Terrible Mickey Interaction at Animal Kingdom

[purpledisneyprncess]

Originally Posted by dkhillerud

Well I disagree with most posters. I think it is pretty pathetic that when a 2 year old was crying saying, "please sign my book" Mickey didn't just sign it!!

AGREED!!

I didn't read thru all the pages of posts, but - I'm wondering if there really is a certain procedure to these meet & greets. I've done a lot of meet and greets with my children and all different characters, and each time it's sign autograph first then smile for a pic.

Mickey was so stubborn not to take a pic with your two year old.

For those saying that you shouldn't make a big deal, well I disagree. It would have upset me too. Mickey was essentially teasing your 2 year old by hiding the book behind his back. You should find out the procedure for that particular meet/greet with Mickey.

Sorry you had a bad experience~ esp sorry that it ruined the moment for your son. Does he still like Mickey (in general) after all of that?

[Kelleigh710]

Originally Posted by beaucoup

Those poor kids better learn about being flexible. And quickly. Life does not ever go as planned or instructed.

Nicely put!!!!

[Luvchefmic]

Originally Posted by tlkgt76

OK, I swear I'm not trying to beat up on the original poster, but I have to admit I noticed a couple things.

1.) Over-reaction at park when Mickey performed his friendly duties in a different order than the other Mickeys

2.) Over-reaction when other posters stated that they did not see the issue with the situation with Mickey (questioning the importance of the order in which Mickey meets and greets guests does not equal an accusation of bad parenting, although some of the posts AFTER the first ones were pretty hostile)


If I could play a sound clip right now, you'd hear "Don't Worry, Be Happy".

beg your pardon but # 1 there is only ONE

now the sound clip I choose after reading terrible incident, tragic, hardship, fire Mickey and my favorite Disney apoligists etc etc is the country song :

God is great beer is good people are crazy

[tlkgt76]

Originally Posted by Luvchefmic

beg your pardon but # 1 there is only ONE

now the sound clip I choose after reading terrible incident, tragic, hardship, fire Mickey and my favorite Disney apoligists etc etc is the country song :

God is great beer is good people are crazy

[MyKidsMom1820]

I didn't read through all the posts but I wanted to add that our family had a grumpy mickey at AK in 2011, and while I brushed it off for my kids sake, it kinda bothered me.

What happened was when my four year old son was handing mickey a pen to sign his book with, he got some ink on mickeys glove, (total accident) well apparently that made mickey mad! had mickey crossed his arms and shook his head...then pointed at his glove...my four year old was clueless and confused and I ignored it and posed for the picture, which they took AFTER mickey signed the book....ha! It really wasn't a big deal but I was just like, "come on just hug my kid and pose mickey" All the other characters were WONDERFUL tho, and very patient....maybe that mickey forgot he had a mickey costume on and not a Donald duck?

[MsLeFever]

Originally Posted by Nancyg56

I


When my own children were young we took them to WDW. This was 25 years ago and there were no autographs in the parks. It was a cluster. I know that you are probably teasing about the autographs but they really make a difference for a lot of children's experiences.

Maybe for your kids - but I have an autograph book from 1972 with Mickey, Minnie and Goofy! No set places to see them back then though - they just appeared!

[NHKristy76]

THE absolute most important thing children must learn is how to "roll with the punches". Resiliency is a learned concept and I would suggest you actively pursue "teaching moments" like this one over and over!

Otherwise these kids will be spend the rest of their lives feeling like the world has done them wrong whenever the smallest change or hiccup occurs!

[badblackpug]

I've been to WDW multiple times with children ranging from infants to teens. I never knew, or noticed, that there was a protocol to autograph signing.

I am not out of touch with 2 year olds or their behavior, the youngest of my 4 just turned 3, so I'm pretty familiar.


According to the OP the mature 2 year old walked up to Mickey, handed him his autograph book, as he has done hundreds of times. He said very clearly and politely, "Please sign my autograph book." Within 10 seconds Mickey repeatedly refused to sign the book and then taunted the toddler by hiding his book, and reduced the poor wee mite to sobbing, and the child was removed from the situation by the irate parent. Within a time span of 10 seconds.

