7 year old girl - will she still believe?!

[Flynnismine]

My DD is almost 6 and she's already said that all the non-face characters are just people dressed up in costums BUT all the princesses are still very real for her I think as they age, their idea of magical grows with them. Heck, I'm 45 and still get teary eyed when I see the castle on TV, in print, on the Internet, LOL

 

[meeko987]

My kids (10 and 7) may no longer believe some things, but they love Disney parks. As they have gotten older, we point out all of the things that make Disney World special: theme-ing, attraction back stories, the queue music, park history, in-jokes and hidden Mickeys, technology used in rides, etc.

The Magic is still there - but it is changing. It may not be wide-eyed gawking because "There's MICKEY!", but there's still amazement, appreciation, and, of course, fun!

 

[smiths02]

At 3,4, and 5, my DS thought everything was real. At 4, he even thought we actually took a flight to space on Star Tours. That being said, he had a Batman birthday at age 4, and a little girl in his class already told him it wasn't real (so some kids believe longer than others).
My DS is 8 now, he still totally believes in Santa, but knows Disney characters are not real.
He is at an age, though, where he can read trip planning books and he is so excited to trip plan.
ETA: I even neglected to get him an autograph book (got his little siblings one) and he is not too old for that because I got an earful LOL. To be fair, I did get him some pins for pin trading. He is stoked about the Sorcerers of the MK and Phineas and Ferb in Epcot.
He also chose an AkA cars suite for our room
Oh, and he REALLY wants a Disney cruise...not in the cards for us right now, but just letting you know how great the excitement for that is

 

[DVCcurious]

I have a daughter who just turned 5. Last time we went she had just turned 4. She believed everybody was real, then. But starting in the fall she'd say things like "Mouses aren't really that tall". "Mouses can't talk". She was obviously figuring out that Mickey Mouse (and pluto, goofy, donald, etc) must be people in costumes and not "real".

So I told her that she's right. Mickey isn't real because Mice aren't 5 feet tall. But I told her that people can really talk, so Cinderella and Elsa are real. It's just Mickey and friends who are make believe. She really bought into this logic. So she should get a couple more years believing the princesses are real.

Kids figure things out at different ages. So there's a chance she may "believe" in Mickey at 7, but I'd doubt it. I think it's much more likely she'll "believe" in the face characters at that age, but know that Mickey, Winnie the Pooh, etc are just people in costumes.

 

[IndianaRRT]

It may sound corny, but the magic is in her heart. The CMs at WDW just know how to bring it out.

Our DD was 8 1/2 when we took our kids for their 1st visit. With an older brother, she already knew the dirt on Santa, tooth fairy, etc, but she never mentioned any of that while we were there. She lit up at the parades, hugged every character in a suit, and we have a picture of her when she met Cinderella that melts my heart. The look on her face... Your DD will love it, no matter what her age.

And congrats on your wedding!

 

[isabellea]

My DD is almost 6 and she's already said that all the non-face characters are just people dressed up in costums BUT all the princesses are still very real for her I think as they age, their idea of magical grows with them.

Last summer my DD was almost 5 and one of the first thing she told me was that the non-face characters were people in costume. Then she asked me about the princesses and when I asked her what she was thought she answered that yes they were real because they were in the castle (we had just eaten breakfast at CRT). I never tell something is not real but if she arrives at that conclusion I don't deny either.

 

[TLSnell1981]

The Magic is a state of mind...

 

[Greenfield1984]

Our DD is 7 now and she still believes that all of the Disney characters are real. Her friend had a bday party recently where Anna was there and she told me that she drove all day and night from DisneyWorld to be there for the party

She did take me off guard on our last trip (she was 5) when after meeting Mickey she said "that's not the real one, his signature is different than the one we met yesterday". Kids can be so observant.

We've never told her that these are the real characters, but they seem to just believe that all on their own.

 

[jm106]

My ods always knew they weren't real but it is still completely magical. He is 9 and still loves all of it, it is fun, special and exciting with out believing its a real 6' mouse or really Capt Hook. Yds is 6 and sort of believes face characters are real but with animated characters, he knows are not their real faces. NBD

 

[jmkjr72]

Our last trip my son was 14 and the magic of disney was still working. Sure at that age he wasn't as big of a fan as visiting the princess.
Heck my dgf will be 33 and it's her first trip just in the planing I can see the disney magic working on her and at 42 instill belive in the magic of disney
The hard part I'm having is to figure out when to give my dgf her ring

 

[DreamIsaWish]

Absolute belief, maybe not. True magic? Absolutely yes! We believe in "Disney Magic" and refer to it as such. Things that can't happen in the real world happen at Disney when you suspend your disbelief. My 9-year-old son has said in the past that he didn't want to know how things worked at Disney because he loves the magic. Smart kid!

 

[aprilchem]

We have always told our children that the characters at Disney are just people dressed up; it honestly never occurred to me not to. And my kids still enjoy the experience a lot.

 

[msmama]

My 6 year old knows very well that the characters are people in costumes (he told me that many years ago), BUT to him, the Mickey he sees at WDW is still the REAL Mickey Mouse (someone in costume or not).

And heck, I'm well older than 7 and the magic of Disney still gets me!

 

[Airship Ariadne]

Even if she doesn't still believe that the characters are real, there will still be plenty of magic for her...here are a few pictures of our daughter on her trip when she was 7...pretty clear that there is still magic to be had:

And that's just a few.

 

[think-like-tink]

My 9 Year old still believes. She also still believes in other things. Think Christmas.....Theres no small kids on here,right?!


If she knows she has not ever said anything to me. By her actions I think she does very much believe. I am not sure at what age that goes away. My DS figured it out in third grade

 

[think-like-tink]

My oldest daughter was four on her first trip. She's 8 now and Disney is still full of magic for her. My oldest son is about to turn 13 and I'm pretty sure he still finds magic there too, but would probably never admit it if I questioned him lol.

THIS! My DS is 11 will not see Santa but will love on the Characters at Disneyworld. I LOVE IT. It is so neat to see him "being cool" with his friends and doing big kids things....but, at Disney, I have my little boy back. I hope THAT never goes away. Even my dh has to give hugs to some Characters too. Like Jasmine

 

[tcherjen]

Our youngest was 7 last trip and still had a magical time. She knows the characters aren't real, but she doesn't mention that at all. She is so caught up in the awe of the parks that nothing like that matters to her. She enjoys meeting the characters and getting her picture made. Her favorite is exploring the parks and the resorts though. Disney is magical at any age.