Do You Have This "Talk" With Your Kids?

[missesdisney]

Been a while since a post to this thread, but felt I had something that worked, so what the heck!

Since my son (now 6) was old enough to understand, we have explained to him that if he gets lost in Disney to go to someone who "Works for Mickey" and every trip the first cast member we see we show him the name tag and clearly point out whatever it is that makes it genuine (they keep changing it) - tinkerbell, castle, whatever. He has been repeating this back to us since he was not quite 3 and I think he gets who works for Mickey and who doesn't. Cast member just doesn't seem to be clear enough for a child to me but he certainly gets "works for mickey'.

Now that he's old enough we're going to teach him our cell phone number too!

 

[slduck]

Thanks for the great ideas. Our dd is very active! I am horrified that we will lose her at WDW!

 

[Starr W.]

Wonder if I should have this talk with DH, we lost him twice within a 1.5 hr period at AK on the last trip!

DS's were worried as he had the tickets for HDDR.

 

[northriver]

One of the things I always drilled into my son when he was little was to stay put - don't wander off, don't go looking for me! It is really so much easier to find people when they stay in the same general location. The CM's will stay with a lost child for a certain amount of time waiting for the parents to show us before taking them to the lost child station. The parents almost always show up!

A meeting place is ok for tweens and teens but I think elementary age kids need to learn to stay put. I do make sure my kids understand the general lay of the land - where is the entrance, where is the car, at a concert, where are our seats, etc. so they have a bit of independance but still when truly lost - they know to stay put.

The staying put concept is even MORE important for adults - been there done that. DS internalized this the day we spent 4 hours looking for my father. At age 4 DS he clearly understood when lost where do you go? Stay where you are. Don't be like grandpa - don't go ride the train, don't have a snack, don't look at the tractors. Stay right where you are so the people looking for you have a chance of finding you!

 

[Oceana]

Yes we do. I usually add they can find another mommy with kids. Name tags are on tall people and can be hard to see from 3 feet below... but other kids are easy to spot and usually if another mommy has a kid walk up to her and ask for help to find his mommy a mommy will stop and listen whereas the other grown ups may not hear due to other distractions in the world

we also practice "If you couldnt find mommy who would you get to help you?"

julie

 

[TAKitty]

I use the lamanated card for our DS. On the card I have directions for them and our cell phone numbers. They call it their lost card. They are a little bit older so they can tell the difference between CMs and others. We usually told them to go to a gift shop or a cart worker etc.

Now it is also important to have a plan with teens too! A couple of years ago I took my sister 18 and brother 16 to WDW. During Wishes he disappeared and after the show we left to go back to the resort. This was our second to last night at the parks. Well my brother waited around for us until the park closed and then called my mom collect to say he was lost. I thought he would know to just hop on the resort bus and go to our room. He had his room key with him. Anyway, remember that even teens need to know what to do when lost.

 

[addicted_to_WDW]

When mine was little we told him to either find a CM with a uniform or to sit down on the curb right where he was and we'd find him. We always tucked our informatin in his pocket.

eta, my son is 12 and we don't worry about it anymore. He'll call us if we get separated.

 

[pezpam]

DD was 5 on our first trip and yes, I had the talk with her before we even left home. She knew to find a CM in uniform (if you think they might be confused by a fake nametag, talk to them about CMs working at kiosks, cash registers, ride lines, picking up trash, etc.), a security guard, or another mommy. She carried a luggage tag that was clear on both sides so I could put my info on one side and a picture of the two of us together on the other side - not necessary, but I figured it'd make it easy on the CM who found her to know that I was indeed the adult who was supposed to pick her up.

 

[reelmom]

we use

http://www.mypreciouskid.com/id-bracelet.html


Another tip I learned was to tell your children to "stay where you can see Mommy and Daddy" instead of telling them to stay where you can see them. They always think that you can see them.

 

[left210]

When we went several years ago I made a mickey head name tag that I heard about on here. Home Depot used to have paint chips in Mickey head shapes - not sure if they still do or not but I wrote my sons first name on it with my cell # and our state. I then laminated it and glued a pin on the back. My son wore this everyday. Not only did it give a cell # in case he was ever lost but the characters would call him by name and ask him questions because they could clearly see his name and state. It was fun and magical because my son forgot he had it on many times and would ask how did they know my name. Of course, this could be bad if he got in the hands of a bad person.

 

[bksab]

I am waiting until our trip gets a little closer. Like the day before since that is when we plan on telling them we are going! lol I am also going to tell them to look for a Mom. DS is only 4 and I think that will simplify it enough for him. I also printed out the free luggage tags and will write my cell phone number, our names and our resort info and put one in each pocket. I think taking pictures at the start of the day is a great idea! Never thought of that. So I will be doing that too!

Kara