A nonjudgmental discussion about No-Queue Character Greetings at DLP

[scrapbookersdis]

The DISboards have been enormously successful partly because tolerance of others is required here. I don't want to judge DLP for not organizing queues for character greetings, I just want to talk about it and find the best way to tolerantly understand what is for me a cultural difference.

The fact that character greetings at DLP are non-queue oriented is important information. First-time visitors should know about this in advance, especially if they are familiar with WDW where queuing is required and you can be thrown out of the parks for line jumping. I wish I had known before my family's first visit to DLP. If, like me, you are very "queue-ish," you might find it more relaxing to decide not to include character greetings in your visit to DLP. That would have worked very well for us -- and was ultimately what we chose to do. If you find that your cultural point of view is not the same as that of a culture you are visiting, you need to either just "do as the Romans do" or keep apart from the activity you might find stressful.

Sometimes I think I am too obsessed with queuing. For instance, at Disney's Hollywood Studios in Florida, the first greeting opportunities with the CARS cars were not queue-based. To me it felt chaotic. I mentioned this to a cast member at the greeting. He was obviously prepared with talking points for this issue and tried to convince me that the intended atmostphere was one of a "Car Show" -- a big party, it's fun, it's exciting! (Car Shows are a big deal in the U.S.) I was unable to relax and feel that. I wanted order. I wanted a queue. Maybe I would have had more fun if I'd been able to let go and relax.

Other queue-ish people may have thought this out better than I have, so I wanted to see if a discussion was possible. I know that people who rush up to a character at DLP without figuring out who's next are not being rude. My son and I had been waiting to see Donald at DLP. A mother with four children rushed ahead. On her face was a look of joy and excitement. Getting ahead of us was not her intention. I don't think it entered her mind. She and her children were only thrilled to be there and to be seeing Donald. Maybe she was thinking more the way the CM at the CARS greeting event encouraged me to think -- it's a great time, a party, we are all here together, we will all have fun and see Donald.

I sincerely would like to understand the non-queue mindset because my own is awfully tense. We met so many lovely people in France who treated us with kindness and great politeness. They are a gracious people. If you don't agree, please don't reply here.

I don't want to judge a cultural difference. I accept it. But I wish I could also understand. If you feel the same way, have you reached any tolerant insights that have helped you "go with the flow" and enjoy another culture rather than judge it?

By the way, the "Car Show" atmosphere didn't work at DHS, and they gave it up. Now you just queue up to meet Lightning McQueen!

 

[DLPdaft]

This could be a very interesting and enlightening discussion , but please everyone before you post, remember our DIS board rule -

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1477038

you know, I rarely notice the "scrum" issues at DLP anymore, but you're right, if you're not used to non-queue character experiences, I can imagine it would take you by surprise.

 

[Happy Tappy]

After reading your original post, I'm not sure how much of this post is sarcastic but it's a good topic for discussion (if kept under control).

The 'spontanious' meets are a small problem. Most roaming characters are accompanied by a uniformed CM. For me, it is up to them to control the crowd and invite people up to the character. In all my time visiting DLP I've only seen this once.

When they're not organised, it invites a scrum. Things need a system and it's a failing of DLP management and CMs, not of the French or any other nations. You'd see exactly the same behaviour in the US if meets were organised in such a manner. You always get people who will jump ahead.

As a rule, if we want to see characters we'll go to one of the organised photo locations or have a meal in Cafe Mickey.

I am also a lover of queuing and order. It's the fair way to do things. Maybe one day DLP will do something about it. It seems unlikely though as it's something that's been going on for a long time.

As for the woman who jumped in front of you, she was rude and ignorant. She knew it and you knew it. But her nationality had nothing to do with it.

 

[scrapbookersdis]

I really wasn't being sarcastic at all. I watched the woman's face as she sailed ahead Donaldsward -- she was only thinking of the lovely time they were having. At WDW, if an American does something rude, the look on their face usually tells you that they know they are being rude. This woman's face did not have that look. I truly don't think she was aware that I might have been unhappy with what she did.

The behavior at the CARS meet at WDW I described was terrible -- people pushing and shoving -- it was impossible to take a photo of your child with Lightning McQueen because there were so many people in the photo, you couldn't see the car. At the same time, people disliked it and let Disney know. I think it was a huge relief to everyone when the scrum was ended and queues were installed. The fact that the natives haven't demanded the same thing at DLP makes me think that they don't perceive it as a problem.

