Crash course in Disney Characters for my 2 year old!

[girlieeee]

I've made a list of all the Disney movies that have characters that are main characters at Disney so that my 2 year old will know them all by the time we arrive. Since there are SO many and we are limited to only a couple new ones per week, I am not doing obscure movies.

What are your top 5 movie recommendations?

 

[~Kik-Kik~]

1. Beauty and the Beast
2. Aladdin
3. Cinderella
4. Snow White
5. Toy Story (any)

If you are willing to go to the movies, Tangled is amazing and they have a cool meet and greet thing and the MK.

 

[shinysparklybubbles]

Disneyland sing along, rent from netflix

 

[3_disprincesses]

Assuming she already knows Mickey, Minnie etc. I would concentrate on the Princesses or Toy Story characters. They are all easily found in the parks and their faces are everywhere! You may want to pull up youtube videos of meet and greets so she will see the princesses are real and how big Mickey and friends are so she will know whay to expect. Y'all are going to have a great time with that sweet little girl of yours!

 

[shinysparklybubbles]

Also keep an eye out in the target $1 spot a lot of times they have books or other Disney stuff.

 

[Shelly D.]

We really liked the Sing-A-Longs from the parks. They are really old and dated, but my kids still like watching them. We have a Disneyland Halloween one and a Disneyworld Beach Party one. Oh, and a Bug's Life themed one that takes place in Animal Kingdom.

What I like about these, is it shows kids in the parks interacting with characters. I showed these to my daughter before her first trip and I think it helped her to not be surprised by how big the characters were!

But in terms of full length movies, I would say anything with princesses (Cinderella is my favorite), Toy Story, Aladdin, maybe a Winnie the Pooh movie? Also, on Disney Channel there are great Playhouse Disney shows like Mickey Mouse Clubhouse that would be geared toward her age and features the Fab 5. Also, other Playhouse Disney characters are featured at Hollywood Studios, so she would know who they are.

 

[GinnyEmma]

at 2 my boys favorite was the goofy movie, and the singalong, Disneyland Fun. I'm not real big on coaching etc., with kids that young, though.

 

[Kaleigh]

I just took my 2 year old and here are the movies she most enjoys and characters she liked the best. One caveat, she watches playhouse disney, so she LOVED seeing all of those characters at the studios.
1. The Little Mermaid (loved Voyage and went crazy meeting Ariel)
2. Sleeping Beauty (I don't totally get this one, but she loves it and really loved meeting Aurora)
3. Toy Story (any of the movies, there are just so many references at the parks, it helps them to see these characters on film first)
4. The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (one of her favorites and is really good preparation for the ride, plus the characters are so cuddly. Mine does not like Eeyore though because he is just sooo big.)
5. Finding Nemo (again, there are so many references in the parks, this one really helps set the stage)

Honorable Mentions
Cinderella- loves this movie, loved meeting Cindy
Beauty and the Beast- no ride, but was mesmerized by the stage show because she was familiar with it
Peter Pan- she loves this ride and the movie both
Aladdin- she didn't make the connection between the carpets and the movie, but did enjoy seeing Jasmine and Aladdin
Snow White- still haven't taken her on this ride because I am worried it might scare her, but she likes meeting her

 

[Sassagoula Billy]

I just took my 2 year old and here are the movies she most enjoys and characters she liked the best. One caveat, she watches playhouse disney, so she LOVED seeing all of those characters at the studios.
1. The Little Mermaid (loved Voyage and went crazy meeting Ariel)
2. Sleeping Beauty (I don't totally get this one, but she loves it and really loved meeting Aurora)r

That's my girl.

 

[bigal'sdaughter]

My DD is just getting into watching a full movie and she's almost 4, but she LOVES short clips on YouTube. We watch ALL of the songs from all of the princess movies (from "cindy" to Pocahantas and Mulan) and the Toy Story movies and even the Casey Jr. clip from Dumbo! She LOVED the opening show at MK and now really loves that song!
Just a thought if you don't want to watch the whole movie or are short on time.

