Afraid DS will be scared of characters?

[ammeador2]

Anyone had this problem? DS will be 20 months and we were at a baseball game and the mascot came over to us and he flipped out. He was so scared he was shaking!!

I am truly hoping that this is because he didn't recognize the character. He LOVES Mickey and other characters that he sees on tv, but he's never seen a 8 foot tall Mickey! Any suggestions on how we can make this go smoothly?

DD is 3 and she is unsure of the big characters but 20 secs later she's giving them hugs and kisses. Any way that I can reassure my son?

 

[LisaInNc]

Disney had a series of Sing A Long videos and many of them feature the characters. You might try getting a copy of one and letting your DS watch it. It might help get him familiar with what they will look like.

Also maybe show him pictures of the actual characters. Seeing Pooh in a book or as a cartoon is a lot different than seeing a picture of him as a character.

 

[Tnkrbelle565]

The good thing is that you realize that he might be frightened and are planning for it. My advice is to just go with it. If he's afraid, don't make him go near the characters. It's a simple as that. You can try watching videos or YouTube but its a lot different in person. Some kids are just afraid and all the prep in the world isn't going to change that.

 

[Mandychelle79]

My son was 26 months when we took him to disney. FOr the first 5 days of the 7 day trip he was afraid of the characters. Even Mickey. But he let me hold him on one side with the character on the other for pictures. On the last day at Epcot, Mickey dropped to his knee and Alex ran to him with Arms wide open to give him a hug, and then was ok with the rest of the characters. He was even afraid of the face characters at the princess breakfast

 

[Nanu57v]

DD has always been afraid at the beginning of our trips (9 mon, 18mon, 30mon, 32 months) but warms up by the end. Its like she forgets they are okay.

 

[ammeador2]

He has seen the characters on the computer and he loves them. But I know that it will be different when it's up close and personal. I am just hoping for the best. We do have some character dinners and whatnot...I just hope it goes well. My friend's sone was scared of the face characters, but not the other characters...

 

[snoopy5386]

My DD is also super afraid of characters here at home, ones she doesn't know - she shakes like your son. I didn't think she would like Mickey and gang, but I was wrong, she LOVED them on our trip in June, she was 26 months. On the other hand she was scared of almost all of the rides, shows, parades and fireworks, so be prepared for that as well.

 

[Disney 4 Me]

My older daughters were never afraid of the characters. We usually go to WDW with my sister and her kids and they were never afraid of them, either. My kids never loved the Easter Bunny or Santa Claus, but loved the WDW characters. So it never occurred to me that my son might not like them. Boy was I wrong! Here's a picture of him meeting Pluto at Ohana's. He was 18 mos old.

He was like that the entire trip, screaming and crying when the characters approached. We've been back several times and it has gotten better. He will now usually go up to them. The last time we were there, he was about 2 1/2. Good luck!

 

[ammeador2]

My older daughters were never afraid of the characters. We usually go to WDW with my sister and her kids and they were never afraid of them, either. My kids never loved the Easter Bunny or Santa Claus, but loved the WDW characters. So it never occurred to me that my son might not like them. Boy was I wrong! Here's a picture of him meeting Pluto at Ohana's. He was 18 mos old.

He was like that the entire trip, screaming and crying when the characters approached. We've been back several times and it has gotten better. He will now usually go up to them. The last time we were there, he was about 2 1/2. Good luck!

Poor little guy!

 

[mlynn]

My 6 year old is afraid of some. I have been taking her to different places that have characters.example Chuckie Cheese. I also have been showing her pictures of kids inthe family on past trips to Disney telling her that there isn't anything to be afraid of. But if we get there and she is still afraid.I'm not going to push her I will just take my 4year old up. She has already told her big sister that she will get the autographs for her if she is scared.

 

[ammeador2]

My 6 year old is afraid of some. I have been taking her to different places that have characters.example Chuckie Cheese. I also have been showing her pictures of kids inthe family on past trips to Disney telling her that there isn't anything to be afraid of. But if we get there and she is still afraid.I'm not going to push her I will just take my 4year old up. She has already told her big sister that she will get the autographs for her if she is scared.

DD doesn't like "the rat" at Chuck E Cheese's as she affectionately calls him! LOL! I'm not going to push my kids either, I want Disney to be a great vacation and I don't want people to think that I am a mean parent making my kids interact with the characters when they are kicking and screaming. On the same note, I don't want them to be afraid either. We will see.

 

[Mickeypooh99]

My DS was fine with characters the year he turned 2, then we went the year he turned 4 and he actually crawled under the table at Chef Mickey's to avoid Minnie Mouse. It was so funny. We definitly didn't push him. We just let him decide if he wanted to see characters or not. By the end of the week he was fine.

 

[Disney 4 Me]

My older daughters were never afraid of the characters. We usually go to WDW with my sister and her kids and they were never afraid of them, either. My kids never loved the Easter Bunny or Santa Claus, but loved the WDW characters. So it never occurred to me that my son might not like them. Boy was I wrong! Here's a picture of him meeting Pluto at Ohana's. He was 18 mos old.

He was like that the entire trip, screaming and crying when the characters approached. We've been back several times and it has gotten better. He will now usually go up to them. The last time we were there, he was about 2 1/2. Good luck!

I just wanted to add that this was his first character encounter. Had I known this would be his reaction, I would not have left him on the other side of the table to fend for himself.

 

[mlynn]

DD doesn't like "the rat" at Chuck E Cheese's as she affectionately calls him! LOL! I'm not going to push my kids either, I want Disney to be a great vacation and I don't want people to think that I am a mean parent making my kids interact with the characters when they are kicking and screaming. On the same note, I don't want them to be afraid either. We will see.

I'm hoping after a few days of seeing other kids and her sister seeing them she will be ok. Went and saw the "rat" last week and she nearly pulled my arm off running away. But then after an hour she starting looking at him but not near him. I'm taking her to the Camden NJ aquaruim this weekend they have Hippo characters.
I don't want her to be afraid either. So I will ease her into it. The 4 year old can't wait. She already told me all she was going to get her picture with. She isn't afraid one bit never has been. She didn't leave the "rat" side at CC. They are 2 totally different kids.Youngest is more out going.

 

[katied]

DS was pretty afraid of the Pooh characters at 13 mo - but did better when I would stand between him and the character in the pictures. He really liked the Princess characters though. Mickey is his favorite at home, but he was a bit nervous with the life size Mickey at the parks. By about the 6th day, he was doing much better.

DNiece (at 23 months) loved them, and ran right up to give them hugs on her own after a couple of days.

 

[KEVD]

On our last trip my youngest son was 2, almost 3. At first he wanted nothing to do with the characters. But by our second character meal mid week he was fine.

He went from running away from Ariel yelling "NO!" on the first day to letting Pluto hug his and mess up his hair by mid week.

Just let your child go at his oun pace.