Any Little Ones Scared of Characters?

[disneystick]

My 6 yr. old niece is terrified of mascots, people in large character mask. Has anyone done DW with a child with similiar fright? She has been so excited about going to DW when we told her at age 4 that when she turns 6 we will take her to DW. Even showed her many Disney video about the theme parks. Even talked to her about how it is just pretend...people in the costumed/mask. Regardless, she is still afraid but still determined to go to DW. We are not doing any character meals except for the princesses and Cinderalla. My 2 teens will also distract my niece if we even come close to characters while we are at the park.

Any one else faced this situation before and how did it turn out?

 

[WIDisneyFan]

My son who was 18 months when we went last summer and will be almost 2.5 when we go this year absolutely LOVES the characters on tv, in books, and even in the parks at a distance of 20-30 feet, but get any closer than that and I understand exactly what you are dealing with.

 

[I'mNoPrince]

DD didn't like clowns and masked characters for some time. We just avoided those areas and from a distance like shows and parades it was not a problem. She grew out of it at about 10 or 11 and has been fine (well maybe not with all the clowns). This is a girl that watches scary movies DW can't even watch.

 

[TheDizMom]

Big time when DD was 4 on our first trip. This time at 6 she was totally fine. But she was the same way and I think it was because of their size and they didn't talk. We did all the explaining stuff too and it just didn't matter. The key is to find out if she is ok with them from a distance. My DD would be fine to take her picture with them if we had me or my DH between her and the character. Whenever one approached our table we made sure they knew right away not to get to close to her or touch her. This only worked at restaurants, she refused to see them at Camp Minnie/Mickey or any place like that. She also had no problem with them if they were in a parade or far off. This last trip she couldn't get enough of them. It was almost like she was saying to herself I'm not scared this time because she would just look at them in awe and touch them as much as possible. It was my favorite part of this trip to watch her excitement at seeing characters.

Just a heads up though on the Cinderella meals. Suzy and Perla (2 of the mice) are present and come to your table. They are going to have the big heads and everything so be prepared. Are you at 1900 PF or CRT? At 1900 ask if they can put you at a table with a booth on one side, having not done CRT I don't know what their set-up is like. That way they can't get close to her or approach her from behind. This worked for my DD when she was scared of them, and you can warn them about her fears when they arrive at you table. You shouldn't have a problem with the princess storybook meal at Epcot.

 

[reginaastralis]

My daughter was an "old pro" with the characters, she was in love with every single one of them. She wasn't scared, until this past Saturday.

Suddenly, all the "male" characters were out of the question. Goofy, Pluto, no way. Peter Pan, Captain Hook, Prince Charming ... all a big "NO!" unless I was with her.

My suggestion, just find what she's comfortable with. Explain that mom can be in the picture with her, or she doesn't have to take one at all.

I don't know what was going on with Julie this weekend, but she's never been a big fan of men in general ... but come on, Prince Charming ... how can you say no to him?

 

[Hunnybee]

My DS was the same way at 3. He screamed bloody murder at Tony the Tiger. We were very worried about our upcoming Disney trip! However, we had him watch Disneyland Fun (per a suggestion on these boards) -- it helped him to see the size of the characters. Once we got there, he was just fine with the characters -- only Captain Hook scared him. He was, however, scared to death of the dark rides. He was even scared on Peter Pan -- his favorite movie at the time! -- because it was too dark.

This time we had our DD (3). DS (now 7) loved everyone -- DD wouldn't go near most of the characters -- unless Mom or Dad was inbetween her and the character while holding her away from them.

BTW, if you are going to Cinderella's Royal Table, there are only "face" characters, not the mice. She will meet Cinderella and other princesses and the fairy godmother. We were there with DD (3) a year ago and she was just absolutely in awe!!!!

Have a good time! Just make sure to give her the space and time she needs to get used to everyone/everything. We did 8 days in the park and a 4 day cruise. By the time we got to the cruise, DD wasn't scared of any of the characters -- except for Capt. Hook!

