Character Meet and Greet Prep for Toddlers

[brb1006]

We took our son to a local (ish) amusement park this summer to get an idea of how he'd be. We've been watching Disney movies/ reading Disney books to get him acquainted with the characters. There's also a Disney sing a long from the 80s called Disneyland Fun that is great because it basically walks you through a day at Disney.

Worse comes to worse, you hold off on the character meet and greets until your child is comfortable with them. Don't force it, let them lead And if there is a melt down, hey, maybe you can record it and get on AFV!

The Disneyland Sing Along Song was actually made in 1990.

 

[brb1006]

Can't agree enough with Disneyland Fun. My 15-month-old LOVES it (so much so we have to watch it multiple times in a row... every day...). When all the characters come out in the first song, he gets so excited and names every single one.

And the Small World song is his favorite - so much so that when I was singing him to sleep last night, he wanted me to sing "Small." "Again!" and "Again!" and "Again!" I sang "Small World" on repeat for about 10 minutes - it was like being on the ride!

That video may be too helpful... proceed with caution!

I remember watching that Small World segment wishing I could ride with some rides with my favorite characters.

 

[brb1006]

The characters are so well trained to work with all kinds of people. Be happy, approach the character with joy yourself, and let the characters do their thing. They are amazing people readers and true actors.

This is another reason why I love the Disney parks. The characters are well trained compared to Six Flags or any theme park featuring The Peanuts gang, or Universal Studios. They mostly look bored around guests besides some of the shows especially Six Flags.

 

[brb1006]

I'm also attempting to do this by watching YouTube videos of other people and kids meeting the characters. She gets excited now whenever the characters come on the screen. I'm sure it will probably be totally different when she is face to face with them but I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

I always loved seeing people and kids meeting Marie at WDW's Epcot and the Magic Kingdom. They all looked so happy with her.

 

[krsb09]

At 19 months, my daughter was absolutely terrified of characters. It was miserable. Before our next trip when she was just over 2, I showed her lots of pictures of other kids with the characters and talked about them with her. That trip went MUCH better, although she was still scared of Goofy. He's just so darn tall. Now, for our next trip at almost 3, she's really excited about seeing them. Every time she sees an airplane in the sky she says "Airplane going to Florida! See Minnie Mickey!"

 

[DisNerdsince08]

Thanks y'all for all the great input! We have been watching lots of Youtube videos and visiting the Chick-fil-A cow and local football mascots frequently. So far so good. Also glad to know we are not the only ones who watch the Sing Along Songs Disneyland Fun...I...AHEM...I mean our little one loves to watch it over and over!

 

[Lisaloo]

I think it's a crap shoot. When our son was 1 he loved every character he saw. At 18 months it was a completely different ballgame. From 20 feet away Mickey was the most amazing thing he'd ever seen. From 2 feet away he apparently was the basis of nightmares. We have no clue how he'll act in a few weeks at 2. We're trying the YouTube idea and he seems to really be taking to Donald but we were at Chick-fil-a a week or so ago and the cow was there. Once again he loved it across the restaurant but when it walked over he flipped out. Who knows.

Exactly this. We have four teens who all went through every phase of love/hate with characters multiple times when they were toddlers. We never knew what to expect!

 

[PrincessWithABlaster]

Ditto videos, we also picked up books with several characters and read them ad nauseum. Also, don't assume just because they didn't like the first 5 or 10 characters they see that they won't like some along the way. DS gave them all the stink eye. Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Chip ,Dale, more Mickey, Donald, a few princesses (his dear sisters wanted all the autographs). We never forced or cajoled him to get close to them or hug them or anything, but he had to be there with us. We have tons of scowling pictures. And then we went to Crystal Palace. To our great surprise, he flew out of his chair and threw his arms around Piglet. Huh?? The same with the rest of the Pooh characters including Tigger who is quite imposing. Those are some of my fav pics. So don't give up if it's generally not working. If you don't force it, they might surprise you.

 

[DizzyDis]

Agree with all, they will do what they want and be contrary just because! We didn't plan any character meals with our 1.5yo as we wanted to see how'd she react first. She loved Marie at the entrance to the park, and Mickey, but then steadily got less comfortable (we now know she was coming down with something), so we went for M&Gs with her and held her when we met them. The characters are fabulous, they did high fives and played with her, but knew not to push it, so she was happier when we left the character than when she arrived. And, again, just to be contrary, she was way more comfortable with fur characters than the princesses, even though she is a princess girl through and through at home!

 

[katielafave]

I agree with trying to find some other, local character meetings ahead of time. We did one at a local minor league baseball team.

Our last trip MDD was 2.5 and very hit or miss with characters. Some she loved (face characters mostly), some she tolerated, and some she HATED (entire Disney Jr lunch at Hollywood and Vine). I would say if they do resist the character or act scared just go with it. Forcing them to interact won't make them feel more comfortable with it. I held 2.5 year old in nearly all character interactions and pictures because that is how she felt most comfortable.