A question I just have to ask ( its eating away at me)

[Samar]

Looking at it this way, although we do not celebrate Christmas and Easter, I DO NOT tell my kids that they are not real things. Instead I say that they (Santa and the Bunny) only visit children that celebrate those holidays. My kids are still at the age that they might go into their classroom and kill the dreams of some of their fellow classmates. And as a kid, that would suck.

For the Disney characters, let the kids believe if they want to. It's not harmful to them and sooner or later the jig'll be up (seeing a CM without a costume head or something). I will let my kids believe that they are really meeting Ariel and seeing Goofy. And if they mention something about the characters being fake, then I will pull them over and tell them the truth and ask them not to spoil it for the younger kids who truly think they are meeting their dream characters

 

[meghanlea]

my DD is 6 and the other day she told her little brother that they were just costumes with people in them. It didn't bother me at all, but then again I've never said they were real or not. I've never said anything but are you going to take your pic with so and so?

 

[FlightlessDuck]

The whole Santa/Easter Bunny/Tooth Fairy thing rubbed me the wrong way. It just seemed wrong to lie to my kids.

But at this point at least one is in "the know", and the other will be soon if not already. So it's too late now.

 

[PaulaSue]

OP we raise our children similiar and we call it Disney Magic. (Tooth Fairy too) They know there are real people "inside" and go with the flow. They actually love doing the dining and seeing "everyone". My girls were 7,5 and 2 first trip and 9,7 and 5 last trip.

 

[bumbershoot]

I wasn't raised with Santa, and I have no knowledge that ANY of the kids (and fYI I was the ONLY person NOT Catholic in my group of friends from 2nd grade, there was a whole lotta Easter-celebrating among my friends!) have ever believed that the Easter Bunny is real.

We didn't do Santa, and of course not the EB, but when it came to Disney we were as flummoxed as you.

I made myself happy by always referring to them as "the Mickey character", or "Cinderella character" etc. DS went back and forth between whether they were "real" or not, and I've always just asked him what he thought. He already could tell that I'm not big on characters (one of the reasons my mom didn't do the Santa thing was b/c of my skittishness about the idea of a man breaking into the house, no matter WHAT he was doing there, and I never liked the costumed characters and just feel flat out silly with a face character), so what I thought wasn't the important thing. I think right now he knows they are costumes...but that does NOT stop his LOVE for MM at all! He will still run (er, "walk with purpose", as we say on the DLR forum) over to MM and wait impatiently, and give him the hugest hugs. His being able to intellectualize the zipper, etc etc, doesn't stop him from having scads of fun with it at all. Oh, he's 5 by the way.


My stepmom does not understand *at all*. To her it's all or nothing. One must believe in Santa to believe in Mickey Mouse. And in her household, one must officially "believe" in order to get gifts, so she's got a 25 yo, 23 yo, and a 15 yo who all say they still believe in Santa... And I do not understand *that*, so we're at an impasse.

And we're not going to talk about the Tooth Fairy...for some stupid ridiculous reason, I'm OK with that one despite everything else. Go figure!

 

[DisneyClown]

I fully believed in Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, and the Tooth Fairy as a child, and as an adult I know they are not real, and.....it did NOT scar me for life! Most every person I know believed in these things growing up and suffer no ill effects from eventually finding out the truth. I also remember the excitement of anticipating the presents Santa would leave for me, the dollar under my pillow, and the visits from the Easter Bunny. I don't think there is anything wrong with make-believe. If your children don't ask about the characters at Disney being real or not, then I wouldn't make a point of telling them. As a side note-when my niece was getting to the age that she was questioning whether Santa was real, my sister told her "As long as you believe in him, he is real". Eventually she, like most every other kid, knew he was not real and, like most every other kid, is just fine with it.
P.S.- I believe in Jesus, and he is real.

 

[Mickey'snewestfan]

On his first trip to Disney my then 6 year old asked me to buy him an autograph book -- so I did. He then asked me to "sign" the names of the characters he saw from a distance. I told him this would be forgery and he looked at me like I was crazy and said "Either YOU can pretend you're Mickey Mouse and write his name or HE (pointing at the character) can pretend he's Mickey Mouse and write his name. There's no line for you. What's the difference?"

I bought him the autograph stickers as a compromise!