 

[Mom2LittlePrincesses]

We were there in January with DDs, 15mo and 4(birthday on trip). Both were scared of the masked characters and men. Princesses were great.
We learned to tell the characters that they'll get scared, and seat them away (like the booth side at 1900 Park Fare).
Suzy and Perla were at CRT when we went, so be aware.

Actually, something **magical** happened at 1900 Park Fare. I told Suzy and Perla that the girls would be scared, so they moved on. Then one came back and saw the autograph book sitting on the table, so she asked my DD4 if she could sign in it. She said yes, so I handed it to Suzy along with our Cinderella pen that lights up when you write. Suzy was amazing and pretended like she was scared of the pen every time she tried to write. Both my DDs, along with everyone in the neighboring tables were laughing hysterically . Then Perla came over and Suzy tried to hand the pen over. Neither one of them wanted it. I will never forget that very magical moment that got my DDs over their fear. Well, at least the fear of Suzy and Perla. That was on one of the last days of our trip, so we don't know if they'll be scared of the others. I guess we'll see in December when we go back! (And we thought we could last until 2009 to see The World again-nope we're addicted. )
My DD4 talks about that dinner and how funny Suzy and Perla were all the time.

Serica

 

[vbarry]

My DD (who turned 7 yesterday!) was terrified of all the characters during our first two trips. I was sooo upset and could not believe it! She would actually shake every time she saw Mickey Mouse! My advice is to take it slow and not to make a big deal of it.

During out last trip-she loved everyone except for Goofy.

We are going again in June and she cannot wait! She talks about the characters every day. I think it is something they just need to grow out of.

Good luck!

 

[WAHMto5]

Our 5 year old is also very afraid of the characters. We try not to do to many character meals, but if we do she always sits at the end of the table away from them. We are hoping that she will soon like them

 

[The Sweetness]

Ive had DD2 in training from the age of 10 months

I bring her to the mall once a week when they have a little character dance party. Its a different character each time, and shes not scared at all. Getting her to stand still for phots on the other hand

I dont imagine that if a child seems withdrawn or intimidated that they will agressively pursue your DNs attention. Esp if the 2 older girls distract them from her. Besides~ there are ALOT of kiddos wanting their attention, so it shouldnt be a problem

 

[disneystick]

Thank you so much for all the advice. We are doing Princess storybook (no problem here) and 1900 Park Fare...will have Kayla seated at the booth side so the characters so that there are family members between her and the characters. Maybe a "magical" moment might happen for us and Kayla not be afraid of them any more.

We leave June 1 and are just so excited for her (us too!). She has been telling her schoolmates for months that when school is out she is going to DW!!!

 

[mjkaferle5]

My 6 yr. old niece is terrified of mascots, people in large character mask. Has anyone done DW with a child with similiar fright? She has been so excited about going to DW when we told her at age 4 that when she turns 6 we will take her to DW. Even showed her many Disney video about the theme parks. Even talked to her about how it is just pretend...people in the costumed/mask. Regardless, she is still afraid but still determined to go to DW. We are not doing any character meals except for the princesses and Cinderalla. My 2 teens will also distract my niece if we even come close to characters while we are at the park.

Any one else faced this situation before and how did it turn out?

Our 5 year old twins were the same way before our trip to the World. They were terrrified of any character/mascot. We went to a Detroit Tigers game and they saw Paws (Tiger Mascot) on the other side of the stadium!!!, and wanted to run!!!!!!

We kept on them about the Disney characters being "just people in costumes". When our trip came they did great!!!! Except for one character - DONALD DUCK!!! They didn't like him. The person doing Donald was really into character and Donald was stomping around, being jealous - being Donald!! 10 months later, they still say they don't like Donald!!

I think your niece will do fine. The boys seemed to change instantly when we got to Disney World. I think they realized the characters were really nice (except for Donald!!), and saw that none of the other children were being eaten!!!