People at WDW scrupulously queue for busses at the resorts and parks. We didn't see this at DLP. It was another scrum. The difference is a mindset. I don't accept that they are simply rude -- because in so many ways, they weren't.

A character meal would have been the perfect solution -- but with a big family, we couldn't afford it. We were surprised by the prices of meals at DLP when we planned our trip. My oldest son is a cast member at Chef Mickey's at WDW where dinner is about $30. What a bargain!

 

[micksn]

I have seen kindness in other ways, e.g people ushering children to the front during parades so that they get a better view!

 

[Holstar]

This is quite strange...

We went in January, and had to queue for everyone! Even in the Hotel, the cast member who was with the character was enforcing a strict queue!

Certainly never experienced any queue jumping in the five days we were there!

 

[mummybear]

For my 2 girls, I rarely let them attempt to get photos or autographs when there are no queues. This naturally happened, as there were too many times on our first visits when my eldest who was 7yrs old at this time, couldn't comprehend why, after waiting nicely and not pushing forward, why she could not get a photo because of others pushing forward. This came to ahead when she herself said she didn't want to try anymore unless there was a queue.

I do feel very bad for the characters when they seem swamped by children waving autograph books in their faces. I fully understand that the children are just excited and eager, but I feel it is up to the Parents to at least encourage their children to be polite, and maybe ask for an autograph or even say "Thank You" afterwards. My 2 girls do this, and it is something they do at home, school, days out.

As I say, we don't tend to do spontaneous meet & greets. But for example, when we were away in January, it was our last day and the Character Express had just finished. My youngest who is 4, wanted a photo with the Peter Pan characters. She was warned it may not happen, but we went over. Hook pointed to her for her to come forward as we had been waiting with many others pushing forward. He then made such a fuss drawing her little pictures in her autograph book, and indicated for me to take more than 1 photo. When she said "Merci" to him, he then went in for another hug May not sound much, but for a 4yr old, I think it also sort of proves that manners pay off. Peter & Wendy, similar story. We waited, people pushed from the sides, and Peter reached for daughters hand and signed her book, then posed for photos. He even thanked her when she ASKED for his autograph.

I don't know what the answer to the problem is. As much as I hate "going in the scrum" it is nice to see Characters out and about and they're not always swamped.

 

[Ware Bears]

Here's my thoughts

We've never bothered with characters out and about in the parks unless there's been no one else about - we've always preferred to stick with the official meet'n'greets where the queue is orderly and character meals.

I think DLP does listen to its guests so don't forget to inform them of your concerns. When we were planning for our first visit, we were warned on here that the character meets were undisciplined mobs. By the time our trip came round, official character meet'n'greets had been established with proper queues. It's still not perfect by a long chalk - in an ideal world everyone would queue for everything everywhere but unfortunately they don't and I must admit that I don't let it bother me or detract from my holiday. I live in a cosmopolitan town which receives several hundred foreign students a year, many of which we were host family to when I was a child, so I guess I've just grown up learning to accept different cultures without question.

 

[GummiBerry]

I have, in the past, tried to help my children meet characters in one of those scrum-type situations. I'm disabled and standing still is painful and difficult so I'm not usually in a mood to be tolerant of shoving, even if it's accidental.

I speak several other European languages, and often when I ask people nicely and they understand that 'no English' doesn't stop me from putting my point across, they stop shoving.

But I don't like to risk it any more.

And my husband doesn't really see the point of meeting the characters, so he doesn't step forward to take the children to do it.

I think the queues are a great idea but again, not easy for me to manage.

So usually we discuss with the children in advance that it's unlikely that we'll stop for characters if we're on our way somewhere, but if it's quiet we will. And we book a character meal, or if we're particularly broke we will go to all the hotel meet n greets instead.

We try to go at quiet times of the year, and sometimes you just happen past a character and then it's nice and spontaneous and you get nice pictures.

You can also loiter in an area where you know a character's going to come out.

Something that has happened in the past is my children have spoken to cast members while pin-trading, been noticed by them and then if they're helping the characters they notice my children and make sure they get a chance to say hello, which has been lovely.

