Character Meet & Greets for the adults

kroseycorn

kroseycorn

Mouseketeer
Joined
Aug 29, 2013
So, I read a lot of the trip reports about how much fun character meet and greets are. I wouldn't say that I DON'T enjoy them, but I do find that I'm extremely awkward and just end up being like "awwwww, hi Snow White! Hi! Ohhhhh, photo! Hahahahaha! Awwwww! ooooooh, photo! Ha! Thanks Snow White!" and then I hurry away and wonder what he/she is thinking of me.

On our next trip in December, I want to have a lot more fun with it (especially because I now have a child, and I don't want her to succumb to the same lame-o, creatively empty character conversations that I have)... Because I've read that they can be a real joy.

So, I beg you dear Dis-ers, can you share with me some VERY detailed examples of your favorite child-less character meet and greets... How did you start your interaction, what are your favorite things to ask, how do you keep it fun and interesting again and again??

Thanks for your help!
 
Well, the interaction usually starts by getting at the end of a long line...;)

My wife has Cinderella's Castle tattooed on her shoulder. We went to meet Cinderella at MK last year for our daughter, but I convinced her to meet her as well, since Cinderella is my wife's favorite Princess.

Cinderella saw the tattoo and said, "is that your house? No, wait - that's my house!"

On another occasion, I told Alice once it was my un-Birthday. She replied, "well, a Merry Un-Birthday to you! It's my Un-Birthday, too!"
 


I remember it as a child and its completely different from an adult. When I was going as a single guy with my friends we were in our early 20's and it was real fun with the characters, I used to flirt with Minnie and Daisy. Minnie would squeeze my bicep or Daisy would give me a kiss. Then I started going with my GF and she became my wife and the characters were just as friendly and now we go with our daughter and even though she is the focus ill still get my pic with the mouse or Mike Wazowski
 
To me it totally depends on your personality.
I'm a total kid at heart, so I can easily goof off and interact with the characters - no awkwardness.
My DH is a very serious guy, and him interacting with characters looks painfully awkward, because it is with him.

If you want to have fun, just try and revert back to your childhood days.
How would you be if you were 10? and go from there.

Have fun!!! :mickeyjum
 
I have never had an interaction with a "face" character because of this very awkwardness. For people who still consider themselves to be children "at heart" it might be easy to pretend, but give me the nonspeaking characters any day. If I am forced to line up for a photo with a character, I want to get in and out without any weird chit chat.

If character chit chat is your thing, however, here are a few suggestions:

  • For any princess character -- ask if she has time to discuss some of her father's more controversial foreign policy decisions; ask her if she favors abdication in favor of establishing democratic elections in her kingdom
  • For any prince character -- ask him how many men he has killed in combat; insist that dragons don't count
  • For Mickey -- ask if his gentrification policies in Toon Town are unfairly harming less well-known toons who are just trying to get by, day by day
  • For Minnie -- ask her if her parents are still with us, and express sympathy if she indicates that they have passed away
  • For Donald -- ask him why he is so darn angry all the time when he doesn't even have to wear pants
  • For Goofy -- tell him you are working on a Ph.D. in crypto-zoology and ask him if he would consent to being the subject of your dissertation
  • For any fairy -- demand that she fly immediately or you will stop believing in fairies, thereby putting Tinkerbell in mortal danger
  • For Ariel (in mermaid costume) -- ask if she lays eggs or gives birth to live offspring
  • For Peter Pan -- offer him a beer, then say never mind, he's not old enough and never will be

If you have any other specific characters in mind, post here and I will share some of my better ideas with you!
 


nilla said:
Well, the interaction usually starts by getting at the end of a long line...;)

My wife has Cinderella's Castle tattooed on her shoulder. We went to meet Cinderella at MK last year for our daughter, but I convinced her to meet her as well, since Cinderella is my wife's favorite Princess.

Cinderella saw the tattoo and said, "is that your house? No, wait - that's my house!"

On another occasion, I told Alice once it was my un-Birthday. She replied, "well, a Merry Un-Birthday to you! It's my Un-Birthday, too!"
Click to expand...

Perhaps thats a good plan -- just pick and choose a character to focus on seeing, and then bring/wear something specific to the meet and greet... I don't necessarily have a favorite, but maybe its something I should work on so that I can have more fun at the meets.


River Country said:
I remember it as a child and its completely different from an adult. When I was going as a single guy with my friends we were in our early 20's and it was real fun with the characters, I used to flirt with Minnie and Daisy. Minnie would squeeze my bicep or Daisy would give me a kiss. Then I started going with my GF and she became my wife and the characters were just as friendly and now we go with our daughter and even though she is the focus ill still get my pic with the mouse or Mike Wazowski
Click to expand...

