Shy children and character meals

[Dragonfly_34]

My almost 3 year old daughter is extremely shy – we have been going to a “little gym” class every Saturday for several months and it still takes her 20 minutes or so to warm up enough to interact with the teacher and other kids. We see my in-laws once a month and with the exception of my FIL, it takes her a while to warm up there too. She does a little better if she’s at her own house but even that can take some time. Her twin brother and 5 year old brother are the exact opposite – both very outgoing and talkative. My daughter loves princesses, especially Elsa, Anna, and Ariel. We have several character meals booked and I’m wondering how to handle her interactions with the characters. I have visions of her burying her head in my shoulder and not interacting with them at all – which is fine, I’m certainly not going to force her to do anything – but I also don’t want her to be terrified. The trip is going to be a surprise for the kids, and given their ages the twins wouldn’t understand the concept of “we’re going to Disney in xx days” but is there anything I can do to help prepare her for the character interaction?

 

[MandiC]

My girls were older but both very shy. The princesses talked to them but my girls mostly just smiled at them and didn't really interact too much (besides their favorite princesses). It's really hard to say how each shy kid will react. You might find that she feels like she already knows the princesses from movies/books and she is very open with talking and hugging them. Or she could be shy, the characters aren't pushy and I'm sure they've dealt with scared kids on a regular basis. A bonus of character meals is you can usually see the characters coming for a while before they are actually at your table, it'd be a good time to point out the character and try to get her excited.

 

[MandiC]

As far as prep before you are in Disney, look up which characters are usually at the meals you plan to attend and make sure to watch those movies/read those books and just play up how neat it would be to meet those characters.

 

[sparkles1979]

All my children are quite shy, and didn't say an awful lot back to characters but still really enjoyed the experience. The characters/ princesses are very good dealing with all children. I actually found myself involving myself in the chitchat to help my children out. I am sure she will be interested and not terrified as such. Maybe you could show her some Youtube videos of other children meeting characters. I found the character meals to be fairly quick and structured so to speak anyway. Please don't worry all will be fine Xx

 

[ashleymrush]

Subbing. I've got the same issue with my DS5. He's always shy, even with family he sees often. I'm very nervous about our upcoming trip. We have a breakfast planned at CP. Fingers crossed.

 

[PartOfYourWDWorld]

My shy, now five year old DD has always been ok with unmasked characters (mainly princesses) but terrified of masked characters. She likes them from a far, but doesn't want them anywhere near her. She does like getting their autographs. But I'm the one who has to hand the book to them, lol.

Every kid is different. Just don't have super high expectations and definitely don't try to push her into anything she's not comfortable with. But she very well may surprise you

 

[poohfriend77]

My DDs were never scared of the characters, but they were pretty shy. They wanted to meet and get photos, but they would just stare blankly when a princess would talk to them.

I found that they did better when they had an autograph book. It served as an "ice breaker" and gave them a job to do so they weren't nervous about approaching the character.

 

[Bluegrrl]

All the characters are pretty good at interacting with shy kids. My little boy (1 year at the time) normally doesn't "make shy" with people, but the furred characters flipped him out (we were at CP for his birthday). However, the characters knew their boundaries, and were quick to "move on" and/or "keep their distance" when they saw that he got a little freaked. They would get down to his level, play "peek a boo", and if all else failed, they moved along. They are totally trained for scared kids.

That being said, his FAVORITE character was Jake, and he was perfectly happy watching him from across the H&V, but when Jake came up to him, he freaked. Oddly enough, he was cool with running up to Jake at the "dance party" that they have at H&V. I guess different senarios can change a kids freak level?

Again though, you know your kiddo the best. Maybe some youtube videos of the characters so that she knows what to expect?

 

[supergoofy]

My daughter was the same way when she was that age.

Went to Disneyland and went to see Pooh. Daughter was not having it at all so mom held her hand and she slowly inched to Pooh. We got her photo with Pooh and she was fine.

Said it was time to go and reached out to grab her hand and she hugged Pooh again. Then grabbed my hand and then let go an mauled poor Pooh. I literally had to pry my little girl off Pooh so the other families to see him.

