Last week we talked about how we’ve been preparing Edie for her first movie in a theatre, Finding Dory. She loved Finding Nemo so I thought Finding Dory would be the perfect movie to take her to for her first time. We’ve been talking about it for a while and used Fandango Family to help prepare. We also made a fun Dory bag that she could eat snacks out of at the theatre (our DIY on Fandango Family here!).

Earlier this week we saw the movie! Here’s how it went…

There’s so much great movie preparation for parents and kids on Fandango Family. My favorite is the Mom’s Movie Minute! They’re short video reviews from other moms about the show you’re interested in seeing. They give you an idea of what to expect in terms of general themes, language, violence, sex, scary moments etc that you might be concerned about. At they end they rate the movie based on all those categories so you have a quick overview. Here’s the one on Finding Dory Mom’s Movie Minute if you’d like to see:

For Edie, I knew Finding Dory wasn’t going to have any sex or bad language, I was mostly concerned with the scare factor for her but and it was very tame. She wasn’t freaked out all all (in fact she loved the giant octopus!). Another easy tip: we got our tickets through Fandango VIP. It doesn’t cost anything extra, just gives you peace of mind knowing you can cancel and get a refund if the day doesn’t go as planned.

Grab your Dory bag baby, and let’s go!

We went to an 11: 30am matinee on a Monday. I was worried it would be too close to her nap time so I packed a binkie just in case and we planned on getting some snacks at the theatre to keep her entertained. Snacks in her Dory bag! She’s been talking about this moment for days.

Edie was so excited to fill up her bag with popcorn and snacks. She finished most of them before the movie actually began (I tend to to do the same) but was okay with that. I pulled out a few fruit snacks at the bottom of the bag to help her get through the movie towards the end.

Edie did great. She sat through the whole thing, I was so impressed!  There were a lot of previews, as usual, but she loved those too and she absolutely LOVED Finding Dory, especially the flashbacks scenes of baby Dory (who is adorable, I can see why!). I really enjoyed it as well and only cried a little at the end. All good kids movies are specially formulated to do this to parents I think! I might have even liked it better than Finding Nemo, which is one of my favorites. Oh it was so good, guys. Go see it!

Only one glitch: by the end she was striped down to her diaper (sorry theatre guests!). Her shoes were bugging her and she spilled water on her dress which she was unhappy about so I just took the dress right off and she finished the movie snuggled up on my lap in the (almost) nude.

Even through the credits her face was glued to the screen and was sad to leave. First movie theatre success! So many great kid movies out this summer! We’re also looking forward to seeing The Secret Life of Pets and Storks.

Thanks to Fandango Family for sponsoring this post and Edie’s first outing to the theatre to see Finding Dory. Find tickets for Finding Dory here and lots more resources for families who love movies here on Fandango Family. Photography by Stephanie Gardner.