It’s Official. I’m Facing My #1 Fear in Disney World

I’M BACK!

Hi friends! JP here and I’m SO excited to tell you that I’ve just returned from yet another Disney World trip and I have so much to share with you. It was a quick one — I was in and out of Orlando in about 36 hours, but I was so glad I got to go sooner than I expected to. But one of the BIGGEST things I have to tell you about is that I’m finally starting to face my #1 fear in the parks!

I’ve mentioned it once before, but one thing I’ve been scared to do in Disney World for SO long has been to meet characters. A lot of people find meeting characters a little awkward, because sometimes starting conversations is hard.  However, my irrational fear goes BEYOND being worried about awkwardness.

When I was a kid, I was afraid of any large character because I thought they were the most terrifying thing to ever exist (who wouldn’t be scared of a large mouse standing on two legs leaning over them?). As I’ve gotten older, I’m not scared of them for that reason anymore, but I just freeze up. My words get stuck in my throat and I just can’t have those cute interactions most people have with characters.

The worst part is that I WANT to meet characters! I want to push past my fear and give Eeyore a hug more than anything. When I visited Disneyland Paris with my mom last year, I surprised myself when we booked a last minute dining reservation at the Plaza Gardens Restaurant. This is a character dining meal with some of the Hundred Acre Woods pals and Mickey, and surprisingly, I was SO excited (and slightly jet lagged) to be in the parks that my fear was entirely forgotten.

That was the moment I knew that pushing past this fear WAS possible and I set out to do just that. My first trip this year in April, I chickened out, but when I went back in May, something happened that forced me to face my fear, which was the most perfect thing that could have happened, and it’s all thanks to Sage, Emma, and Quincy!

I was helping Sage and Quincy as they were completing a challenge, which brought us to Pete’s Silly Sideshow. I had a split second to decide if I was going to sit it out and meet up with them after or if I was going to face my fear.

In two seconds I decided to follow through and figured that this was the perfect first step — Sage and Quincy were the main focus, so I could just stand off to the side! We got in line (which was nonexistent for once) and before I knew it we were meeting Goofy!

It was a little scary, not gonna lie, but again, I didn’t have to do a lot of talking, so it was easier than I thought. I was super proud of myself, but little did I know that a SECOND test was on the way. The team moved on to the last section of the video, and I was shadowing Quincy. To get the most points, we went BACK to Pete’s Silly Sideshow again to meet all four characters, and happened to meet up with Emma in line!

This time, it was a little easier, especially knowing Emma and Q were there to do most of the conversation, but I had already met two of the characters before, too. However, Donald got mad I was wearing a Stitch shirt, which was very funny, but was the ULTIMATE test if I would freeze…AND I DIDN’T! (Although in a moment of panic I did promise Donald that I would get a shirt for him since he’s #1, but I still haven’t, so no one tell him, please.)

However, I will admit that I took a step backwards on my most recent trip because I didn’t meet any characters, but I did say hey to Kevin in Animal Kingdom, which is MORE than I would have done previously!

I can’t want to keep you all updated on my progress and tell you more about my most recent trip, so stay tuned to AllEars!

This is the one Hollywood Studios ride that fans say they’ll never ride again!

Is there anything you’re too afraid to do in Disney World? Tell me in the comments!