Does your kid suspect persons behind characters ?

[roxazul]

yesterday, as I was watching videos of characters meals in WDW on youtube, my daughter came to see and said :

these are dressed-up womens ?

I just said, No No !! these are the real princesses
but I was so , my daughter is only 4 yo and I want our upcoming trip to be as magic as possible, but she's so wise it may not be the case, she'll be 5 at the time of travel

what about your children ???

 

[tink2]

You will get different reactions on how to handle this one. Here is what we did:
First, each child is different. dd9 is so gullable it is a fault. We could convince her of anything. However, ds7 is much 'wiser' to things like that. Our last trip was this past Jan.- dd was 8 and ds 6. I really think that dd 'knows' in her heart of hearts, but she so wants to believe in it all and we've always told her that we believe they are real. We've taken a few trips over the years and she has noticed that some of the princesses look 'different' from the past trips according to the pictures. My answer was- well, so do you- you've changed too. She accepted that. DH told them that noone 'grows up' at WDW, once you live there, you stay the age you want to be and don't get older- hence the princesses not getting older. DD has always honestly believed that pixie dust can do anything. I think ds has always bought into it b/c dh and I believe and so does big sister. He will probably have everything (Santa, characters, tooth fairy, etc.) figured out before her!
I dunno- I know that some see it differently, but I just wanted to keep the magic and innocence of their childhood alive for as long as possible. I have seen through my nieces that it really is so different when they stop 'believing'- still fun and great- but some of the magic was lost and the wonderment in their eyes was diminished. They loved the rides and the parks, but weren't interested in all at the characters. I think that we've had our last trip with that still there for our kids- and it is kinda sad. But hey, we really enjoyed it while it lasted!
You're daughter is only 4 and will be 5 during your trip. I honestly think it is probably your choice of how it is handled- you could tell her the truth, or at her age, I think you could probably convince her to believe. Neither way is wrong or right. But I do think that she is still young enough to convince- just don't flinch when you talk about it and tell her that they are the real princesses, Cinderella lives upstairs in the castle, etc. etc.
Good luck and enjoy the age! 5 is such a wonderful age for WDW!!!

 

[F1Julie]

DD has known the characters are just people dressed up since her first trip when she was 3. She goes through the photo albums and says she liked this Cinderella better than that Cinderella. I never told her, she just figured it out. It doesn't make it any less special for her.

 

[thewesterberg]

My DS-5 out of nowhere announced that Mickey, Winnie the Pooh, etc are just people dressed up in costumes on the way to pre-school this Spring. I asked him why he thought that. "Because they don't talk and the real ones are making tv shows." So the magic is still there, in a twisted 5 yo logic!

 

[sk!mom]

Do any 4 or 5 year olds believe that Winnie the Pooh or Mickey Mouse are actually real? and could show up in person? I think that both of my children understood by 4 or 5 that Disney characters were cartoons or fantasies- not real. I would frankly wonder about my 5 year olds grip on reality if they didn't understand that. We never really discussed it, though.

That being said both of my children at 5 and DD at 8 loved meeting the costumed characters. No fun was lost by the reality of people in costume.

​

. I have really cute pics of my DS at 16 smiling with Minnie and the princesses. DD12 was probably the most reluctant to pose on the trip we just returned from. She did but needed prodding at times. Our family loves character meals. It's no less special.

 

[twinspluscade]

It really varies so much from one kid to another.

My son is 4, and for the past year or so has made little comments that make me think he at least suspects the characters aren't "real". A few months ago we were looking through are past trip photos, and he pointed to the characters and asked, "Are they real characters, or just people dressed up?" I replied with my standard response for questions of this nature: "What do you think?"....and he said he thinks they're real. So who knows?

My twins, OTOH, just turned six, and for the most part still think the characters are real--or at least certain ones. . For some reason the Disney ones and Santa are real, while the non-Disney characters they see on TV usually are just "people dressed up" (their words). We're going to Disneyland this September, and I suspect that they will probably figure it all out then, or at least have some questions.

I should add, I'm a big believer in being truthful when they ask, even if it's a vague sort of truthfulness. When my "what do you believe" standard response no longer works, I will tell them the truth when they ask about it. I don't believe in flat-out lying and telling them "yes, they are real" when they ask, especially for older kids.

 

[deedeetoo]

My kids never thought the characters were real. But it doesn't seem to matter. They still get excited about seeing them.

 

[nonzerosum]

When my DD was about 2.5, the Disney Store opened in our city and Mickey and Minnie came to the mall to celebrate the opening. She asked me who was inside. GASP!!! How would a 2.5 year old think to ask that? I can't remember how I answered, but it was an attempt to fib. I pretty sure she still believes the princesses are real, however she has made a few comments since our trip to WDW (a few months ago) that are leading me to believe that she's questioning things. She's almost 5 and I'd like to keep the magic alive for as long as possible. The innocence is so short lived.

