Help with some Disney Magic!

[Coonhound]

The OP doesn't want Tigger to just "remember" her son. She's edited her post, but her original request is that Tigger not only remember her son, but provide the same kind of attention that was provided four years ago.

Exactly. She edited her post because she realized she was not getting the kind of responses she wanted.
Originally she said she wanted the same experience with Tigger that they had the last time. Which from her description sounds like it was a one time special thing.
Sometimes kids get extra attention and pixie dust, and that is wonderful, but you are setting your child up for disappointment if you go in EXPECTING to receive special attention/favors.

 

[BudgieMama]

Sometimes kids get extra attention and pixie dust, and that is wonderful, but you are setting your child up for disappointment if you go in EXPECTING to receive special attention/favors.

Very true. I think when Tigger arrives saying "it's nice to see you again! I can't believe it's been 4 years (or whatever it was!) is fine... but I would also prepare a child that "Tigger is here every day- he meets lots of people, so don't worry if he doesn't remember you as much as you remember him. It's been a long time and you've grown a lot, etc"

I think the friends of the characters do a wonderful job trying to make everyone's meeting as magical as they can do, and they try and respond to any clues you give them about previous interaction, but to expect too much sets everyone up for disappointment, and that's no fun!

 

[Dug720]

I have to agree with the others who say that getting the same kind of interaction isn't possible for all the reasons mentioned.

The only time I've experienced character continuity was at ONE breakfast visit to Cape May with my sister and parents (all adults). Goofy decided that my sister and I needed to be thisclose to each other and would come back over and squish us together if he saw that we'd spread out. Because there were little ones around who were highly amused by these antics (a couple of them would even tell Goofy on us), that was communicated between friends when the switch happened so that Goofy's new friend would not act in a contradictory manner BECAUSE of the little ones.

(Well, and Captain Jack on the Dream during a July 2013 cruise...THAT was continuity from one day to the next.)

But I have NEVER had a character come close to the same interaction on a later visit. EVEN to Cape May for brunch less than a month later.

 

[maxiesmom]

OurBigTrip, I'm glad you remembered the rule.

OP, you need to try and remember that you can't re-create a magical moment. It just doesn't work. So don't put any pressure on your family or on Tigger to have another over the top wonderful experience. Maybe mention to Tigger when he is signing autographs how much you like him and how you really enjoyed meeting him last time. But that is it.

P.S. It is very rude to keep a screaming child in a restaurant, even at WDW. Next time please take your child outside until they calm down. It isn't fair to the other guests to have their experience ruined.

 

[gawrsh2008]

OurBigTrip, I'm glad you remembered the rule.

OP, you need to try and remember that you can't re-create a magical moment. It just doesn't work. So don't put any pressure on your family or on Tigger to have another over the top wonderful experience. Maybe mention to Tigger when he is signing autographs how much you like him and how you really enjoyed meeting him last time. But that is it.

P.S. It is very rude to keep a screaming child in a restaurant, even at WDW. Next time please take your child outside until they calm down. It isn't fair to the other guests to have their experience ruined.

Agreed x1000!

 

[littlejimmy]

This kinda of shocks me but its not the first time I have seen this or a simular comment on the DIS boards so I guess it shouldnt. Disney is not a place for life lessons.QUOTE]

and I think Disney is exactly the kind of place for life lessons. what better place is there?

 

[RedSox68]

Or, let the magic happen as it does and don't force it because asking characters to do something that is outside of their normal "show" is just wrong.

We didn't do anything wrong by asking her to pose with my daughter and John Smith. Our's was not the only request for this and they were close by to each other in the greeting area. Our problem became the actress playing Pocahontas. She was a miserable person and if she was having a bad day should have kept it to herself. Talk about "magical moments".......not.

Some of the suggestions here by those helping the OP that magical moments can't be repeated are genuine and nice. The postings dinging her for expecting another magical experience are unnecessary! You're defeating the purpose of this board by bashing someone for asking for an opinion and advice

The very BEST character dining we have ever experience was the Aladdin one in the Animation Court (tent and all). It had characters from Aladdin and Hunchback. Both Aladdin and Esmeralda sat at our table and colored with my daughter for about five minutes. She still has the drawings!

 

[Funfire240]

OP if you want a chance at Tigger "remembering" your child - here is a suggestion. Just for fun I made photo autograph books for a recent trip with pictures of DD and DS from previous trips. They handed these to the characters to sign, instead of a blank autograph book and many acted like they remembered. After looking at the picture, for instance Goofy would look at the picture then at my DD and indicate about how much she has grown. Some, like Pooh for instance, would just jump up and down pointing at the picture of himself. The princesses then as they were signing would say things like how much they have grown or asked what they have been up to since the last time they saw each other, leading the kids to believe they remembered them.
As for the interactions, again as others have said, that is all up to chance. One year we were playing with bubbles with a CM and Peter Pan showed up out of the blue to play with my kids. The next time we saw him it didn't bother them one bit that they only talked to him and got pictures and didn't have the special one on one time although until this day DD will still talk about running around with him.
Bottom line, if you make a big deal about it so will the kids. Just go with the flow and have fun and you never know, you could end up with a magical moment in a completely different way on your next trip.

