Daddy is being selfish

[miTunes75]

I'm wondering if we should go yet. I have been putting my selfish antics away all these years. we have a 6 year old daughter, a 4 year old daughter and 3 year old son. the 4 year old can't even handle chuckie cheese. (i hope ya'll know who that is). she draws under the table and LITERALLY shakes/trembles when he comes by. I have talked to my 4 years old in the cafe at church this morning and explained to her that we're planning on going to animal kingdom and see all the wonderful animals. I told her that if it would make her feel better, if Mickey mouse came by, we would protect her. She's completely freaked out about this stuff. SHe's cool about the princesses and stuff and desires to see them...looking forward to the BBB, fireworks show, etc. I told my wife this afternoon that they're coming with us no matter what. I didn't care. They'll just have to like it.

I haven't been to WDW since 1994. I want to go. I have been wanting to go since our first daughter was born...then, the second came, then the third. By the time we go, they'll be 7/5/3. they should be able to deal right?

The three year old follows the 4 year olds example and the 6 year old is ready for it.

Am I a bad daddy?

 

[KMZOB]

You are not bad. My son at 2 1/2 years old was terrified of the easter bunny and anything else big that came around...We took him to disney anyway and he LOVED it. He loved all the characters and was not afraid at all...except of the queen of hearts.

Your daughter may show fear until she does it, and if she doesn't like it, she doesn't need to be near the characters...they don't come near you, you go near them.

HAVE FUN!!!

 

[DesigningMouse]

No, don't be silly, you're not a bad Daddy at all. I can tell you what we did a few years ago. We planned our trip for right after our oldest turned 3. We ordered every DisneyWorld vacation dvd/video we could get our hands on. Borrowed pics from friends who had gone before, etc. So that she could see people interacting w/Mickey and the gang. I tell you we watched at least one WDW vacation movie a day for MONTHS but it worked. The day we arrived the first thing she wanted to do was find Minnie. Maybe it'll work for you too?!

 

[GOOFY4DONALD]

Don't feel bad. Just to let you know, unless you have picked some character dining, the character do not come up to you. It is actually the exact opposite, you must wait in line to see them. I remember being a kid and watching all the characters just walking around shaking hands and posing for pics.
My son has thrown numerous hysterical fits at many different characters and various sports mascots...many seem to go out of their way to scare kids...the Disney guys are just the opposite.

I think your kids are at a good age to go. My youngest was 4 and 40inches so he was able to enjoy most of the rides. The ones that he couldn't go on we were able to do parent swap. He still brags that he went on RNRC even though he just watched the intro and the take off.

There were a couple of things that did scare my son. It's tough to be a bug was the worst...but he is willing to go again. He was also scared of the Honey I shrunk the audience but he watched it w/o the glasses and then it was ok. But all in all I was actually surprised by how little he was scared of. Just don't push her onto rides that she doesn't want to go on and I think you will be fine. (BTW although rides w/o height restriction don't usually have a parent swap we found that most CM's will allow it when a child is frightened.)

 

[GOOFY4DONALD]

No, don't be silly, you're not a bad Daddy at all. I can tell you what we did a few years ago. We planned our trip for right after our oldest turned 3. We ordered every DisneyWorld vacation dvd/video we could get our hands on. Borrowed pics from friends who had gone before, etc. So that she could see people interacting w/Mickey and the gang. I tell you we watched at least one WDW vacation movie a day for MONTHS but it worked. The day we arrived the first thing she wanted to do was find Minnie. Maybe it'll work for you too?!

Also if you go on YOUTUBE I think ever ride at WDW is on it. My son enjoyed watching them ahead of time.

 

[tjmw2727]

My nephew is terrified of CEC and even the chik filet cow but loves WDW. LIke a pp said unless you have a character meal you won't see many characters except in the parades. You can split up and have one parent wait to meet characters with the kiddos who are into it while the other parent takes the child who doesn't want to meet characters to do something else.

My youngest was timid until she got an autograph book, for her having a reason to approach them helped.

If you do want to try a character meal I have found the characters are very good at respecting timid kids and won't approach them.

TJ

 

[tjmw2727]

No, don't be silly, you're not a bad Daddy at all. I can tell you what we did a few years ago. We planned our trip for right after our oldest turned 3. We ordered every DisneyWorld vacation dvd/video we could get our hands on. Borrowed pics from friends who had gone before, etc. So that she could see people interacting w/Mickey and the gang. I tell you we watched at least one WDW vacation movie a day for MONTHS but it worked. The day we arrived the first thing she wanted to do was find Minnie. Maybe it'll work for you too?!

Oh - great idea, in addition there are some really great Disney sing along dvd's that show kids in the parks with the characters riding rides etc.

