How to explain a missing princess

[Aunt Dani]

We are planning a trip to The World in May as a surprise for my niece's 5th birthday. She knows nothing about the trip at this point, and very little about the parks, except for a couple of commercials she saw on Disney Jr. She's all about princesses, but the problem is her favorite princess is Fiona from Shrek. How do you explain to a 4 year old that this one princess belongs to a different company and won't be there.

 

[yulilin3]

We are planning a trip to The World in May as a surprise for my niece's 5th birthday. She knows nothing about the trip at this point, and very little about the parks, except for a couple of commercials she saw on Disney Jr. She's all about princesses, but the problem is her favorite princess is Fiona from Shrek. How do you explain to a 4 year old that this one princess belongs to a different company and won't be there.

you can tell her she lives in another kingdom

 

[IceSkatingPrincess]

She was needed in her own Kingdom for some things.

 

[MakiraMarlena]

should be easy enough to plan a day trip to the "kingdom" of Universal. But if not, it's easy enough to explain to her that Fiona is at her own castle.

 

[captaindavidhook]

You can go see her over at Universal she does meet and greet with Shrek and Donkey. It's actually one of the more popular meet and greets they have over there are universal Studios.

 

[IrishNYC]

"Fiona doesn't live at Disney." At 5 she should be old enough to understand that. At the very least least she should understand that she won't necessarily get to meet every princess she wants to meet.

 

[disnut8]

We are planning a trip to The World in May as a surprise for my niece's 5th birthday. She knows nothing about the trip at this point, and very little about the parks, except for a couple of commercials she saw on Disney Jr. She's all about princesses, but the problem is her favorite princess is Fiona from Shrek. How do you explain to a 4 year old that this one princess belongs to a different company and won't be there.

When will she ask this question? Before you go? And, will she even ask it? If she does ask before the trip, her parents should be able to answer the question. And you can talk to them about it. Personally, I'd make it Donkey and the Dragon's issue and say they had a problem in a nearby land and Fiona had to go and help them out

But if she's in the parks and asks, then, well, blame it on Donkey again. "Donkey's sweet and Donkey's good but right now he needed Fiona so she went to be with him and his family. But, she will be back in another *X* days for Shrek and the kids".

 

[bbjunkie]

And I would be willing to bet my house that Fiona won't be her favorite princess anymore after her trip! Try to get in to Enchanted Tales with Belle; she's the perfect age for it and she will be in love with Belle. Or, if you have the chance, meet Merida. She meets to the right of the castle in a little garden and she is FANTASTIC! Suddenly, her favorite princess will be a different choice.

 

[cijay]

I'm in the "Fiona doesn't live here" camp. Compare it to "if you go to school, you wouldn't go there and ask where grandma (aunt so and so, long distance family friend etc) is."

 

[Amanda999]

I've told DS that Mickey (whichever character) has a cold, and doesn't want to give his germs to the kids. It helps later on at home, when DS himself is sick and can't go to a playdate or whatever. (And, for us, it helps me teach DS a life lesson, that things don't always work out, and we don't always get what we want.)