What Disney movies/TV should kids watch before going to Disney World?

[justlearning]

Our kids have seen very few movies (DS gets scared easily), but I'd like to expose them to whatever movies or TV shows would allow them to enjoy WDW more when we go there later this year. (That is, I'd like them to recognize the characters they see, etc.)

What list would you recommend?

ETA: Only my oldest son scares easily, but he's getting better about that (e.g., watched original "Horton Hears a Who" yesterday). So, I could definitely show my younger son any movies and my older son might watch them now too.

[Rainbows&Roses]

My DD already knew all the Princesses, but we had her watch:

- Peter Pan
- Tinkerbell
- Mary Poppins
- Alice in Wonderland

She had no interest in Nemo, so I didn't even try with that one.

I also bought her some cheap books with the characters. So you can always do that instead of movies.

You can definitely get away with not knowing the characters, but it was more fun when she knew them. We still didn't know a lot characters like Lilo and Stitch, the Einsteins, etc. and that was okay because we didn't spend much time at DHS.

[egoldber]

If your DS is easily scared, I would not watch the movies. Maybe preview the orginial Winnie the Pooh movie, which is pretty gentle. Otherwise, I would actually go with DVDs of (or DVR) the TV shows:

Mickey Mouse Clubhouse
JoJo's Circus (if you can still find it)
whatever the new Pooh show is called

If he does OK with the Winnie the Pooh movie, then maybe some others. Toy Story would be a good one because there is a new Toy Story Arcade ride at Hollywood Studios that is sooooooooo fun!! I loved it!

[urquie]

this vid is great for getting kids used to disney characters...

Sing Along Songs - Disneyland Fun (1990)

http://www.amazon.com/Sing-Along-Songs-Disneyland-Fun/dp/B0009X75W4/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1234041389&sr=8-1

[fivi2]

My girls had only watched MM Clubhouse and some Winnie the Pooh stuff. We did meals with those characters. They thought some of the other characters were neat even though they didn't know who they were. (They were almost 3 when we went).

[belovedgandp]

We went when my son was 3 1/2. He had not seen many Disney movies. Easily scared by the tense moments. I think the only movies he's seen were Toy Story and Cars.

He knew the Pooh and primary Disney (Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Pluto) from books.

We booked the character dining meal at MGM with JoJo and Little Einsteins. I recorded a few Little Einstein episodes and we started watching them a few weeks before going. I felt a little bad forcing programming on him, but it was cute. He latched onto the show and was very excited to meet them.

[JTsMom]

this vid is great for getting kids used to disney characters...

Sing Along Songs - Disneyland Fun (1990)

http://www.amazon.com/Sing-Along-Songs-Disneyland-Fun/dp/B0009X75W4/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1234041389&sr=8-1
:yeahthat:Someone here rec'd it to me too, and DS looved it. We also watched a little MM Clubhouse and Pooh in the a.m. After DS fell in love with the Sing Along Song rental, I decided to buy it for him, and ended up joining the Disney Movie Club. I got something like 6 movies for $10 or something ridiculous like that- can't remember the exact details. Anyway, we then got Cars, Nemo, Dumbo, Bug's Life, Aristocats- I'm blanking on the 6th. IME, the newer movies are a little more tame. I'm not thrilled with Dumbo, so it spends a lot of time hiding. ;) The movie has enough triggers all by itself, but the "classic" cartoons at the end are pretty darn bad imo.

[billysmommy]

Just a note on Toy Story ~ Billy & Benjamin have watched just about all the Disney movies and the one that they are both very afraid of is Toy Story ~ the part with the dog chasing them and it being all dark absolutely terrifies them.

This is from 2 kids who love Sleeping Beauty, especially the part with the dragon ~ crazy kiddos

[lablover]

We just went to WDW last month. A few months before we left, I realized the kids had never really watched Mickey Mouse, so I started having them watch episodes of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. They both had watched Winnie the Pooh in the past and knew those characters. The Mickey characters and Pooh characters seemed to cover it for us - I don't feel they missed out by not knowing characters like Mary Poppins or Lilo. Oh, and my DS is easily scared too - just FYI, he totally lost it at the It's Tough to Be a Bug attraction in Animal Kingdom.

[Momof3Labs]

Oh, and my DS is easily scared too - just FYI, he totally lost it at the It's Tough to Be a Bug attraction in Animal Kingdom.

That's a doozy for kids twice his age who don't scare easily! Definitely not a good show for the younger set.

As far as Disneyland Sing-a-Long Songs, it is a great introduction to the characters, but be prepared to FFWD through Grim Grinning Ghosts - DS1 was probably 5 before he could watch that without getting scared.