 

[kwitcherkicken99]

For my 2 year old DD we covered:

Cinderella
Sleeping Beauty
Mulan (though we missed her!)
Beauty and the Beast
Peter Pan

For my 2 year old DS:
Toy Story
Beauty and the Beast
Lilo and Stitch
Pinocchio
Peter Pan

Nemo is a must for both! Especially if you plan to spend ANY time at the Living Seas: with Nemo and Friends.

If I had to substitute it (Nemo) for both kid's lists, it would replace Stitch and Snow White. I made sure DS had seen Lilo and Stitch as we had breakfast ressies at Ohana one trip.

Honorable mention goes to:
Monster's Inc.
Mary Poppins
Alice in Wonderland
Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
Jungle Book
Lion King & Alladin (but I didn't let the kids watch that one for a while until MIL showed them... )
Tarzan (we did happen upon Terk at AK)

If you are pressed for time, figure out any character meals you plan to do and hit those videos hard. Then figure out which park you spend the most time and you should be able to gauge which characters you are more likely to see there and can tailor your videos that way.

You could show the Aristocats as Marie is very findable in France (EP), but we skipped her... both trips.

 

[JLR]

Have you thought about buying or borrowing from the library some books with the characters? There are a million disney books and we have a few Disney lift the flap books that have tons of characters old and new (from all the princesses to jungle book, aristocats, etc.) Then you can use it on the plane too. Also - go to you tube and watch children meeting the characters with your child so he/she can see how big they are and that non-face characters don't talk.

 

[girlieeee]

What great input! Thanks! I hadn't even thought about YouTube for clips but with his attention span that might be a good idea too. He watches about 1/2 of a movie at a time. I don't know if I agree with this being "coaching" as much as it is "introducing" him to the "Wonderful World of Disney" characters.

Thanks for the Lilo and Stitch tip too, I am taking him to O'hanas, too!

Right now I am getting all of my movies from the Library, they have a lot of the classics which I am so grateful for (saving me a bundle of money and time). I will also look for some of the books to show him. Good suggestion JLR!

 

[GinnyEmma]

sorry, coaching was probably a poor choice of words. We weren't big on showing movies to our little ones. i like the youtube idea!

 

[iloman]

If you're going to the Animal Kingdom make sure you get The Lion King in there. The show is on my "must do" list, and obviously the kids need to see the movie before hand.

 

[DonaldTDuck]

Don't forget Disney TV. My 2 yo nephew doesn't watch any DTV, has no tv at his daycare, so we were surprised when he saw him and started jumping and saying Hanny Manny over and over.

This was only his second character meeting, and the first was Donald Duck, which I made sure he was very familiar with.

 

[Reto]

I would add The Jungle Book to your list. A real classic, catchy songs, and the relationship between Mowgli & Baloo is too sweet. What child wouldn't love to have a Dad/friend like Baloo? Baloo & King Louie are out daily at the Animal Kingdom if you want to go see them.

Here's a Youtube video of Baloo & Mowgli singing "The Bare Necessities": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ogQ0uge06o

Have fun!

 

[Eliza'sMom]

DD loves the Disneyland Fun Singalong Songs DVD, and she loves watching clips of songs on Youtube. Plus she has her favorite movies, "Beauty and the Beast" and "Little Mermaid."

But, to be honest, I would not worry about introducing him to characters before your trip. On our first trip, DD knew the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse characters and that was about it. We just told her who the characters were as we went along and she honestly didn't care if she didn't know them beforehand, she thought they were all cool. She got more into the movies and songs after seeing the characters, actually.

 

[girlieeee]

We just watched the old Mickey Mouse Christmas show and he LOVED Chip & Dale!

 

[Albytaps]

I'm thinking mostly rides but if you mean meet and greet characters then Mickey and Donald (and the rest of the bunch such as Minnie, Goofy, Pluto, Chip and Dale, etc) cartoons are a must.


For rides:
Peter Pan is a family favorite... to bad the line is always so long.

Peter Pan
Dumbo
Winnie the Pooh (and the blustery day?)
Snow White (probably will be scary though)
Toy Story
Finding Nemo
Bug's Life
Little Mermaid
Lion King
Song of the South (just kidding)

Can't think of any more right now, it's getting late...