Afraid of the characters

[julm26]

We are taking our DD2 to The world in September. It will be her first time there and I am worried she will spend the entire trip in tears. She is deathly afraid of costumed characters. Anytime she sees them at the malls, the ballgames, she becomes hysterical.

How can I prepare her for Disney World? HELP!

 

[belle&beast]

We went to WDW in January 2006. My kids were 4.5 and DS turned 2 on our trip. I did not get a picture with Santa Claus just a month before our trip because both kids were too hysterical when we got close to him. I had the same fears as you, so I was not sure how our character interactions would be. The first night we arrived, we went to MK and saw Spectromagic and Wishes, so the kids saw characters from a distance. Our first full day in the parks, we went to Epcot and started at the Character Connection. Our DS ran and hugged Mickey- we could not believe it! Our DD was a little more timid, but by the end of Character Connection, she was a pro! So. we wxpected the worst and neither were afraid! I hope you have a similar experience!

 

[Huntava]

Our first trip with our twins, they were 2-1/2. I was real worried about my daughter since she was the shy one, and I just knew she was going to be frightened by the characters...she never went up to Santa, or the mouse at Chuck E Cheese. She really surprised me though, she wasn't afraid of any of them, and went up to have her picture made with them, and hugged them, I was completely shocked. I don't know if it had anything to do with it, but we watched some Disney TV before we went, and she was already familiar with characters like JoJo and Goliath, and Bear in the Big Blue House, etc. Good luck, and hope you have a great trip.

 

[Jrabbit910]

I have asked the same question to my friends that brought thier children... and also reading some suggestions on the dis board and they say that if your kids experience them from a distance first they might appreciate them when they become closer... I have also read that character meals are the way to go to see how they are w/ other children....

I am hoping that my child loves them too but I will have to wait and see !!!

 

[girlsx4]

We took our girls in '05. My youngest had just turned 2. The first 2 days she was terrified of the characters.......wouldn't get near them, etc. By the end of our trip she was running up to hug and kiss them
I am worried about our upcoming trip(she will be almost 4) We go to our local amusement park and she won't have anything to do w/the Nickelodeon characters there. I hope by September she will LOVE the Disney characters.

 

[tweedlemom]

We weren't sure how our 3 and 4 year olds would handle the characters either. I think I pictured all their fears melting away the second they entered the park--that didn't happen. The 3 year old warmed up to them quickly and had his picture taken with everyone. The four year old, who has some sensory issues, just never took to them. From far away, he was ok with the characters, but we didn't get any pictures of him with the characters because he was scared and it just wasn't his thing. Instead of getting frustrated about it, we just took his picture with permanent characters (the Nemo sculptures outside of Living Seas, Alice in wonderland topiaries near the teacups, Lightning McQueen on Streets of America, Walt and Mickey statue in Magic Kingdom, etc.) This way we would still have pictures of him with characters, just not the moving ones. I think it was harder for "mommy" to realize I wouldn't be getting all those character pictures I had planned in my head. But once "I" got over it, we all enjoyed ourselves more. And maybe he'll be ok with the characters next trip...

 

[poober25]

My DD5 is STILL extremely afraid of the characters, except face characters. Her first trip to Disney was at 11mo. My DS9 has never been afraid of them. If DD is your only child and she seems apprehensive of the characters, it's relatively easy to keep her away from them. They won't approach you if you don't want them to. Don't do character meals and you will be fine. I know this rather contrary to the other advice you have gotten so far, but it just depends on how afraid they are. My DD know they are just people in costumes with masks, but that doesn't stop her from being fearful.
Actually for her 3rd bday we rented a Dora costume and DH dressed up in it. When Dora came out, she started screaming, I changed my mind, I don't want Dora at my party. After the party before we returned the costume, we had Daddy get into the costume in front of her, and she was fine, playing with the head and everything, but as soon as Daddy put the head on, she would back away and become fearful, even though she KNEW it was Daddy. It can become a problem for us sometimes. We had a costumed dog at our church's VBS this year, and we had a few issues with that.

 

[thepeach80]

We are worried about the same thing w/ our 4yo. He freaks out w/ people in costumes. We have watched the Disney vacation DVD though and he has seen what everyone will look like and seems o.k. w/ that. He talks about 'my friend Mickey' etc. I think it's different for him b/c he 'knows' Mickey etc, at least that's what we're hoping for. I also have pics from when I was younger w/ the characters so I think that has helped too.

 

[trulygoofy]

When one of my sons was 2 we took him to Disney and he was not happy with the characters. We have a picture of him crying in Chef Mickey's. He was O.K. until they got too close. The funny thing was that he LOVED Dale. He hated all of the other characters, but he would even run up to Dale and would hug him. I get Chip and Dale mixed up, but DS never did. It happened about three times that he screamed when Chip would get near him, but he would run to Dale (maybe it was the big read nose ). We ended up getting him a stuffed Dale to take home. You just never know what is going through their little minds!

 

[eyeheartgoofy]

My youngest was 20 months on our first trip and she was afraid of characters - she didn't even care for the "face" characters like Snow White. I found that she did okay if we kept the characters at a distance and reassured her that she did not have to go near them. When her big sis wanted to go to the character greeting tent at Toontown, she went into the rooms with us, but my husband or I held her while she looked on. She seemed to be fine as long as we picked her up and kept our distance. The only place it might have been a problem would have been a character meal - but we avoided those - everywhere else you pretty much have to approach the characters.