His trip wasn't any less magical than if he'd "believed". He loved seeing the characters, just not the lines, and loved everything else about the trip.

My point is that most 6 year olds will figure it out fast.

 

[nmmom95]

I fully believed in Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, and the Tooth Fairy as a child, and as an adult I know they are not real, and.....it did NOT scar me for life! Most every person I know believed in these things growing up and suffer no ill effects from eventually finding out the truth. I also remember the excitement of anticipating the presents Santa would leave for me, the dollar under my pillow, and the visits from the Easter Bunny. I don't think there is anything wrong with make-believe. If your children don't ask about the characters at Disney being real or not, then I wouldn't make a point of telling them. As a side note-when my niece was getting to the age that she was questioning whether Santa was real, my sister told her "As long as you believe in him, he is real". Eventually she, like most every other kid, knew he was not real and, like most every other kid, is just fine with it.
P.S.- I believe in Jesus, and he is real.

 

[Mathfailure]

I am a believer, and I always said "Santa is imagination" When little this word was over their heads but in their little minds was okay.

As they gained understanding, they never had an isssue.

As far as characters, I never said anything one way or the other, but our three year old was in Paramount Canada and saw the covered zippers on the backs. She looked intently and said, "Are they really people?" I said yes, with no emotion, and she said "Are they pretend?" Again I said yes, and that was the end of it. She still always enjoyed seeing the characters.

My son seemed to never really think they were the actual character. After all they see cartoons, see movies etc. and understand make believe.

So again, children can understand play and reality.

To end on a sweet note, my daughter did say once, "I wish Jesus had skin." I totally understood! and we spoke about faith and heaven then.

 

[eyor44]

To end on a sweet note, my daughter did say once, "I wish Jesus had skin." I totally understood! and we spoke about faith and heaven then.

 

[Kit'smommy]

I fully believed in Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, and the Tooth Fairy as a child, and as an adult I know they are not real, and.....it did NOT scar me for life! Most every person I know believed in these things growing up and suffer no ill effects from eventually finding out the truth. I also remember the excitement of anticipating the presents Santa would leave for me, the dollar under my pillow, and the visits from the Easter Bunny. I don't think there is anything wrong with make-believe. If your children don't ask about the characters at Disney being real or not, then I wouldn't make a point of telling them. As a side note-when my niece was getting to the age that she was questioning whether Santa was real, my sister told her "As long as you believe in him, he is real". Eventually she, like most every other kid, knew he was not real and, like most every other kid, is just fine with it.
P.S.- I believe in Jesus, and he is real.

Exactly my thoughts.

Except Santa is real...he still fills my stocking.

 

[littlbugmom]

On his first trip to Disney my then 6 year old asked me to buy him an autograph book -- so I did. He then asked me to "sign" the names of the characters he saw from a distance. I told him this would be forgery and he looked at me like I was crazy and said "Either YOU can pretend you're Mickey Mouse and write his name or HE (pointing at the character) can pretend he's Mickey Mouse and write his name. There's no line for you. What's the difference?"

He is awesome!

 

[okeydokey]

My kids figured out they were folks in suits on their own when they were quite young. I never had to "tell" them anything. We still enjoy the characters. We also still enjoy the holiday characters and are Christians. The two don't have to be mutually exclusive (in our house).

 

[littlbugmom]

I fully believed in Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, and the Tooth Fairy as a child, and as an adult I know they are not real, and.....it did NOT scar me for life! Most every person I know believed in these things growing up and suffer no ill effects from eventually finding out the truth. I also remember the excitement of anticipating the presents Santa would leave for me, the dollar under my pillow, and the visits from the Easter Bunny. I don't think there is anything wrong with make-believe. If your children don't ask about the characters at Disney being real or not, then I wouldn't make a point of telling them. As a side note-when my niece was getting to the age that she was questioning whether Santa was real, my sister told her "As long as you believe in him, he is real". Eventually she, like most every other kid, knew he was not real and, like most every other kid, is just fine with it.
P.S.- I believe in Jesus, and he is real.

This is pretty much how I feel about it.

My DD9 has told me that some of her friends don't believe in Santa but that's ok cuz she's just gonna go on believing because she wants to. She made the decision to believe a little longer and I love that.

 

[Ka' eo]

I was about 5 when we went to Disneyland the first time. It never occured to me to think a giant costumed mouse was "real."

