Babies and Disney Characters

[Bertie131]

My nephew will be about 6 months old on our next trip to WDW. We have never traveled with children. My family would love to have a pic of him with some characters. Will the characters hold the babies? What if the baby cries--will the character stop the interaction? Any info would be greatly appreciated!

 

[PIRATEGIRL007]

They will not hold your baby, you will have to hold him and be in the picture as well.

The charecters are great with children and will not keep interacting with a scared child. If you baby doesn't react well thank the charecter and walk away they won't force you to stay.

Our kids were great with charecters as babies, some scream bloody murder, it just really depends on the child and what may not scare them one day may really spook them the next. I would stick with 'face' charecters at first to see what the reaction is and then move on to fur charecters.

 

[Anonomom]

Some of the face characters will hold a baby -- I have a great shot of Jasmine holding my (then) 7-month-old, while her 3yo sister and Alladin sat next to them.

I can't imagine a fuzzy character holding a baby. It seems like a situation ripe for mishap.

Just remember to go slowly; allow your baby to watch for a while before you approach the characters. Some get scared, some are fascinated (mine was).

 

[puffkin]

I think the face characters will hold the babies if they kneel down, but not standing. I am pretty sure the other characters are not allowed to hold babies, but I have seen some sit down and cradle a baby (but I don't think that they are technically supposed to).

We had DS there at 3 months and he pretty much just stared at the characters. I have a cute shot of him laughing and grabbing Pluto's nose.

 

[aceys_h0ney]

My DD first went when she was 10 months old. She was scared of some characters and they left her alone and interacted with the rest of us. She liked some so of them and they were great with her. We would mention to a character that baby isn't so sure about meeting new people yet and they would proceed with caution instead of being all up in her face. The only time we had any 'trouble' was with Pluto, she was crying and he kept trying to interact with her, he was sweet and got down on her level but I stepped in between them because the more she cried the closer he tried to get.

It really just depends on the character, the baby and heck the winds I don't know lol. One minute she was fine, next minute she was crying, then back to fine when the next one came around.

 

[kwitcherkicken99]

They're not supposed to, but some will grab onto toddlers and up.

At 6 mo, DD was approached by Goofy and Mickey. She ended up licking Mickey's nose eek.

Last trip, (she was 2) Chip knelt down and placed her on his knee for the photo. I was really surprised to see that happen. Come to think of it, Genie did the same.

 

[TheNotSoGreatGonzo]

I have pictures of my 6-month old daughter being held (while sleeping) by a standing Mulan and by a sitting (on a bench) Cinderella.

 

[t_catt11]

Fuzzy character won't "hold" the baby, but we had several offer to kneel and have us prop our 4 month old against their lap.

 

[progroupie]

No character is ever supposed to hold a baby but princesses can get baby fever once in awhile and often will. So don't be surprised if some do and some don't.

When it comes to the furry characters, start with smaller characters, like Piglet. Babies tend to love the Pooh characters because they're literally big stuffed animals. Stay away from the bigger guys at first until they've gotten a feel for it. Even Mickey and Minnie can be a little scary because of their large faces so you might not want to start there. Chip'n'Dale are pretty medium sized but like the Pooh characters they're soft and fuzzy and babies like that.

 

[mickey&minniealways]

My nephew will be about 6 months old on our next trip to WDW. We have never traveled with children. My family would love to have a pic of him with some characters. Will the characters hold the babies? What if the baby cries--will the character stop the interaction? Any info would be greatly appreciated!

Yes some of them will. If you are in the picture also it can help. Just edit yourself out later if the child is scared. Other than that be ready with the camera and snap quick. This is what we had to do.

I have a picture somewhere of King Louie holding my then 6 month old daughter. She will be 16 in less then 2 weeks.

 

[Redheaded Sunshine]

Well this was several years ago (5 maybe?) but I have a picture of my DD as a wee one and Pooh made a little nook in his tummy and held her and shook her rattle for her. We were all snapping pictures like mad and it is one my very favorites. Most of the character interactions that we had with my kids as babies were good, some were better than others.

My son (at about 1) interacted much better with Mary Poppins and princess type characters....they loved him and he loved them right back

 

[The 6 J's]

I have a cute shot of him laughing and grabbing Pluto's nose.

I think the best picture opportunities will come when he's safely in a grown-ups arms and reaching and grabbing a nose, ear or other on the character. This happens quick so be ready when character first approaches.

 

[Babbletrish]

You may want to look for the recent thread about pictures where kids didn't like meeting the characters. Seriously, there were some neat tips in there.

If I may suggest something; have you considered doing a character meal? From the child's point of view, it's usually less intimidating in that the characters walk up to you rather than you standing in a line to meet them.