But what if he freaks out??!!

[DizzyKitten]

Hi everyone, I'm new here to the DIS. (Well, I'm new to posting anyway. I've been secretly reading your posts for two months now. I know, I know, I should be taken out back and whipped!!) Well, I decided enough reading, (it feels like stealing, it really does) I need to get involved. You know what they say, if you're not part of the solution, blah, blah, blah.
I have a point, trust me. I've read tons of tips and tricks and recommendations and everything. But here's something I don't recall seeing on here(maybe I just missed it). What do you do if you take your 3 yr old(boy) to WDW and he freaks out around the characters? I have to tell you that my son would not approach the Easter Bunny at the Jelly Belly factory on Easter so I'm a little concerned about my WDW trip.
He absolutely loves Lightning McQueen and Mater and Woody and Buzz, not to mention Nemo and others so you can imagine my concern at his fear. I've seen pics of some of the characters and they're huge, especially to a 3 yr old in a stroller!
I've also read horror stories of parents who are seen (and heard) yelling at their children because the kid was scared of a ride, had to use the bathroom, or ate bacon with their hands (still can't get over that one) and I don't want to be that parent. I've never been that parent but WDW stress seems to do weird things to people.

My question is what do you suggest as a game plan for the kid who's scared when there are character meals scheduled. I don't want the other kids to miss out but I'd hate to scar the kid for life.

Any tips?

 

[PiperPizzaz]

I would recommend getting the Disneyland Sing a long video. So he can used to the characters. My Ds LOVES his.

Do you have someplace around you that normally has a character. My Ds only likes furry characters not the face ones. He is very shy but, maybe he thinks they are stuffed animals or something. Anyway, not to ramble but, we have a Chuck E Cheese restaurant/play place by us that has a mouse (rat?) character and we take him there to keep him used to the characters.

 

[*KeepMovingForward*]

Don't feel bad about lurking-I think most everyone did it before joining. Heck...I lurked on and off for years!

Not sure how to solve your issue with the characters. I would have said just see how your 3-year-old reacts to the characters in the park and then if he freaks...nix the character dining, but like you said, you have others in your party that do want to go to the character dining and would enjoy it. I never had this issue with my kids. I never forced character interaction and we probably did not do character meals with them until we had done Disney several times (so I knew they would not be afraid). Most of the characters seem to know when a child is scared and they will try to steer clear and not upset them.

 

[tjmw2727]

ITA with the PP about the sing along video - my dd's loved Disneyland Fun as it is quite like WDW and they can see the kids laughing and having a good time with the characters. They also have Flics adventure at AK and and a beach party one.

The characters aren't 'everywhere' and won't be in your sons face if he is uncomfortable. They are Excellent on reading the cues and won't scare a child. Take it slow and if you see an interesting character approach the line slowly with the child in the stroller. Then ask if he wants to get out. I found that by having an autograph book, even when they were little it gave them a reason to meet the characters. If he dislikes the characters they will be easy to avoid, lets hope he likes them

TJ

 

[design_mom]

When my DS was 3, he was also *terrified* of characters. One time we were at a restaurant on Kid's Night and their mascot (Red Robin) came out to greet the tables. My DS shrieked, "I don't want Red Robin to go crazy at me! Make him go back to his nest!" It would have been comical if he hadn't been so obviously frightened.

So being frightened of the characters was obviously a concern when we went to WDW a few months later. We spent the first day avoiding characters. Then, late in the evening, DS said, "Hey, doesn't Mickey Mouse live here? Where is he?" So we went to Toon Town and waited in line. I was sure he would change his mind at the last minute, but he didn't. He went right up to Mickey -- and since then he hasn't been afraid of characters. He still talks about how Goofy pretended to blow his nose on DS's hat.