Plus, what I often say to my children is that we go to Disneyland quite often, and some people might only be there for a one-off trip and maybe just for one day, so they're maybe trying to fit everything in and they might have just got off a hot coach and still be a little hot and grumpy.

There's no point in trying to guess which nationality of person does it - in my experience there are rude or excited pushy people from all countries, and also (in greater quantities) nice pleasant people from all over the place too.

And I also like it when people make sure my children can stand in front of them at the parades and things - it's lovely.

 

[m-tinkerbelle]

For what I've seen in other forums, at Disneyland Tokyo you even queue for taking a picture in front of an iconic still item in the park. That could be a bit extreme for us westerners, but I can't help feeling like I would love that to be the norm at DLP and at WDW (it's impossible, I know) just as queuing for a character pic or autograph.

To us the character meet and greets at DLP just as they are (with no queues for most of the characters) are too much to handle on vacation. We're adults but we would still like to get our pics taken with our favorite characters. Still, it's something we had to learn to miss.
I can only imagine how hard it would be to go there with our kids one day and to have to go through that eaxperience without any kind of harsh remark to everyone else's pushing and shoving and getting in your picture. It would definitely be a pain! So I completely support the "DLP should have queues for their characters" idea, and have in mind that I come from a country where queuing is not exactly a customary thing (in case you're wondering, we go to a place and ask "who's last?" and you know where you're place in the imaginary queue is).

Still, I understand that kids just run to the characters no matter if there's someone posing for the picture at that very same moment, and I try not to judge them for that. They're too happy to see a character and they just run to them. Just as teens and many adults run to their favorite celebrity when they spot him/her at an event. I've seen kids from every nationality doing it at DLP, regardless of their age and background. Parents seem to do nothing just because "everyone else is letting their kids do that". It's just up to DLP to solve this "problem". Actually, it's not a problem. Lots of people from many countries don't even care if there's someone else appearing in their pictures. They see it as normal! I don't know why we care so much that others stay away from our pictures

Still, it's a good point that it's an important difference in relation to the other disney parks that should be pointed out for first-timers with kids. Specially those who are planning to devote a good amount of time visiting the characters.
As for the buses, I don't know how the buses are at U.S. parks these days but for what I remember, there was only one door to enter each bus, so it's obvious that a queue is a must in that situation. At DLP there are several doors to enter the bus, so even if i support that a queue would be a good idea, I understand that it's not as important as if it was a just one-door only. I have confidence that if there's someone who can't be standing (say a pregnant woman or a person with mobility issues) would be offered a seat right away, or could ask for a sit to whoever is sitting down and would be seated inmediately. Besides, the journey from the hotels to the parks is really short. It's not worth even mentioning the "issue" if you're healthy person. You arrive to destination in no time! What does bother me is the high amount of people the bus driver allows on board at the end of the day. And that's a serious security problem that probably deserves another thread.

Cultural differences are big. For what I've seen here regarding WDW, men are expected by a lot of people to offer their seats to women or to younger people who can perfectly stand throughout the journey to the parks. Please notice that I'm never mentioning people who actually NEED to have a seat offered. That would be unthinkable at DLP, extreme and even sexist.

And we know there are more other cultural differences than we could mention. Still, we have to live with them and see the bright side of things and even enjoy them. So, if you're from the U.S. or too used to the american parks just try to go to DLP with an open mind. If something really bothers you, you have to let Guest Services know about it. Lots and lots and LOTS of other guests might be having the same complaint and you could be making a big difference in making disney and enjoyable experience for everyone.

If there's something that's a cultural difference that we actually have to change (some europeans) is that we have to take the matters in our own hands and actually do something to change a situation we don't like. In this case, placing a formal complaint to Disney or a suggestion at Guest Services is better and more effective than starting a fight with a parent/kid who's doing something that it's not breaking any rule.

Remember that what can be very unpolite to you can be perfectly accepted somewhere else and not seen as rude at all. As you say, you saw in that mother's face that she didn't mean any harm or rudeness. That's what's important, to be able to sympathise with others, no matter the culture to which they belong.

We might want to separate the "no queues for character is a pain" from the mere cultural difference things. The first one Disney can solve it easily. The last one it has no possible solution but the acceptance of everyone. You have to learn to accept the cultural differences (this goes for everyone including me).

