Still believing in the magic...

[Shelton123]

Does anyone have an older child that still believes in the Disney magic ? My 8 year old still believes whole heartedly in the characters at Disney , especially the princesses . While telling me about her day yesterday she told me that she was talking about Disney with her friends and none of them believe in the magic , but that she still does. I told her that was fine, that not everyone believes and that thats okay . DH and I agreed that since believing still seems so important to her , and with us having an upcoming trip this summer that we are not ready to ruin that for her. She has always been a bit socially immature, and is also one of the younger kids in her 3rd grade class. I suggested she find other things to talk about with them, and save the disney talk for me at home, but she is so invested in the Disney magic that I worry she will alienate the friends that she has
Has anyone else ever dealt with anything similar and have some advice ?

Why wouldn't anyone believe in the characters at WDW?

 

[Twoboysnmygirl]

Well, it's a little different for us but maybe a different perspective will help...

My daughter is 8 and believes b/c I believe. I believe in THE MAGIC. We don't usually talk in terms of REAL or NOT REAL, just magical, that way it doesn't matter if they know how things work or if there's a zipper showing. I know there are CMs in those costumes and my daughter does as well, I think(I've never asked her), but we still believe in the magic of it. It's still special and real and wonderful because it's WDW!

We don't "do" santa, we never really have. We talk about him, joke about him bringing something, everybody gets a gift from him and the magic of it is there even though they know that Mom just puts his name on it. That's ok for us b/c it's still special and magical without being a lie.

You can find magic in everything!

A cute story that's related though...
even though I think my daughter knows there are people in the costumes, I think she doesn't give it much thought as to how they do it, and that's part of what keeps the magic there.

When we were there in Sept. we went to DHS and saw Minnie Mouse there and my daughter had her pic taken with her. That night we went to MNSSHP at MK and saw Minnie at her house dressed up for Halloween. My daughter and her friend were so overjoyed b/c they could tell that Minnie RECOGNIZED them from earlier in the day! I thought that was so cute.

 

[alexandria674]

At the risk of sounding like a nerd, Disney magic STILL is around. If one day your kid questions that magic and is old enough to handle it, say this " Disney magic may not come in the forms of princesses and magical creatures, but dear, there is still pixie dust in Disney. It is a place where you can be happy and fulfill your dreams, where you can imagine the day away and still have thrills at every moment. Think of all the happy memories at Disneyland (or world) and that is magic."

 

[susykt4]

My daughter is also 8 and in 3rd grade and is the only one of her friends to still believe in Santa and the tooth fairy. She even has come home several times and said "Jacob said Santa is actually your parents, but I don't believe him." I'm pretty sure she thinks the princesses and fairies are kind of "helpers" rather than the REAL Tinker Bell or Cinderella, but she most definitely believes that if she's good during the day at Disney World, Tink brings her a gift during the night. As she gets older, I do worry that she will be furious when she eventually realizes the truth and that I've been "lying" to her. DD loves fantasy and magic! DS6 believes in this stuff because his sister believes, but I don't think he'll care a bit when he finds out the truth. In his case, he'll probably be relieved that something so illogical was made up.

I've never "allowed" my daughter to believe in the Easter Bunny. The thought of a giant costumed bunny hiding eggs around the house or yard was just too creepy... NOTHING like a costumed fat man entering the house and leaving presents on Christmas Eve

 

[grace&philipsmom]

Last year I was devastated.
We went to disney world last April. My 4 year old had a Jasmine makeover at the BBB and we went to CRT for lunch, where she had pics taken with all the princesses. She was ecstatic!
About a week after we returned home she was at my MILs house for lunch (without me), and had brought over pictures from our trip wanting to show Gram how she had met all the princesses.

When I returned to pick her up my MIL "confronted" me on letting my 4 year old daughter be so deluded. She told me she had straightened my daughter out however and now she knows that Cinderella is only a cartoon from somebody's imagination therefore she could not have met her in person, it was just a lady in a costume. She said it is important to have realistic expectations in life, even if you are only 4!

We are currently planning a trip for my daughter's upcoming 6th birthday. When I asked my daughter if she wanted to eat at CRT again on this trip she said it didn't matter since the princesses were not real .

On a side note has anyone ever hit their mother in law?

 

[Hollsey]

Here's a response I bet you weren't expecting!

My family is all Walt Disney World fanatics, and last year my sister (17 at the time) and me (18 at the time) went to Disneyland. I met Minnie on Main Street, and I was so wrapped up in the magic that I really, truly thought it was her!

True lovers of the magic of Disney, in my opinion, probably think it's all real. My family gets caught up in it too easily, and my now 18 year-old sister is the youngest one in my family.

