3 y.o. scared of characters??!!

[famfab5]

We are planning our first trip this May. My youngest son will be just two weeks shy of his 3rd birthday. (planned this way because he is still free )

Well, today at my daughter's ballet rehearsal for "Sleeping Beauty" my son saw a young man in a "frog prince" costume in the last act...he FREAKED out! Was really terrified...

Now, what's he going to do when he sees a giant mouse! I'm a little at a loss of what to do except to show him the planning video...

We could wait to take this trip till he's older but my older two children won't be at this stage again (7,9) believing in magic and wishes!

Help! What did you do to prepare your littlest ones for all they will see at Disney?

Thanks,

E.

 

[Barb D]

Ayup. That's a problem. What kind of worked for me was to hold back and let them *wave* at the characters from a distance. If I REALLY wanted a picture with a character, I would hold the little one and preferably put someone else between us and the character.

My kids all eventually warmed up to the characters, but certainly not the first day and sometimes not until near the end of the trip. When my current 4yo was three I made a point of scheduling Chef Mickeys for our LAST day, so that she had plenty of time to get used to the characters before then.

 

[Prince Eric1]

This worked great for us on our first trip, may or may not work for you. We went to Epcot the first day. Our youngest, 3 at the time, was scared of the characters. We went to the Garden Grill for a character meal. It was very quiet there, as it seems to be when we go, and the characters payed the kids a lot of extra attention. At first my daughter was scared and started to cry, but then Mickey came over and kept a distance. He gradually moved closer, playing with my other daughter who was five, and slowly got closer to my 3 year old. After a few times of touching his hand, nose, etc, she suddenly lit up and hugged him and then all the other characters. The entire rest of the trip she hugged and got pictures with every character except for Baloo, who was just to big I think. So, if you can schedule a character meal for a quiet time when they can pay extra attention, this may work. Good luck.

 

[Barb D]

Let me also add that the characters are VERY sensitive to nervous children. They won't force themselves on a timid little one.

 

[tjmw2727]

My youngest was absolutely petrified by Santa shortly before our first trip. To tell the truth she hung back with all the characters the first day or two and neither dh or I forced the issue. I think its the age as she was just over three. We did not force her to interact and took her for a walk at Crystal Palace everytime she saw a character even though she LOVED Pooh.

The breakthrough for her was in the lobby of the castle when she met the Fairy Godmother - her absolute favorite at the time, so much more than even Cinderella herself. She talked about
"bibidy bobbity boo" for a year!! (Her name for FGM!).

Perhaps before you do a character meal stand aside during some character greetings and see what happens. Then try some of the "face characters" before the others "mickey and minnie etc"

Also try the video "disneyland fun" if you can find it for a look at the park and the characters. This video made my kids LOVE haunted mansion before they were 4!!

Also like an above poster mentioned the characters are very sensitive to the kids and won't force themselves at al.
TJ

 

[K & D Mickey]

From our experience with our 13 month old last Jan, 2003 -
I would suggest Character meals and just look at
distance with the characters at the park.

Chef Mickey's is the best in our book. I just told Mickey, Minnie, etc that he may be a little shy and Dale was the best.
He got on his knees at his level sitting in the high chair and played
a finger game on the table and Kyle ( now 2 ) watch in amazed.

And when wanted to take a picture had them stand beside him
but not touching.

Also helps is getting the Travel video from Disney.com and explain that they will be around. He loves to watch our home videos and
travel video...

We are heading in 13 days: 2-20 thru 2-28 and again he will be shy but letting him do what he wants worked great.

Having him in the stroller at the parks was great because
if we did see a character with no line we would walk up to them - say he may be shy and still can get some great pictures with
character either kneeling beside or behind the stroller without touching Kyle. --- Autograph book I think will help this year too because Kyle will want them to sign it.

Have a great time and don't worry the characters are wonderful with shy/nervous children.

 

[Bpd156]

We too are going in may my daughter will also be three about a week after we get home. We've basically have been pushing for her to watch disney videos ( Mean parents ). After watching the videos she seems to want to play with her disney dolls more. Also when she see mickey she now yells out his name. So I'm hoping this will help.

 

[famfab5]

Thank you for all your great help! Wonderful suggestions...

We are just going to take it very slow. Let him get used to it all at his pace.

I especially think the autograph book will work wonders. At his age he wants to do EVERYTHING the older children do. I am positive he will want an autograph if the older children are doing it and showing excitement.

I am going to search for the Disneyland video...not having any luck so far online finding it...is it old? Was this sold at Disney land? Does anyone know where I can purchase a copy. I may try inter-library loan if possible.

Thanks again,

Elizabeth

 

[K & D Mickey]

Go to http://.disneyworld.disney.go.com/wdw
and on the front page is an icon to order the video -
You will recieve it in 4-6 weeks.


Just be patient - enjoy and the magic with play its course.
If Mom isn't nervous then the child will not either...

Enjoy!!!

 

[tjmw2727]

I don't know if you can get them online or in stores but our local blockbuster has them to rent.

The ones we had were "Disneyland Fun" "Flicks Adventures" - great as its newer and shows AK and a "Beach Party" one that my girls LOVED. Can't remember the exact name of the beach party one but it showed two of the water parks.

