does this happen often or am i just out of the loop??..

[ZachnElli]

If it was a "colorox" wipe, I'd be worried the bleach in it might damage the character's costume! A Lysol wipe would be ok, I think. I think it's weird too.

Also, our local Alberston's provide Lysol wipes right by the grocery carts with a sign that says they are to be used to wipe down the handles, which I find to be a nice gesture!

 

[iwannabeminnie]

I have a friend who is a doctor who is convinced that the sickest kids are the one's whose parents are germaphobes (is that a word?). Let them eat a little dirt for Pete's sake. It isn't going to kill them. If anything it will make them healthier. At least that is what my doctor friend tells me. She has raised four kids of her own and they are very healthy, happy kids. Their knees are always scraped and I'm sure that youngest boy has two or three mudpies a day to supplement the peanut butter and jelly.

 

[blessedmama!!]

I wouldn;t be quick to judge.

If my 6 year old was the kind of child who would kiss the characters (he's not), I would also need to do this.

My son has a severe, potentially fatal peanut allergy. He once went into anaphylactic shock after taking a sip of another child's juicebox several hours after that child ate chex mix. Clorox wipes have recently been found to be 100% effective at removing peanut residue. That's what we use to wipe down the table's in my son's cafeteria.

So it could just be that this child does have a medical reason why this is completely necessary to behave "normally". Hopefully, the Dad had permission because it would be rude to do that without permission.

And yeah, the thought of my son dating and actually askinga girl if shes had peanuts to eat in the last 12 hours scares the heck out me.

 

[freakylick]

IMO, this is more disturbing than strange. Why would the Dad let the kid kiss the character after putting all of those chemicals on the character? That is very dangerous to the child. Read some of the warnings on the labels of wipes. OP did say they were clorox wipes, so I will use Clorox warnings as an example (though I am sure that all wipes have similar warnings):

*Keep out of reach of children
* Hazard to humans and domestic animals
* Not for cleaning or sanitizing skin
* Do not use as a diaper wipe or for personal cleansing
* Causes moderate eye irritation
* Wash thoroughly with soap and water after handling
* Do not use or store near open flame
* Do not flush wipes; throw them in the trash after use
* Tightly close lid when finished using to retain moisture
* Do not reuse empty container (it is recyclable)

With warnings like that, would you let your kid put their lips anywhere near the just wiped area?!

 

[disneynewbee]

I agree that it is over the top and flat out weird. My dh is very concerned about germs but something like that would never cross his mind. Or at least I hope. If the child has an immune system problem they should be wearing a mask for airborne germs and if they have a very severe allergy to foods I simply would not let them kiss the characters, a hug would do just fine. That's just me though. I don't think it's right to shove chemicals into a characters face when they could be allergic to them.

 

[andromedaslove]

Does this father also wipe off the hand of every person they meet before shaking hands? Way over the top! I'm all for being sanitary and washing hands and such but this action borders on ridiculous.

Actually, there are people with OCD who will not shake hands with people or touch anyone else for that matter because they don't want to get other people's germs on their hands. For some people this isn't something they can control. They bring their own plastic silverware to eat out, they wash their hands continuously through the day, they check their door locks multiple times before going to bed every night. Maybe Dad was something like this and wanted his children to have the same experiences as other kids and found a way for them both to get what they wanted.

Also I don't think that Clorox wipes actually have bleach in them. I have used them on all sorts of things and it never actually bleached anything. And as soon as the surface that was wiped is dry, there is no harm to the kids at all. I use them to clean my 11 month old's high chair and he puts his food all over it when he eats.

 

[jann1033]

I have a friend who is a doctor who is convinced that the sickest kids are the one's whose parents are germaphobes (is that a word?). Let them eat a little dirt for Pete's sake. It isn't going to kill them. If anything it will make them healthier. At least that is what my doctor friend tells me. She has raised four kids of her own and they are very healthy, happy kids. Their knees are always scraped and I'm sure that youngest boy has two or three mudpies a day to supplement the peanut butter and jelly.

i also read they should be exposed to pets at an early age so maybe that includes the "animals" at wdw???

 

[k5thbeatle]

"Hey kids, look! There's Mickey & Goofy! Hi Goofy, do you mind if I wipe off your snoot before you touch my kid and Mickey, where have your hands been?"

