for toddlers do you prep them for characters beforehand?

[jann1033]

i was just thinking, my granddaughter has no idea who most of the Disney characters are( except mickey Minnie and pooh and friends) she is a little young for the movies still. so for those with out older siblings, did you get them acquainted with the characters( particularly the face characters) before hand or just the fact the princesses are all dressed up etc. did they realize they were something special? she'll be 28 months when we go

 

[belle&beast]

My son turned 2 on our trip and my daughter was 4. They were bith terrified of Santa Claus, so we were really worried about their reactions. We did tell them that the characters would be bigger. We had the planning DVD and that was helpful for then to see the size of the characters. On our first full day we started with a princess lunch at Epcot which really eased them into characters. We arrived late afternoon and went to Spectromagic that night, so they did see the characters first without having to interact. Good luck! By the way, both of my kids ended up loving the characters!

 

[Princessbaby]

We talked about it so much and my 4 y.o. still did not want to have anything to do with the characters! I don't know what he was expecting-we thought we had them prepared enough, but who knows! My 6 yo was fine as was my 12 month old DD- she LOVED them! I guess it really depends on the child. My 4yo DS likes Santa and the Easter Bunny, that's why we were surprised. Maybe he was overwhelmed. Just go about it slowly at first and see how she does. Good Luck!

 

[jenniferma]

I would highly recommend the Disney Sing A Long DVD-- "Disneyland Fun". I have seen it on amazon recently (it was just released on DVD). We watched the tapes and our DD2 (who was 13 months) LOVED the characters... I swear it was the video. It really made for a great trip.. we just sort of floated from Pooh to Mickey etc.. and enjoyed her happiness!

Have a great trip! jen

 

[minnie61650]

I would highly recommend the Disney Sing A Long DVD-- "Disneyland Fun". I have seen it on amazon recently (it was just released on DVD). We watched the tapes and our DD2 (who was 13 months) LOVED the characters... I swear it was the video. It really made for a great trip.. we just sort of floated from Pooh to Mickey etc.. and enjoyed her happiness!

Have a great trip! jen

My (now 4 ) year old grandson and I love the Disneyland Fun Sing-A-Long.
We stared watching them he was 2.

Other Sing-a-longs with the Real Disney characters (not cartoon) are:
The Twelve Days of Christmas--even has Uncle Scrooge and Huey Dewy and Louie

Campout at Walt Disney World--Includes Fort Wilderness and the original Discovery Island.

Beach Party--Takes place at TL BB and some beaches -- It has a luau at the poly with Minnie and the gang and even has a nice part with Ariel in it.
Also a part on the pirate ship. Alex loves it when Captain Hook and Peter pan have a deul and Captain hook falls over the side of the ship into the water!
Flik's Musical Adventure takes place at the Animal Kingdom. Flik is the ant in TTBB. Mickey and Minnie have some small parts in it but Flik is the host.

Alex's favorite one is Happy Haunting.
It is a halloween party at the HM in Disney complete with Trick or Treating in Toon Town.

He loves that one. So we took him and his mom (dd )and dad (dsil)
to MNSSHP last October for his first Disney Trip.

He knew all the characters and had a blast.

I hope others enjoy these Sing-A-Longs as much as we have.

 

[LadyZolt]

When we first went, DD was 22 months, one DS was 5, the other DS was 3. Having not been to Disney with kids ever before (I only went once, after boot camp in the Navy, and I was 18), I didn't even mention the characters. All three kids LOVED the characters as soon as they saw them. We ate at Chef Mickey's and Mickey kissed my hand and DD's hand, and she wouldn't let us wash her hands till the next day because "Mickey kissed my hand." The boys especially loved Goofy (and they still do -- even as teens now. LOL!) I think that very small kids don't really need any preparation. Some kids are scared and some just love them. If you don't say anything, they won't be anxious if they're the kind of kid who might get scared, and if they do like the characters, it'll be a nice surprise when they do see them and will make it more magical for them.

I got the "Sing Along" video after we got back because we all had such a fabulous time. It kept the Disney spirit alive in our house and we all eagerly planned our trips. I really knew very little about Disney World before that, so I didn't even realize that they would see any characters. LOL! Anyway, in retrospect, I'd do the same thing because it really impressed all three kids a great deal to see the characters when they really hadn't even been made aware of that possibility. It'll always be a magical memory for me.