I think having the autograph book is a great idea, it gives the kids something to do -rather than feeling shy or wondering what to say. Don't worry though if he/she decides not to get the autograph - just skip it or get it for them. Eventually after seeing the characters for a while and seeing that you are ok after meeting them they will probably warm up.

If not - don't worry, there are soooo many other great things to do you could have a fantastic vacation without ever meeting a character. (Till next time LOL).

TJ

 

[tjmw2727]

One more thought on autographs, although OT a bit.

Last trip I bought my girls a light colored baseball hat when we got to WDW and brought along a sharpie marker. Instead of the autograph book we had the characters sign the hat. It kept the hat on the head and sun away and was less fumbling for the book and pen. I carried the sharpie and we were ready at all times for an autograph. The characters seemed to like it as well and often commented on it. The other benefit is that they still love to wear the hats and show them to friends while the autograph books sit on the shelf.

TJ

 

[slo]

Try to find some characters that are not attracting alot of attention and have your older children approach them and really show the younger child how awesome the character is.

The child may trust the character after seeing the older siblings having fun, and the older siblings may feel important because they can help.

If this doesn't work, just keep a distance - he may warm up in a couple days if he is able to move at his own speed.

Have fun

 

[dijid]

Just be prepared for lots of pictures of Mickey, your DS and YOU! That's what we've got from my DS's first trip. And usually DH or I is the one closest to the character. DS loved those pictures and talked (very bravely, of course LOL!) about meeting all the characters. For some strange reason he loved Chip and Dale, so we have lots of pics with them. I don't think there's anything wrong with that, and I wasn't going to push him to tears. We all still had a great time and a great trip.

 

[3kidsdisney]

We also went with our twins right before their 3rd birthday and although my daughter did not like the characters up close-she loved the parades. we got a bunch of good bpictures at chef mickey with the charachters in the background and she did not even know they were there. but she still oved Disney and cnnot wait to go back--on the videos--we saw them at our local disney store--also rented them from the local video store-the disneyland singalong is a favorite of our kids---enjoy-

 

[ahutton]

I just looked on Amazon's web site, they have listed the Disneyland Fun, Beach Party at WDW and Circus video - all are live action kids plus characters, but the circus does not show parks. We also have one that is a Campout at WDW which is all over Fort Wilderness and Frontierland. The nice things about these is it shows the proportions between kids and characters, has great songs (my kids can't help but dance - they are 2 & 4) and shows the kids riding the rides and having fun. Our older DD does not like the entrance to Small World, but now she's seen it on the video she wants to ride and see the singing dolls.

 

[NotUrsula]

Nine trips in 6 years, and DS still will not get within 20 ft. of any of the characters, face characters included. He likes watching them, but only from a safe distance. You know what? We were a little disappointed at first, but we have come to realize how lucky we are.

We pass by all those hapless parents standing in long autograph lines and never have to deal with whining to stop and get an autograph. We spend our park time on rides and in shows, not in autograph lines. We also save an enormous amount of money by never doing any character meals. There is a serious upside to having a character-averse kid.

We *do* have one really great character photo, from when DS was about 28 mos old. We were at the Ice Cream Social at Epcot. DS adores serious ice cream, and will even brave characters to get it. Sure enough, Mickey came by and tried to get DS' attention. DS thought Mickey was after his ice cream; the photo shows him threatening to stab Mickey with a fork!

 

[trstno1]

Talk about it with your child ahead of time. Get them used to the idea. Find out what his/her favorite character is, and try to do that one first.

For example, I'll assume your boy likes Pooh and friends. Talk to him about seeing Pooh, giving Pooh a hug, shaking hands with Tigger, whatever he seems agreeable to. Try showing the Disneyland Fun Sing-a-Long video to show him how big the characters are, and how fun they are (our library even has a copy). (Note - Pooh is not on the official Disney planning video).

Then, try to find a less stressful way for him to see the character. Maybe a meal at the Crystal Palace at MK, but then you're locked in for the duration of the meal. Another good option is at the Animal Kingdom - the place to meet Pooh there is pretty hidden, and I think a lot of people don't try as hard to see characters there.

Sorry to focus on Pooh so much, but I assume that most 3 year-olds really like him.

 

[bananiem]

Also remember that seeing Mickey Mouse as a 3 inch mouse on tv is VERY different than a 5 foot tall mouse to a 3 year old!
When I worked at a childcare center Sesame Street Live was touring and offered to have some charaters come. Let me tell ya'-I'd never seen 2 and 3 year olds try to climb UP their teachers faster! Again, having a 5 foot tall Cookie Monster looking down at them was just too much. You could almost read their minds-"How'd he get so BIG?"

 

[NotUrsula]

LOL at the giant Cookie Monster; even the one on the show is kid-sized, on account of a hand-puppet doesn't have to be big enough to fit an adult performer inside!

Discussions of this phenomenon always remind of that old WDW commercial where the older brother is giving the younger one the scoop about Disney World, and he says, "In real life, Goofy could beat up Dad!"

 

[BevS97]

our first trip my dd was 3 1/2 and exactly the same.

We went to Belle's story time in the MK one afternoon, and she very tentitively went up to see Belle. Because she is a face character, she chatted with katie for a while first and then asked her if she would like to sit on her knee for a photo, which katie agreed too, and she was better (although still wary) with the characters after that

Bev