 

[twins2again]

to grace and phillips mom: That is just plain mean. I have grandchildren too and that was way overstepping her boundaries. Not her business to "straighten out " your daughter! I have twin 6 yr olds who live and breathe disney and I think thats just mean to steal her magic with the pics and all away.

 

[grace&philipsmom]

to grace and phillips mom: That is just plain mean. I have grandchildren too and that was way overstepping her boundaries. Not her business to "straighten out " your daughter! I have twin 6 yr olds who live and breathe disney and I think thats just mean to steal her magic with the pics and all away.

Thanks, I thought so too. I didn't say anything at the time partially because I was shocked! All the same my daughter is still very excited about our upcoming trip, it just seems to be more about the resort pool and the rides now . Oh well.......

 

[Mickey_Dust]

The disney Magic doesn't have to be real in the sense that the characters are real or the princesses are real... if it comes to that... The MAGIC of Disney is that when you go and drive under the sign that says Where Dreams come true... and then walk through the park gates look around everyone is happy and smiling and for a little while everyone is a child... That is the magic! If Cinderella doesn't live in the Castle that is fine but inside that castle lives Magic that doesn't need a blue dress or black mouse ears. Although those do help!!!

 

[ilandrazdsw]

Last year I was devastated.
We went to disney world last April. My 4 year old had a Jasmine makeover at the BBB and we went to CRT for lunch, where she had pics taken with all the princesses. She was ecstatic!
About a week after we returned home she was at my MILs house for lunch (without me), and had brought over pictures from our trip wanting to show Gram how she had met all the princesses.

When I returned to pick her up my MIL "confronted" me on letting my 4 year old daughter be so deluded. She told me she had straightened my daughter out however and now she knows that Cinderella is only a cartoon from somebody's imagination therefore she could not have met her in person, it was just a lady in a costume. She said it is important to have realistic expectations in life, even if you are only 4!

We are currently planning a trip for my daughter's upcoming 6th birthday. When I asked my daughter if she wanted to eat at CRT again on this trip she said it didn't matter since the princesses were not real .

On a side note has anyone ever hit their mother in law?

OMGoodness, that was just pure overstep! I have never EVER thought of hitting my MIL, but for that I probably would have.

DS5 was over the characters in a couple days, but DD3 loved each one and had to love them every time we saw one.
We simply explained that the characters that couldn't talk were saving their voices for the movies. The zippers we either clothes, or in Pluto's case it was a wig (and the zipper helped it stay on)...he went to the groomers and they shaved a little too much off and everyone loves to pet him so he had to have hair. The princesses...well, they look pretty real to me...and if they ever question why a princess looks different than the movies/cartoons--airbrushing duh!

As far as Santa goes...Santa has a secret! DD was deathly afraid of Santa. BIL dressed as Santa and 07 we let her at 2 yo watch him put on the costume. We told her that Uncle T had a secret..HE WAS SANTA!!! This past Christmas we were at WDW, so I sent a letter via emial to Santa to please come before we left. Sure enough Santa showed up! He started taking presents out of his sack and DD stated with much disappointment...that's not Santa that's uncle T! She came crying to me (as the rest of the famliy busted out laughing) and I whispered in her ear about the secret...she went right back to him and was fine. Well, Santa left and about 2 minutes later Uncle T came in through the kitchen. I said, "Hi Uncle T, you finally made it." DD's back was to him. She turned around, dropped her present, looked at the front door, and then back at BIL with a look on her face that was like...what, huh, how, what??? We asked DS5 what he though...if DD was right that Santa was Uncle T. He said, "NO that was the real Santa!"

 

[SmallWorld71]

I'm a high school teacher and we have had to take classes on gifted students. Something that came up is that some gifted students tend to believe in fairy tales, Santa, etc. longer than their peers. Perhaps your daughter is like this?

This is interesting, DS10 is exceptionally bright when it comes to things such as math and problem solving, and we've always thought it strange that such a logical, smart child could still believe in Santa, characters, the Easter Bunny etc... He even caught DH and I filling eggs a couple of years ago. We thought we were caught, but the next morning he asked us which ones were ours and which ones were from the Easter Bunny. He is just starting to question things.

Last year I was devastated.
We went to disney world last April. My 4 year old had a Jasmine makeover at the BBB and we went to CRT for lunch, where she had pics taken with all the princesses. She was ecstatic!
About a week after we returned home she was at my MILs house for lunch (without me), and had brought over pictures from our trip wanting to show Gram how she had met all the princesses.