My husband is much better at it than I am, but then I've only just started to go back, and he's been going for decades!


slo said:
To me it totally depends on your personality.
I'm a total kid at heart, so I can easily goof off and interact with the characters - no awkwardness.
My DH is a very serious guy, and him interacting with characters looks painfully awkward, because it is with him.

If you want to have fun, just try and revert back to your childhood days.
How would you be if you were 10? and go from there.

Have fun!!! :mickeyjum
Click to expand...

Yea, I'm a bit more like your husband -- though I'm pretty good at faking it, so perhaps I can push myself next time. But remembering to revert is a good idea!


alvernon90 said:
I have never had an interaction with a "face" character because of this very awkwardness. For people who still consider themselves to be children "at heart" it might be easy to pretend, but give me the nonspeaking characters any day. If I am forced to line up for a photo with a character, I want to get in and out without any weird chit chat.

If character chit chat is your thing, however, here are a few suggestions:

  • For any princess character -- ask if she has time to discuss some of her father's more controversial foreign policy decisions; ask her if she favors abdication in favor of establishing democratic elections in her kingdom
  • For any prince character -- ask him how many men he has killed in combat; insist that dragons don't count
  • For Mickey -- ask if his gentrification policies in Toon Town are unfairly harming less well-known toons who are just trying to get by, day by day
  • For Minnie -- ask her if her parents are still with us, and express sympathy if she indicates that they have passed away
  • For Donald -- ask him why he is so darn angry all the time when he doesn't even have to wear pants
  • For Goofy -- tell him you are working on a Ph.D. in crypto-zoology and ask him if he would consent to being the subject of your dissertation
  • For any fairy -- demand that she fly immediately or you will stop believing in fairies, thereby putting Tinkerbell in mortal danger
  • For Ariel (in mermaid costume) -- ask if she lays eggs or gives birth to live offspring
  • For Peter Pan -- offer him a beer, then say never mind, he's not old enough and never will be
If you have any other specific characters in mind, post here and I will share some of my better ideas with you!
Click to expand...

Alvernon90, this is AMAZING. "Ariel... I've always been curious, do mermaids LAY EGGS?".... HAHA! Could I get it out with a straight face?!? I've heard a few of these (like Tinkerbell FLY RIGHT NOW) have witty responses from the character. They're ready for some of them... but some of the political ones would be SO fun to ask!

Recommendations for Pooh, Tigger and Alice?!
 
I would like some photos with characters as well but I think the "real" people characters would be super awkward for me.
Even the full costumed ones (mickey,minnie, etc....) would be a little hard for me to interact with because I have a very hard time pretending *gasp*.

So I'm hoping I can take my nephews in some of the lines and sneak in their pictures :)

Seriously if Cinderella asked me a question in character I would probably just stare at her like I was stupid....
 
kroseycorn said:
Recommendations for Pooh, Tigger and Alice?!
Click to expand...

For Pooh -- tell him you have been concerned about him ever since he got stuck at Rabbit's house, and you'd like to talk to him about bariatric surgery

For Tigger -- ask him if his parents ever looked into getting him treatment for ADHD

For Alice -- lecture her about being too young to experiment with drugs
 
gunderda said:
I would like some photos with characters as well but I think the "real" people characters would be super awkward for me.
Even the full costumed ones (mickey,minnie, etc....) would be a little hard for me to interact with because I have a very hard time pretending *gasp*.

So I'm hoping I can take my nephews in some of the lines and sneak in their pictures :)

Seriously if Cinderella asked me a question in character I would probably just stare at her like I was stupid....
Click to expand...

Yea, thats a bit like me. SO awkward sometimes. And if I say something lame or stupid, I will THINK about it for hours. Honestly, I know most of the princes are gay AND I'm married -- but I will still turn BRIGHT RED if one of them talks to me, calls me princess, anything like that! Now THAT is reverting back to my little girl state! Elementary school all over again! HA!

But like I said, I don't want my daughter to suffer from the same lameness... so I'm going to try and push myself to have more fun and set an example.

alvernon90 said:
For Pooh -- tell him you have been concerned about him ever since he got stuck at Rabbit's house, and you'd like to talk to him about bariatric surgery

For Tigger -- ask him if his parents ever looked into getting him treatment for ADHD

For Alice -- lecture her about being too young to experiment with drugs
Click to expand...