If what Holstar says means that DLP is finally reinforcing queuing for each character then I think it deserves a MASSIVE happy dance!

 

[scrapbookersdis]

Remember that what can be very unpolite to you can be perfectly accepted somewhere else and not seen as rude at all. As you say, you saw in that mother's face that she didn't mean any harm or rudeness. That's what's important, to be able to sympathise with others, no matter the culture to which they belong.

You are absolutely right. I can accept it at face value myself, but it was hard to explain to my son -- which is what got me further puzzling over it. How do you put into words the idea that taking your turn is not always important in some cultures? Do some cultures "scrum" at playgrounds for a turn at the slide or swings? Or do the children queue for the slide? Do they queue at school for things they all want to do? I know this sounds trivial, but I really want to know!

You're also perfectly right about the busses -- having two or more doors for boarding complicates the process. But often enough, we happened to be standing at the right place when the bus stopped, right in front of a door. But even then, people from one side or the other rushed in front of us, rather than getting in place behind us. I was slow because I had a stroller. Even grown men were stepping in front of me to get on ahead. In one very blatant case, I pulled the stroller back and said (pleasantly), "You go ahead." I don't know if he understood me, but he did give me a sheepish and apologetic grin -- which suggested that he saw that he might have made a better choice by letting me go first.

Expectations are so key to what we experience, at least for me they are, anyway. Now that I know what to expect, I don't think it would bother me as much. I would be able to enjoy DLP much more. I feel rather ashamed of myself that I allowed my feelings about these issues to cast a pall over my visit. I couldn't seem to let it go, but kept fretting about the (many) incidents.

BTW, there were *some* queues for characters in the park -- and those worked out beautifully. And from a recent DLP trip account here, there was a vicious scrum around Buzz just a week or two ago. So it is still happening, but possibly less and less.

Of course, one does feel pushed aside at WDW from time to time by a rule-breaker -- but more often than not, a man or woman beside you will murmur to you, "That wasn't nice," -- which makes you feel better. In a scrum at DLP for a bus or a character, you don't get the feeling that anyone has a problem with it but you. Though from the posts here, I can see I'm not alone. You have all done a better job at working around the issue.

I suppose queues at WDW are very necessary because of the crowds. It would be dangerous without queues. Even boarding the Disney Cruise Line, that queue is what makes it a pleasure. How stressful it would be if they scrummed it. Even the Jedi Training Academy at DHS is now queue-based. (They used to just choose children at random, but they got complaints!) While I am trying to understand the non-queue view, I am glad I live in queueville! (Also, it doesn't snow in Florida. The palm plants at DLP looked so very strange in snow!)

 

[m-tinkerbelle]

You are absolutely right. I can accept it at face value myself, but it was hard to explain to my son -- which is what got me further puzzling over it. How do you put into words the idea that taking your turn is not always important in some cultures? Do some cultures "scrum" at playgrounds for a turn at the slide or swings? Or do the children queue for the slide? Do they queue at school for things they all want to do? I know this sounds trivial, but I really want to know!

You're also perfectly right about the busses -- having two or more doors for boarding complicates the process. But often enough, we happened to be standing at the right place when the bus stopped, right in front of a door. But even then, people from one side or the other rushed in front of us, rather than getting in place behind us. I was slow because I had a stroller. Even grown men were stepping in front of me to get on ahead. In one very blatant case, I pulled the stroller back and said (pleasantly), "You go ahead." I don't know if he understood me, but he did give me a sheepish and apologetic grin -- which suggested that he saw that he might have made a better choice by letting me go first.

Expectations are so key to what we experience, at least for me they are, anyway. Now that I know what to expect, I don't think it would bother me as much. I would be able to enjoy DLP much more. I feel rather ashamed of myself that I allowed my feelings about these issues to cast a pall over my visit. I couldn't seem to let it go, but kept fretting about the (many) incidents.

BTW, there were *some* queues for characters in the park -- and those worked out beautifully. And from a recent DLP trip account here, there was a vicious scrum around Buzz just a week or two ago. So it is still happening, but possibly less and less.

