Have you heard of or do you have a 5 yr old girl that is scared of the princesses?

[bdiddy]

A friend of mine and her family just got back. They just went on their first trip and I helped her plan it a little and they were so excited.

Well, it turns out her 5 yr old daughter wanted nothing to do with the characters and even the princesses! She said it really put a damper on their trip and I could tell she was really bummed out and disappointed in the whole trip. My friend said after two character meals (Akershus and Tusker House) that they canceled the rest of the character meals for the week!

I just felt so sad for her!


I said to my DH later that I've heard a lot of things on these boards but never a 5 yr old girl being scared of the princesses so I bet it is pretty unusual?

[SNylund]

Some kids are just scared of different things, some aren't, some are scared at first then change their minds no rhyme or reason to it.

[SunniKC]

My daughter (now 10) has NEVER wanted anything to do with any characters--up close. We did take her to DL and did a character breakfast with Pooh and friends. She kept yelling (age 2 1/2 mind you) across the entire restaurant saying Eeyore come see me. Finally he strolls around to our table...yeah...she hides her head in my neck and won't so much as look at him. She was petrified of any and all of them (Disney or non Disney).
This year...she actually WANTS to try to get autographs (after seeing a cool autograph book done up scrapbook style). I'm not so sure how that is going to work...lol...she still to this day doesn't want anything to do with them. Let's not even mention Santa and the Easter Bunny!!!

[Mrs. Charming]

I babysat my friend's DD4 today, and she's afraid of *everything* in any sort of costume. That's just how she is, I guess.

[bdiddy]

I can TOTALLY understand being scared of characters in costumes but the princesses are just real woman with fancy dresses on - that's why I thought it was more unusual and hadn't heard of a little girl that age being scared of them.

You are right though - kids are all different and who knows what will scare them?!

[Lynne M]

Oh, my, it's very common for kids to be petrified of the characters, both 'face' characters like the princesses, and the fully costumed characters like Mickey. It's a constant refrain here on the boards, and I know someone personally whose 5 year old spent a good part of their vacation in tears, just utterly overwhelmed. Scared of the rides, scared of the characters, scared of the CMs, just everything.

Some kids are adventurous and adaptable, some are sensitive and easily frightened. Some kids may be braver at home, but aren't used to traveling and are thrown off by the unfamiliar surroundings.

[Amy162]

The first time we went to Disney, my then 2 1/2 y/o wanted nothing to do with ANY of the characters, including the princesses. On our last trip, when she was 4, it took her a little while to warm up to them, but she was finally ok with the princesses and by the end of the week, she liked most of the characters, and was in love with the Mad Hatter!!

It just takes a while for some kids, full costume or not! I think for her it was just as much a dealing with strangers issue as a costume issue.