Question about "fuzzies"

[EMAW]

We're taking our 4 year old to DL for her 5th birthday soon and I know she is going to ask me why the fuzzies don't talk. Has anyone encountered this with their kids, and if so, what did you tell them?

TIA!

Emilie

 

[DangerMouse]

Hmmmm, never heard them called "Fuzzies" before. . .

My kids have honestly never asked why the characters don't speak. I think they just understand that it's part of the magic.

 

[labagit]

This question makes me wonder what most of you tell your kids in general about the "fuzzies". (Cute term, btw.) When we took my DD at 3 1/2 it honestly didn't even occur to me to pretend that they were real, so the characters have always been dressed up people to my kids. She still enjoyed seeing them and is looking forward to collecting autographs when we go in a couple of weeks (at age 10 now). It just makes me curious how it's handled in most families.

 

[Dukland]

I never told my kids one way or the other if they are "real" or not. And they've never asked why they can't talk.

My dd, who is 6, did ask me today why the Easter Bunny looks different at every mall. I told her that the bunnies at the malls were just "helpers" to the Easter Bunny, and not the real one. Guess it won't be long now, until she figures it all out.

 

[tinkerbelt]

I think you will find that the characters are so good at using body language to communicate, that you will hardly notice that they don't talk! My 3 year old loves to ask the characters questions and talk to them when she sees them, and they are always really great at using body language and hand gestures to answer.

 

[JenDisneylandlver]

I'm trying to remember if my son ever asked this.... I don't think so! But kids sure are more wise then I was when I was a kid. I bought everything hook line and sinker, no questions asked! My son comes up with whoppers that stump me all the time!

My son believed they were real, right up until last years trip. That's when he told me "Mom, mice just don't get that big!" LOL It was sad for me, because having him believe was always a part of the magic.

He'll be 9 next month, and does however still believe in the Easter Bunny and Santa, so my fun isn't completely over!

 

[DangerMouse]

My kids don't believe in the Easter Bunny or Santa (never have), but I've told them the day they stop believing Mickey Mouse and the other characters are real, is the day we stop going to Disneyland!

I've got them for life! Buwahahaha!!

 

[bumbershoot]

This question makes me wonder what most of you tell your kids in general about the "fuzzies". (Cute term, btw.) When we took my DD at 3 1/2 it honestly didn't even occur to me to pretend that they were real, so the characters have always been dressed up people to my kids. She still enjoyed seeing them and is looking forward to collecting autographs when we go in a couple of weeks (at age 10 now). It just makes me curious how it's handled in most families.

We're not "most" families, let me start with that.

My mom never did the Santa lie with us, so I don't do it in my family. Same goes for easter bunny (silly for us to celebrate Easter anyway! or xmas! but they are nice socially acceptable overlays for the more ancient stuff), tooth fairy, etc. Not saying we had no fun, we had this interesting fine-line myth thing going on, which is also how she kept us from ruining the intricate set-ups other families had for their kids. Even though we knew "Santa" presents had my mom's writing, and knew that we had no chimney and that there wasn't really a Santa, it was still FUN to see what my mom accomplished overnight, especially since our bedrooms were maybe 6 feet off the living room! Never figured out how she did the tooth fairy thing, either. Basically it made us VERY impressed with our mom!

So...with the characters, I'm sure I would just let him know that they represent the characters from movies and cartoons and whatnot, and he knows that THOSE are pretend, so I think he'd get it.

However, I think he'll probably ignore the "fuzzies" (honestly I've only heard them referred to as that on the CSI about the naughtiness that *some* "fuzzies" on the episode got up to!) and run straight to the princesses, as he's just in LOVE with princesses of any kind (even me, when I wear a skirt).

 

[EMAW]

I can't take credit for the term "fuzzy", I saw a CM on a WDW board refer to them that way, with the characters such as princesses being called the "face" characters.

Anyway, thanks for the posts about the kids reactions to them. I don't really want to ruin the magic of them for her yet if possible, same goes for the Easter bunny, Santa and every other so called "lie".

I'd like to keep her a kid for awhile with magical dreams that she really met Minnie Mouse on her 5th birthday. In a world with such harsh realities that she still has questions about 9-11 after seeing a very brief news piece on it last year and endless questions about the war and whether the kids that live in Iraq are scared all the time. I guess it might be a lie but she has plenty of time for the truths. I just want her to enjoy some of the fun of being a kid with a great imagination and love of the Disney magic.

Emilie

 

[labagit]

I hope that magic remains with your dd (and thus with you) for a long time. Yes, they do grow up too quickly. Santa and the Easter Bunny still come for my DD10 and DS7, but I never thought to make the characters real in their minds. The magic of Disney does prevail, though, because they feel it even though they "know".