Of course, one does feel pushed aside at WDW from time to time by a rule-breaker -- but more often than not, a man or woman beside you will murmur to you, "That wasn't nice," -- which makes you feel better. In a scrum at DLP for a bus or a character, you don't get the feeling that anyone has a problem with it but you. Though from the posts here, I can see I'm not alone. You have all done a better job at working around the issue.

I suppose queues at WDW are very necessary because of the crowds. It would be dangerous without queues. Even boarding the Disney Cruise Line, that queue is what makes it a pleasure. How stressful it would be if they scrummed it. Even the Jedi Training Academy at DHS is now queue-based. (They used to just choose children at random, but they got complaints!) While I am trying to understand the non-queue view, I am glad I live in queueville! (Also, it doesn't snow in Florida. The palm plants at DLP looked so very strange in snow!)

oh don't feel ashamed! it's perfectly normal to feel it's hard to deal with such cultural differences. Worse if we're talking about a "copy" of an american theme park (as some people put it) and you know how the "original" parks work (as some others say lol). You get the feeling that even the queues should work as they should in the original.

It took us a while to "get" the differences. I guess it would have been harder if we were americans. Now we just enjoy DLP as we would enjoy WDW, regardless of what people do there. Of course we have our pet peeves and we'll always stare to the skies when we see a bunch of people almost harassing any character but what can you do we just give our ice creams another lick and keep on going wherever we were heading to (yeah we go in summer )

Just try to take it easy. I feel for your son and for you in your parenting role. I can picture your son confused about the situation and what you're trying to teach him . It has to be harder for those who have kids, and it'll be hard for us when the moment comes. You just want the character meetings to be a pleasant situation and in your eyes it's all a nightmare.

We'll be so glad to visit the american parks again one day. I liked that feeling of politeness and cleanliness everywhere. Of course I had some issues with some guests but I never let it ruined my holidays. The major incident I had involved queuing (I actually had two, very similar). There was a CM at the beginning of a queue in Indiana Jones and I wanted to ask him something about the seating area of the show or something so I left my group for a moment and went up to the CM. Everyone queuing (it still was a short queue) saw me in a "I'm just going to ask a question" attitude. A woman thought I was queue jumping and instead of saying anything to me to stop me she just grabbed my backpack and pulled it hard to "freeze" me in action. It hurt , when I recovered I explained to her that I was just going to ask something to the CM and I would queue later for another show. Even the CM was embarassed, she was still in a "I'm not going to allow you to skip this queue" mode and frowning very annoyed. I asked the CM what I wanted to ask and just left. She was way rude and I was a minor (a young teen then), no matter what I was doing she didn't have the right to do that and it could have been considered physical abuse. But, it was then that I learned that queuing is more important than breathing to some people there . I made sure no one thought I was queue jumping for the rest of the trip, and I still remember the incident (and the pain in the shoulders) but I laugh about it.

the palm trees in snow <--- actually, I can't even picture hotel Santa Fe in snow lol hahaha it has to look weird.

To answer your question (I don't know if it was sarcastic or not lol), in my country I've never seen kids queuing for the slide, swing or for whatever they want to do at the same time. Sometimes they remember who got there first and they act politely, and some times they don't. So, I guess kids are even more used to that "your turn is not always important everywhere or in every situation" rule than we are. The same goes for my country of birth, kids act the same.
I don't know how kids act in playgrounds in the U.S. or in other countries, now that you mention it I'm curious.

As for DLP queues would be nice, specially in peak attendance days. It would also be nice if they banned smoking (that almost ruined the experience for me I have to say, worse than the lack of queues or queue jumpers), and if they forbid people to throw trash items everywhere, specially at IASW and the Pays des contes de fees. Those three things would make a huge improvement to our experience!

 

[DLPdaft]

I do remember taking a CM aside on my first trip to DLP after seeing little children (ie 4-year olds) getting barged into by much bigger folk around Chicken Little in the Studios park. At first the CM just shrugged her shoulders, but she did come back to the character with me and point out who would be meeting him next (ie you 1, you 2 etc etc) which did work.

We do the scrum meetings a lot (because if you do it right, you can get photos and autographs etc with half a dozen characters in about 10 minutes). We are always polite but we do stand our ground, and we always speak to the character and say please and thank you.
Our Buzz scrum last week was an unusual one in that there was one child, then another, then a third, who were obviously and consciously trying to push in front of others who had been waiting patiently. What made it vicious was that the first of these children was using his pen to poke the kids around him (including one of my girls) and also digging his elbows into other kids' sides, in an attempt to get in front of them. Now, this is definitely an exception to what I've experienced before, and completely unnecessary. We left that scrum but it didn't put us off meeting lots of other characters that way for the rest of our stay.

