Best Disney character for a young child or kid to meet for the first time

[jeepnjudy]

Meeting face and non-face Disney characters at the Disney Theme Parks with some children is similar to the Santa Claus experience alot of children would get after Thanksgiving is over and it's getting close to Christmas. Where some children would get scared,cry, and get very nervous around Santa.

This is my DS3...loves all the characters at Disney but not quite sure about that Santa guy and would not sit on his lap last year! We are going to try again this year and see what happens!

 

[brb1006]

This is my DS3...loves all the characters at Disney but not quite sure about that Santa guy and would not sit on his lap last year! We are going to try again this year and see what happens!

I do remember meeting Marie during my Senior Trip and I started getting butterflies in my stomach when I seen her walking to her meet and greet spot while prancing. Especially since I was the first in line to meet her.

 

[BeHappyNeverSad]

We showed my almost 2 year old daughter YouTube videos of kids meeting Mickey and other characters to prepare her. For weeks before we left she kept telling us that she was "gonna hug em." We met Goofy first and it worked like a charm! We had to hold her back in line then she pretty much ran to him.

She doesn't like Santa so we skipped the face characters except for Belle at enchanted tales. She was leery but hugged her too.

 

[scrapquitler]

One of the very special things at Walt Disney World and the Disney Parks in general is the characters. While alot of kids love Disney characters. Some can be a little intimidating due to their size for a couple children while it isn't mostly viewed by the other children or guests. For parents who have children who experience meeting a couple characters. What Disney character at WDW or Disneyland do you think would be less intimidating or fun to your child especially for first time visitors.


I always find Marie The Kitten from The Aristocats to be one of those very friendly looking characters that most children would not find intimidating or a little frighting looking. She's one of those Disney characters that gives the best hugs next to Minnie and is very cute.

My kids were never interested in characters at all when they were small.

On our recent trip, my 12 year old son loved meeting the characters and having pictures done with them....until....we went to a face character ...he is extremely shy and he really disliked the face characters (Alice and Snow White) because they tried to talk to him. So maybe you should consider how the child will react if the charater tries to talk to them. Some kids might be more comfortable talking to a face character than one that is a 'big head' (in my sons words), but some might not.

 

[4crazykidz]

Mickey Mouse worked out well for our 15 month old when she first met a character. We watched lots of Mickey movies, so she knew EXACTLY who she was meeting.

 

[TravelingTotMom]

I would suggest familiarizing your child with the characters if they aren't already. There is an old Disney Sing-A-Long called Disneyland Fun which is great because it shows the characters in the park.

We took DS when he was 7 1/2 months old for the first time, and he KNEW Mickey. We would put Mickey Mouse Clubhouse on in the morning when we were getting ready for work, and the second he saw Mickey at MK he started happily shrieking and kicking his arms and legs in excitement.

We also took him back at 1 and 1 1/2, and he still loves the characters - and still loves watching that Sing-A-Long. He names all of the characters as they show up, and now he even poses with them (backs up to them until they put their arms around him and then smiles at the photographer).

 

[UmmYeahOk]

My daughter was terrified of getting her picture taken with Santa when she was one, and also difficult with the Easter bunny. We had previously seen Mickey and Minnie at a reopening of a Disney Store, a few months later, and she was totally cool with it. She might've been two by then though.

My kids were amazed by the 'talking' Mickey Mouse at Town Hall in the Magic Kingdom. That's definitely a must-do.

I also thought it was very cool that Mickey got down on his knees when he met my 3-year-old daughter. That put her at ease right away and she immediately gave him a hug.

OMG! We had a fast pass for that, and it was the very first thing we did at MK. You should have seen the look of MY eyes, when I saw Mickey! Blinking his eyes and talking?! How cool! There was a Brazillian family in front of us, and he told them that he new a little Portuguese, then said something in their native language! Then he got to meet my daughter. She LOVES Mickey Mouse. And was just so star struck and speechless. Well, I'll show you...

