Scared Children & Disney Character Interactions: Do's and Don'ts

Do's and Don'ts: Disney Character Interactions & Scared Children

from a former WDW Performer

As a performer at Disney World, I met hundreds of guests each day. I interacted with families, couples, fellow cast members, and experienced many magical moments. I also experienced parents struggling when their children were less than thrilled, well terrified actually, to be meeting characters. In order to avoid traumatizing your terrified child, here are my best tips for meeting Disney characters with scared children. 

1) Don't Force your Child to Meet Disney Characters

If you get one thing out of this article, let it be this: if your child is terrified,  DO NOT force them to hug a character, high five a character, or even get a picture with said character. Disney Cast Members do not want to be the reason your child ends up in therapy with mascot phobias and trust issues.

2) Do Allow your Kids the Chance to Warm Up

It's possible that after a couple of days of seeing characters, they won't be so freaked out anymore! If one child is scared and one is excited, let the excited one go up and meet the characters, and let the scared kid keep a safe distance. Mom and Dad, feel free to go catch a picture with Mickey too. Remember, you can encourage your child to come meet the character, but if they don't want to, don't force them too. You never know, after a day or two of seeing characters all over the parks, they might warm up to them naturally!

3) Don't Psych your Kids out in Line 

You know what freaks me out? When someone says: "Don't be scared." Like, what? Am I supposed to be scared in this situation? Well now I am, thanks! In the same way, don't say the following to your child: "There's no reason to be afraid of Mickey," "Don't worry, they're not going to hurt you," "I'm sure they won't be mean." NOOOO! Instead, say encouraging phrases like, "Aren't you excited to meet Minnie Mouse?" "I bet Minnie is going to love your dress!" Get them excited! Not freaked out. 

4) Do Tell your Children What to Expect During the Interaction 

The lines at Disney can be long, which can cause an anxiety storm if you're nervous about what's at the end. What eases my nerves when I'm afraid of a ride is when someone tells me exactly what is going to happen. In the same way, tell your child exactly what to expect in a character interaction!

Let me help you out: the first thing to happen is going to be the greeting, usually in the form of a hug. Next, the character is going to do some sort of activity with the child. This could be pointing out a pin on their lanyard, character on a piece of clothing, a high five, twirling in dresses, or a pretend sword fight. After that is when the autograph book is going to be signed [NOTE: sometimes the autograph and activity will be switched; watch my YouTube video for more info on what to expect in a meet and greet] Lastly, pictures will be taken followed by a goodbye hug.

Bonus: Get your child excited by preparing them with questions to ask the characters. "Are you excited to tell Minnie that you watch her every morning on TV?" "Are you going to show Minnie your light up shoes?" "Should we ask Minnie to twirl in her dress with us?"

5) Do Allow Cast Members to Work their Magic 

Character Performers, Attendants, and PhotoPass Photographers are trained to help scared children warm up to characters. Trust the process! One thing a character might do is pet their hand, then hold it out for the parent to pet, then hold it out for the child to pet. This might progress to a high five; characters will high five themselves, the parent, and then the kid. If the child is not having it, then come picture time, the characters will line up in a way that gets the scared child the furthest away from the characters. I know you want a child holding each hand of the character, but sometimes that's not what's best for your kid. What does this look like? Usually, dad will be holding a kid, who will stand next to mom, who will stand next to the other kid, who will be holding hands with Mickey. Trust me, a picture with you child a few feet away from Mickey Mouse is a lot better than tear-stained faces, piercing screams, and heads hidden in parent's shoulders. 

6) Do Realize that Not all Characters are Created Equal 

You know who is really scary to meet when you're under 5 feet tall? Goofy. Darth Vader. Kylo Ren. Woody. Just a heads up, if you're kid is scared of characters, you might want to first visit shorter, fluffier characters like Daisy, Donald, and Minnie. Another strategy could be to first interact with face characters, such as Tinkerbell, Mary Poppins, Alice, or a princess. "Face Characters" are the characters whose face can be seen (aka not the 'mascot' like characters). Meeting a real human at first might ease their nerves before meeting giant animals. 

In conclusion, parents, please take your child's feelings into consideration. I saw so many wonderful examples of kind, understanding parents during my time as a cast member. I also saw many examples of how NOT to parent. Chances are, if you're taking your family to Disney World, you LOVE your family and are hoping to create magical memories that will last a lifetime. Don't let the perfect Instagram picture get in the way of that. 

If you found this article helpful then please share it via Facebook or Pinterest with the other adults going on your vacation, or other parents who will find it helpful. Thanks so much for reading and I hope you truly do have the most wonderful time at Walt Disney World! ❤

Have a Magical Day! 

- Olivia Simone 

*This post is not sponsored by Disney nor does it have any affiliation with the Walt Disney Company