How to get 18mo DD not to be scared of Mickey!

[forever-sunshine]

We went to the State Fair last week and I found out that my 18mo DD is terrified of characters. We were 20 feet away from Smokey Bear and she started screaming. He wasn't even coming towards her, just talking to some other kids.

So - is there anything that I can do to kinda prep her before we get to WDW next month? I don't really care if she actually goes up to them, I just don't want her to be terrified the whole time. My DD5 really wants to see characters so we have a bunch of character meals planned.

When my oldest was this age it was during the SLC 2002 Olympics and my hubby was Coal (The Bear) so she had A LOT of prep and if nobody was around my hubby would talk to her so that she could tell it was daddy. So now characters don't scare her at all, she knows that there is somebody in there. It definately takes the mystic away, but she's good not to tell other kids.

 

[Jaime]

I found the vacation video did wonders. I would play the childrens section every morning when my dd was eating breakfast, it is about 5 minutes long. That way she got to she the characters the way she would see them in Disney. I thought she would be so scared of the characters since she was afraid of Santa and other characters at our Christmas party, we even considered cancelling! However she loved Mickey, Pluto & Pooh.
Good Luck & Have fun!

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

We always let our girls take the lead...the video is a good idea. I think--from past experience with my brother (Terrified for years of the characters)...little kids don't expect these characters who seem their size on television....are bigger than grownups. So that is very intimindating. If caught off guard..a pint-size visitor who adores the cuddly characters...could become instantly terrified.

Perhaps picking up some post cards in the gift shop--and then do some kind of art work...and she can deliver the cards to the character who appears on the picture. You can also notify the handler that your child is possibly terrified...and they'll let the characters know to go easy. We've found the characters to be really good about that when they do know that a child will have a problem.

In the show tent in toon town--they even told pluto to go stand in the corner..in a nice way....b/c a little girl was terrified b/c of the orientation of how everything was. It fit the circumstance--not saying that the handlers will send all the characters to the corner .

 

[staci]

I found a video that has ds very excited! Sing-Along Songs - Disneyland Fun. He didnt know who any of the characters were, as we dont get cable, but I found this at a consignment shop and bought it. He dances around with the parade. I hope it will help him when he gets there, as he will have already seen some of the park in the video and TONS of characters. (it is DL not DW but at his age he doesnt know the difference.)

Maybe this will help you? This is an old video but you should be able to find it on ebay.

 

[Mr Poohbrain]

I second Staci's recommendation - the Disney Sing-Along video "Disneyland" or "It's a Small World" (same video, different names -not sure why????) is awesome for the little ones.

Best of Luck,

Mrs. PB

 

[mommystieg]

To prep our then 2 year old DD for our first trip to WDW I used the vacation planning video and an assortment of Sing A Long videos. The Sing a Longs were great because they show the characters interacting with kids--they are also filmed at WDW or DL so your child can get an idea about other things they might see on their trip. The videos we have are:
Disneyland Fun
Camp Out at Walt Disney World
Beach Party at Walt Disney World
Flik's Musical Adventure at Disney's Animal Kingdom
Let's Go to the Circus

She was pretty shy at first but it didn't take her long to get warmed up. One of my favorite memories from that first trip was of her chasing Goofy down with her autograph book and pen

 

[minkydog]

Prep all you want, but don't be surprised if your 18month old is still afraid of characters. It's a developmental thing and she will get over it eventually. But maybe not before your trip.

 

[forever-sunshine]

I actually don't care if my 18 mo old interacts with the characters at all. I just would like to ease her into not being terrified every time she sees them. My DD5 is shy and says that she is going to talk to the characters, but I will be surprised if she actually does.

We'll just go with the flow and enjoy ourselves!

Thanks for all your suggestions, the video idea is great.

Amy

 

[rt2dz]

Last trip DS#2 was 15 months old and terrified of the characters. We didn't push the thing at all. And we had prepped, as much as you can a child that age. Basically, what we did was one of us would hang back with him while the other took DS4 to see the characters. When we got up to the line we asked the character to look over and wave, which they always did. By the end of the trip, he loved the characters, except the face characters.

 

[klj27]

The best thing to help my 18 mos olds not be afraid of the characters was about 5 years! Imagine our wonderful dinners at Chef Mickey and Garden Grill this last trip when our youngest would tense up and scream in terror everytime one of them came near. He had a baby mickey plush that has been in his crib for a long time. I thought for sure he would throw it out as soon as we got home, but now it is his favorite thing. Go Figure.

 

[justhat]

My daughter LOVED characters from 6-14 months. Then on our trip last week (she's 19 months) she changed her mind. She isn't really scared of them where she screams and runs now. In fact she likes them still and wants to see them and hug them, but then cries if she can't make a quick exit after her hug. It was very weird.