 

[ktlm]

DD was 2 on her first trip. All we did on the first day was walk her in to MK in the morning when the characters were out in Town Square. She took one look at Pluto and went nuts wanting to get in line for him. She didn't even look twice at the castle because all she cared about was Pluto. She was a wild toddler and she patiently stood in line for 20 minutes to see him which was a big surprise to us. She then threw herself at him practically knocking him over and held onto him tightly in a hug for a long time. Maybe a good way to introduce a child to the characters is to point them out at Town Square in the morning and see how they react- are they excited to go see them or do they want to be far far away?

DD is 9 now, but first saw "talking Mickey" when she was 8. She thinks he is totally creepy. I have to agree. I could see him freaking a kid out.

You would think the face characters like the Princesses would be less threatening, but I can remember that when I was little, I liked all the characters except the face characters. I was scared of them because their faces did not look like they did in the movies-- I guess I thought they were scary imposters!

 

[disneypolybride2008]

talking Mickey!!

 

[tmh43]

Marie is a great character greet! She was so sweet and DS was sooooo excited. Every time we walked through Main St his head would just dart searching for her.

Ariel was amazing. She was his first character greet, we had just arrived: walked in and saw the parade, then when on his first Disney ride and he was feeling sooo overwhelmed. She was so great with getting him out of his shell (ha!) and got a few smirks out him. He was still a little shy so she said she had a present for him and gave him a big kiss! Well, he walked out of there skipping and singing and didn't stop for our entire trip! Totally set the tone!

Winnie the Pooh at Crystal Palace was his absolute favorite I think. He was the only character that he got down and ran to- right into his arms! Every other character I kind of had to introduce him to and help him to warm up, but not Winnie the Pooh!

Can't miss though has to be talking Mickey. DS had told me that Lightning and Mater at HS weren't the *real* Lightning and Mater because they didn't talk. When we walked in to see Mickey having a conversation with his photographer he just about fell out of my arms! It was his 3rd birthday, and he was wearing his birthday pin, and Mickey led everyone in singing him Happy Birthday! And as another poster said, Mickey was conversing in different languages with different guests- just unbelievable. We got my favorite picture of our entire trip with Mickey. I wasn't about to wait an hour for him (we had fastpasses) but knowing what I know now, he'd be worth the wait!

 

[brb1006]

Marie is a great character greet! She was so sweet and DS was sooooo excited. Every time we walked through Main St his head would just dart searching for her.

Ariel was amazing. She was his first character greet, we had just arrived: walked in and saw the parade, then when on his first Disney ride and he was feeling sooo overwhelmed. She was so great with getting him out of his shell (ha!) and got a few smirks out him. He was still a little shy so she said she had a present for him and gave him a big kiss! Well, he walked out of there skipping and singing and didn't stop for our entire trip! Totally set the tone!

Winnie the Pooh at Crystal Palace was his absolute favorite I think. He was the only character that he got down and ran to- right into his arms! Every other character I kind of had to introduce him to and help him to warm up, but not Winnie the Pooh!

Can't miss though has to be talking Mickey. DS had told me that Lightning and Mater at HS weren't the *real* Lightning and Mater because they didn't talk. When we walked in to see Mickey having a conversation with his photographer he just about fell out of my arms! It was his 3rd birthday, and he was wearing his birthday pin, and Mickey led everyone in singing him Happy Birthday! And as another poster said, Mickey was conversing in different languages with different guests- just unbelievable. We got my favorite picture of our entire trip with Mickey. I wasn't about to wait an hour for him (we had fastpasses) but knowing what I know now, he'd be worth the wait!

Meeting Marie during my third visit made me cry tears of joy.

 

[jmccoy18]

We did Chef Mickey's first before we went into the parks so we could gauge her reaction to the characters. It worked out great because if your kids are not liking the characters, then you can just wave at them and they will pass by your table, but if they like them then they can come over and hug them. etc... We also liked Chef Mickey's because it was the fab 5 and it was really the only Disney characters my 2 yr old was familiar with (thanks to Mickey Mouse Clubhouse) besides Ariel (as she was in a Little Mermaid obsession at that age.)