child affraid of characters ??

[PaDisney02]

We r thinking about doing chef mickeys but my now 20 month old cries at the sight of characters. At what age do children over come that fear? At the time of our trip he will be a little over 2 years old. I really want to do a character dinning 4 my older son but I'm affraid if my little guy cries the characters wont come over to our table. What do you think? Should we go for it or skip it?

We r going to CRT but thats different, they really are not in full body costumes so I dont think he will be affraid there.

 

[ms*mountaineer]

I was worried about my older DD - she was 6 when we went in Feb. She is always afraid of mascots or people in costume - like we might see in a local parade or at the fair. From a distance it was Ok. But up close to get your picture taken - no way! She would freak. Last summer she dragged us across the entire fairgrounds to see someone dressed as Spiderman - but chickened out when we got up to him.

SO - I was really concerned with the Disney trip. She had NO PROBLEM with any of them. I was really surprised. I think they seemed like old friends to her.

It's hard to say about your little one. Things can change in 4 months. And yes, face characters may be better. I will tell you think - the characters are pretty sensitive to shy kids. They will not invade their space if they see the child doesn't want to see them.

You should be OK at CRT. It will be face characters - and you will see them coming. If your little one looks upset - have your older one go over to the character and meet them a little away from your table.

 

[mama03]

I agree with Mrs. M. When our kids were little, my youngest did not like the characters in costume. As they came by our table, my other two would interact and when a character came close to my little one, the character backed off when he/she realized he was afraid. So dont worry too much about the fear. Enjoy your breakfast!

 

[PaDisney02]

thats a good idea. My local pizza hut had mickey there and the little guy freaked out. He was ok when I held him and took him over to Mickey. But when he was sitting in the high chair and Mickey was walking around he kept follwing Mickey with his eyes and when he came near, my son would start to cry. Hopefully by the time our trip is he will be a little better. Thanks

 

[knfries]

My grandson was 18 months old on his first WDW trip. The first day he screamed and didn't want anything to do with the characters in MK. The second day we had breakfast at CM's and my daughter and I were prepared for more screaming. He was drinking OJ from a cup and spilled a little on his shirt. Minnie came up beside him and started wiping off his shirt with a napkin. He was mesmerized - she was quiet and gentle. Then he started to laugh and gave her a kiss on her nose when she indicated she'd like one. After that he couldn't get enough of the characters. You just never know with kids - but the characters are so experienced at handling every type of kid reaction, and have techniques to deal with most any kid. If they see that a little one is really frightened they'll back off quickly.

 

[septbaby]

My grandson was 18 months old on his first WDW trip. The first day he screamed and didn't want anything to do with the characters in MK. The second day we had breakfast at CM's and my daughter and I were prepared for more screaming. He was drinking OJ from a cup and spilled a little on his shirt. Minnie came up beside him and started wiping off his shirt with a napkin. He was mesmerized - she was quiet and gentle. Then he started to laugh and gave her a kiss on her nose when she indicated she'd like one. After that he couldn't get enough of the characters. You just never know with kids - but the characters are so experienced at handling every type of kid reaction, and have techniques to deal with most any kid. If they see that a little one is really frightened they'll back off quickly.

Or your little guy just has a way with the ladies. that was a cute story!

 

[amandelba]

At that age, I found that my girls did much better with the characters that they knew from TV, like Mickey and the gang, and were afraid of the ones they didn't know at the time like Baloo and Buzz Lightyear (they are now big fans of both).
Also, the characters that look more like real people (e.g., princesses and princes) were much more comfortable.
The bottom line is they started off the trip very nervous, but got very comfortable by the end of the trip.

 

[Carlyzmom]

We have some friends with 7 and 12 year olds and they are still freaked out at characters! So, I think it depends on the child not the age.

 

[mrsannb]

Yes, my 5 year old ds HATED the Play n Dine @ hollywood & vine. H-A-T-E-D it. The music was too loud for him, and Leo and June's heads were too big.
DD age 2 was fine with them. But then, ds was fine with Minnie @ her house in MK. So for this trip I've booked Liberty Tree Tavern since ds likes Minnie and Goofy a lot, and hopefully it will be a good experience for him. We're also doing Akershus princess storybook breakfast for dd. DS claims he is afraid of the princesses, I don't know WHY!! I think he'll be ok there, I HOPE!! DD is really looking forward to this part of the trip.

 

[abc999]

My son was afraid of all characters last year, including the characters from Sesame Street.. Disney has some pixie dust they sprinkle on the way in, cause he practically fell over his own feet running to the characters at Disney. Of course this year, we thought he was over his fear and took him to see the Easter Bunny. NOPE! But, he still wants to go see Mickey and Pluto and Goofy and Minnie and Dommo.

 

[praline3001]

Go to the breakfast but ask to be place in a booth in a corner.
Give your little guy some space from the characters by placing him on the inner part of the booth. If he looks like he doesn't want to interact, give the character a little head shake to let them know he isn't into socializing with them.

Kids can change super fast but please give him that extra space. I always get upset when I see a parent trying to force their terrified toddler to kiss the big mean scary mouse

My DS13 was always creeped out over Santa clause. I have 1 pic of him at 6 months with Santa and 1 when I bribed him at 10 years old.

 

[RMulieri]

We r thinking about doing chef mickeys but my now 20 month old cries at the sight of characters. At what age do children over come that fear? At the time of our trip he will be a little over 2 years old. I really want to do a character dinning 4 my older son but I'm affraid if my little guy cries the characters wont come over to our table. What do you think? Should we go for it or skip it?

We r going to CRT but thats different, they really are not in full body costumes so I dont think he will be affraid there.

My 4 yr old still freaks at characters..They are HUGE compared to all 36 inches of her.I still booked a character meal though.She is fine as long as they don't touch her.I also have season passes to Dutch Wonderland & hershey PArk here in Pa and I plan on getting her used to characters that way.