She was also afraid of every ride, she'd shake her head no and make the sign for 'all done' everytime we went on a ride. These are the same rides she'd sign 'more' for when she was 14 months. Again though, it was weird, like she wanted to see Buzz (she loves Buzz and Stitch) so she'd point to his ride, we'd wait in line, get up to the animated Buzz near the loading zone, then she'd get so happy. We'd get on the ride and she'd start shaking her head no. So basically all she liked was the carousel and teacups.

 

[Zoesmama03]

You probably can't.

My dd was very much afraid of Santa at that age.

At 2 she was afraid of Mickey but shyly went up with no crying. Then she hid her face behind her arms. The 2nd time she was much better so you can try meething them several times.

Also I talked to dd about it for weeks before hand. Telling her we are going to meet Mickey. Do you wanna give Mickey a hug. And of course she was still scared but didn't cry at all atleast.

 

[NotUrsula]

The only character photo we have of DS is one of him, age 2, attempting to "fork" Mickey at the Ice Cream Social at the Garden Grill. Normally he would have hidden under the table or run away, but I guess that ice cream was worth defending. He wasn't about to let any oversized rodent take it away from him!

He's 8 now, and he still doesn't do characters. He has known since toddlerhood that they are just adults in suits, but he still finds them very sinister. His comfort range with all types of big-head characters is about 25 feet, though now he'll pass closer than that if he is sure that they are otherwise occupied.

I'd just respect the child's preference on this, and don't spend a lot of time and effort trying to convince her to change her opinion. There is a HUGE upside to kids who don't care for characters; no hot and endless autograph lines, and no expensive character meals with mediocre food.

 

[KeepSwimming]

That's a normal response at that age. The biggest mistake you can make it to push too hard and then your munchkin may be afraid of characters well into childhood. If it's meant to happen it will...

 

[jonestavern]

You probably can't.
My dd was very much afraid of Santa at that age.
.

I think the terrified thing of characters or Santa is not terribly uncommon.
Up until the age of 8 or so Santa terrified the be-jeepers outta me!
I liked him from afar but did not want him to approach me.
I will say, Mom & Dad didn't push me to go to Santa, which was cool, but he just seemed to turn up everywhere!
Sounds like you're going about it the right way & have a great attitude. I think a few children will just never warm up
Oh by the by, I have a very large collection of Santas!

Jean

 

[AUDramaQueen]

Like some others have said, some kids have problems and some don't as far as characters go. It's one of those wait and see things. We let our DD just watch some of the other kids interacting with the characters before we went up to them. If she said she didn't want to then we didn't. Also, it helped to meet some princesses first since they're real people and not as intimidating. The first time we went we really didn't do a lot of the character greets just to get them used to Disney in general. The whole place can be intimidating to a todlder then add giant animals coming at you and it can be dowright scary! Now our son had no problems from the beginning but he was almost 4 the first time we went. Don't be disappointed if you don't get those character pictures the first time. That gives you an excuse to go back!

 

[Shagley]

And sometimes they don't grow out of it. My sister is 38, and she freaked out (okay, she just said that she got a nervous stomach ache) when I told her that I made a reservation for us to have breakfast at the Crystal Palace with Winnie the Pooh and Friends.

 

[cillakat]

honestly, i wouldn't. it depends on your individual child but my first was very very resistant and fearful in new situations. any attempts at trying to encourage her, help her be less fearful generally had the opposite effect.

i would just let her lead the way and if she's fearful, then the best thing you can do is make sure that her space is protected. she'll eventually outgrow it.

my kids were never afraid of characters but there were other fears (loud places for my first dd....shows at clubmed were out of the question). my best friends child is cautious, but not really afraid of anything...just slow to warm up. but when it comes to costumed characters. he wants nothing to do with them even at 6. who cares? characters are really a tiny part of my disney experience. i didn't like the characters either when i was little. and honestly, while i'm not afraid of them, i don't really likethem except for the face characters.


katherine in atl

 

[stschaefer]

DD is 3 1/2 and was the same way. For her first 3 years - frightened, terrified, and running away from anything in a suit. Have season passes to 6 Flags last two years - first year she would go to the shows, but not go on stage to meet. This year we finally got a picture of her with characters - after we had her pick up a photo album with her favorite character and told her we would like to take pictures of her with characters, she loved it - and it is her album that she shows anyone who wants to look. She loved the planning video with all the characters and she voiced interest in meeting them. We got an autograph book and she loved going up to the characters and having her picture taken, talk to them, and play. I don't know what caused the change, but she can't wait to go back and see more!!! it might take a while, but try.