 

[cancer_survivor_06]

my dd7 has known since she was around 3 but it doesn't take the magic away from her. I think she knows they aren't the real character but that the real on is doing the real work to make the movies and things like that kind of like the santa thing. She talks about them not being real when we are there so I am always around her w/ my ears wide open to make sure she doesn't say it loud enough for another family/child to hear. She mainly likes to discuss w/ me how the little one in front of us is scared but he/she doesn't really need to be b/c its really a person other than that the topic doesn't get discussed much. One of her favorite things to do is get the autographs and photos we have even talked about doing a trip just so we can stand around in lines all day doing autographs and photos (like we need more w/ 5 full autograph books and well over 1000 photos) LOL!

 

[momof2disneybabies]

I'm not really sure ofmy 5 yr old's perception. She knows there are people in the costumes, but when we're there, she is so star struck and acts like they are the real characters. She has never said that she didn't think the princesses were real though. I think she thinks that the cartoons are just drawn versions of the real princesses that we meet in Disneyworld.

Her face when she sees Mickey is just priceless though!

Jennifer

 

[asmit4]

Well, I'm an adult and I STILL get giddy when I'm around the characters!

I know at 7, I knew they were just people...I don't think I ever thought they actually existed. They were cartoon 'characters' in my eyes.

 

[_queenie_]

I think my DS truly believed until he was in fourth grade. I think my DD did until second when she read something about it in a Junie B. Jones book (avoid Sneaky-Peaky Spying!). DD1 really wanted to until about fifth grade, as did my DS. I think she really knew at five but just says it was seven. Each one of mine has known a bit earlier, my DD2 is now almost four and knows. It's only because I gave it away on our last trip, I started saying something to DS about an army guy from Toy Story being near us and he thought I was talking about someone who was truly in the military dressed in uniform. I ended up saying, no, not a real man in the army, a guy dressed up like one from Toy Story (we were walking so quite loudly, oops). Well, not only did my DD hear me but so did about five kids in line! I appologized to a few of their parents and said it was only an accident, but still, you can just say that I was not well liked in the park that afternoon!

 

[minkydog]

Pardon me, but why in the world would you flat-out lie to your child? She asked you a legitimate question. I would have suggested that you just ask her "what do you think?" Let her explore it with you, but I would stop short of telling a falsehood. She already knows the truth or she wouldn't have made the comment.

 

[roxazul]

asking what she thinks would have been the correct answer, but then if she had said she did'nt believe I'm sure I would have been sad about it, and honestly at that moment she asked I was just shocked and said the first thing that I thought was right in my mind

I know that characters are dressed-up persons and I should'nt lie, but I want so much for her that she be able to believe in magic even as she grows up, I'm an adult and I do believe in some magic things that most people would thought I'm crazy for that

anyway, I'll go with what she wants to believe if it ever comes up again...

 

[bumbershoot]

Do any 4 or 5 year olds believe that Winnie the Pooh or Mickey Mouse are actually real? and could show up in person? I think that both of my children understood by 4 or 5 that Disney characters were cartoons or fantasies- not real. I would frankly wonder about my 5 year olds grip on reality if they didn't understand that. We never really discussed it, though.

Scads of children believe in such things. Scads of children believe in that dude with the belly that shakes like jelly, too.



I was never one of them, on either subject. I was skittish, my mom didn't believe in lying, so it was always the truth that was told. Since I was skittish I never saw anything magical in a huge mouse, BUT my son sure does! We even CALL them characters..."let's go see the characters like Mickey and Cinderella!"...but the other week he said something about Mickey being real. My question is "how did MY kid get the idea that they are NOT people dressed up?"

 

[abdmom]

DS12 has never liked the characters. We just got back from Hong Kong Disneyland where we stayed in the Disneyland hotel. Included was a character breakfast every morning. DS hated it. He says that he's always thought that the characters were creepy. I asked him what he meant by that and he said that he thought it was creepy that complete strangers would come up to him and want to hug him. Would you allow a kid to be hugged by Mickey if the person wasn't wearing the suit?

 

[catgirl]

I took my almost 5 yr old niece in February. She believed just about everything at disney was real! When she asked about certain things, she would say "Is that real?" I would say "looks real to me!" Then her response was "It's real, I know it's real" There was only a couple of things, like the Jungle Cruise were there was doubt in her questions and at those times, I said "I don't thinks so" and she would agree. My feeling is if they believe let them, innocence & magic is lost soon enough. Make it last as long as possible. Reality will smack them in the face soon enough.

 

[bjscheel]

My DDs have thought they were real, at least their first trip. They know now, DD6 still has some confusion. I remind her that Jasmine is really just a drawing, but who she sees at WDW is "a real Disney World character!" Seems to be good enough for her.

Frankly, even I forget reality when I'm there!

 

[okeydokey]

My kids never thought the characters were real. But it doesn't seem to matter. They still get excited about seeing them.

us too, even when they were really young. They still stood in line and love to see them.

 

[_queenie_]

I know that characters are dressed-up persons and I should'nt lie, but I want so much for her that she be able to believe in magic even as she grows up, I'm an adult and I do believe in some magic things that most people would thought I'm crazy for that

I suppose if she wonders why you "lied" you can always say "So don't ask me, no more questions, and I won't tell you no more lies."

We were just listening to that so I had to say it.