When your kids finally discovered that there were real people under the costumes.....

[Roo's Kanga]

How did they find out? Did someone tell them or did they realize it on their own?

What was their reaction?

How old were they?

 

[PiperPizzaz]

Costumes? What costumes???

 

[MickeyLover20]

Mickey is real...I don't know what you mean

 

[becca011906]

arrgggg i just had to go in a few weeks before chirstmas to have a talk with dd2 teacher about reall and not real.... they were talking about facts and fictions books, and explaining what's real and what's not ect... well one child piped up and says well princesses aren't real... and my dd says " well cinderella is real, i talked to her, and saw her castel home..." she came home upset over it... so i told the teacher that she's not to tell my dd about stuff like that, would she tell her class that santa wasn't real 2 weeks before christmas... no what the heck is the differance then... oh my ticked me off!

 

[Charleston Princess]

My kids have always known (older cousin ), but I will tell you that it has never made a difference -- DS still lights up when he sees Pluto, Mickey, or Stitch.

 

[BabyPiglet]

Real people? I'm not following. Mickey is as real as they come.

 

[fairestoneofall]

I have no idea what you're talking about.

I always tell my kids that if you believe in your heart that something is real, then it is real to you. And that is really all that matters.

 

[mickeysgirl17]

I'm completely clueless to what you guys are talking about!


No, actually, my DD4 is already asking me about the characters. I always tell her that the ones at Disney World are the real characters and that they live there, but if she see's scary characters on TV, I tell her those are fake so I'm pretty sure she's a little confused, but I don't want to ruin the magic. She's still way too young. She was even asking about Santa this past December after my neice mentioned something to her. Kids these days.........

 

[mikamah]

We went when my son was 5 and the characters were so real to him it was amazing. We were at a pancake breakfast shortly after our wdw trip and they had some characters- spongebob and others, and when we left, he said to me, "spongebob wasn't a real character, I saw his zipper."

I hope they stay real to him for many more years.

 

[momsoftwins]

i over heard one of my girls (4) tell her twin that they are customes..i was crushed. dont u just love baby monitors. well i am not goin to bring it up to them .just let it slide like i never heard a word

 

[PrincessTigerLily]

We've been back about 2 weeks from our last trip. DD6 asked me about half an hour ago, "Do you think those are people in costumes or are they real?" I asked her what she thought, and she said, "I think they are real." And I told her that they looked real to me too. I remember at a young age like this asking my parents if Santa is real, and really believing he was real, and wanting my parents to tell me he was real, and that wasn't what I got. And I was heartbroken!

My co worker on the other hand, whoo-eee! Her daughter was in about third or fourth grade when she figured out they were costumes. She went on a total bender, accusing her parents of betraying her, the whole nine yards. It was apparently quite a rocky week!

 

[sunsprinkle24]

my little girl (6) came home after school a couple of weeks after our October trip and said one of the girls at school told her the characters were in costume. She asked me if it was true, and I said, what do you think? She said she thought they were the real characters so I let her think it....they're only little once. Maybe it was a good idea to do that, maybe not. But I couldn't spoil the magic.

 

[Mom2Evie]

arrgggg i just had to go in a few weeks before chirstmas to have a talk with dd2 teacher about reall and not real.... they were talking about facts and fictions books, and explaining what's real and what's not ect... well one child piped up and says well princesses aren't real... and my dd says " well cinderella is real, i talked to her, and saw her castel home..." she came home upset over it... so i told the teacher that she's not to tell my dd about stuff like that, would she tell her class that santa wasn't real 2 weeks before christmas... no what the heck is the differance then... oh my ticked me off!

Almost the exact same thing happened to my daughter. Her first grade class was talking about real vs. fantasy. Someone in the class said that Cinderella wasn't real. My daughter argued with them & was apparently very animated about it. At one point, she even went over the table after the boy before the teacher got to her. Evie was adamant that Cinderella was real because she's met her, taken pictures with her and even eaten at the castle. The teacher solved the problem by telling everyone that certainly the cartoon character in the movie wasn't real but she was drawn. They all agreed to that & let it go.

That was back in the fall and recently she asked me if I knew that the princesses were just peope dressed up. I told he that I knoew no such thing and as far as I knew princesses were real. I pointed out several occassions where princesses had "known" things about her, been able to answer ANY question she had about princesses, etc. I think maybe it helped extend the magic a bit. Hopefully she'll still believe this time next year when we make our next trip down to the happiest place on earth.

 

[5 for WDW]

DD 4 knows they are real. Princesses, Mickey..all of them. I don't see her thinking otherwise for awhile.

DS' are 10 and 8. They know the deal but, still believe in the Magic of it all. When they are there, Mickey is Mickey.

 

[Sysyphus]

With just over 2 weeks to go DD5 confided in me that she knew that the princesses were "just girls in costumes, not like the real characters" ... not sure what to think after wearing out my redial button getting a CRT ADR :/

 

[disneyjunkie]

How did they find out? Did someone tell them or did they realize it on their own?

What was their reaction?

How old were they?

I don't see how any child that understands Halloween and playing dress up wouldn't realize the characters aren't real.

My niece had just turned 5 when her family joined my son and I on their first WDW trip. She LOVED the characters (NOT the princesses), but knew that they weren't real.

I’m sure most kids know the truth. However, knowing the truth doesn’t diminish the magic and joy they feel when they see/interact with the characters.

 

[fairestoneofall]

I just wanted to add that DD 6 believes that the non-face characters are humans dressing up. However, she believes that the face characters are truly real.

DS 3 still believes.

My MIL is the one who spoiled Santa and the Tooth Fairy for DD. Let's just say that I was none too happy about that and let her know.

 

[disgram]

My twin granddaughters are 11 years old now, and whether they belive or not, they do not want to spoil things for their Gram!!! Actually, they are the ones that choose where we will eat, and they always pick the resturants with characters, Crystal Palace, LTT, and the Princess Breakfast in Norway! This year, they are adding the Garden Grill, after reading my Passporter and UG and saw that Chip and Dale are there!!

 

[goofydad621]

That is just wrong

And dont' I mean Don't even start in on Santa or the Easter bunny

 

[Atchley]

My DD and DS have always known that the characters are actually costumes, but I don't think that it made it any less special for them. They still are very excited to see the characters and still get autographs. I don't think characters ever lose their appeal. Even for adults.