I hope your DS has the same experience... but even if he doesn't, it is possible to avoid getting up-close-and-personal with the characters, even at the character meals. It sounds like your group will need a pretty big table so you could just seat DS3 at one end let the character greet the other kids at the other end of the table. I've never seen a character "pressure" a kid into coming up to him (although I have seen a few parents pressure kids!)

 

[Princess Roo]

I would try to see at least one character before the meals to see how he reacts. My son LOVED the characters from a distance, but did not want them to get closer than a foot or two away. He still really enjoyed the character meals. (I think seeing older siblings enjoying them will make your child less likely to dislike them, though.) But, if he does, you can seat him in the character meals so that he is harder to 'get at' by the characters. They are really good at sensing how much interaction a child wants, and you can always "sheild" with your body or explain he doesn't want them too close if needed. Have fun!

 

[DizzyKitten]

I would recommend getting the Disneyland Sing a long video. So he can used to the characters. My Ds LOVES his.

Do you have someplace around you that normally has a character. My Ds only likes furry characters not the face ones. He is very shy but, maybe he thinks they are stuffed animals or something. Anyway, not to ramble but, we have a Chuck E Cheese restaurant/play place by us that has a mouse (rat?) character and we take him there to keep him used to the characters.

Thanks PP, you know what, we have the first Disney Sing A Long songs VHS(yes, VHS) and the kids have seen it so much they have it memorized. It's the one with the Yo Ho, A pirate's life for me on it and shows the original Pirates ride. (I won't tell you that the video was actually mine.
The CEC in my town has opted for the cheaper televised versions of the characters playing instruments rather than the full size animatronic things so no help there.

 

[DizzyKitten]

I hope you're right and he has the same experience your DS had and he starts to look for his fave characters rather than being afraid of them all. We will certainly have a large table and I think it's a great idea to make sure he's not seated on right in the path of the characters.

Well, we'll have to wait and see won't we?

I haven't even told them yet. I'm debating between telling them in August or telling them the night before(j/k).

 

[KMZOB]

I had the same fears about my DS when we took him in November...he was 2 3/4 . He had always cried at the Easter Bunny and Santa Claus. I had second thoughts the whole time before our trip.
I made sure we went to MGM the first day and had our first meal with JoJo & Goliath and Leo & June. (DS loves the Little Einsteins)...well...he was absolutely in awe! He loved it! He was not afraid at all. He talked to the characters and was so excited. I have to say the only character we saw that he didn't want to be near was the Queen of Hearts, but that's because she "kicked" him off the Tea Cups (the tea cup ride was ending and she got on and motioned for DH and DS to get off! It was so funny!!!)

I'm sure it will be okay. Just watch lots of Disney Films and play the Disney music. Build up the excitement. And I totally agree with previous posters....a character meal is the way to start it off!!

Have a great time!!

 

[Ellester]

First of all, welcome to the DIS! My kids have all been different in their feelings towards the characters. My oldest was very wary of the "big head" characters but loved the "face" characters when she was 2 & 2 1/2 (I have a lovely picture somewhere of my daughter buried in my dad's armpit during her first visit with Mickey). My middle one loved all characters from the get go. My son, who was 2yrs9mos at our last visit loved the "big heads" but did not like the "face" characters so much. My advice would be to tell your son that there will be characters at the character meals, but that he can sit by you or on your lap when they come by and he doesn't even have to look at them if he doesn't want to. Maybe if he knows that you aren't going to make him hug them, he'll be less afraid. If you go in with the attitude that if he likes the characters, great, but if not that's ok too I think you'll avoid alot of unneeded stress. After he sees his siblings interacting and being excited to see Mickey (or whoever), he may warm up to them. And even if he doesn't, you'll still have a wonderful time!

 

[MommaPooh217]

Hi DizzyKitten,


Most of the characters at the character meals in Disney that I have taken my kids to are usually pretty good about backing off if they see that a child is afraid so I would'nt worry too much.


