Lines for characters

[howlongtillsummer?]

We had an absolutely super time at DLP!

However I was just wondering if the lines to greet the characters (or lack of them) were an issue for anyone else?

In a society where I am trying to teach my daughter manners I found it really hard to allow her to shove through like everyone else. Surely there is a better way, this never happens in Florida. Any thoughts?

[howlongtillsummer?]

Would you believe me if I told you that while waiting to exit our boat on Small World (which is absolutely lovely btw), we witnessed a full scale argument between a cast member and a guest.

I am talking yelling into each others face, pointing and gesturing agressively. As the boat was pulling out the guest shouted "Well f... you man!" And he had his wife and kids with him!!

How do I explain that to my 7 year old!!!

[Cyrano]

:confused3:confused3:headache:

[ukstitch]

We had an absolutely super time at DLP!

However I was just wondering if the lines to greet the characters (or lack of them) were an issue for anyone else?

In a society where I am trying to teach my daughter manners I found it really hard to allow her to shove through like everyone else. Surely there is a better way, this never happens in Florida. Any thoughts?

This particular situation is well documented on here unfortunately and almost everybody seems to have had problems around it.

It's worse in the spontaneous meet and greets where you get a scrum appearing around the characters...

The best solution seems to either be to try and see the characters at an "official" meet and greet where you have a roped off queuing area, or to go for a character meal, which are generally better as well, although you do sometimes see guests "chasing" the characters for an autograph and some interaction (though they will normally be sent back to their table).

[howlongtillsummer?]

The manners and behaviour of some guests at DLP were quite astonishing.

For instance, my husband chased and retrieved a soon to be lost mickey balloon for a small child and returned it to their mum. Did they say thanks???? Why would they eh?

Also on our way out the park a guest cut one of those balloon displays to release dozens of balloons into the sky and the crowd to try to grab them was a scrum!!

"Mickey wouldn't like him to do that Mummy!!" said my daughter.

Indeed.

[howlongtillsummer?]

I hope this is just me. On arrival we picked a vareity of breakfast times and attended at the correct time each morning. (Sequoia Lodge)

On lining up for breakfast in the correct queue each morning (for our allotted time), we were horrified to see that the two very long lines were moving at exactly the same (slow) speed. The CM doing the seating just took the front party from each line alternately, collecting but never checking the time cards.

What on earth are they for??? We should have just come down when we felt like it.

[scald]

The appalling manners of some guests is something I had real trouble with on our last trip, but am desperately trying to come to terms with before our trip this July.

I found it really dragged me down, the pushing, shoving, general rudeness and lack of courtesy in almost all areas or aspects of the park. So I have decided that I will NOT let it ruin this one and I am going to just make sure that I display a good role model for my kids. They know how to behave and we can't be held responsible for others I suppose:confused3

[ukstitch]

I have to admit on this that we've been told in the past that the breakfast slots are just a formality a lot of the time - you're not specifically tied to the timeslot unless it gets really busy and even then, you can come down late if you wish...

[howlongtillsummer?]

We had a nasty experience with the VEA shuttle.

After collecting our bags we were delighted to see a man holding a VEA sign who escorted us to the bus stop. We lined up and after about 20 mins along came a bus. Great we thought!

We were literally crushed onto the bus which went round and round the vastness of the airport. Hmmmm we thought.


It then deposited us about 15 mins later at the actual bus stop, we walked about 50m to the coach. "The driver is at the toilet. You may not board". For goodness sake we thought.

Along came the driver about 10 mins later. We boarded. Phew we thought.

"The coach will leave in 25 minutes." he said.

I am not telling you what we thought then!!!

Although I thought up this advice -- TAKE A PRIVATE SHUTTLE!!

:headache:

[Cyrano]

Just merging your various threads regarding your recent trip :thumbsup2

[howlongtillsummer?]

When they are merged it sounds like one great complaint!!!

Let me say that we had a brilliant time and I would go back tomorrow. The characters were much more playful than Florida. The parks and hotel were beautiful. It is a lovely place and we all thoroughly enjoyed it.

Would be interested in others thoughts on my other threads though.