 

[tanyaandallie]

My dd4 has always been afraid of the characters. We went to DL when she was 2.5 and had lunch with the princesses. She loved them from a distance but would not look at them or speak to them when they came to our table.

When we did character meals the last 2 times we went to DW she was still scared. I had to hold her to take pics and she still wasn't all that happy. Mostly she sees them and then grabs on to me.

I just try not to force the issue. If she doesn't want to talk to them, that is fine with me. There is plenty to see and do in Disney. If your dc does not want to love on the characters she will still have an awesome time.

FWIW, each time we have been (and as she has grown older) she has become a little less scared. When we went in May she actually spoke to the princesses when we took pics. That was HUGE for us. The previous fall she totally freaked at CRT and clung to me for dear life!

 

[slduck]

We just took our 1 yo to Chef Mickey's. He cried when any of the characters got near him. I think that he was afraid that they were going to eat his food. We have come up with a plan for our big trip. We are going to take his sister by to see a few characters because she is a veteran. We are going to let him watch from afar. We are going to do a face character meal such as Akershus or Park Fair because he is a big flirt. By that time I hope that he'll be ready for the pictcure with the "Big Cheese". In his first picture with Mickey, he is pushing his hand away from his waffles.

 

[julm26]

Thanks everyone for the replies. We were at a parade on the 4th and she freaked once again at the characters. I will ply her with disney stuff and hope for the best in september!!!

 

[bamagirl07]

Okay - you may totally object to this as it can "destroy the Magic" and all but... once we told our oldest daughter (who was 4 at the time and TERRIFIED of the characters) that it was just someone in an suit, she was fine. We just explained that is was someone dressed up because they liked to make little kids happy and that they wanted to see her smile.

It was like a lightbulb went on and she was completly fine. That's a decision you'll have to make but it saved us from being miserable on our first trip.

My other children have all been immediately in love with the characters! And we told her not to share "our secret".

PS - We tried to eat with the characters when she was afraid of them and what a waste of money! She spent the whole meal in my lap and did not eat a single bite. She was constantly on watch to make sure they weren't coming anywhere near her!

 

[las3888]

We acclimated our DS (2) to characters big-time for all the trips we have been on for WDW. He has seen a few Disney videos (namely Cars, Peter Pan and Lady and Tramp), but we have books on almost all of the other Disney movies, and he is aware of almost all of the Disney characters and really enjoys them. He was quite afraid of Santa and he is in nature a very very shy guy, but when he saw these characters he was familiar with, esp. characters like Winnie, Tigger, etc., he just lit up. I do mean he is a VERY SHY guy. My advice is to get your DC aware of the characters and become friends with them in advance if you haven't already. Good luck!

 

[debit34]

We acclimated our DS (2) to characters big-time for all the trips we have been on for WDW. He has seen a few Disney videos (namely Cars, Peter Pan and Lady and Tramp), but we have books on almost all of the other Disney movies, and he is aware of almost all of the Disney characters and really enjoys them. He was quite afraid of Santa and he is in nature a very very shy guy, but when he saw these characters he was familiar with, esp. characters like Winnie, Tigger, etc., he just lit up. I do mean he is a VERY SHY guy. My advice is to get your DC aware of the characters and become friends with them in advance if you haven't already. Good luck!

This is exactly what we did and it worked like a charm! My dd age 2.5 when we went in May would never see Santa (cried every time we tried) or the Easter Bunny so I was really concerned that she wouldn't want to go near any of the characters. Months before we went, we watched every Disney movie, read books, I showed her pictures of other small kids with the characters here on dis, and I would say things like "you are going to hug Mickey when we go on vacation, right". I also bought her an autograph book and pen and we talked about how she had to give them a hug in order for them to sign her book. Worked like a charm!

 

[ThunderMTexpert]

the characters aren't going to just walk up to her, and if she is all THAT scared, don't wait in a line to see them! there are other ways to get her used to the characters, maybe showing her posters of mickey anywhere on the property, or watching the disney channel, playhouse disney, etc, asking if she'd like to meet them when she goes there. ultimately, though, if she's scared, just don't wait in the line until she's old enough to know that they won't hurt her, and she can feel safe around the dressed up characters!!

you could also ease her in by introducing her to the face characters, first- if there are any out. i.e:: alice from wonderlan, belle, mulan, etc.

 

[alexb]

We were there last month with our 3 kids, the youngest being 2YO. She watches many of the Disney movies because of the 2 older kids so that helped. We showed her videos from our trip there 3 years ago and we also used youtube.com. If you search on Walt Disney World, Walt Disney World characters, etc you will find a lot of videos people have taken during visits. It worked somewhat, at first she was terrified of them at Chef Mickey's but by the time we left she would actually look at them. The rest of the trip she was excited to see them and would shout out their names but we had to hold her when we got within 5 feet of a character. I think watching WDW videos on youtube helped but I'm not sure how much. Just another free resource to consider.

 

[etownsend2468]

We are taking my 4 year old this August and we are also fearful that he will be terrified of the characters. He did get his picture shaking hands with Santa last year(that was at the 4th trip to see him!!! The first 3 trips he just waved to Santa from 10 feet away). Our plan is to play it by ear and follow his lead. We think that after seeing the characters from a distance for a few days will build his comfort level to get closer. And if we don't get any pictures with Mickey this time, ther is always next time!!!