Terrible Mickey Interaction at Animal Kingdom

[Tonka's Skipper]

I understand the need to teach children to adapt to changing environments. But this is something that I have never experienced.

What if you were at dinner and the server brought out dessert first? Would you say "Oh well, guess they are changing it up today. What's the big deal, you will still get all of your food, right?" I doubt it.

If Mickey wanted to take pictures first, he should not have have taken the books and the pen, put them behind his back and tried to turn the kids around. I told my son that Mickey wanted pictures first. I told him that Mickey would sign his book after pictures. But he's 2 and Mickey is holding his book and his pen and refusing to sign his book. It has never happened before, and didn't happen again on the trip.

I am sorry Sir, your really making a mountian out of a mole hill. The order really doesn't matter.............you were told this my the handler.

I am sorry your son was upset., but I only see the charater trying to take a picture (maybe with the books out of site) and then would have signed the books.

AKK

 

[stargazertechie]

I feel for you, but I'm also in the camp of "teach your kids to be flexible". Perhaps in the future, a better way to teach kids how to handle meets will be "character will take a picture and sign your book. Listen to what character's friend asks you to do first.

I had a terrible interaction with Chip, Donald, and Mickey as a child. I was wearing a Daisy hat with a squeaker bill, and Donald got all excited. Well Chip decided it would be fun to take it and play keep away from Donald with Mickey. I tried to get it back, but I was too short. I burst out into tears (I was 3).

I know NOW it was just fun and games, but at
The time I didn't think I would ever get my hat back

 

[Mariep26]

Sorry I just don't see this as a major complaint worth the time to write here or to Disney. I have a 3 and 4 year old. My son has developmental delays and speech delays. Routine is very important to him but when something happens outside of our control, we use it as teachable moment that he needs to adapt to situations instead of forcing others to adapt to him and his disabilities.
I also didn't realize that there was a specific routine. We don't do autographs yet but I watched Woody and Jessie at MK and Woody signed the book and then put it in his holster, posed for the pictures and then gave the book back to the kid.

 

[WDSearcher]

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!!

Unfortunately, Mickey doesn't have the best of hearing, if you get my drift, and may not have heard (or seen) the child asking. I agree that the Character Greeter is there for that reason -- to help the character interactions run smoothly. And it's not normal for the photo to be first and signing last. But it's also possible that Mickey may have been more playful that day, and found that taking photos first and signing afterwards gave him more time to play with kids. Or the character and the attendant simply could have gotten mixed up. It's possible if they were new.

To the OP -- if you have a mind to, please drop a quick e-mail to Disney to tell them about this. The characters do have a very specific "show flow" that they're supposed to follow, and what you described isn't it. While I'm sure most kids just go with the flow and do what the attendant or the Character tell them, your kids got confused and upset and it ruined their interaction. I'm sure that was not the Character's intent. Honestly ... they probably spent the next few minutes trying to figure out what THEY did wrong.

 

[nkereina]

You're both wrong. Mickey could have easily signed and then taken the picture, just as easily as you could have intervened and told your kids its ok that they are taking the picture first, rather than walking away with neither. Not every character interaction is going to be the same - something you all need to learn, and that Mickey Mouse should learn too.

 

[WDSearcher]

I am sorry that your children were disappointed, but overall, I think this is a petty complaint and I imagine Disney Guest Services will be as well. Yes, they generally sign first, but for whatever reason, Mickey didn't want to. Kids (all kids) cannot always have it their way. This is when a parent needs to instruct your child to do something else and your child is supposed to obey.

I would imagine that your email to Disney will result in a canned response..... sorry about your horrible experience, we have passed your email along to the right people and we appreciate the feedback. I bet the person reading it will see it as another one of those "entitlement" emails and file it in the recycle bin.

No, actually they won't. This type of thing will be passed along to the Character trainers. The Characters do have a very specific way they are supposed to do things ... it's been developed and tested ad nauseum. Could have been a miscommunication, could have been a bored (or new or nervous) character. But it won't be ignored and it won't be tossed.

 

[Don Disney]

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!!

I have to agree with you!

 

[LisaTN]

Well, I see both sides. But sounds like your two-year-old is like my daughter... a little bit OCD.

My daughter can be flexible, especially as she gets a little older (she's almost five now)... but around 3yo, she would really have a hard time if things didn't happen as she expected. She ate the SAME breakfast every day, and if I forgot to pack something in her lunch, it would cuase quite the disruption.

Sure, you can teach your children to be flexible as they get older.... but at 2 years old... they aren't quite going to take such lessons as easily.

There are flexible kids, and there are type A kids (which I'm assuming a lot of us understand since most of us on the board are planners by nature, hence being on this board in the first place). While we can be flexible, I'm sure we all stress a little if our husbands/wives want to stop and shop for 15 minutes while we're trying to make our way to our first attraction of the day.

So imagine a 2-year-old.

Would I write to Disney about it, probably not... would it annoy me if it upset my child - definitely. Mickey should have just signed it... hiding a little boys autograph book would possibly upset many kids... so it wasn't the best move.

 

[Schmeck]

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!!

