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Mom And Daughter; Magic Kingdom; Cinderella's Castle; AA; Mickey Balloon
  • On May 7, 2008
    Christie from MA 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 planning a trip to Disney World during April school vacation 2009. My 2 daughters will be 13 and 6. I'm afraid my younger daughter will be afraid of the characters in the parks and at the character dining. Should we wait another year?

    Of course every child is different and you are the only that knows your own child's particular sensitivities, but in my experience the vast majority of six year olds are absolutely fine dealing with the characters. It is not uncommon for a 1-4 year old child to have character fears, but by age five most kids have outgrown this. If you have concerns, you could try to acclimate your daughter to the concept of characters before your trip. Take her to see Santa at the mall. Take her to a child-themed restaurant that has characters. Take her to a local carnival where there are characters, etc. After you do a bit of this, she'll likely become quite comfortable with character situations.

    Even if these opportunities are not available at your home, you could still go to the parks without much worry. While there are plenty of characters in the parks, the do not generally roam around. They are standing at specific character greeting stations that are fairly easy to circumnavigate. Also, if you'd like to try a character dining experience, you could book it for late in your trip. If you see that your daughter is having difficulties with characters, you could just cancel your reservation.

    Hope that helps a bit.
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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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