Lessening the Anxiety of Character Greetings!

That perfect picture with Mickey... most of us moms want that as our prized souvenir from a Disney vacation. MANY of us will never achieve this goal, and that's okay. Not getting a photo (good or bad) with Mickey or Elsa will not ruin your vacation.

However- I do understand how important this is, so here are some tips for lessening the anxiety, and allowing your family to have fun AND get that great pic.

Frontload-
This is my family's word for preparing Ben ahead of time for different situations. Talk to your family about how big the characters are, that some characters (the ones in masks) don't talk. That princesses Mad Hatter, Gaston and other characters do talk.
If your child will not want to be touched, let your child know they won't touch him. All you have to do is say something out loud or to their helper.
Find You Tube videos of kids interacting with characters. (always screen them first)

Collect Autographs 
During Ben's first visit to Disney, when he was 3, we discovered a goal was helpful. We bought an autograph book, and decided to see how many autographs he could collect. It worked like a charm. He didn't necessarily care about Mickey, but he wanted that autograph. (We also used pressed penny machines to convince him to move on to a new thing)

Autograph books and fat pens from the park are not inexpensive. I love the idea of making a book at home. This is an activity that will get them excited about using it and seeing characters. Then just pack a fat pen, that is easier for the characters to hold.

Eat at Character Meals
At Character meals you sit and have dinner and the characters come to you. They will pose for pictures, sign autographs and spend a little silly time with you. At the Star Wars dinner where Mickey and Friends are dressed as Star Wars characters, Ben wasn't thrilled that Goofy was on the "dark side" dressed as Darth Vader. So Goofy quickly picked up on that and just sat near him. A picture was taken, but Ben was still comfortable.

My favorite of the character meals is the Garden Grill at Epcot. It is quiet, the food is fresh and good, and you can ask for a "non revolving" seat if the motion bothers anyone. This is the best way to meet Chip and Dale, Pluto, Mickey and Goofy-

Memory Maker Photographers
Memory maker photographers can work two ways. They will take your picture so you can be in the photos. AND they can use your camera to take a picture (ask nicely). If a child will be too nervous without you by their side you probably want to consider using this service. It is really easy, and then you have a lot of your pics in one place after your vacation.

FastPass+ or DAS reservation
There are some characters that will take a long time to visit. Even if you are using a DAS reservation for a family member I recommend using a fastpass+ for meeting Elsa, Anna or anything Frozen. The lines are often hours long (sadly I'm not exaggerating). This means it would hold up your DAS for quite a long time. To get a fast pass for Frozen characters I HIGHLY recommend you be ready at midnight 60 days before your vacation.


Relax
When we are nervous our kids pick up on that. Just remind yourself that they often rise to expectations, but if this isn't one of those times then you are still having an amazing vacation!