To tell or not to tell....

[suevee]

that is the question. I am taking my 3 1/2 year old grandson for the his first time. We will only be there one day and plan to do MK. This is an unexpected trip. Now do I prepare him for the characters or do I just surprise him? I am just not sure what to do. Part of me wants to surprise him but I don't want him to be overwhelmed. Part of me wants to tell him but will he get to excited.

 

[babynursedawn]

Has he ever seen any other characters?(clowns or characters in parades) That age tends to get way over excited about them and then cant handle it when they do see 'em. I would rent/buy one of the disney singalong videos(they have they characters dancing and playing with kids) have him watch and gauge his response from that.

 

[suevee]

Last year we took him to King's Dominion and he saw Dora and Blue. He was afraid of Dora, but did pet Blue. He wouldn't get out of the stroller though. He was 2 1/2 then. That is why I am not sure what to do this time.

 

[isabell122]

in the middle of driving tell him " Oh i forgot to tell you we are going to disney world." Then show him pictures of it so he understands then he will be able to sleep the night before and it is great to see the happy faces while you are going on the trip.

 

[flagdaytwins]

I recommend you prepare him for Disney, in the matter of "character knowledge"! My girls only knew Mickey and Minnie and were just overcome with joy getting to meet them in person. The other characters.....they were at a total loss....I regret not renting/buying Disney videos before our trip.

 

[princesstommi]

On our last trip, we went with our 3 year old cousin. She knew who a number of characters were, but we didn't know how she would react to full size characters in the park. We ended up being able to see Chip and Dale out in the open while walking through DAK. She was intrigued and not scared at all. It was a great introduction, and after that we knew we could jump in the lines for Mickey, Pooh, etc. Everything went really well for us.

However, I have seen quite a few children completely terrified when confronted by a life size character, and it always breaks my heart to see kids who aren't ready pushed into that situation.

 

[suevee]

""However, I have seen quite a few children completely terrified when confronted by a life size character, and it always breaks my heart to see kids who aren't ready pushed into that situation. ""

This is why this unexpected day trip is so great because in March we will be taking a 10 trip with family (about 20 ). I plan on taking things at his pace so he will be really ready for the March trip.

We will be flying down to visit his great-grandfather and this day trip is to give Pappap a little break from an exuberant 3 year old. My father has not met "the boy" because my mother had been very ill for a long time and couldn't be around children. My mom passed 6 weeks and Dad is having a hard time. So I am taking our darling boy down hoping to bring a little comfort back.

 

[Grumpy_Disney_Dad]

to paraphase someone's tag line.......Mickey may be cute to you but to a child he is a six foot rat