Any tips for 3 yo terrified of characters?

[moinab]

We are planning on buying FL resident seasonal passes for WDW next year. I haven't been to the World since I was 10 (25 years ago!)

We went on a DCL cruise in July, and discovered that DS-3 is afraid of the characters. We spent the whole cruise dodging them, and couldn't go to any of the shows.

Any tips on getting him over this?

Also, we're planning on going for DD's first birthday, January 31. Her nickname is "Stitch," because she is Stitch. I'd love to get a picture of her with Stitch on her birthday. What are our chances of encountering him? Any tips on finding him?

TIA

 

[NotUrsula]

With a kid who's afraid of characters, the best thing to do is let her keep her distance from them. Also, we found that it was best to tell the truth; that they are just people who are celebrating Halloween all year long--grownups wearing costumes.

DS is now 6, and 9 Disney trips have not changed his mind. With him, the key has been to make it absolutely plain that we will NOT force him to interact with characters. Since he knows what they really are, he is fine watching them from a distance, but his limit is about 30 feet away. Character meals are NOT a good idea with a kid like this; no matter how hard you try to make the handlers understand that the characters should avoid your table, you can't keep them far enough away because they have to circulate through the whole place. Save your money and don't bother.

There is a distinct bright side to having a child who does not like characters--you won't waste valuable ride time standing around in autograph lines. Every time I pass Ariel's grotto, I feel grateful.

 

[castlegazer]

While I have not cruised on DCL YET.... I believe there is a distinct difference between being on the ship and having to avoid characters and being in the parks with the characters. You do not have to see characters in the parks if you don't want to - just avoid the opening of the parks as the characters gather at the front as you enter to allow everyone time to see them and line up for autographs. And even then, the only park where you will be pretty face-to-face with this is in MK. AT AK the characters were to the side as you walked in and if you weren't looking you may not have even seen them. If you stumble on one accidently it is pretty easy to stay 30 feet away as the line of children usually extends this far. We found that while there was an abundance of character interaction opportunities, you really had to seek it out, as in in tents or back rooms or in out-of-the-way areas like the area for meeting Lilo and Stitch in MGM (yes, that's where you can meet Stitch, Animation Courtyard back by the Playhouse Disney area and the animation gallery). I think they do this intentionally as many children feel the same way yours does. You will see the signs with Mickey Mouse's hand directing you to character meet areas so you really have to seek it out. There is also a lot more opportunities to see the characters without the scarry masks on, i.e Belle and the other princesses.

 

[beattyfamily]

What we did for our DD who was very afraid of characters at age 1 and 2 was buy all the Disney Sing A Long movies with the actual characters out and about around Walt Disney World and Disneyland.

There's one of MK at Disneyland
There's a Christmas one (we love!)
Then there's a Beach Party one with footage of the water parks and the GF and the Poly etc...

Also, we took her to Chuck E Cheese to see Chuckie a few times. This also helps.

She did MUCH better at age 3. We actually have pictures of her with many characters and each day she got more comfortable with them than the next. A peer role model probably helped to. Seeing her DSis go up to them with no fear.

By the end of our trip, she just ran up to Cat in the Hat and Thing one and Thing two all by herself and when she was 1 the Cat in the Hat scared her to death!

Good luck!

 

[deb305]

We have never been on the cruise. Was he scared of both characters with the big head piece (Mickey, Minnie etc) or the characters in costume only (Snow White, Sleeping beauty etc)?Our DS 1yr would only warm up to the characters who could smile back at him.
Previous posters are correct, you don't have to interact with characters. My perception is that the characters have become more stand-offish waiting for people to come up to them first. They don't seem to approach those not in line waiting for them. I doubt he'll be approached by any of them unless he wants to be.

 

[moinab]

Thank you for all the responses.

