I need HELP!!...My DD5 is scared of all costume characters...

[MOMOF2LILPRINCESSES]

What should I do? She has a Costume Character Complex (CCC)...she loves the Disney princesses...but Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Winnie, etc...she is so frightened of. We just got back from WDW and she was mortified when she saw the THREE MUSKETEERS at Epcot and all the characters riding on the red double decker bus there.

Please provide some advice, she is only 5 yrs old and am hoping she will grow out of it eventually. We are annual passholders at DISNEYLAND, and it is very traumatic for her to walk thru the park without hiding under her dads shirt so the Mickey, Minnie...etc will not see her. She has never had a bad experience with any characters, but this has been going on for the last 3 years and doesn't seem to get better...We went to Ariels Grotto at DL this past may for her older sisters bday, she saw goofy, chip & dale and hid under the table the entire time...

We are true Disney lovers, and want our dd to enjoy the entire Disney experience as much as possible.

I'd love to hear from all of you...Thanks for listening



2004 All star movies
2004 Caribbean beach
1998 POFQ
late 80s/early 90s Buena Vista suites/ Disney Cruise
DISNEYLAND my entire life!!!!

 

[wdw_writers]

Oh, does this sound familiar! DD (13) was petrified for so long that she refused to even go to WDW until last year. How I would handle it:

-If she thinks they're real, maybe you can trust her with the "secret" that they're just people in costumes

-Do the "split"! Take her on a ride or to a princess while DH goes with her sister to meet characters

As for walking around the parks, there's nothing you can do. Try to avoid routes if you know there are going to be some characters there (If possible) Avoid doing character meals.
But don't let her fear spoil your fun: if you and DH like characters, alternate like i said above.

As for your other DD's bday, if you happen to be at Disney for it again, try something "character free" or something with only the princesses (Like the Castle breakfast or the breakfast in Norway).

Hope this helps!!

 

[miste76]

LOL... this really makes me laugh... my little sister (Ann) was the same way. She actually hid under a table at a character meal when she was younger (she's now 14 and has been ok since she was about 6 years old.) Ann didn't even like the princesses.
We went to WDW every year since she was born... just avoided the characters until she was ready to go and see them. We never forced her and always let her know that she could stay as far away from them as she wanted... I think she never felt threatened because we never forced her to get close (except for the one meal, which we never did again after she hid under the table.)
Suddenly on one of our trips, she saw Aladdin and Princess Jasmine in Epcot (near Morocco) and Pocahontas. She slowly went up to them and just built her confidence from there. Now she loves them and has decided to get autographs (again) from every single character when we go in November.
Hope it all works out for you!!! She'll look back at it when she's older and laugh like we do now.

 

[bairdbeth]

Before our first visit, I had DD (then 3) make some pictures for Mickey and Minnie. She then wanted to give the pictures to the characters herself. Her little friend did the same, but he made Mom give them to the characters. He was still scared, but came in close proximity and finally petted Pluto. Maybe that could help?

 

[ArielsMommy]

My dd (2 1/2) has also developed a fear of the characters whose faces are covered. She also loves the princesses. We sort of desensitized her to the other characters though by showing her the WDW planning video everyday for a couple of weeks. When we tookk her a few weeks ago she was ok as long as we didn't get too close. HTH

 

[DisMN]

When we've had children with us we tell the child before we meet any characters that under NO circumstances will we make them go up to a character.....
and then we abide by our promise. We make no effort to go visit the characters instead waving "hi" to them from a distance.

I'm not so fond of the character interaction myself sometimes so I can see how a child would hate or fear the experience.

I agree too if a child is old enough to understand, there is NOTHING wrong with telling them the "secret" about it really being a person/grownup in a costume. Couldn't hurt, might help.

 

[Sammy]

Had the same problem with DD-5 on our first trip in 2000, then again when she was 8 in 2003! At the Crystal Palace, she would have DH take her to the buffet line every time a character came to the table. I have a video tape of our other two kids schmoozing it up with each of the characters.....then I would swing to DD's empty chair so we could "include"her in the video!! We just made sure to keep her at a distance she felt comfortable, and never forced her to get close. We let her decide when she was ready.