I was slightly older than that when we went to Sea World and a man in a gorilla costume entertaining the crowds at a show grabbed at me and I screamed. They immediately announced over the loudspeaker that the gorilla was not real. I was mortified to think people thought I thought he was real. I simply screamed because a man in a costume was grabbing at me. Over 40 years later and I still remember how insulted I was.

People really infantalize children. My kids knew they weren't real by the time they were 3 or 4. Heck they probably knew when they were 2 but could not verbalize it.

OP, your children won't need to be told anything. And if they do ask, why would you start fabricating now?

FWIW, we have never lied to our children about all the magical fairies, bunnies, elves etc either. If they asked we just stated it is magical. That was true. We never said anything was real and yet, chose not to ruin the wonderment of their younger years. They all figured out that Santa didn't come out our burning hot wood stove by age 6 or so, but chose to "believe" for a few more years.

Enjoy your trip!

 

[Joyful3Heart]

Many people have questioned our willingness to allow our children to believe in Santa Claus, for the reasons OP talked about. I have never pushed the existence or non existence of Santa Claus, and to tell you the truth, it never even occurred to me that whether the characters were real or not, that it would make a difference to my kids. I am probably more stoked about this being MY first trip to WDW, than even my kids are...and of course I KNOW they are make believe...or are they???
I like what the PP said about Santa Claus (and other make-believe characters) being a type of faith children can wrap their mind around. When asked about who Santa is, we tell our children that he is a lovely old man who loved Jesus so much that he gives all the children gifts every year in remembrance of Him. As far as Disney characters though, I don't expect my kids to even ask...c'mon, its a land of fantasy...but if they did I would definitely be straightforward about it being a person in a costume. I certainly wouldn't address it ahead of time , though.
I'm sure however you handle it, though, will be fine. I can't wait until my kids are older to get their take on things that I just worried and worried about...

 

[ShannonMB]

My DD has been going to Disney since she was 6, and she has never asked me if the characters were real or not. I'm quite sure at 9 she knows (and I imagine she always has). I know they aren't, too, but amazingly enough, they almost feel real to me when I meet them! I never think about the person inside the costume, I just go with that fun, magical feeling. I don't think knowing the truth ruins anything for kids (or adults!). But why bother to bring it up if they don't ask point-blank? And I definitely wouldn't sit them all down before the trip and say, "okay, kids, just so you know, nothing we see at Disney is going to be real. It's all pretend. Now, have fun!" But that's just me.

 

[Sneezie]

I also believe your kids will probably know it's not a real mouse but I have a unique perspective on the whole Santa issue.

My husband attended and graduated from a Baptist seminary several years ago. He asked one of his professors his opinon on letting kids believe in Santa or not. There was a lot of discussion with some people thinking kids should never believe in Santa. His professor told him he thought that believing in Santa Claus and other such things was a great lesson in faith. Usually during the ages when kids do believe in Santa, they are too young to fully understand the real meaning of Christmas. They might be able to repeat back to you that Christ was born to save us from our sins, but it's a tough concept for anyone especially a small child. He said he thought believing in Santa gave them something to believe in until they could grasp a larger concept.
JMHO

What an absolutely great idea. I've never thought of using Santa Claus as a way of showing faith. Yet, it is the perfect concept for teaching about faith.

When my DD (now 17) was younger, alot of the kids in her class had been told "the truth" about Santa Claus, she would argue with them and say "Yes, there is a Santa Claus, cause there is no way my mommy can afford to buy all the things that Santa Claus brings me." I did eventually tell her the truth, although I think she'd realized it long before and was 'stringing me along' to get more gifts.

Also, I know alot of people have problems with Halloween, but I really don't get it. What other holiday do you give out treats to complete and total strangers?

 

[waltskids]

We are raising our children Catholic and we 'do' the whole Easter Bunny, Santa Claus, Tooth Fairy thing. DH and I both grew up with this as part of our childhood and in no way did it take away from our religious beliefs or scar us in any way. I believe children do find out that the Disney characters are indeed in costume very young, but I see no reason to announce to my child that Mickey is 'not real'. DS will learn soon enough.

 

[mybabesuz]

Mickey is REAL !!! Why would anyone think he is not...
And in our house if you don't believe in Santa then you get no Presents...
My kids are 25,22,19,5 and 4....