-Dorothy (LadyZolt)

 

[jwfla422]

Yes, the Sing Along videos are great. We first took dd to WDW when she was about that same age, just a little past 2...she was very skittish so that trip we didn't do any character meet n greets or meals except for Pocahantas, of course, she just thought she was a regular girl and kinda danced around her, very cute and funny!! She got more aquainted with the characters since she saw pictures of them and saw them at the shows.

She basically grew up with them there and the "likenesses" at home, with each returning trip we tried a meet n greet, character meal, etc. She was petrified of Goofy and Pluto until she turned 4 (I think it was the snout??)...Now, she tells me we're coming up on our 19th trip (a little spoiled or what!! At 7 1/2 now, she has no idea what a lucky kid she is!!--we only live just under 3 hrs away so we make the trip often).

If your gd knows who the "classic" Disney characters are no need to introduce her to the others prior as they just get to know them as part of the "gang". You'll be suprised how "branded" they get, she'll probably already know the princesses as they are everywhere!!

 

[wdwholic1206]

My DD is terrified of Santa. I have one picture of her w/ him when she was 2 months old and that's it. I talked to her about the characters before hand and we watched videos. But I never expected what happend to happen when we arrived in WDW...She ran up to every character she could find and hugged them. Even he "evil" characters. I don't know but I think it's the magic of it all!! Good Luck!

 

[FairyAuntMother]

Hi -

Just wanted to thank you all for the tips about the DVD's. I just ordered a few of them. I think this is a great idea to get the smaller kids used to the idea that the characters are BIG!

 

[jann1033]

I would highly recommend the Disney Sing A Long DVD-- "Disneyland Fun". I have seen it on amazon recently (it was just released on DVD). We watched the tapes and our DD2 (who was 13 months) LOVED the characters... I swear it was the video. It really made for a great trip.. we just sort of floated from Pooh to Mickey etc.. and enjoyed her happiness!

Have a great trip! jen

well I flunked this "Grandma 101" pop quiz since i never even heard of these. we have the planning video and she literally bolted out of her chair when she saw it( which helped convince her mom and dad she might not be to young to take ..those Disney marketing guys sure know what they are doing...)i'll have to get a couple of these .

Thanks for all the tips and i guess even if she just thinks they are just "people"( the face characters) that's ok too!

 

[cindyfan]

My DGS adores Sully on Monsters, Inc and he loves the part where Boo is riding piggy back on Sully's back. And playing hide and seek in the bathroom.... he does that with me.
He is 26 months right now and I am not sure he really understands the size difference. But I am hoping he can relate it to the difference in size between Boo and Sully.

He also adores Buzz and Woody. And sleeps with his Mickey doll and blanket.
So we are really hoping he is okay with the characters. I love the idea of the sing-a-long DVD. I think I will look for it.

 

[The Sweetness]

I have been taking Ariel to a character party at the mall every week for the past 3 months. Shes met Dora, Cookie Monster, Elmo, Barney, Tigger etc... She will soon, I think be brave enough to go up to them by herself. Next year,or later this year, once she's a better climber, Ill take her to Chuck E Cheese as well. Next year in June, at least she wont be in pics like this Maybe she wont be hugging and kissing the characters but at least she wont have terror in her eyes. She'll be about 28 months when we go.

 

[Mickeefan]

I would highly recommend the Disney Sing A Long DVD-- "Disneyland Fun". I have seen it on amazon recently (it was just released on DVD). We watched the tapes and our DD2 (who was 13 months) LOVED the characters... I swear it was the video. It really made for a great trip.. we just sort of floated from Pooh to Mickey etc.. and enjoyed her happiness!

Have a great trip! jen

We did this with my nephew to prepare him for his first trip. He was 26 months when we went and he really enjoyed meeting the characters. I don't know if it was the tapes or not. We did breakfast at Old Key West. It was a character breakfast with Pooh and my nephew actually got out of his chair and hugged them and bounced with Tigger.

 

[phoebusII]

The Sing-Along-Songs videos are great for toddlers. The songs really keep their attention and the videos introduce them to the characters.

You may also want to try a couple Pooh videos. There are short 1/2 hour videos available. Small children like them and there are quite a few Pooh characters in the parks.