My dd's loved the one at Disneyland and the water park one so much we wore them out. There is also one at animal kingdom.

Here are two of the ones we had,
http://www.amazon.com/Sing-Along-Songs-Disneyland-Fun/dp/B0009X75W4/ref=pd_bxgy_d_text_b
http://www.amazon.com/Disneys-Sing-Along-Songs-Disney/dp/B0009X75WO/ref=pd_bxgy_d_text_b



TJ

 

[saratogadreamin09]

the 7 and 5 year olds snhould be fine


the 3 year old could go either way


but you should go, i'm sure you'll all have fun in the end

 

[Astro Orbiter]

I'm sure you can work something out. If you're going with your wife, you can split - 6yo can wait to see the character, 4yo stays at a comfortable distance, 3yo does what feels right.

Like a previous poster said, the characters don't come up to you.

Princesses are easy - wait in line in Toontown and then they usher you into a room with the princesses. The people waiting for Mickey and pals are in line right next to you but get ushered into their own room. They close the door behind you and you don't see a thing.

What we always did with DD when she was nervous (never done the shaking thing) was to stand far away and watch. Sometimes the character would notice her between families and wave, sometimes not. Worked with Santa and the EB. Never had a problem at WDW, though.

 

[Microcell]

No, no, daddy is not being selfish, he is being frugal!

It will cost soo much more when your oldest reaches the age of ten, you need to go as many times before then as possible... to save money!

DS finally got over his fear of characters, at the age of 5! If you go in two years when your DD is 5, your oldest will be nine and only a year away from being a Disney Adult.

Also, every seven year old should go, that is the height of wonderment and belief!

Advice for your four year old, let her know that she won't have to talk to the characters if she doesn't want to, and even if you go to a character dining experience, make sure that she knows they are coming and would love to talk to her but that they can just talk to the other siblings if she does not want to. I would just forgo any picture taking with the four year old too, my poor DS is not in any character pictures between the ages of 2 and 4! That is just how it is, and he asked why he wasn't with the characters as a baby the other day and I told him why!

 

[cancer_survivor_06]

Your not a bad daddy I think its every kiddos response to things like that and I totally know what you mean about chuck e cheese. I think that during that time it is the most memorable experience for adults although I will admit that since my dd was 3 she has known that its a person underneath. No it hasn't taken away the magic for her or us our favorite thing to do is see all the characters we can the whole time we are there.

When we took my oldest dd for her first trip she was 20mths old she always had a death grip on us. when we went back for her 3rd bday the first day we were there we had breakfast at chef mickeys and her response was hilarious, we were sitting at a table that one side was booth (nana, pappy and daddy were sitting here) seating and the other side was chairs (me, oldest dd, and youngest who was 13mths) well chip or dale walked up I don't remember which but one minute she was sitting next to me and the next I know she was gone she bolted under the table so fast to the other side we couldn't stop laughing she was kind of edgy the rest of the meal but right before we were leaving he was behind the booth and snuck up on her and she didn't mind so much anymore. On the other hand I am looking forward to the next time we go and taking my nephew the younger one he is fou and everytime we go to CEC he stays under the table the whole time so we already know what it may be like for him but we have showed him all the pics we have of our girls and us w/ the characters and he wants to go see them all so we will see.

have a great trip!!!

 

[disneymarie]

Dear Dad,
One year when my DD was about that age she was a mess. I did not have any reason o think she would have issues at WDW since we were there two other times. But at that age that time she did not want to do a lot of things. dad freaked worse then her, got angry, made our trip miserable. I told him he could still do things and we would child swap, not to ruin the trip. He insisted he would force her and she would be fine she was not.

so I would only tell you, if this trip this time she is backwards it is a stage and she may just be the party pooper, don;t you be. Let her have her space. She may want to do things with autographs maybe not. I remember my daughter hated the charaters to come over to her, but the trip prior loves them to death. She did not want to do attractions from the outside gave a bad vibe off. Like the hall of presidents freaked her, hunted house, would not go near (the outside sounds). She LOVED Its a small world, start with that. The cups, the Jumbo, and carosel of life. the train, and Ariel next.
By then she was ready for Chef Mickey and had a blast.

I had a GF with two kids the same age and the same thing happened to her with them too. It must be a strange thing anxiousness of the unknown for certain kiddos. But you can't force them through it. Understand it is what it is and give them space and swap for the rest to have their time.
Next trip it will be over with.
Get out all of the Disney movies, the park video they send for advertisment, for exposure. The youtube is great idea.
good luck remain calm and have a great trip.
She will not be a happy camper but make her as happy as can be
dianne

 

[daisy2jae]

I don't think you are bad at all. As long as you don't push your child into it and let them go at it as they feel safe. Our 3 year old was also VERY scared of CEC. We spent a little extra time there and didn't push her. She watched from a distance and over the times of being there it got better. No the first time and the first few minutes she wasn't happy but as she felt safe she got a little closer. After a few times of seeing other kids with CEC she actually went near him so we could at least get a pic.