When I returned to pick her up my MIL "confronted" me on letting my 4 year old daughter be so deluded. She told me she had straightened my daughter out however and now she knows that Cinderella is only a cartoon from somebody's imagination therefore she could not have met her in person, it was just a lady in a costume. She said it is important to have realistic expectations in life, even if you are only 4!

We are currently planning a trip for my daughter's upcoming 6th birthday. When I asked my daughter if she wanted to eat at CRT again on this trip she said it didn't matter since the princesses were not real .

On a side note has anyone ever hit their mother in law?

This is just mean! While I'm sure you can't completely undo the damage, I would be trying my darndest to bring back the magic. The characters are all pros at staying in "character." Any time my kids have asked them questions they have been dead on with their answers not batting an eye or even pausing. I bet the princesses could help your daughter believe.

 

[ilandrazdsw]

This is just mean! While I'm sure you can't completely undo the damage, I would be trying my darndest to bring back the magic. The characters are all pros at staying in "character." Any time my kids have asked them questions they have been dead on with their answers not batting an eye or even pausing. I bet the princesses could help your daughter believe.

DS asked Crush if he tasted like Chicken. It took a good while for crush to answer and then swam to the in-tank mike and called for security. It seemed as though this was somehting that had never been asked (It is legal to catch turtle in the Bahamas, but not in the US).

It is fun asking the characters questions...it kind of really lets them show their personalities. DS asked Piglet if he liked bacon or sausage. Piglets response was hysterical. We also asked Cindy if she married into the Charming family why it was named Cinerellas' castle...she was prepared with an answer.

 

[SmallWorld71]

DS asked Crush if he tasted like Chicken. It took a good while for crush to answer and then swam to the in-tank mike and called for security. It seemed as though this was somehting that had never been asked (It is legal to catch turtle in the Bahamas, but not in the US).

It is fun asking the characters questions...it kind of really lets them show their personalities. DS asked Piglet if he liked bacon or sausage. Piglets response was hysterical. We also asked Cindy if she married into the Charming family why it was named Cinerellas' castle...she was prepared with an answer.

Poor Crush! We got a great Cinderella too! She had an answer ready when DS asked her where Jaq and Gus were and she also talked to my DD a lot about her room in the castle. Aurora also had a great answer when DS asked her if the fairies still fought over her dress. My favorite was Mary Poppins who noticed that DS13 (11 at the time) was sitting on the sidelines watching as the little ones played with Alice and the Mad Hatter during the LOEMH. She scolded him right into playing with all the little kids.

 

[Melissa]

My dd is 11 very fashion concious, a cheerleader on the A team at her school with mostly 7th and 8th graders ( she is in 6th) " very cool and popular" and she believes that Mickey is real. He has always left her notes and presents and she knows he always waves right to her during the parades. She has a friend who also goes to WDW a lot and does not believe in magic or get presents. Her logic for that is the Swan where they stay really isn't a Disney Hotel and if you don't believe Mickey isn't going to leave you anything. I've just told her for years some people believe in Disney Magic and some don't don't waste your time talking about it at school if they don't. So it isn 't a problem for her. A previous poster mentioned that gifted kids believe in things longer that is interesting to me. Because I am surprised that she still believes and maybe this explains it. Or she is a REALLY good actress and it is me that is being fooled!!

 

[tink2]

We just went through this at our house. DD9 said she wanted to know the truth- all the kids in her class said the characters are fake and there are people inside . This happened at the beginning of the year. DD is very gullable and loves to believe in magical stuff. DS7 (almost 8) however, is much more realistic about things and tries to figure things out. We knew he'd be the one to figure it out. Sure enough, he said that he was not crazy- the zippers meant there were people inside there and besides, a yellow bear can't walk around like Pooh. He kept on and on and finally I just said- I think it's fun to believe. I didn't actually say the words, but still 'told' them. However, DD says she still believes the princesses are real (bless her!) The kids talked about it for a few minutes- how they knew this and that couldn't be real, etc. Then, I made a family rule... no more discussion of how things at WDW aren't real. I told them it was fun to believe in Disney magic and that when you get to WDW, everything becomes real to us. This was months ago and it hasn't been mentioned since. They both still have a list of characters to see when we go in Nov. and both get excited when we see the characters on our home videos. I was so scared that when they figured it out, the magic would be gone. But, DD is one who really loves the magic of Disney and the characters- and I don't think she'll ever stop loving them- and she influences ds to be the same. Even though they 'know' deep down, I think they still want to believe and that is fine with me. And, I'm sure when they are with their friends, they are all cool and don't believe in that stuff. But when they are home and getting ready for WDW, they are kids again- and I love it!