Poor Pooh!! So tubby! Hahah!
 
I think the best thing is to just be friendly and be yourself. Things are likely to feel awkward if you feel like you're forcing yourself to interact in a way that isn't you. The better the mood your in, the easier it is to have good interactions with characters, so try on it on days you're feeling particularly happy/big kid-ish. A lot of the characters are pretty good telling if you're interested in interaction or just wanting a photo from my experience, even just by greeting them enthusiastically they can pick up that you're more interested in interaction.

I had a lot of great interactions on my last trip (check my TR if you're interested), they were better than the ones I had when I was a child. I wore a mad hatter hat and unbirthday badge the whole trip and that got some attention, so you can always wear something relating to a character, but that's not everyone's style. I also asked questions relating to their character or played along with things they said. But all that is my personality, I'm a big kid and I love to play and pretend, I even do it for a job, so it's really natural for me! Like I said, just be your friendly self!
 
buttercup14 said:
I think the best thing is to just be friendly and be yourself. Things are likely to feel awkward if you feel like you're forcing yourself to interact in a way that isn't you. The better the mood your in, the easier it is to have good interactions with characters, so try on it on days you're feeling particularly happy/big kid-ish. A lot of the characters are pretty good telling if you're interested in interaction or just wanting a photo from my experience, even just by greeting them enthusiastically they can pick up that you're more interested in interaction.

I had a lot of great interactions on my last trip (check my TR if you're interested), they were better than the ones I had when I was a child. I wore a mad hatter hat and unbirthday badge the whole trip and that got some attention, so you can always wear something relating to a character, but that's not everyone's style. I also asked questions relating to their character or played along with things they said. But all that is my personality, I'm a big kid and I love to play and pretend, I even do it for a job, so it's really natural for me! Like I said, just be your friendly self!
Click to expand...

Great advice! you're absolutely right... It's sort of like learning to snowboard. Don't try it if you're in a bad mood... And maybe have a cocktail before hitting the slopes to loosen up!

I'll check out your TR for sure. I'm pretty introverted by nature, but I've worked in sales for years and have learned how to enjoy being social and outgoing (I tell people I'm more of an introvert and they're always like "no, you're NOT!". Promise I am!). But because Ive learned that, I think I could learn a few tricks to make these more fun.

Another thing that inspired me to want to work on it was reading a couple of reddit interviews with CMs who were princesses, and was surprised to learn that they really enjoy guests who really get into it, ask them questions, try to stump them (but not try to make them uncomfortable or interfere with the magic).

Not sure why it surprises me... Perhaps because I imagine myself in there shoes and I'd just want people to get there picture and go! But I have to remind myself that these people are actors and actors strive to be THE character in THE moment.

Thanks for your help!
 
thatgirl23 said:
Any recommendations for Stitch and/or Chip and Dale?
Click to expand...

Chip n dale are genrally really fun since they have each othet to interact with as well! You could challenge them to something (say a dance off) and see which is the better dancer. We once brough chip a packet of chips and dale ran around chasing him trying to get them. For fur characters it can be fun to bring some kind if soft toy with you to meet them and let them play with it (last trip we brought a dinosaur hand puppet and much fun was had). Though not all characters will be into it. Don't forget just because they don't talk doesn't mean you can't talk to them! So often I saw people stop talking when they met non face characters!

kroseycorn said:
Great advice! you're absolutely right... It's sort of like learning to snowboard. Don't try it if you're in a bad mood... And maybe have a cocktail before hitting the slopes to loosen up!

I'll check out your TR for sure. I'm pretty introverted by nature, but I've worked in sales for years and have learned how to enjoy being social and outgoing (I tell people I'm more of an introvert and they're always like "no, you're NOT!". Promise I am!). But because Ive learned that, I think I could learn a few tricks to make these more fun.

Another thing that inspired me to want to work on it was reading a couple of reddit interviews with CMs who were princesses, and was surprised to learn that they really enjoy guests who really get into it, ask them questions, try to stump them (but not try to make them uncomfortable or interfere with the magic).

Not sure why it surprises me... Perhaps because I imagine myself in there shoes and I'd just want people to get there picture and go! But I have to remind myself that these people are actors and actors strive to be THE character in THE moment.

Thanks for your help!
Click to expand...

