Character Phobia

[MALE*RN*777]

I would have loved to get the kids pictures taken with some of the Disney Characters walk around the parks but as soon as we got anywhere near one they would pull away or start to scream. Any other parents out there with the same problems?

 

[stacy6552]

Almost all of us do. OUr youngest wanted no part of them until he was about 3. It was the wonderful, ever to be counted on cast at the Liberty Tree Tavern that brought him around.

 

[alloyd1170]

My kids have done it too. Before my son's first trip I got the Sing Along dvds and the planning dvd in hopes of prepping him for the size of the characters. The only one he ran up to (and cut everyone off) was Mickey (he was 2 at the time and afraid of Santa). By 3 he was fine.

With my daughter, I showed her the dvds and she wanted no part of the characters when she was ~15 mos. She loves Ariel and wouldnt even tolerate her. I had to take her up to meet the characters (did with my son too). Im hoping this trip in a week will be better for her. She is already excited and goes nuts when she sees all our pics, videos, and ads on tv for WDW. She goes around singing songs from Little Mermaid too. She will be pushing 20 mos at the time too.

alison

 

[TheDizMom]

When we went in 05 our DD was 4 and scared to death of any character who wasn't a princess. We just simply didn't take her (though we tried to talk her into it) to the characters when we say them in the parks. We were able to get pictures of her with characters when we went to restaurants by having my DH stand between her and the character. We requested table with a booth seat on one side so a character couldn't approach her from behind. When the character arrived we explained she didn't want them to touch or hug her but to just wave at her from across the table, which she was fine with. The hostesses and characters accomidated us as much as possible and in the end things worked out just fine. I would have loved to get pictures of just her and characters like I had of her brother, but this way I was at least able to get her in pictures with them in some form.

 

[girlsx4]

Our first trip was in Nov. '05. Our youngest dd had just turned 2. She was scared of the characters for the first day or two and then by the end she was hugging EVERY character she could find! It was so cute!
We are planning another trip in Sept. (she will be almost 4) and I hope she still wants to hug them.

 

[the Fidge]

DS 10 now was terrrifed of Santa the Easter bunny and Tigger, so we decided not to take DS until his fear of characters was gone.

Thankfully it did not last very long by 5 he would watch from a distance and 6 he was chasing them!!!

Have fun!! IT is something that I think just comes ..........with time!

 

[Luv Bunnies]

My DS11 has Asperger's Syndrome and gets a little nervous around anyone in a big costume. He likes watching them from a distance but doesn't like to get too close. He said he wouldn't mind doing a few character meals since our DS8 like them so much. But DS11 made it clear that he didn't want to touch them or stand up and take pictures with them.

The funny part is, our DS11 is a tall boy and looks perfectly fine so the characters will often try to interact with him. Poor Tigger came up behind him at Crystal Palace and put his hands on his shoulders. DS11 very calmly said, "Mommy, I think I'm about to freak out." I told Tigger he was shy but that DS8 wanted to hug him. Tigger threw up his hands and acted like he was sorry. We ended up doing 3 character meals and DS11 was fine as long as I told the characters that he was too shy to talk to them. They would move away quickly and just wave at him from across the table.

Seeing characters and having pictures with Santa has never been a requirement in our household. I worked as a Santa's helper for 5 years in HS and college and we used to hate it when parents would force their little kids to sit on Santa's lap. Our Santa would refuse to keep a crying child on his lap if they made it clear they wanted to get down. He just didn't believe in torturing them like that. He would suggest to the parents that they bring the child back several times before Christmas, walk around the area, watch Santa from afar and maybe they could get close enough to sit for a picture. It worked with many kids and others never really came around.

I think it has to be the kids' decision. It took my DS8 until he was 6 to want to even go near the characters and now he loves them!

 

[AMaloy314]

LOL! Enjoy it while it lasts!

When we visited WDW 2 yrs ago, DS were 2 and 4yo. Neither wanted anything to do with the characters despite my best efforts to acclimate them with Disney Sing Along Videos, character meals, autograph books,etc. I was really disappointed to not get any photos of them with characters.