[mommy2ash]

im glad they were merged lol *** i was thinking oh no you didnt enjoy your trip at all. i can agree with all of what you have said. i try to not let it bother me as you get these types of people everywhere. with breakfast unless you go really early or late you will find it busy. i had heard negitive comments about the vea and opted for a private transfer and i am so glad that i do as it is just so much easier. strange that a cm would argue with a guest even if the guest was provoking him??? i also tend to stay away from characters that have loads of people around them and steer ash towards the unwanted one there is always one lol

[Ware Bears]

When they are merged it sounds like one great complaint!!! Lol!!! :lmao: :lmao: :lmao:

Let me say that we had a brilliant time and I would go back tomorrow. The characters were much more playful than Florida. The parks and hotel were beautiful. It is a lovely place and we all thoroughly enjoyed it.

Would be interested in others thoughts on my other threads though.

I think everyone will agree with the character scrums. We get our character fix from character meals and the organised queues, and only bother with the random characters in the parks if there's hardly any other guests about. That's not so easy if you've got small children who want to meet that particular character, though.

Regarding breakfast, we stay off-site at the Explorers and always have the earliest timeslot. Although we're usually there before anyone to greet us is :rotfl: on the odd occasion we've turned up past our timeslot, the greeter hasn't checked the time, I think they are more concerned that you actually have a ticket so are entitled to the breakfast? Perhaps the Disney hotels work on the same principle?

We've always got a private shuttle when we've flown so can't proffer any experience with the VEA but I think we've all come across rude and ignorant people in the parks. Unfortunately, they're not exclusive to DLRP, I've met a few in WDW too but somehow it seems all the worse when it's somewhere like Disney where everyone should be happy. As for the foul language, that is horrible. :sad2: The worst language I've ever heard is when we got caught up in a strike at CDG coming home in October 2007 ~ it was absolutely disgusting. Luckily, my DDs are much older than yours so have probably heard it all many times over at school but I still cringe when I hear anyone swear.

I'm glad you had a great time. :wizard: DLRP is so beautiful and so well designed. I especially love Frontierland, it is imagineering at its perfection. :cloud9:

I also agree that the characters are much more playful at DLRP than at WDW, I think the CMs are too. When one of my DDs was younger she was carrying a huge Mickey round with her. A CM on BTM put us in the front carriage then took it off her and tied it to the front engine. Her face was such a picture :rotfl: but it's a priceless memory.

[DLPdaft]

The character scrums at DLRP are a real bugbear of mine too.

Our first trip was when DD was 5, and like you howlongtillsummer?, I've brought her up to wait her turn patiently. Its a bit of a culture shock to realise that this tends to get you nowhere with character scrums. I collared a few CMs that trip and told them how upsetting it is for young children to get pushed and shoved out of the way when they are waiting to see their favourite characters. Didn't seem to make much difference to be honest.

Now, I will still do the character scrums if DD wants to, but I make a point, if people are pushing and shoving, to say in a loud and clear voice, as near to the CM as I possibly can "just wait nicely DD, and you'll get to meet Goofy/Stitch/Wendy" etc etc. This often works I've found.

The breakfast slots at all the hotels I've been to (onsite and at the Explorers) are, I'm sure, only used for a rough guide, guests do just turn up when they feel like it, and as long as they present a breakfast ticket, it doesn't matter what time is on it. The earlier you go for breakfast at all the Dinsey hotels (ie before 8am), the quieter it is.

I've never experienced what you did on the VEA, but that would definitely put me off using it again if I had.

[Tillybud]

oh my, I originally thought this was one big complaint !!!

On our last trip in October, I was really impressed with the way the cm's handled the scrums, far better than on previous trips and I did wonder if they'd had some new training? There was a couple of times dd was pushed out of the way by bigger children and adults and the cm's seemed to notice this and brought her to the front, on one occasion Mickey even stopped an adult who was in front of dd and took her hand so we could get our picture :goodvibes

I'd hate to explain an arguement between a cm and a guest, that must have been awful to witness !

[babymaddie]

Have to admit the character scrums shicked me on our first visit and and our second we were more wise to it and oftem found that if we stood nicely and waited often our daughter was bought to the front either by the character or the CM rather than the ones that were pushing and shoving.

Well she is 7 years old this time so am wondering how she will handle the rude children as she knows how important it is to be polite and not push in. I shall sit back at first and see how she handles herself.

I do remember at the Tea Party in 2007 when the characters came to tables at Plaza Garden and Rafiki came to ours and loads of children were hasslling him even though he was with us and the character cleared a large space around our table and actually moved other children out of the way to teach Madelane how to curtesy with him. He really ensured that no other child was involved in this and we were quite amazed.