 

[~*~Michelle~*~]

I second the youtube. dd (5) & I have been watching videos of the rides & stuff just to get her "ready" for what she's going to encounter there.

 

[kldmom2000]

Then I'm a selfish Mommy...

I am a Disney fanatic. Former CM. LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE everything that is Disney..... our first DD was our favorite Disney "souveneir" 9 months before she was born was our last pre-child trip.....

That being said, I longed for the day we could return with our children... I fantasized about how wonderful it would be-like the commercials with the little girl saying to Mickey... "I've been waiting my whole life to meet you!"

December 2004. After over a year of planning, we took our 2 girls (ages 4yrs old and 26 months old) to Disney!!!! Mind you, my then 4 yr old was terrified of Chuck E. Cheese-would not set foot in that place! She wouldn't go to the mall @ Easter or Christmas for fear of the bunny and Santa I was convinced though that Disney would be different.... it HAD to be...

Day 1. Outside the turnstiles of the MK waiting for the rope drop. My eyes are welling up with tears as I think that this is the moment I've been waiting for since I was a little girl.... The excitement.... just sheer happiness..... I look down in the stroller to find my 4 yr old CRYING and shaking.... begging and pleading with us to take her back to the hotel... she DID NOT want to see any characters....

We dodged characters the whole trip for her. She was ok with the princesses, but oh boy.... if she even caught a glimpse of a masked character-huge hysterics. My 2 yr old LOVED the characters and I made it a point to have DH or myself take her to see them while the other did something else with our terrified 4 yr old.

Would we have not done it that year and waited if we could have redone it all? Absolutely not. Despite her fear, we had a magical trip... the memories we made doing everything else far outweighed the character dodging/crying/etc....

We've taken them back twice since with another trip in a few weeks to come. My then 4 yr old DD is now turning 8 and is a character groupie-can't get enough of them!

I say go if you have the chance. FUN and memories can be had without the characters.... ENJOY it and have a magical time!!!!

 

[The Disney Fanatic]

You and your family will have a great time. There is plenty to do for everybody. Allow your kids the opportunity to tell you what they do and don't want to do. You and your wife can child swap on the attractions that the kids do not want to try. Everything will be great because you and your family will be spending quality family time together.

 

[Pinga's Mommy]

There is a Disneyland sing-a-long DVD featuring kids singing at the park and interacting with the characters that helped us out. When my DD6 was 2 years old, we put that on for her for months before our trip. When we arrived, she was so excited to see them.
We are going again this December and my youngest will be two as well. She started watching it last week and really seems to enjoy it.

 

[Benducci]

If you don't want to see Mickey or any of the characters, you don't have to - you could probably go the entire visit without seeing any of them. Since the characters are only seen at Meet & Greets or character meals, you can avoid all of these. Your kids are at a great age to visit Disney - why not go?

 

[Natalie_89]

my ds was scared off the characters at a holiday camp but he was fine with the characters at disney he knew what threy all looked like and was more excited to see them x

 

[tzolkin]

If you don't want to see Mickey or any of the characters, you don't have to - you could probably go the entire visit without seeing any of them. Since the characters are only seen at Meet & Greets or character meals, you can avoid all of these. Your kids are at a great age to visit Disney - why not go?

This is exactly what I was going to say.

My kids are 9, 4, and 2. We did not do any character meals this trip (we plan to next time) and we just saw a few characters. The kids liked walking by them and pointing them out, but we did not stand in the lines to meet them. Only once we stood in line to meet Handy Manny. My 4yo loves the show but looked shy and didnt want to go anywhere near him. She stood behind me while I took pictures of the 2yo and daddy. We didnt make a big deal of it and there was no crying or trying to get her to stand with the character. There were some parents that I saw who tried to convince their children to stand with the character and the child was scared or fighting with them. I can certainly understand why after standing in line they would be disappointed not to get the picture, but it really wasn't a pleasant experience for the child or the parent.
We did do the visa character meet at epcot 3 or 4 times during the trip. Our 4 year old did not speak to the characters, but did hug them and smile and enjoyed taking pictures with the whole family. I'm not really sure why, but she was very comfortable in this situation. The only reason we could think of was because it was in a private room and there weren't any other people looking at her.

I'm sure you will have a wonderful trip. Just don't expect your children to meet any characters-- that way you will be pleasantly surprised if they do instead of disappointed if they don't want to.