Blessed Be,
Tina

 

[bumbershoot]

I'm a person who used to refuse to have anything to do with any sort of character like that, even Santa. Actually, I still question the reason for them, don't understand the whys and whatnots of them, but I accept they exist and can be around them peacefully now.


"I've seen pics of some of the characters and they're huge, especially to a 3 yr old in a stroller!"


Number One tip? OUT of the stroller and up on your hip or someone's shoulders! Let him be as big as the character, so this enormous face isn't LOOMING over him. It also lets him see the character as a character, not some distorted nose looking at him.

So if you see one coming, ask if he'd like to get up higher.


First two trips (DS at just over one, then again just over two years old) DS hasn't really fussed at all when he's seen a character, and I feel that part of it is because he was on my back in the mei tai or Ergo, or up on my hip most of the time (he really was uncomfortable in the Disneyland rental strollers). This trip at 3 will be interesting, to say the least, but I *think* that letting him be up at eye, or at least shoulder, level will continue to help him out.

Good luck!


Oh, by the way...my guy isn't quite 3 yet, but for some unknown reason we told him that we're going again, and he talks about it quite a bit. Not quite to the annoying "when are we going" stage, but just quite often. He even said the opposite the other week "I hurt my nose, I can't go to Disneywand". But I think if he were older and more into the "when are we going, huh huh huh?" phase, it would have really been painful for DH and I to have already told him about our September trip! So I vote for WAITING until you're a little bit closer.

 

[tttessa]

Our experience was from Disneyland Resort Paris - but same old thing...

My 2 DDs were absolute scaredy cats to start with around characters, so we didn't do the meet and greet lines -
but we did do a character meal where we started off with them (DDs) sitting on the usual grown-up side of the table away from where the characters would be walking (get a table by the edge), but by the time the second character came round they had swapped - it really is the best way to meet the characters and get used to them. By the end of our trip they were lining up for autographs, and (WOW) even TALKED to the characters!!

Sometimes I think it's us parents who tense up thinking - will they get upset etc - and and they sense that and that can set them off....

Tessa

 

[Manda]

On our first trip when DS was 2, he was scared of all the characters. I'd scheduled a character breakfast the first day thinking it would be a great Welcome to Disney type thing, but it wasn't. The characters were good about sensing his discomfort though and would just wave in his direction from the other side of the table. We didn't really do any character interactions after that since he clearly didn't want to and we still had a great time.

On the second trip when DS was 3, he was still nervous, but was older now. I convinced him to go up with me to see Mickey while I was holding him. He wanted to do that because he wanted to see Mickey - and everything is okay when Mom's holding you. So, we visited several with him in arms and me about to collapse from his weight. After I got the feeling that he knew they weren't really that scary, I encouraged (okay, bribed) him to walk up to Minnie by himself so I could take a picture. I was on my knees encouraging him to walk up and Minnie sensed his reluctance and walked over to him, took him by the hand, and skipped back up to her spot with him. He got his candy afterwards and was fine with most characters after that.

He still won't go close to Goofy or Tigger or any bad guys.

 

[wrighter]

Based on my DS's experience with Santa, we were totally expecting him to be afraid of the characters. So we just decided we would forgo the whole character experience. Well wouldn't you know that he LOVED the characters?! Ran right up to the first one he saw (a dinosaur in AK) and gave him a big hug. Then we had to change our plans to spend time in line to see the characters.

My advice is to roll with the punches. Like a pp said - the characters aren't everywhere, and in fact you really have to keep an eye out for them. If your DS isn't into them I bet he won't even notice them. I spent six months here reading and planning, and then decided the best route for my family was to take it slow and let our kids be the guides. If they wanted to ride the carousel eight times in a row we let them. If they wanted to wait in every single character line at Camp Mickey and Minnie, we let them. It's vacation, so battles that we would normally face we just set aside. It was wonderful.

Your DS will let you know what he thinks of the characters - then you can plan the rest of your trip accordingly. Have a great time!!!