We also found this at Cafe Mickey when she was 4 and having her birthday cake there and they had us up to dance with Eyore and wouldn't allow any other children to join in - it was like that was her special time with the characters.

Such wonderful memories I hold. Hoping for many more this coming week.

[howlongtillsummer?]

Thanks guys.

We really enjoyed the character meals and found that very few people got up from their tables to interrupt the characters. If they did the CMs sent them back, much better.

Some more positives:

Great staff at Sequoia - brought us a kettle, extra pillows etc so quickly they took us by surprise.

Lovely breakfasts at hotel, and the Good Morning Fantasyland breakfast was a great idea.

Location of the hotel, we had they most gorgeous view over the lake into disney village.

The hotel buses are frequent, well organised and spotless, in fact everything was spotless.

The moment we drove onto the first disney property (Newport Bay) it just hit me like a wave. Like when you first drive under the arch at WDW. AAAAAHHHHHH MAGIC :banana:

Can you beat it?

See - not just complaints :goodvibes

[cowza]

I have to agree about the characters but what annoyed me more than the rudeness of the guests was how the characters have attendants with them... yet they wander off and seem unphased by the chaotic crowds. What's the point in having an attendant if they are not going to stop the character from getting harrassed?

I did write it in my hotel comment card... don't know if anyone else bothers with those things. It might make a difference if more and more people write about the same thing.

[mommy2ash]

I have to agree about the characters but what annoyed me more than the rudeness of the guests was how the characters have attendants with them... yet they wander off and seem unphased by the chaotic crowds. What's the point in having an attendant if they are not going to stop the character from getting harrassed?

I did write it in my hotel comment card... don't know if anyone else bothers with those things. It might make a difference if more and more people write about the same thing.

i totally agree with this the attendants dont really seem to do much. my last trip a lady barged through the crowd and put her child in front of ash and then made everyone else move back so their wouldnt be any other people in her pics all i could do is laugh :rotfl: how rediculous even more so as she thought she was doing no wrong. these people really do amaze me and of course the attendant did nothing. the same thing happened in a queue actually for the toon train a lady pushed her kid on the stage who wasnt in the queue and then a huge group of adults took turns each at taking pics of these two kids. they were there for like ten minutes and then of course the train had to leave. that day i was really mad *** ash waited her turn and bawled her eyes out when it left. luckily the next day stitch called ash up on the stage even though the cm said no more pics. and took his time with her she still talks about it now lol

[Roon]

When Jase was little I couldn't bear the fact he was being ignored for such a long time. Heartbreaking. I don't think sometimes the characters can actually see the small ones but the CM should be aware of this. It really looked like he was blatently being ignored.

Unfortunately don't have that problem now, he is older and doesn't want to do the Character meets, uncool. Down to me now. hahahaha

[mommy2ash]

When Jase was little I couldn't bear the fact he was being ignored for such a long time. Heartbreaking. I don't think sometimes the characters can actually see the small ones but the CM should be aware of this. It really looked like he was blatently being ignored.

Unfortunately don't have that problem now, he is older and doesn't want to do the Character meets, uncool. Down to me now. hahahaha

this is so true as one time ash was trying to get the attention of the genie as he was taking books from kids behind her. we had to point down and he put his hand on his head and made a big show out of it lol. so sometimes it isnt there fault but as you said shouldnt the cms be doing something??

[thehails]

We've given up doing character meets at DLRP as it's always such a scrum and I hate seeing the disapointment my children face each time as adults push their children to front continually.

It was sheer bliss at WDW in February to see that there was such great control over character meeting and greets.

Whenever we go to DLRP now I just book a character meal, ideally at the Lucky Nugget salon as we found this less frantic than cafe mickey, and the kids love it.

[scald]

Have to laugh because I was recently looking back through photos and in almost every one, there is a random strange child who just barged in as my kids were trying to get a picture with each character!!!!!!:rotfl2:


The trick really is to impress upon your children that manners and waiting in line is important. One time, my kids got very special attention from both Cinderella and Jack Sparrow because they demonstrated restraint when all around were losing their heads!!!