I can't understand what any crying 2 year old says, and I don't have big huge black ears for the sound to travel through first. Sounds like the kid started crying as soon as he was refused his routine, so what chance did Mickey have? Parent intervened, CM told the parent that the autograph would come after the photo, parent decided to leave instead. Not sure what the OP expects Disney to do, as it was a minor lack of communication involving a toddler.

 

[DisneyLvr55]

I think the order is important because that is how the kids are used to doing it. A 2-year old can't rationalize why Mickey is holding his book behind his back and a cast member is telling him to turn around, when no other interaction - out of probably 30 on this trip - works that way.

All Mickey had to do was sign the book, and the whole scene could have been avoided. But he refused, held the book behind his back, and kept trying to turn my son around for pictures.

This is when the parents need to step in, and let their child know what is going on. Nothing is perfect, or works the same exact way every single time. This is when flexability comes in. And to stomp away because you didn't get your way isn't teaching your child anything. JMHO

 

[kris4360]

Have you ever worn a costume like that? I have, and you can barely see out of it let alone hear well. My handler hand to lean over & speak loudly directly into my ear sometimes because I couldn't tell what was going on.

I agree. Maybe there was a problem. It is possible that Mickey couldn't see at that moment and needed an adjustment. I'm sure there was a reason!

 

[scoutie]

I thought this thread was going to be about Mickey behaving in an inappropriate way. I have three kids (and a two year old) and I think you missed a teaching moment. Some things in life are not predictable. I don't think this experience was traumatic for your child. I have to kindly say that you are over-reacting.

 

[Srbright]

I thought this thread was going to be about Mickey behaving in an inappropriate way. I have three kids (and a two year old) and I think you missed a teaching moment. Some things in life are not predictable. I don't think this experience was traumatic for your child. I have to kindly say that you are over-reacting.

Me too... I thought this was going to be a "he lifted someone's skirts" or some such thing.

You said your child started crying within 10 seconds... 10 Seconds probably wasn't enough time for a character that can't see (or probably hear) or a CM to realize that it was going to set a child off.

Granted we've only been there about 10 days total but each character interaction we had was different. The last trip in September '12 we met every character except Merida and Tiana at least twice and not one of the double or triple meets happened in the same way. Not among the same characters or the same parks. Some people signed first and took pictures, others took pictures and signed later. Baloo tried to eat DS...THEN took pictures and signed the book.

EDIT: For a good time with Aurora...ask her if she can sign the book "Briar Rose". DH will have to tell the story of that one day

Stacy

 

[Kellykins1218]

Baloo tried to eat DS...THEN took pictures and signed the book

 

[adventure_woman]

OP - I totally understand where you are coming from. I have a 2 year old and we are going down next week. I could definitely see how this would make her cry and get her upset.

- THIS is why there are character handlers. Obviously the handler understood why the child was crying because they said that Mickey takes pics first. The handler should have stepped in right away and asked Mickey to sign. It is THEIR job to make the child happy.

(One time we were at Chef Mickey's and my almost 2 year was playing with Pluto - all was good. Pluto got on the floor to play with my DD and she was happy. She was goofing around and crawled away and he grabbed her foot (just playing). She immediately started crying. He stopped RIGHT AWAY after realizing that made her cry. (I in turn tried to make him feel better as he did nothing wrong). But the point is He did his best to feel what she wanted. If a child is crying, don't hide their book and and the handler who CAN see it all did nothing.

- To a PP that said their child respected what they as parents said - HAHA. My 1st obeyed everything - perfect child. My 2nd DD challenges EVERYTHING I do and say. Yes, I try to remain consistent, firm, etc etc., but to make a blanket statement like that tells me you have never had that 'challenging' kid.

 

[mdsoccermom]

Frankly, I don't think a 2 year old remembers the order of autographs and pictures from one interaction to the next, let alone from one visit to the next. Big the kid has such high expectations of what will happen because the parent sets them.

My kids have been visiting WDW since they were babies, and I don't think either of them have ever noticed or cared which came first, pictures or autographs, nor have we ever made a big deal over it. If there ever had been an issue like the OP described, I would have just explained that Mickey is doing things differently, but will still give the picture and autograph.

This seems like such a non-issue.

 

[meowmarie]

I'm in the camp that sees it both ways. It's a little strange that Mickey changed things up, certainly they don't put the new CM's in Mickey? I can't imagine trying to have rationalized this to my 3yo when I took her much less a 2yo, but then I didn't let her take an autograph book around until she was 4 and a half because she had no concept of what an autograph was and just enjoyed the interaction. When we did start getting autographs I didn't notice there was any kind order involved. Kids will feed off your reaction so just smile and act like things are cool, if not take the 2yo out of the equation and let your 5yo at least get the picture.

On a side note and a question for others, do most people meet the same character more than once on a trip? Unless we see a character at a dinner or something we usually call it good if we see Mickey, or whomever, once. I didn't realize people sought him out once a day. That line gets so long and there are so many other characters lol. Not judging, just wondering!

 

[Peter Fan]

My kid would get a swat on the butt if he/she acted like a little brat!

 

[Tara922c]

I would have told dd5 that Mickey is going to take a picture first and then sign you autograph book. Problem solved.

 

[lililoo12]

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!!

This 100%