Author: Aspiring Diva
When most of us dream of taking our little darlings to Walt Disney World, we envision them laughing gleefully and running up to Mickey for a big hug – just like in the ads. My oldest has always adored characters. So we decided that no trip to Disney World would be complete without breakfast with the Princesses in Norway and a side trip to see the Mouse himself.
Littlest, however, has an almost primal terror of all characters. Her first Princess breakfast was a disaster! We repeated to our teary 18-month old that they were “just nice ladies in pretty dresses”, over and over. So much for magical. However, after that experience she happily posed with every Princess we encountered.
The costumed Characters, sometimes called “rubberheads”, are another story entirely. On our daughter’s first trip she took a standoff approach. They were okay – as long as they didn’t touch her.
Tragically, instead of getting over it by our next trip, she got much, much worse.
I naively scheduled a Character breakfast at Cape May Cafe early on in our trip. It was, in fact, one of my favorite breakfasts. The food at the buffet was marvelous – and there was lots of it (unlike Norway where you get a tiny plated portion to serve four people.) My oldest reveled in the attentions of Minnie, Goofy & Donald Duck in their cool surfer clothes. Littlest, however, dove under the table any time one came near. Needless to say, there are exactly ZERO pictures of her with Characters on that visit.
We’re heading back in a few weeks. I didn’t schedule any meals with the fully costumed Characters. However, I couldn’t resist reserving our traditional Princess breakfast in Norway toward the end of the trip.
It’s not uncommon for 3 & 4 year olds to be afraid of costumed characters, but Littlest is now 5-1/2. Just to see what we might be in for, we went to Chuck E Cheese last weekend. Predictably, my oldest loved every minute. Littlest was happy – until Chuck E Cheese made the rounds. As soon as she saw him, she began to shake with terror and begged to be taken home.
So, since going home won’t be an option when home is 1,000 miles away, how do we handle the larger than life Characters at Disney World?
1. Well, first we’ve told her that they are just people in costumes – like on Halloween. I know, I know! It destroys the magic. But if it also dissipates the terror, am I really wrong?
2. Today I asked her to play “real or not real” with me. The final tally – Real: Santa, Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy, and leprechauns; Not Real: Tinkerbell, Mickey Mouse, Chuck E Cheese…I find it sort of sad, but I hope knowing that they aren’t real will help her handle the Characters in the parks. After all, I still love them all even though I know they aren’t real.
(side note: Disney Diva did this with her daughter also and now, at 6, she is completely ok with each and every character. She was terrified when she was 4, but at 6, its a whole new party).
3, Most psychologists suggest that you deal with fears by “desensitizing” the person, for example, gradually having a person who is afraid of heights go up a ladder. However, its nearly impossible to find a 5 foot tall mouse most places (except Chuck E Cheese – and look how well that worked for us!) The best we can do for now is spend time watching Disney Jr. and lots of Disney movies so she gets comfortable with the Characters. However, doing something like having them imagine the character coming up and asking them how they feel over and over again will help. Even if they just imagine it, if they can begin to learn to calm themselves down it will help.
4. My plan is to make sure that she sees the Characters from a distance. Most of the Cast Members understand that some children are frightened and approach them carefully, waiting to sense their reaction.
5. You can ALWAYS tell your waiter ahead of time to tell the Character Handlers to stay further away and wave from a distance. They’re great about keeping them from coming close if you request it. If she is frightened of them at a distance, I plan to redirect her attention away from the Character and toward something positive – like checking the map for our next ride or looking for the nearest snack cart.
We’ll have to split up so my oldest can visit with the Characters and get autographs, but that’s ok because each child gets some one-on-one time with mom and dad. Maybe after a few days, Littlest will start waving at them from a distance.
I suppose it’s too much to hope a hug this time around, but a girl can dream, right? After all Disney is where dreams come true!
Something we learned with my son on his first trip (when he was 5) and something you hit on in #3 is to seek out characters that they are extremely familiar with to visit first. We found the Winnie the Pooh characters at Animal Kingdom and he would have nothing to do with them (actually crawling away from them on the ground). After a break, we went to visit Mickey and the gang. We were so nervous, but when he saw Mickey, he took off running up to him and gave him a big hug. He went on to laugh with Donald and goof with Goofy. We were good for the rest of the trip.
We are going back in November and taking little sister (who will be 3). He’s already been telling her that “Mickey Mouse is really big, but he is really nice!”
As a character player (not Disney), I beg of you not to repeat to your child that the characters are fake or just wearing a costume during the interaction! Firstly, these are the kids who tend to feel it’s their duty to come back and “enlighten” everyone around them about how fake you are. Secondly, you usually don’t realize because you’re trying to talk over your kid and calm them down, but can be very loud. Then everyone in line behind you hears how *insert character* is just a person in a costume, see, you can see the mermaid legs/character seams, etc. If you must calm your child in this way, please take them out of the staging area to do it and do it quietly. If they’re old enough to understand you may also include a talk about how even though they know the characters aren’t real they shouldn’t spoil the fun for those who like to pretend.
For the most part, characters understand and are happy to wave at your child from a distance or even just have them come back and stare from afar. What makes a horrible day is the parent who waits for the mermaid to get her land costume on, then points and yells “SEE? I TOLD YOU SHE WASN’T A REAL MERMAID!” over the heads of 30 kids to her daughter up on the stage. (And for the record, it didn’t make the child feel any more comfortable.)
I have a character breakfast this Sunday at the Tusker House with Donald. I have a 2yr old who loves Mickey and Donald from a distance. We recently saw Mickey and he was so scared of him. I’m afraid for the breakfast and am not sure what to do… Any advice on how to help the character breakfast run smoothly would be a big help!!!
Hi Julie, the characters are usually great at helping gauge how eager (or terrified) kids are and will back off or try other approaches. When my daughter was two, she was terrified of local mascots so I began showing her Youtube videos to help her transition for our upcoming trip. Maybe try looking up YouTube videos of Tusker House and also of different character meet & greets, or character meals? It may be less scary when you know what to expect. It’s much more fun to say, “Look, it’s Mickey dancing! You get to visit him and Donald on Sunday!” and it mentally helps prepare him. I realize you don’t have a lot of time until you go, but you can find some more tips in my article specifically gearing toddlers for Disney characters here: http://www.tipsfromthedisneydiva.com/2014/04/12/how-to-prepare-your-toddler-to-meet-characters-at-disneyland-and-disney-world/ Best of luck! ~Character Diva