for children under the age of five. Everyone must have a valid ticket. Accompanying adults will be asked to remove any noisy children. If any discounts are available for children, the maximum age to qualify is 16 years. "
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Old Dec 12th, 2006, 04:17 AM
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I have a novel idea that you may not have thought of...why not call the theatre and find out their rules and plan accordingly?
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Old Dec 12th, 2006, 04:18 AM
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If you are determined that your "almost 3 year old" go to the show, your only option is to buy another ticket and have one adult sit alone.
For the sake of the people behind you please don't have a child on your lap!( I doubt that it would be allowed any way)
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Old Dec 12th, 2006, 08:23 AM
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It's perfectly clear. Does it say you can have an under three if you sneak them in for free? No.It says no under threes and everyone needs a ticket. There is zero chance that they will let you bring her in as you suggest.Why are you even asking?

If you want to risk buying her a ticket and lying about her being three years old, that would probably work, as long as she can sit still, quietly, and behave herself. If it turns out that she can't then one of the adults will have to take her outside.
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Old Dec 12th, 2006, 08:48 AM
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There are reasons why theaters do not allow children under three ... pretty obvious to most everyone that a kid that age has a limited attention span, can be disruptive to those seated around then for example.

Rules are rules .. why do people seem to think it is ok to break them ?? Is everyone "special" and therefore rules do not apply to them.

One of the adults will just have to stay with the child and not go to the show.
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Old Dec 12th, 2006, 09:03 AM
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As a regular theatre goer who has had more than a couple of expensive shows totally ruined by kids talking, squirming, or kicking my seat, let me say -- do everyone a favor and follow the rules that were started for a good reason!
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Old Dec 12th, 2006, 09:49 AM
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Arrange a babysitter through your hotel for your youngest.
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Old Dec 14th, 2006, 03:54 AM
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Thanks for the responses.

The tickets were bought on our behalf by a relative in the UK & we only just now found out about the theater's rules.

The theater box office is not easy to reach by phone & we did not feel like spending $30 on hold waiting to speak with someone.

I agree that rules are rules, but sometimes they are not regularly enforced. We are not regular theater-goers, and have never been with a young child, hence our uncertainty about how to handle this.

Sometimes there are more innocent explanations -- so perhaps those who shared the snarkier responses can take a flying leap.
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Old Dec 14th, 2006, 04:26 AM
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lol, sv651. People do assume the worst, don't they? Your situation is unfortunate. Is it possible to ask those kind relatives who arranged the tickets to babysit your daughter during the performance, and buy her a cute souvenir of the show?

If you risk taking her to the theater, most likely two of you won't be seeing the show and one ticket will be wasted. Alternatively, your hotel may be able to arrange a babysitter, or you may offer one of the tickets to your local relatives and you and the child do something fun for her.

(If you think the responses to your question were sniffy, imagine if the theater did allow you to have the child on your lap and--horrors--she squirmed within hearing of an adult . . . Don't ruin your trip to the theater.)
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Old Dec 14th, 2006, 05:06 AM
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I'm sorry you did not care for some of the responses ... you may not care for this thought either, and I am not saying it applies to your almost 3 year old, but bear in mind that performers work HARD - very HARD - to entertain audiences night after night. Is it fair to them to allow small children to attend when that age bracket stands a good chance of being antsy/crying/disruptive during a show?

I've been to shows where people had babies in their arms and the baby started howling ... eventually the parents did take themselves and baby out, but it was hardly fair to the theater goers OR the performers to be subjected to several minutes of loud crying.

Some 3 year olds are probably ok with sitting still and quiet for 90 minutes, but I rather doubt too many really are and that is the main issue.
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Old Dec 14th, 2006, 05:13 AM
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I certainly hope for your own sake that you don't consider the various suggestions that the child NOT be taken as "snarky". It is a simple point, and should be obeyed, pure and simple. Yes, you were only asking and you were told that it is not permitted.

You have answered your own basic question when you say that you are not regular theatre goers and you have never been with a young child. Many of us have, hence our rather direct answers. Taking a 3 year old is a very bad idea -- not only for you, but for the thousand or more other people in the audience who have paid to see the show also.

As to the phone call, you need to know about dialing 101-6868 before the 011-44, etc. to call the UK. The call would cost you about 5 cents per minute. To spend $30 on that phone call would allow you to wait 10 hours. I've never been put on hold by a London box office (and I've called a lot of them) for more than a few minutes.
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Old Dec 14th, 2006, 07:47 AM
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I agree w/ everything above - and none of the posts were "snarky" - simply imformative. Use NeoPatrick's suggestion - I haven't had a $30 phone call to the UK (or anywhere else) in more than 12 years. No reason at all to pay more than 3 to 10 cents a minute depending on your carrier.

A 2 yo (you say "almost 3 year old" ) has no businessin a theatre. Even for a kid-centric show like Lion King. It is loud, and quite scary for little ones. I personally wouldn't takeachildless than a mature 5 yo. Parts are very sad, and dramatic.
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Old Dec 14th, 2006, 07:50 AM
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Hey, your problem should be with the relatives who only bought four tickets for a family of five, not us.

Anyway, non-snarkily, there is zero chance they will let anyone in without a ticket. Most theatres do offer a babe-in-arms tickets, which is what you are hoping for, but all those I've heard of have been restricted to under 1 year old - literally babes. Toddlers/children need their own tickets. Some shows are suitable for toddlers and permit them, most are not and do not permit them.
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Old Dec 14th, 2006, 10:25 AM
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I don;t think anyone is being snarky. It simply makes no sense - regardless of the theater's rules, which they obviously made for a reason - to take a 2 year old to a theater.

No 2 year old wants to sit still and quiet for 2 /12 to 3 hours. They'll want to get up, walk around, play and make noise. And expecting them to do otherwise is simply not fair to the child. Never mind the effect on all the other patrons who have paid so much for tickets.

And in a theater a seat is a seat. You sit, you pay. There are already discounts for children - those that are - or ought to be - old enough to behave properly.

Either hire a baby sitter or some one stay in the hotel with the child.
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Old Dec 14th, 2006, 10:59 AM
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As a former theatre manager who enforced such policies, let me add that they are not only for the comfort and enjoyment of ther other patrons, they're to comply with fire and safety regulations.

The theatre is licensed (or in this case, licenced) to accommodate X-number of people, therefore it sells that many tickets. If more than that number are in the building, they may not be able to exit in the event of an emergency.
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Old Dec 17th, 2006, 12:09 PM
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OK, thanks again to all. It looks like the wisest course would not be to take our daughter to see the show. Obviously not the outcome we were hoping for, but so be it. For another time!
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Old Dec 18th, 2006, 07:15 AM
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Maybe you can take her to more child-friendly production? Arts Theatre near Leicester Sq has "The Gruffalo" (strongly recommended), Unicorn Theatre near London Bridge has "Journey to the River Sea", and the Little Angel theatre in Angel has "Snowflake". All toddler-friendly, short-ish productions, that I'm planning to take my kids.
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