 

[cosmicdaisy]

The first thing I thought was food allergies. Like a PP, my dd (3) has a life threatening allergy to cow's milk. And, you can bet that if she wanted to kiss the characters and I had permission to use a clorox wipe (which do not contain any bleach at all) I would be doing it. You can't imagine how many times I have to say no to her...so sometimes a little risk free kiss is more than magical. Believe you me, WDW and on vacation is not the place I want to be dealing with anaphylaxis.


Wanted to also comment that ITA with letting kids being exposed to germs. It is one theory regarding food allergies that surmises the rise in food allergies is partly due to the increase in santitation in homes. We are not germaphobes by any means...I believe in letting my kid be exposed (to anything but cow's milk that is).

 

[LorlovesStitch]

My friends call me "Queen of the hand sanitizer", but even I wouldn't go that far! I do make sure that after rides, monorails and busses that my kids clean their hands before eating. Anyway, isn't the "character" just as likely to catch a cold (or worse ) with all the kids breathing, coughing, sneezing, or even, God forbid, puking on them as well?

 

[Hope73]

That is too much.

 

[LoveWDW]

Do the children typically kiss the characters on their noses?

 

[ReggieB]

I find it rude to the character. What if the CM had an allergy to the chemicals? If seems that the dad is treating the character as an inanimate object rather than a real person. If you wouldn't do it to a CM's own face than why do it to a character's?

I go along with this to a certain degree, and also to those who have mentioned the possible damage to the costume. If the child does has a medical condition, then sure if the parent asks permission and the handler says yes, I see no problem....but you have got to ask first, it is a little rude just to start wiping away!! I do often wipe a table down if I have a wipe handy, but I am not obsessive.

Yes some kids do kiss the nose, my DS5 included. If you do worry about your child picking up colds/virus kissing the characters is probably not the way to go. By the time my son has sneaked a kiss from Minnie (he told her not to tell Mickey, so funny) I am usually too late to stop him. Can you imagine, me dropping my camera running over to them screaming, don't kiss the mouse, she's dirty!!!

 

[NewEnglandDisney]

And just when I thought I had heard it all....

N.E.D.

 

[BernardandMissBianca]

My son has a severe, potentially fatal peanut allergy.

This is what I was thinking. We just got a new student in school who is allergic to papaya. It is apparently so bad that the entire school has to be papaya free including juice. He may have just found out about the allergy which is why they are extra cautious.

 

[blanq]

I can't believe that someone would actually attempt to disinfect another person in this manner. I think it is one of the rudest things I have read about on the DIS Boards. If the child had some kind of illness or weakened immune system that would call for such action, then perhaps the parents should have not taken the child to WDW.

My DS was born severely premature (26 weeks), and had significant complications due to this. He had severe lung problems that required oxygen, even after he came home from his 3 month stay in intensive care. We were told we needed to be diligent about minimizing his exposure to germs; the common cold very well could have killed him. So, for the first two years of his life he went almost nowhere (no grocery store, no church, etc.). I figured it was up to me, and not others to ensure that he remained healthy. I would have NEVER wiped down another person with disinfectant wipes!!!!

 

[roliepolieoliefan]

I think its plain weird. What did this father wipe down everything this child came in contact with? WDW is full of germs, like or not, thats the way it is.

 

[blessedmama!!]

"I think its plain weird"

This thread is starting to make me feel a bit sad.

Like I mentioned earlier, my son has a life threatening peanut allergy. I remember we were at Chef Mickey's for his 5th birthday - if it had been his wish to kiss Mickey's nose, I would have needed to have the nose cleaned before he could do so. Of course, I would have absolutely asked before doing it.

I completely and totally agree that not asking would be weird, insanse, rude, whatever. But judging an entire situation based on one brief glimpse usually isn't a good way to go - in my experience.

It never occured to me before that others might think I'm a weird insane germ-phobe when I wipe down the tables at restuarants, grocery carts, the seats on the airplane, etc. If I don't, my son could get peanut residue on his food or hands (that stuff is sticky and *everywhere*) and he could die from it. Of course, I don't really care what others think about me because it is about my son's health and safety. And staying out of public, not taking my son to places like Disney, never going to a restaurant, etc. is not an option. My son deserves a normal childhood and I can give him one by taking simple but consistent measures.
.

 

[disneynewbee]

I don't think it's weird to wipe down things (tables, cart handles, etc), I do it myself sometimes and my child doesn't have medical conditions but I do think it's weird to disinfect people even if they are in costumes.

 

[monty]

Yeah, but the germs are all over the place, not just on characters' noses... Maybe he thought the characters were really breathing out their noses?

Thanks for the laugh Schmeck.... Those characters must go home at the end of the day with quite a few stories to tell!