Actually, the real problem with the characters on the cruise was because we tried to see the Island Magic character show. After 2 minutes, he was completely freaked out. After that, every time he saw a character, he would get a little panicky and start saying, "Go away!" He was ok if they were at a distance and there were a lot of people in between him and them, but he would still want us to move on until he didn't see them. Then, we tried to see Finding Nemo in the same theater, but he was afraid the characters would come back out, so we had to leave. We didn't have any problem with characters approaching us because we didn't attend any of the organized functions.I can't remember if he had any problems with the princesses. I think the only time we saw them was passing through the atrium on the way to dinner, and there were a lot of people around them.


I was just hoping there was some way to help him get over this so we could go to shows. I may try the Sing-a-longs, but it sounds like we may just have to wait for him to grow out of it.

Is Stitch only at MGM, or can we see him at MK? (Guess we'll have to divide up so DD can get her photo-she's not afraid of anything!)

Thanks so much!

 

[beattyfamily]

Originally posted by moinab
Is Stitch only at MGM, or can we see him at MK? (Guess we'll have to divide up so DD can get her photo-she's not afraid of anything!)

Thanks so much!

We saw Stitch at the entrance to MK and inside AK with Lilo!

Have fun!

 

[BevS97]

My dd wasn't keen on characters to start with, but would dart up and hand over her autograph book and then stand back. This was quite good because she got to see the characters (which she wanted to do), but didn't have to get too close.

 

[crisi]

My son at 3 had a wary relationship with characters. He'd sit through a character meal, but didn't want to be touched and wouldn't voluntarily go close for pictures. Didn't scream or cry though, just "nope, not for me."

This trip started very similarly - he is now five - he wouldn't get close to the first few characters we came near. After a day or so he said "Mom, we need to get one of those books where the characters write their names." After that, he was fine - he had a task and could walk right up and get an autograph and stand for a picture.

Of course, all kids are different and there was a big difference between three and five for my son. You can try all sorts of things, but the best thing is probably exposure (i.e. walking past them, near them, seeing parades, trying the videos - but within his comfort zone) and time.

Good luck.

 

[rdrjj5]

Beattyfamily,

So glad to hear those videos worked! All we have been watching for a month now are the sing alongs! (It use to be wiggles but not anymore) The favorites are the 2 we have with the characters not cartoons. Disneyland fun and the twelve days of christmas. Both my soon to be 2 1/2 year olds could not go near characters 6 months ago. I hope these videos work for me as they did for you. I also hope my dd4 helps them too.

 

[DisFam95]

ASk any of the character handlers about a character you are looking for. You might ask several to see what answers you get. We found very helpful CM handlers that told us where and when to find some rare ones we were seeking...that was our 'theme' this past trip with pictures, how many characters can we meet and how mant funny hats can we try on!!

 

[DisneyPhD]

Our DD has will have been to WDW 4 times before she turns 3. Once at just under 9 months. She didn't think much of the characters, but she liked pooh (who held her for while). When she was just under 2 years old she was shy around the characters, but once again hugged pooh (the only one she would have anything to do with. We took many pictures and she was alright as long as we were with her and the character wasn't right next to her. However once she got home she LOVED the pictures and talked about them all the time. She also loved seeing the characters on our home videos.

Our ast trip she was 2 1/2, while still having some shy feeling about them, she wanted the pictures. So she would go up to the characters and smile for them, but didn't want to interact as much. She did warm up during some character meals. (it also depends if she liked the character or not.) She did enjoy meeting Areil and Cinderella (her favorites.) She loves the pictures and autographs now.

Next trip she will be 3 months shy of 3. I antispate her being fine, but her friend who is the same age is coming and he tends to be shy around new things, so I am guessing he won't see as many.

We wacth the sing along videos all the time. She loves Beach party and Disney land fun. She can't figure out where the cover to the tea cups went or why the outside of Small World looks different. We are about the break out the Christmas one after Thanksgiving.

Good luck, give him space and he may warm up, if not it is no big deal. I recomend you or another family member taking a few pictures with the characters for him to look at later. (If he doesn't mind you greeting the characters.) He might like the autographs after the fact too. Sometimes having a goal like taking the picture or getting the autograph helps take away the fear. Also have him look a them interact with others from a distance at 1st. If you have a digital camera it helps for them to see the pictures right away (instant gradification.)