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[SarahAndSquirrel]

Any tips for helping my bashful 3 year old to feel a little more excited and laid back ready to meet some characters? I keep seeing this wonderful photos of other kiddies meeting their favourites, having little kisses and cuddles and grinning at the camera, and i'm a bit concerned that Squirrel might not take the best of the opportunity. Any ideas of encouragement?

Obviously reflecting my excitement and going with it like mama does meeting characters will be part of the hope there, but also I want to show him plenty of videos and photos of other kids meeting characters so he feels reassured.
I'd really take any other tips anyone can offer!

[disneymagic006]

I would say just go with the flow and see how he is. My then 1 year old absolutely loved the characters, was chasing them around wanting to kiss them haha. My niece (then 2) loved them but just stood in awe. Nephew (then 3) was super shy, was dragging his mum away as he was a bit scared, but the more we were near them and us adults interacting too he seemed to get used to them. Ended up doing cuddles and high fiving Mickey. We just encouraged him and the characters were so lovely and patient and do what they can you help kids feel happy in their company.

My other nephew (then 6) seemed to think he was too old for characters and backed away from them. Cue Remi from Ratatouille noticing this and taking some special time with him. They ended up having a big hug - a cute moment!

Wishing you lots of fun with the characters.

[SarahAndSquirrel]

That is a real comfort! Thank you. He's been watching YouTube videos with me, of other kids meeting characters and he's beaming. He's even told me he'd like to have big cuddles with some and specifically asked for Donald, Piglet and Max, so I call that a good first step.

[daddyof2]

Not much else to say other than that at cafe mickey and inventions you can get some good character interaction - whilst the characters are quite sensitive to it, you may want to consider booking them carefully

[billy]

my 5yr old daughter loved meeting all the characters except for Jafar he was quite scary!  but she didnt like the male face characters such as peter pan and prince naveen. but they did try to coax her from behind my legs and joke with her. I found that if i stood holding her hand next to the character then she was ok but the only advice id give you is dont push it, just follow your littles lead! it can be quite daunting for a small child

[15stitch]

My very confident DS really hated meeting the characters last year (he was 2).

We are going again in a weeks time (Yay!) and he has told me that he wants to give Mickey a cuddle so I'm keeping everything crossed he likes it more this year (mainly because I want to meet Mickey  )

[never2old]

My 5 year old daughter loves meeting the characters (though she didn't want to meet Jafar or Hook... she was really scared of them!!)

We started (when she was 18 months old) with Mickey, Minnie... before moving to the face characters. She now loves meeting the princesses, though she is a bit more shy with them. And last time we met Peter Pan, and she was totally shy with him!! Wendy was there too so she spoke a bit with her, but Peter Pan, she was really starstruck    At the end she got a hug from both of them, and it was definitely one of the highlights of the trip for her!!

My daughter is slightly mad when it comes to Disney (just like her mom  ) so she was very good with the characters. With other children though I've found that it's better to keep a bit of a distance the first day, maybe see them in the parade, before doing a proper meet and greet. First time we took our niece to DLP we started off with lunch in Cafe Mickey, and as soon as she saw Mickey coming towards us she said 'He's huge  !!!' and hid under the table, where she spent most of the meal... But by the second day of the trip she was OK meeting everyone!

[jeakat24]

I think you've just got to go with the flow and see what he's comfortable with. My DD (4) loves meeting characters but my DS (2) is very reluctant. I know that if I were to encourage him he would get even worse so I just let him go at his pace and if he feels comfortable he will interact with them. It does mean that I have a pretty hilarious photo of him crying in Cafe Mickey when Chip came over to our table 

[stifle]

Yes you do. My niece (4) at PP told Snow White "I don't like this princess, I want another one". The poor CM to her credit kept smiling!

[SarahAndSquirrel]

Yes you do. My niece (4) at PP told Snow White "I don't like this princess, I want another one". The poor CM to her credit kept smiling!

Oh gawwwsh yes that would be my kid too.