 

[princesskimberella]

Hi and Welcome !!!

Well just this past January we dealt with this issue. My daughter, like your child was afraid of anyone in costuem even on halloween. So I braced myself for a freak out and of course we she freaked as soon as we walked into the MK and saw Daisy and Pluto greeting everyone. I held her tight and promised her she would not have to go to any characters, but I had a 4 and 6 year old gun ho to see characters... so dh stayed with her and I took the others. I took her some coaxing to even get her down mainstreet. The first day was pure misery for DH and I and it was really hard to not get fustrated, but we made it thru ok, but my arms burned the next day from carring her around for 10 hours.. The next morning we had a character breakfast and I told our waiter she was afraid and he was sure to tell the character handler, and they stayed away from her side of the table. I think once she realized we were not goign to make her see then she was ok with it. On our third day there she got a hold of one of the disposable camera I brought just for the kids she loved taking pics of my other 2 with the character ....
I wish you luck!!

 

[DizzyKitten]

Thanks PK, I honestly think that my DS3 will react the same as your DD. I've warned all the adults going that I will need help with him when it comes to the characters and his fear. I honestly think when he sees his favorites like Woody and Buzz he will forget about being scared. At least that's my hope.
If he goes the whole 8 days and doesn't want to get close to ANY of the characters, I won't think of it as a waste. No matter what, I know that he'll remember seeing Woody and Buzz and Mickey Mouse whether he got close to them or not.

Thanks for your post.

 

[brymolmom]

Went when dd was almost two and she is a VERY dramatic child and was hysterical when characters got near her. She's not someone who likes people in her face and would even scream at little old ladies when they'd get in her face and say 'isn't she cute?'. So with the characters.....

Well let's just say my scrapbook page from that first meal at CP is priceless - she is crying up a storm! Her big brother liked it though. We had lots of looks like we were ogres but what others didn't know is dd, in her drama queen role, acted out like that a lot at that age (and still does on occasion) - so we knew she was fine, just being herself.

Since then, she has slowly come to accept characters - although I wouldn't say she loves them now. We have done character meals all along...she'll just stay away from them on the other side of the table or sit on daddy's lap. Just this last visit she finally had her picture taken with some.

It'll come...maybe slowly but it'll come.

 

[Blueyed Girl]

When we first got to WDW this February we went to Epcot and while renting a stroller my son saw this little red car with Mickey in it and asked if he could have it. DH bought it for him and let me tell you that one little red car was a lifesaver our entire trip!! Somehow, the first place we went into was the Character Connection in Epcot. We didn't even know where we were but walked in and there was Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Goofy, and Chip & Dale!! This CM was very helpful and patient with DS(3) and so was Mickey. Mickey was the first one we went up to. When it was DS's turn, Mickey GOT ON THE FLOOR AND PLAYED CARS WITH HIM!!!! I was tearing up big time. My son LOVED it!! They rolled the car back and forth and then we all posed for a couple of pictures. DS was still a little nervous with each character but by the end he was much more relaxed. I won't say that he posed all by himself with them, but he wasn't screaming like a crazy person when we all approached the characters for a picture. It was so nice. I was very impressed with how the characters took their time and made him feel comfortable. I had really thought that we wouldn't take any pictures with characters because he wouldn't be able to handle it. I guess that's why they say Disney World is such a magical place!

 

[SeptemberGirl]

I think it's a great idea to try out a character somewhere beforehand. We took my DD last year to WDW and first went Sesame Place, which is very near us. I really thought she'd freak from past experiences, but she loved them. So you just never know.

She did react very strongly to certain attractions - email me if you like and I'll tell you which ones worked and didn't work for us. My best advice is just take it slow and don't have any expectations - I had to really learn this last year, and once I did I stopped feeling bad that she was scared of some things and instead focused on the things she loved and that delighted her.

We're be there the same time as you - with our 3 yr old! Maybe we'll see each other on the line for Dumbo!