If my child was a sobbing crying disaster if he didn't get his way in 10 seconds it would be nap time. I'm pretty sure that if a 2 year old is reduced to "sobbing" in 10 seconds, the tantrum was in the works long before the evil mouse intervened.

My child's behavior wouldn't even register with me, I would chalk this up to tired or over-stimulated toddler. It certainly would never dawn on me to report this incident to guest services.

Now I will digress... what truly bothers me about this whole situation is the pettiness of it all. You are willing to jeopardize someone's job because your toddler didn't get what he wanted within 10 seconds. There are people who scrimp and save and sacrifice to give a once in a lifetime trip to WDW to their kids. There are people who travel with disabled and medically fragile children who are grateful that their children get a few hours in the park a day, during a once in a lifetime trip. The OP's children have been many, many times, and at the ripe old age of 2 are "experienced" WDW travelers, and they are complaining about a 10 second inconvenience their 2 year old had to endure.

Several months ago there was a young woman who posted, briefly, on the community board about being terminally ill and on hospice. Her thread was moved to the disabilities board, but it had a link to a trip report that she wrote. She was extremely medically fragile, and wrote, quite eloquently, about the obstacles she faced just being able to visit WDW. It was very humbling, and served as an excellent reminder of all the little things most of us take for granted on a daily basis.

It should be mandatory reading on the Dis.

[bwang123]

Originally Posted by Nancyg56

By all means, write Disney. If there is supposed to be an order, let's make sure there is never a deviation. No more spontaneous pranks with Donald or Goofy. No more posing like twins if a child is wearing her Minnie dress. No more Cinderella dragging a shy Grandpa to pose in her photo like Prince Charming, all to get another giggle from a shy little Princess. And if the character fails to follow the protocol.......off with her Head.............literally!

disney is already working on this... its called fastpass+. you may not have heard about it yet but if you search webcrawler or one of the other popular web search engines, you might find a small article.

[lililoo12]

Originally Posted by purpledisneyprncess

AGREED!!

I didn't read thru all the pages of posts, but - I'm wondering if there really is a certain procedure to these meet & greets. I've done a lot of meet and greets with my children and all different characters, and each time it's sign autograph first then smile for a pic.

Mickey was so stubborn not to take a pic with your two year old.

For those saying that you shouldn't make a big deal, well I disagree. It would have upset me too. Mickey was essentially teasing your 2 year old by hiding the book behind his back. You should find out the procedure for that particular meet/greet with Mickey.

Sorry you had a bad experience~ esp sorry that it ruined the moment for your son. Does he still like Mickey (in general) after all of that?

I agree mickey acted like the two year old by hiding the book making the situation worse. I hope op calls and writes to complain

[Baliezer]

Originally Posted by badblackpug

I've been to WDW multiple times with children ranging from infants to teens. I never knew, or noticed, that there was a protocol to autograph signing.

I am not out of touch with 2 year olds or their behavior, the youngest of my 4 just turned 3, so I'm pretty familiar.


According to the OP the mature 2 year old walked up to Mickey, handed him his autograph book, as he has done hundreds of times. He said very clearly and politely, "Please sign my autograph book." Within 10 seconds Mickey repeatedly refused to sign the book and then taunted the toddler by hiding his book, and reduced the poor wee mite to sobbing, and the child was removed from the situation by the irate parent. Within a time span of 10 seconds.

If my child was a sobbing crying disaster if he didn't get his way in 10 seconds it would be nap time. I'm pretty sure that if a 2 year old is reduced to "sobbing" in 10 seconds, the tantrum was in the works long before the evil mouse intervened.

My child's behavior wouldn't even register with me, I would chalk this up to tired or over-stimulated toddler. It certainly would never dawn on me to report this incident to guest services.

