Why do some children find characters scary at Disney Parks?

[sponica]

My kiddo loved fur characters but was really not a fan of face characters...so there's that...

 

[browneyedgirl1683]

Kids are smart. They know that if Jesse and Buzz are toys, they should be smaller than they are. They know that the Incredibles should be the same size as other grownups. Some kids can suspend their belief, some kids accept that in Disney or wherever they just get bigger. Other kids get very scared because they aren't seeing what they picture.

My daughter decided that when characters live "in the TV" they get small, and they get big when they come out

 

[leahgoogle]

My youngest DD was terrified of any fully dressed up character that didn't show it's face until she was about 7 years old. She's ok now, but still wants nothing to do with stormtroopers, darth vader or kylo-ren.

 

[ford91exploder]

One of our nephews was afraid of Santa Claus, did not get over it till he was about 8. No rational reason why interestingly enough he IS still a very picky eater I wonder if the traits are related somehow but psychosocial research is way out of my wheelhouse so to speak.

 

[ford91exploder]

Kids are smart. They know that if Jesse and Buzz are toys, they should be smaller than they are. They know that the Incredibles should be the same size as other grownups. Some kids can suspend their belief, some kids accept that in Disney or wherever they just get bigger. Other kids get very scared because they aren't seeing what they picture.

My daughter decided that when characters live "in the TV" they get small, and they get big when they come out

Just like WonkaVision. and Mike TeeVee

 

[katyjeka]

Four kids later and I still can't figure children out. My girls were never bothered by the masked characters but found the princesses freaky??? Two of them hated Cinderella and Snow White. These are the same girls who LOVED the Grinch on our trip to Universal. We had to wait in line twice as they just had to see him again.

 

[sponica]

Four kids later and I still can't figure children out. My girls were never bothered by the masked characters but found the princesses freaky??? Two of them hated Cinderella and Snow White. These are the same girls who LOVED the Grinch on our trip to Universal. We had to wait in line twice as they just had to see him again.

Yeah my 20 month old was definitely much more freaked out by face characters than fur characters....

 

[DodgerGirl]

My youngest DD was terrified of any fully dressed up character that didn't show it's face until she was about 7 years old. She's ok now, but still wants nothing to do with stormtroopers, darth vader or kylo-ren.

Your daughter doesn't like Darth Vader? I find that funny that she is scared of him because I now have the biggest crush on Darth Vader and while some people find him scary and a villain I think he's cute and a nice guy. If your daughter is still scared of Darth Vader why not buy her a plush Darth Vader and try to make her hug it and before long your daughter will get over her fear and be friends with Darth Vader and a crush might develop soon. Hope this advice helps you Leah

 

[DisneyOma]

My mother was afraid of Mushu when I went to DCA and we were walking toward a shop and Mushu was signing autographs and I was gonna get Mushu's autograph when suddenly Mushu was walking away and then my mother had to grab Mushu's tail and give him my autograph book for him to sign. So I did get Mushu's autograph but he hugged my mom and she freaked out and we headed to go shopping but my dad was laughing his head off when I told him the story

I think you are very lucky you didn't get security called for grabbing at a character, and I'm surprised a handler didn't stop you from getting that autograph. They only have a certain amount of time they are supposed to be in costume, and they need to get that break in.

 

[AnnabelleTheTalkingTree]

I honestly don't know. My daughter was 2.5 on our most recent trip, which was her first trip. She did great with all the characters except Goofy. Goofy scared the pants off of her. I think it's just that he was taller than the others and maybe that he was very animated, bc you know, he's Goofy. She warmed up by the end of the trip - and even had a really nice interaction with the Beast at BOG, but it took time. And she still wouldn't actually MEET Goofy. Just waved from a distance

 

[TheSouthernBelle]

Because children are irrational. They’re children.

