Halloween Party Fright Factor?

[marciemouse]

We're considering going to the Halloween Party, but I'm concerned about my three year old daughter being scared. We adopted her from abroad last year, so she's never been around people in costumes, scary movies or villains, etc. I don't think the decor alone would scare her, and we'd be going mostly for rides and treats, not characters. What do you think?

By the way, she's been to DL with us twice and loves it. Talks about Mickey and friends a lot!

 

[skiingfast]

We're considering going to the Halloween Party, but I'm concerned about my three year old daughter being scared. We adopted her from abroad last year, so she's never been around people in costumes, scary movies or villains, etc. I don't think the decor alone would scare her, and we'd be going mostly for rides and treats, not characters. What do you think?

By the way, she's been to DL with us twice and loves it. Talks about Mickey and friends a lot!

How is it when she visits a character in general, that can be uncompfortable for some kids. Otherwise MHP shouldn't pose any other problems that you can't avoid.

 

[marciemouse]

Our first visit, she loved the characters. The second visit, she displayed some fear when they were close up, but she still loved to watch from a distance or in the parade.

I'm just concerned about it all feeling too spooky for her. Does the park feel normal, or do they really aim to create an eery atmosphere?

 

[skiingfast]

Well it's darker and foggy in spots. But I doubt that will bother her with lots of other people around.

Keep in mind that the WDW version which is about the same is called, Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party.

Characters might be tricky, you might want to costume your daughter so she knows why the characters are wearing costumes too.

 

[wdwfan22]

If she is fine normally with characters, she should be fine at the party. As long as you don't go up to meet the villians, which I doubt you would, the others are just in different clothes. If a kids likes Mickey, I would think they would like him no matter what his clothes are.

It really is not scary, they know they get a lot of little ones, and don't want to scare any of them. It is just more festive, imho. I would just be sure to get there when it is still light outside, that way she can see the decorations for the first time with the sun out.

Lot's of timid kids go to Disney, they don't want to scare them away, then the parents would leave too and not be able to spend money there.

 

[DallyGirl]

We went two years ago specifically for the Halloween party with our daughter who was three at the time. She had a blast! There were tons of kid friendly activities and we didn't have any issues with it being too scary. It was really fun to see the park all "dressed" up and it made it even that more special. I would say go for it - it will be a Halloween to remember. At 5 years old, she still talks about how much fun it was.

 

[Nala83]

How does your daughter do on the Fantasyland attractions? Or watching the villain parts of Disney movies?

My 4-year-old friend did NOT like the Peter Pan ride because she thought Capt. Hook was looking at her. She hated the "mad queen"- watched musical chairs from very far away while clinging to me.

The thing with being that age is that everything is real. It isn't people in costumes- it's the real person. They just can't separate it out. It's what makes that age magical...but also what creates fears for certain kids.

My little friend couldn't tolerate the party- the big ghost balloons, the images on the castle, the fog in New Orleans Square, and especially the villains (and the other costumes as well). But that's just her. Many kids do just fine.

(I don't know if it's relevant or not, but my little friend was adopted from China two years ago. Not sure what impact- if any- that has on her fears.)

 

[3Minnies1Mickey]

We did the party last year with kids ages 8, 4, 2, and 10 months. They all did great. It's very festive, not spooky at all (unless they are particularly frightened by the villains). Its like going to DLR at night but more festive with music and dancing.