Now I will digress... what truly bothers me about this whole situation is the pettiness of it all. You are willing to jeopardize someone's job because your toddler didn't get what he wanted within 10 seconds. There are people who scrimp and save and sacrifice to give a once in a lifetime trip to WDW to their kids. There are people who travel with disabled and medically fragile children who are grateful that their children get a few hours in the park a day, during a once in a lifetime trip. The OP's children have been many, many times, and at the ripe old age of 2 are "experienced" WDW travelers, and they are complaining about a 10 second inconvenience their 2 year old had to endure.

Several months ago there was a young woman who posted, briefly, on the community board about being terminally ill and on hospice. Her thread was moved to the disabilities board, but it had a link to a trip report that she wrote. She was extremely medically fragile, and wrote, quite eloquently, about the obstacles she faced just being able to visit WDW. It was very humbling, and served as an excellent reminder of all the little things most of us take for granted on a daily basis.

It should be mandatory reading on the Dis.

I completely agree!

[maxiesmom]

I have a question: Who is in charge at the meet and greets, the handler or the character or neither? Just wondering if Mickey has to do what his handler says, or not.

At any rate, the OP should have just had the picture taken and then the books signed. This is the definition of making a mountain out of a molehill. Say to your child "Mickey wants the picture first" and have the picture taken and then the books signed. End of problem, no day ruined, no angry e-mail needed.

[Luvchefmic]

Originally Posted by badblackpug

I've been to WDW multiple times with children ranging from infants to teens. I never knew, or noticed, that there was a protocol to autograph signing.

I am not out of touch with 2 year olds or their behavior, the youngest of my 4 just turned 3, so I'm pretty familiar.


According to the OP the mature 2 year old walked up to Mickey, handed him his autograph book, as he has done hundreds of times. He said very clearly and politely, "Please sign my autograph book." Within 10 seconds Mickey repeatedly refused to sign the book and then taunted the toddler by hiding his book, and reduced the poor wee mite to sobbing, and the child was removed from the situation by the irate parent. Within a time span of 10 seconds.

If my child was a sobbing crying disaster if he didn't get his way in 10 seconds it would be nap time. I'm pretty sure that if a 2 year old is reduced to "sobbing" in 10 seconds, the tantrum was in the works long before the evil mouse intervened.

My child's behavior wouldn't even register with me, I would chalk this up to tired or over-stimulated toddler. It certainly would never dawn on me to report this incident to guest services.

Now I will digress... what truly bothers me about this whole situation is the pettiness of it all. You are willing to jeopardize someone's job because your toddler didn't get what he wanted within 10 seconds. There are people who scrimp and save and sacrifice to give a once in a lifetime trip to WDW to their kids. There are people who travel with disabled and medically fragile children who are grateful that their children get a few hours in the park a day, during a once in a lifetime trip. The OP's children have been many, many times, and at the ripe old age of 2 are "experienced" WDW travelers, and they are complaining about a 10 second inconvenience their 2 year old had to endure.

Several months ago there was a young woman who posted, briefly, on the community board about being terminally ill and on hospice. Her thread was moved to the disabilities board, but it had a link to a trip report that she wrote. She was extremely medically fragile, and wrote, quite eloquently, about the obstacl

eses she faced just being able to visit WDW. It was very humbling, and served as an excellent reminder of all the little things most of us take for granted on a daily basis.

It should be mandatory reading on the Dis.

Sadly the people who could benefit most from that young womans story of what is & is not important in this beautiful but oh too short time in life will never get it

There will always be those of us that see the beauty of a rose and far too many that will only see [and loudly complain] about the thorns

[WishingMom]

Folks, this entire "incident" happened within 10 seconds, Mickey probably didn't even realize what was going on at the point where the parents left. I hardly think this should be the cause of someone losing their job...seriously.

And an experienced 2 year old? Really?

[KapBoy77]

K I hate this thread and wish it would go away. I stopped reading it after page one cause it's just ridiculous. But waking up every morning to a title that states "Terrible Mickey..." is not a good way to start a day on a positive note.

Kill this thread. Please.