Character dining scary?

[disneydragon]

I'm wondering about the experience of dining with the characters. How "in your face" are they? Has anyone had a child freak out about the characters?

 

[roadtripper]

Like anything, some kids are into it, some aren't. We're just back from our third trip, and DS 7 would finally smile in character pic with Minnie yesterday. Some characters like Goofy are huge and can be scary, but they also read kids well-- they will smile and play from a distance if kids seem hesitant. They are pros-- it's definitely a must-do for us every trip instead of waiting in lines at the parks.

 

[mrsboz]

the characters must be taught that if a child is scared not to go near them because when my children have been scared they walk right away. If you think that your child may be scared you could always put him/her on the inside so that they do not have to be so near the characters. then you could see how they do and if they want to move to the outside.

 

[MrBelding]

We have 2 girls (3 & 6) broke them in 1st thing w/Princess Breakfast. All characters were "real", after that costumed characters didn't seem to faze them.....

 

[peanutzmom]

When we did 'Ohana character breakfast last year, our daughter had just turned three. She liked seeing the characters from afar, but didn't like them coming up and touching / hugging her. They were very understanding and backed right off. Just follow your child's lead -- it makes me so mad when parents insist a child stand right next to a character for just "one more picture" when the child is obviously distressed!

 

[Gadget Girl]

My eldest DD has never been scared of the characters; my youngest was a bit stand-offish on her first trip at 19 months old. At the Garden Grill, Dale "took a drink" from her cup and she moved it as far away from him as possible when he sat it back down! By the end of the meal, though, she had warmed up to all of them and even let Mickey pick her up and hug her.