I don't know what it was but she was shy before Disney and still is years later but something about Disney and the characters she just loved.


Hoping your daughter sees her favorite one and just opens up.

 

[Dragonfly_34]

Thanks for the suggestions - as the trip gets closer, I'll talk to her more about seeing the characters and check out some YouTube videos. I'll still be prepared to be in a lot of pictures with her!

 

[epsmith921]

My 2.5 year old didn't really know what was happening. She's a talker, but not to "strangers." So she gets to Cinderella and basically just collapses to hug Cinderella. Didn't speak to her, didn't do anything but wrap herself around the poor princess. Cinderella was wonderful. The only thing she said to the princesses at the rest of the breakfast at the castle was to Snow White. And this gem was "where's Ariel and jasmine?"

Even then, only hugged/cuddled princesses.

At crystal palace, she was hugging, holding hands, and doing high fives.

Later the same day as CP we went to garden grill and she was pulling pluto's whiskers, and inspecting chip and dale's teeth and asking them if they brush them.

It's all so variable and we just went in having no expectations at all. If she was scared, we spaced out the meals enough that we could cancel. Plus, the characters are usually pretty darn good at playing peekaboo or waving from afar if they see the kiddo is nervous or scared. They will not force anything and really read the childrens' comfort level well.

 

[MomForFrozenAddicts]

My soon to be 7 yo daughter is very shy too. LOL with the Little Gym warm up. My daughter was crying for a good 10-15 mins at her ballet class after 2 years there.

We started WDW with her when she was 2 and have been there every years since. I found the autograph book helped as an ice-breaker. It started out with me holding her hands and going up to the characters at Meet and Greets. Soon, she knew to open up the page and wait for the character to sign it at meals/M&G. It is like routine for her to get autograph and smile for pictures.

Although she still doesn't talk much with the characters, but she loves to see them a lot. I made photobook of her pictures with the characters for her to show her friends.

 

[msmama]

My 6 year old son seems to be the opposite of many kids already mentioned, lol.

Still doesn't like face characters. Hid under the table at Cinderella's Royal Table a year ago. He did manage a picture (with me) with Snow White on our recent DL trip. Autograph books didn't help either. He hands me the autograph book and expects me to get the autographs.

My son gets better later in the trip. And the Pooh gang at Crystal Palace really seems to loosen him up, too. If he has something to talk about he generally does better, too. I often have to act as translator though.

As long as I'm in the picture though, he's always been at least ok to get a picture.

 

[Laura66]

My oldest (23) use to be terrified of many characters when she was little (3-5 years old) She'd hide under the table when they were close and/or eat her food there - using the chair as a table!

 

[usagibuffy]

My shy 4yo doesn't talk to the characters at all. When she was younger (1-3 or so) she wouldn't even go near the face characters, but was always interested in giving the masked characters hugs. Nowadays she pretty much goes up to them, gets a hug, then poses for a picture and is done. Her 2yo brother meanwhile has been known to leap into the arms of a kneeling princess and clutch her in a bear hug for a minute before introducing himself ("I Kit-Kit. I two!") and spending as long as I will let him interacting. Every kid is different. Keep your expectations low and light for her and she may surprise you. I agree too that character meals can be a really great way to let your slow-to-warm-up child get used to the characters from a distance as they move around other tables before coming to yours.

 

[Austinsmom068]

I took my son 2x last yr. 1st time he was 2 1/2 he was very shy but managed to give out high fives and a couple hugs to his favorites. Second time he was 3. On the first night we went to 1900pf for dinner bc he loovveess cinderella. He was fine till the step sisters and step mother came to our table. I thought they were hysterical and the best character interaction. My son didn't agree. He was crying the whole time. The stepmother said to him "what are my daughters so ugly they are making you cry?!?!?" My son was so upset and scared by them that he didn't talk to or look at another character for the rest of the trip. It was bad bc we had three other character meals scheduled and he wouldn't eat ANYTHING at them because he was terrified that the stepmother and stepsisters were going to show up. Its strange because he watches all three of the Cinderella movies all the time. Till this day he says to me "oh no mom... I'm not talking to any of then characters" hopefully he will be better by September.