I'm happy to report that on our last trip in Feb 2004 (she was now 9 years old!), she finally warmed up to the characters to the point she was a "Character Commando" and wanted every autograph she could get!!

Don't worry.......she will get over her fright someday.

Sammy

 

[Schmeck]

Have you asked her why she is afraid?

 

[alloyd1170]

I got my 2 yr old son who was afraid of Santa the Disney Sing Along video-Beach Party which takes place throughout WDW. It has the live characters (not cartoon) interacting with kids throughout the parks. The songs are pretty catchy too and the words scroll across the screen. When we got to the park, he was afraid of the characters that werent on the video, but had no problem walking up to the ones that were on it. I think the size of the characters are intimadating to little kids, and that the video helps to show them being friendly to kids. Some characters that we met actually got down to my sons eye level which really helped to put him at ease. Another thing we did to help him feel comfortable was to first watch other kids go up to the characters to get their autographs. When my son realized they were ok, he would go up too. I also just picked up the DL video- Small World and my son loves to sing along to it. This one is done only in the one park. If they have the free planning kit with dvd like they do for WDW, get it as it also helped prep him for the parks.

alison

 

[lovelyk68]

My DD4 is the same way! We have been to Disney twice since she was 1 1/2 and she always hides her face when the costumed characters are around. It is really a bummer. I am planning a trip for this Christmas and she keeps asking me if characters will be there . Anyway, we have never forced her to take pictures or interact with the characters, but it is Disney World, so I keep telling her that there will be characters there. She is excited about meeting the face characters, so I plan to try and get a princess breakfast for her. Oh by the way, I have told her many times that there is just a person in the costume and she absolutely understands that, but she is still afraid. I plan my neighborhood easter egg hunt and I bought an Easter Bunny costume this year (instead of renting). She saw the costume in our house, saw me, her father, and brother put it on (with no fear), yet screamed at the thought of seeing the bunny at the hunt and had to go home early.

Good luck!

 

[missyc]

My DD5 gave us such a laugh that I almost wet my pants last March. It was her first trip and she was SO excited to see all the characters. The first ones she saw and had the chance to get close to were the Pooh characters. She FREAKED! It was true panick when she saw them. I felt bad for her, but it was hysterical!! We spent so much time talking to her and trying to convince her that they were just people in costumes, etc. She didn't care WHAT we said.
I found out later that she was so scared because she thought they would be as little as they look on tv. She thought they would be these tiny little things!
She called them GIANTS!!
Anyways, she pretty much got over it by the 3rd or 4th day.
Good luck!

 

[The Sweetness]

Do you all have a Chuck E Cheese near by? This may help her warm up to the big fuzzy guys (girls)

 

[hrh_disney_queen]

We have been going to WDW for 2 years (5 trips) with DS4 and DS6. They were freaky about the characters, too-even the "face" characters. (Stood in line for DS5-at the time-to meet Snow White-when we got up there he wouldn't go near her..) They did not even want to see them. But with each trip we are getting a little closer. Once DH and I each held one with Tigger standing in between us. They weren't real happy, but they weren't screaming...Baby steps...I am sure mine will come around, and so will yours. Then we will be longing for the days that we didn't spend all of our park time standing in line to see characters..LOL..Just don't push it..

 

[DB Washington]

We went to Epcot with my niece, who is pretty good about the characters, when she was 5. We walked out of Marrakesh and she was talking to us and backed into Jaffar. When she turned around and looked up she freeked. He is one ugly dude. I didn't blame her. Luckily, the Genie was nearby and whipped up on Jaffar for her and then she was fine. This probably doesn't help with your problem, just thought I'd share some creative problem solving by the CM's.

 

[MOMOF2LILPRINCESSES]

Thank you all for the wonderful insight & advice you have provided me. It's good to know that I'm not the only parent out there who has this problem, which I'm sure she will outgrow. Unfortunately she is scared of all characters even Chuck E. Cheese, Universal Studio characters, Snoopy, Fun Ship freddy on the Carnival cruises, even SANTA CLAUS!! It's been really hard for her, but I will take in all your advice and hope it works. Thanks for the kind words!!!