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Family With Medals; RunDisney 10K; Stitch Hat; Lilo and Stitch Costume
  • On Jul 24, 2008
    Tammy from SC Asked Note: This answer was provided prior to the change to planDisney and may still contain references to Disney Parks Moms Panel.

    Experiences, policies, pricing and other offerings are subject to change and may have changed since the date of this answer.

    We are headed to WDW in October with our two girls, who will be 2 and 5. Our 2 year old is terrified of people in costumes. I'm considering postponing our trip because of this. Do you have any advice? Thank you!

    I know how difficult these childhood idiosyncrasies can be when you're in the middle of them. Don't panic -- a lot can change with a child in the span of three months. By the time your trip rolls around, your daughter might be totally in love with costumed characters. But even if that doesn't happen, I would not be too concerned. While there are plenty of costumed characters at WDW, they do not wander around, pop out at you, or anything like that. The characters are standing either in a specific identified location -- a "character greeting spot" -- or are otherwise easily visible. When you see them ahead of you, you could just make a big detour. You'll also want to avoid character meals, which are obviously heavily populated with Disney characters.

    Also, all of the characters are accompanied by handlers. They are usually nearby wearing a yellow vest and often some sort of microphone headset. You can speak to the handler and ask them to have a character wave at your daughter from a distance, but not approach her in any way. This might be a way to slowly desensitize her to attention from the characters.

    One thing to think about -- is your daughter afraid of just animal characters (like Mickey) or is she also vary of human "face" characters (like Cinderella). If it's just the Mickey-type characters that are an issue, then you might want to start by introducing her to the Cinderella-type characters as a way to ease into things.

    Good luck with your decision.
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Meet the Panelist: Erin, New York

I have three teenage daughters. We're DVC members obsessed with Disney travel. We've been to Walt Disney World countless times and have visited Disneyland & Disneyland Paris. We've taken several Adventures by Disney and Disney Cruise trips. Learn More About Erin

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