100% this! and for the OP, I am making the assumption you don't have kids because anyone that's raised children knows this. Kids do not care about what's expected of them, what's the norm, whether someone is in a costume or showing their face, it's all new to them and they're learning about the world around them. Hoping this is not a serious post that there should be separate line for scared kids, seriously?!?! No parent ever knows how their child will react to disney characters even if they've met them before and were fine with them previously, they may not be on the their next visit.

 

[needvaca]

Little kids have no context of anything. They only know people they see in real life. Put a 6 foot talking mouse in front of them, and they don't know what to make of it, and it is so big, so naturally they are afraid. My kids were petrified of the Easter bunny. A 6 foot rabbit is scary. Until kids hit the age of reason, age 7 or 8, they can't make sense of what is real and what is pretend, and why.

 

[slosinger]

My son was scared of characters around age 2; he's 4.5 now and fine because he realizes they are people just dressed up. I think for them it is like a monster coming to life when they are that little.

 

[DodgerGirl]

I think you are very lucky you didn't get security called for grabbing at a character, and I'm surprised a handler didn't stop you from getting that autograph. They only have a certain amount of time they are supposed to be in costume, and they need to get that break in.

Yeah, even today Dad and I still laugh about it and when Mushu was running away from us Dad was cheering Mom and me on to catch Mushu but the weird thing is he didn't have a handler with him

 

[North of Mouse]

Because they do not look 'human' and that's what they are used to seeing - total normal reaction to me. Our dd was terrified until little brother came along, he was wary, but not frightened, so he gave her confidence to see them with him. Worse thing to do is push them, they will accept and enjoy on their own terms and timeline.

 

[DodgerGirl]

My son loves Star Wars and was so excited to meet some of the characters on our last trip. He ran right up to Chewy and gave him a huge hug. I have an adorable picture of both kids hugging Chewy. But in the picture with Darth Vader...they’re smiling, but standing a good few feet away from him He is definitely intimidating!

Your son got to hug Chewbacca and meet him? That's so sweet Rory! I always wished for a Chewbacca hug and I bet it's so wonderful. I also found it surprising that your son dislikes Darth Vader and it's funny because I like Darth Vader and have a big crush on him and I hope your son gets over his fear of Darth Vader because to me Darth Vader isn't scary he's cool and a gentleman

 

[bffdisney]

My twins were so scared when we met Elmo at Sesame Place when they were 2.5. Clung to us. Barely took their head off of my shoulder.

As soon as we left? "Mommy I met Elmo!!!" with huge smiles. Still talk about it 6 months later.

Kids are weird.

 

[BroadwayHermione5]

My dad hit it right on the head during my first trip when I was 4:
When we see Mickey on TV, he is a tiny cartoon mouse, not a 6 foot something giant mouse.

it took Mary Poppins calming me down when I met her and Bert with the penguins for me to be less scared around face characters. Fur I still has issues with for a while

 

[kanerf]

Why are some children scared to death of Santa Claus while others will come running up to me (I do resemble the gentleman)?

 

[DodgerGirl]

I think it also depends on what age the child is because when you see children at say seven or eight getting ready to meet the Disney characters at the parks during their first trip it can be scary at first but as they grow the kids slowly get over their fears and characters become fun to meet as time goes on. What any parent should do when they are planning a Disney trip is months before the trip buy the kids some Disney character plushies and practice meet and greets with them and keep on practicing until the trip and when your kids meet the real characters they will no longer be scared and become a pro in no time at all. I think why Darth Vader ranks as one of the top scariest characters for kids to meet because I think he seems very realistic and most kids get frightened of him easily. But not me because as I said many times I think Darth Vader is such a gentleman and if I ever met him he would be so lovely and sweet to me. I remember for a time when Dreamfinder And Figment from Journey To Imagination used to scare kids and I could never figure it out why. But meeting characters is a true joy to everyone and if you have a child that's scared of characters you can always skip the meet and greets but if you feel your child is ready and brave go on and do it