How to explain to kids why characters don't look like the animated version?

[Cissigys]

Maybe this is a dumb question, but I'm wondering how others explain to their kids why some of the characters they meet at WDW don't look like the animated versions?

I'm taking my 5-year-old daughter next February, and I'm worried about getting to the character meet and greets and having my daughter just be like, "Huh? That doesn't look like Anna at all" (for example).

Just hoping for a good answer/strategy so it doesn't immediately kill the magic for her.

 

[Felicis]

People look different to tv/ in photos / in drawings (if she is aware that it is a drawn form). My DD had a frozen party for her 7th birthday, the Elsa we had had blonde hair (her own, not a wig) but was also part Asian. DD and all of her guests didn't bat an eyelid nor ask a single question, they just loved the whole thing - so you might not even get that response!

 

[WantToGoNow]

By 5 my kids had already figured out that it wasn't the "real" character. It didn't matter, they still wanted pictures and autographs.

 

[danielocha30]

you will be surprised how clever kids are, mine just told me "mom do you know they are just people wearing a costume?" he was five! face characters have a great advantage, they are great for small conversations and they talk about movie related facts, like you can ask Ariel were is Sebastian, or Tiana about Louis a so on, unlike fur characters were a interaction with small children's gets akward very quickly.

 

[Lvsdisney]

Don't worry!! Your DD will be so happy to meet Anna (or whoever) she probably won't even think twice about it. My DD was ecstatic to meet Sophia and never questioned why she was so tall or why her head was so big. Plus, part of the magic is believing. Even as an adult I get swept up in the magic. You just can't help but to.

 

[Cissigys]

Thanks for your reassuring comments, everyone! I'm sure that she'll be thrilled by everything at WDW (and so will I!). This is just one of those little concerns that's been nagging at me.

 

[vallygirl0221]

I have to say I was kind of terrified last year when I took my nephew (4) as he has always been an advanced kid, I had a full on panic after we met Mickey at MK and then had a ADR at Tusker House the next day and lots of questions as to why Mickey couldn't talk anymore. I told him on the way to breakfast that Mickey could only talk at the Magic Kingdom because Tinkerbell was there and she shared extra pixie dust with him. He did not question it at all. Like PP said I think generally if you believe in the magic and treat them as the characters your kiddo is likely to do the same, even when Jake and Sophia are 6 feet tall LOL

 

[unrequited23]

When my 5 yr old asks a question that I'm unsure of how I want to answer or exactly how much information to give I ask him, "Well, what do you think?" And it buys me sometime to figure out what I want to say and to get an idea of what is going on in his head.

 

[BlueHippo]

My DD7 and DS 10 have been making comments since about that age like "her face was different in the parade" or how the fur characters don't talk. They've both said to me at some point that they are just people dressed up like the characters...my response was just to confirm that they were right and to remind them that Disney is a wonderful place where we get to use our imaginations. We still wait in line to see them all, and they are still thrilled to be meeting them.

 

[MinMou]

I have to say I was kind of terrified last year when I took my nephew (4) as he has always been an advanced kid, I had a full on panic after we met Mickey at MK and then had a ADR at Tusker House the next day and lots of questions as to why Mickey couldn't talk anymore. I told him on the way to breakfast that Mickey could only talk at the Magic Kingdom because Tinkerbell was there and she shared extra pixie dust with him. He did not question it at all. Like PP said I think generally if you believe in the magic and treat them as the characters your kiddo is likely to do the same, even when Jake and Sophia are 6 feet tall LOL

I had heard there was a talking Mickey at MK. Where is he?

 

[Lvsdisney]

I had heard there was a talking Mickey at MK. Where is he?

Town square. I think you can get an FP+ for him