I think there would be some who just want a photo and thrn to move on, but for the most part the characters seem to enjoy them selfs and want yo interact, sometimes this can be easier with adults who are willing to play along! I do a somewhat similar line of work as a kids party host, this past weekend I was hanging out with (in dis terms) a fairy and half the kids were pretty shy, the other half just wouldn't buy it, even trying to pull the outfiy apart to prove it wasn't a fairy (thankfully parties like this are a very rare occurance and most kids are lovely and into it) after the kids had gone a women in her 20's came and asked my fairy friend for a balloon, picture and a hug, saying she just loved faries so much and was do happy to meet one. You can imagine after the past hour how happy that made the fairy, of course my fairy friend was more than happy to spend some time talking with her!
 
Ask the characters about another character from their movie!

For example, we have asked Rapunzel where Pascal is, or Anna has told us all about Kristoff's adventures. You can even do something similar with the fur characters-I like to ask Stitch if he is staying out of trouble, or Chip and Dale if they have been bothering Donald lately.
 
I've asked Stitch what his badness level was, chatted with Sleeping Beauty about the difficulty of find a good laundry fairy, talked with Snow White about how tough it was to keep a house clean with only 4 people in it, let alone 8.

I talked to Elsa about having 3 younger sisters - she said she was happy she only had 1. LOL, Told Pluto he was a good dog. For Goofy, I had a stuffed Goofy with me and he was so excited about that. I had a stuffed Pascal with me when I met Rapunzel and Flynn so that was fun. I asked Cinderella if glass slippers were comfortable.

Oh and Mulan I asked if she had seen Mushu lately and she told me he was in trouble with the ancestors again.
 
buttercup14 said:
Chip n dale are genrally really fun since they have each othet to interact with as well! You could challenge them to something (say a dance off) and see which is the better dancer. We once brough chip a packet of chips and dale ran around chasing him trying to get them. For fur characters it can be fun to bring some kind if soft toy with you to meet them and let them play with it (last trip we brought a dinosaur hand puppet and much fun was had). Though not all characters will be into it. Don't forget just because they don't talk doesn't mean you can't talk to them! So often I saw people stop talking when they met non face characters!



I think there would be some who just want a photo and thrn to move on, but for the most part the characters seem to enjoy them selfs and want yo interact, sometimes this can be easier with adults who are willing to play along! I do a somewhat similar line of work as a kids party host, this past weekend I was hanging out with (in dis terms) a fairy and half the kids were pretty shy, the other half just wouldn't buy it, even trying to pull the outfiy apart to prove it wasn't a fairy (thankfully parties like this are a very rare occurance and most kids are lovely and into it) after the kids had gone a women in her 20's came and asked my fairy friend for a balloon, picture and a hug, saying she just loved faries so much and was do happy to meet one. You can imagine after the past hour how happy that made the fairy, of course my fairy friend was more than happy to spend some time talking with her!
Click to expand...

Definitely, that fairy you were hanging out with was probably very pleased to be speaking with someone who actually fully embraced her! Thats a great idea to focus on a character for whom I have something... like a stuffed animal or something. Great advice!

disneyhorselover said:
Ask the characters about another character from their movie!

For example, we have asked Rapunzel where Pascal is, or Anna has told us all about Kristoff's adventures. You can even do something similar with the fur characters-I like to ask Stitch if he is staying out of trouble, or Chip and Dale if they have been bothering Donald lately.
Click to expand...

I love these! Since we usually have time to wait before we get up to see them, I should spend that time trying to think of interesting things to ask (since I'll be too starstruck in the moment to remember anything). I envy those people who can just wing it, though!


GaSleepingBeautyFan said:
I've asked Stitch what his badness level was, chatted with Sleeping Beauty about the difficulty of find a good laundry fairy, talked with Snow White about how tough it was to keep a house clean with only 4 people in it, let alone 8.

I talked to Elsa about having 3 younger sisters - she said she was happy she only had 1. LOL, Told Pluto he was a good dog. For Goofy, I had a stuffed Goofy with me and he was so excited about that. I had a stuffed Pascal with me when I met Rapunzel and Flynn so that was fun. I asked Cinderella if glass slippers were comfortable.

Oh and Mulan I asked if she had seen Mushu lately and she told me he was in trouble with the ancestors again.
Click to expand...

I love these ideas! So creative! Thanks for the suggestions, I feel like this would make it SO much more fun!!!
 
kroseycorn said:
I love these! Since we usually have time to wait before we get up to see them, I should spend that time trying to think of interesting things to ask (since I'll be too starstruck in the moment to remember anything). I envy those people who can just wing it, though!
Click to expand...

Oh I definitely can't wing it, I get starstruck too, especially if there is a prince involved ;)
I usually think of these things while waiting in line, or in a previous line if I know I'll be meeting a character at a meal or with a FP+
 
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