 

[chocovrdmicears]

Very true. I think when Tigger arrives saying "it's nice to see you again! I can't believe it's been 4 years (or whatever it was!) is fine... but I would also prepare a child that "Tigger is here every day- he meets lots of people, so don't worry if he doesn't remember you as much as you remember him. It's been a long time and you've grown a lot, etc"

I think the friends of the characters do a wonderful job trying to make everyone's meeting as magical as they can do, and they try and respond to any clues you give them about previous interaction, but to expect too much sets everyone up for disappointment, and that's no fun!

Tigger doesn't talk - so I'm not sure how Tigger, even if given the chance, would express his remembering of an interaction 4 years ago. Even if your kiddo expects the same *behavior* of a character - how in the World would that even be possible to set up? Pretty sure the Tigger of today is not the same Tigger of 4 years ago.

 

[BudgieMama]

Tigger doesn't talk - so I'm not sure how Tigger, even if given the chance, would express his remembering of an interaction 4 years ago. Even if your kiddo expects the same *behavior* of a character - how in the World would that even be possible to set up? Pretty sure the Tigger of today is not the same Tigger of 4 years ago.

I meant the mum saying that to Tigger, not Tigger talking! So Tigger knew they'd met before and maybe had a bit of context!!

 

[ttintagel]

In my experience, Tigger is USUALLY over the top! I'm hard pressed to imagine your kid being disappointed unless you happen to catch Tigger's "friend" on a bad day.

I don't think it could hurt to say something like, "Hi, Tigger! Do you remember last year when you met [Kid's name] and you [danced/shook hands/whatever]? That was [Kid's name]'s favorite part of the whole trip, and he's so excited to see you again!" Tigger might not actually DO the same thing, but he'll play along on the remembering part.

 

[OurBigTrip]

In my experience, Tigger is USUALLY over the top! I'm hard pressed to imagine your kid being disappointed unless you happen to catch Tigger's "friend" on a bad day.

I don't think it could hurt to say something like, "Hi, Tigger! Do you remember last year when you met [Kid's name] and you [danced/shook hands/whatever]? That was [Kid's name]'s favorite part of the whole trip, and he's so excited to see you again!" Tigger might not actually DO the same thing, but he'll play along on the remembering part.

This is very reasonable.

What the OP was asking is not, IMO.

 

[Airship Ariadne]

I think this gets to the heart of some of the easy failures parents set themselves up for with Disney.

I think this is what a PP meant about life lessons. I don't think Disney is the place for kids to learn the world doesn't revolve around them...that is what middle school is for BUT it is an excellent place to reinforce basic kindergarten rules of being patient and understanding that there are a lot of other kids as well .

I completely understand WHY the OP as a parent would want that, and why she would feel bad if it didn't happened after dwelling on it. We parents have to learn that even though to us our children are the most special in the universe, they are only 1 of millions of children that pass through the MK gates every year. Disney does a great job trying to give each child a magical experience, but we can't expect more than what they normally do. When it happens, great!

But if we think we have to arrange the special magic, we are setting ourselves up to be disappointed if it doesn't come off just as we expected when we played the event ahead of time in our minds...often times, what happens normally and naturally is magical enough.

Here is my story...first trip, DD and I come across a cell phone on the ground in the Hub...she wants to turn it in, wants to take it to the Castle...so I lead her up to the CM working CRT door so she can turn it in, in my mind I'm thinking "I bet she gets a FP or something." Nope, a nice "thank you, I'll make sure it gets to its owner, I'm sure they will be very happy you found it," and back to business. DD still felt good about being helpful, and that really was the only reward she needed.

 

[Narawen]

Agree with PPs that it would be unreasonable to expect the CM to do something extra, and that you should just let any magic happen on its own.

We have noticed that by booking the last possible ADR time of breakfast or lunch at Crystal Palace, we are still eating during their "shift change" and the new characters do tend to spend some extra time with families when they first come out because there aren't many families remaining in the dining room when breakfast is cleared out but lunch hasn't started seating yet. Again, no guarantees, but we've gone a couple of times at the tail-end of breakfast, gotten the standard hug, photo, autograph from each character the first time, then had 2-3 come back around a second time and play, give extra cuddles, etc after their shift change. And we were a table of two adults with no kids.