This year, I didn't plan on anything regarding the characters, and the boys couldn't get enough of them! We spent all kinds of time in line waiting to meet the characters. We ended up buying the photopass CD because we had so many great photos of the kids with the characters. It really put a crimp in my plans for touring .

My advice is not to sweat it. Either way, you are going to have some great memories.

 

[Oceana]

My 3 year old always did fine with characters... then the moment his HERO Buzz lightyear walked up he freaked out

I later came to find out, it was a surprise and he wasnt emotionally ready

my 1 year old... did not like meeting the characters. In Epcot after the Fab5 grouping they had an exit area with some other characters... Pinoccio characters and Goofey. My 1 year old really enjoyed that part. I could put him down and let him be in control. He could approach them and stop when he got uncomfortable. He enjoyed it when they would run from him... but if they took even 1 step in his direction he would freak out. In this he loved the characters and no lines and only occationally other kids to compete for affection

I think the issue is more about size and pressure than full on fear, giving him control was the best choice. Cant do this with every situation though and characters only worked with large tables.

julie

 

[mom2att]

When dd was 4 and 5 she loved all of the characters, with the exception of the male face characters, like Aladdin. We have an entire scrapbook of her with dozens of characters, along with their autographs. Fortunately this was in 2001, when crowds were much less than now, so we didn't have to wait long to get all of those pics!

Fast forward to 2005, when ds #1 was 4 and 5. He was terrified of all characters, to the point of falling on the ground and covering his face and ears when a character was close by. Needless to say, we tried to steer clear of them, though watching the parades was an interesting experience! Ds #2, who was 1 and 2 at the time, was pretty indifferent to the characters.

Now the kids are 10, 6, and 3, and we are at the parks again in 2007. Ds #1 is still not crazy about the characters, but much better than last time. Recently we walked right by Pluto at the Land, and I complimented ds on not having to hide behind me. He said it was only because Pluto was not looking! I doubt he'll ever really enjoy the characters like dd did, but that's okay--more time for the attractions! Oh, and ds #2 is still not into the characters, either--I'm sure big brother's phobia doesn't help!

 

[DAISY DUCK FAN!]

My youngest absolutely LOVES the characters! That's just about all he wanted to do, which worked out well since he was just under the height requirements for some rides!

It's my middle kiddo who wants nothing to do with characters. We were walking in Epcot in France, I believe and a character from Pinocchio came towards him cause my son waved. I said, no thanks, waving from a distance is about all he does with characters.

What can you do? Maybe next time.

 

[MommaPooh]

I have an 11 year old who is absolutely terrified by anything or anyone whose face is covered either by a mask, costume or heavy clown-like make-up. He was fine until he was three or four. My nephew was spending the night and I rented him the movie A Clown Before Midnight. I told him not to watch it until DD and DS were asleep. DS woke up, watched the movie and has not been the same since.

DS does not look like a typical 11 year old. He is the size of a normal man, not a normal kid. Because of this, characters do not think he is afraid of them. At places like Chuck E. Cheese they approach him. He does not scream or cry, but he holds on to me or his dad and hides behind us when he gets within 20 or so feet of a character. He did have a character chase him around one time at WDW. I though DH was going to seriously hurt the character because he would not stop even after DS began having a panic attack. We have to be cautious at parades and carnivals. We don't go to a circus at all.

DD goes up to the characters and gets autographs for both of them and takes a picture. We are able to get family shots with characters (mainly Mickey or Goofy only)sometimes. We just explain to the character's escort the situation before our turn. DS gets as far away from character as possible while still being in the photograph. Plus DS usually has a death grip on me and we make sure the character does not touch him.

DS is extremely intelligent and will tell you he knows the characters are just people. He will also tell you how silly he thinks his phobia is, but that he cannot help it.

 

[rebecca314]

DD 4 is afraid of many characters --- Goofy is the worst! How bad is it? We were at Disney on Ice in Milwaukee last week and she started screaming when Goofy skated out!!! We were in Section 326 --- the cheap seats! --- and she still panicked. I'm hoping she outgrows this before the next trip!