[mommy2ash]

Have to laugh because I was recently looking back through photos and in almost every one, there is a random strange child who just barged in as my kids were trying to get a picture with each character!!!!!!:rotfl2:


The trick really is to impress upon your children that manners and waiting in line is important. One time, my kids got very special attention from both Cinderella and Jack Sparrow because they demonstrated restraint when all around were losing their heads!!!

thats great that they got special attention

i mean ash is only two and she will stand there book in hand and say mammy im waiting my turn with a big smile on her face and it breaks my heart when she doesnt get her autograph. a couple of times i just had to say enough is enough and say i a loud voice ashleigh its your turn now and just go up with her. i even have an autograph saying to ashleigh lots of love goofy to prove i must have a loud voice :rotfl2:

[scald]

Oh yes, although I have remained clam, I have also used my voice loudly to explain to my children that they are being very good by waiting their turn and that those people rushing in front of them just have no manners!!!:rotfl2:

Surprisingly, on a few occasions, this has shamed the queue skippers (mainly adults) into getting back into line! I am not pedantic about queing and all that, but some common courtesy is all that is needed and sometimes seeing the disappointment on the kids faces would indeed break your heart.

Of course there was the one time I saw a grown up step over a child in a wheelchair to get to Buzz before him:eek:....that time I certainly DID NOT keep calm. Good thing my kids were at the loo.....:laughing:

[joolz1910]

We waited patiently to get photos/autographs at DLH. My daughters waited their turn and were pushed in front of time and time again. In the end, another woman tapped me on the shoulder and told me (nicely) to push my daughters to the front because she was waiting with her kids and had told her kids that they were after mine! She said that if I didn't, the characters would be gone by the time they got to the front. I did make sure they were seen next, but it really went against the grain for me.

The scrums in the park/studios we gave a very wide berth to - I wouldn't even go there!:rotfl:

[Architect]

Now I have to be careful here, as a couple of years ago I was told off for gently noting that the tendancy to barge in seemed to be unco' frequent in those from the southern fringes of Europe, whilst the likes of ourselves, the Germans, and Dutch all waited patiently. The poor Scandihooligans were so polite I'm surprised they ever got to meet anyone!! ;)

I also have the short temper normally associated with former front row rugby players, hence I find I veyr much have to bite my tongue when someone tries to walk right through the kids (happened several times on the latest trip).

This year at Inventions and DLH we found that the characters were very careful to go around their tables and largely ignored kids who tried to run intercept. Usual scrum in the park so we just tended to avoid it unless very quiet.

I have to say, however, that the kids didn't seem half as bothered as me.

[PJackson]

We did see this in a v small part last September but really not that much at all. I think the Studios were worse, in particular I recall Donald Duck having a funny fit :lmao: because he was being scrummed. He literally put his hand out, shooed everyone back and picked my DD1 to go forward (as we had been waiting patiently). I love it when that happens but unfortunately it doesn't happen often enough :(

Do you find that the scrums happen more when the parks are very busy - probably stating the obvious here....! Or do you find there are more characters out to try and combat it? One of the many reasons why I just can't bring myself to book a trip in the school holidays :(

I have found on other holidays abroad as well that some Europeans just don't do queueing - in fact I think we are the only ones in the UK :rotfl2:

[DLPdaft]

Now I have to be careful here, as a couple of years ago I was told off for gently noting that the tendancy to barge in seemed to be unco' frequent in those from the southern fringes of Europe, whilst the likes of ourselves, the Germans, and Dutch all waited patiently. The poor Scandihooligans were so polite I'm surprised they ever got to meet anyone!! ;)

I also have the short temper normally associated with former front row rugby players, hence I find I veyr much have to bite my tongue when someone tries to walk right through the kids (happened several times on the latest trip).

This year at Inventions and DLH we found that the characters were very careful to go around their tables and largely ignored kids who tried to run intercept. Usual scrum in the park so we just tended to avoid it unless very quiet.

I have to say, however, that the kids didn't seem half as bothered as me.

I think the reason you might have been gently told off was that its a generalisation isn't it, and we can't tar everyone with the same brush - I wish I could say that in my experience, us Brits always waited patiently (as well as everyone else) :goodvibes.

[Dollyrar]

At the end of the day, like some have mentioned, some people can't even be happy in the happiest place on earth! Leave them to it I say, and just get on with making your own magic :)

[thelittlemermaid83]

I must say i havent really had much trouble with "scrums" around the park with characters but saying that we always do the organised meet and greets and plenty of character meals so if we see a character in the park milling around and they are crowded we don't even go there.