I've never taken a pushchair on the shuttle buses, and I can see why people would be put off doing so - the buses can get so full that you would have folk standing right over the pushchairs for the whole journey. I don't know what the answer is to that though - its the same as the trams here in Nottingham at busy times.

 

[scrapbookersdis]

Worse if we're talking about a "copy" of an american theme park (as some people put it) and you know how the "original" parks work (as some others say lol). You get the feeling that even the queues should work as they should in the original.

Every Disney "castle" park is a kind of "copy" of Walt's own creation, Disneyland. They each have their own flavor, but they are all designed very much from the original (and excellent) pattern. It makes sense that differences between them be improvements rather than the reverse.

Now we just enjoy DLP as we would enjoy WDW, regardless of what people do there.

If I ever get to go back to DLP, that will be my goal.

You just want the character meetings to be a pleasant situation and in your eyes it's all a nightmare.

Exactly. It's because it could be so wonderful that it is so upsetting when it's not wonderful at all.

The major incident I had involved queuing (I actually had two, very similar). There was a CM at the beginning of a queue in Indiana Jones and I wanted to ask him something about the seating area of the show or something so I left my group for a moment and went up to the CM. Everyone queuing (it still was a short queue) saw me in a "I'm just going to ask a question" attitude. A woman thought I was queue jumping and instead of saying anything to me to stop me she just grabbed my backpack and pulled it hard to "freeze" me in action. It hurt

That's worse than rudeness. It's assalt! I'm sorry that the CM didn't help the situation, but made it worse. She should have asked if you were okay. I hope you next trip will be incident-free in that regard.

But, it was then that I learned that queuing is more important than breathing to some people there .

Yep. And it's what made it so hard for me to face the scrums at DLP in a good-natured way. I know it's myopic and would like to open my eyes to another way of looking at it.

To answer your question (I don't know if it was sarcastic or not lol), in my country I've never seen kids queuing for the slide, swing or for whatever they want to do at the same time. Sometimes they remember who got there first and they act politely, and some times they don't.

I didn't notice a trash problem at DLP, but it was a quiet day. The smoking is troubling. When people walk along, their cigarette is just at the level to burn a child's face. People at WDW smoke only in designated areas, which works well.

 

[scrapbookersdis]

Our Buzz scrum last week was an unusual one in that there was one child, then another, then a third, who were obviously and consciously trying to push in front of others who had been waiting patiently. What made it vicious was that the first of these children was using his pen to poke the kids around him (including one of my girls) and also digging his elbows into other kids' sides, in an attempt to get in front of them.

Yikes, we didn't see anything like that. It must get crazy on a busy day.

I've never taken a pushchair on the shuttle buses, and I can see why people would be put off doing so - the buses can get so full that you would have folk standing right over the pushchairs for the whole journey. I don't know what the answer is to that though - its the same as the trams here in Nottingham at busy times.

My stroller was folded up, but it still slowed me down in getting on the bus. And if you delay for any reason, you are fair game for being passed by.

Nottingham is beautiful. We loved visiting our friends in Lady Bay recently.

 

[Isila]

I loved queued meet and greets. You wait and you get your photo and autograph. Otherwise... It does look like lottery - if you win, you're lucky and get a photo, if now... At first I really was polite, told my DS to wait, not to push, but I noticed that other people just come up, push their children to front and your left aside. And left with nothing. Later I even started not letting other children in front if they come later and saw another mother do the same - you just get tired of being pushed away.

Oh, and another thing - you're taking a picture, character is signing your autograph book and then someone jumps in, hugs character, or even stands next to character in your photo... I did have some pictures like that. Character is hugging my DS, posing for our photo and someone else is leaning to him on his back, posing for his photo. And it's a grownup....

weird...

I want queues...

 

[stargatebarbie]

Would love the queues to be more organized in dlp ,

I think its just luck sometimes last time we just happened on a couple of characters, If you time it well toon town is a excellent place for meeting mickeyand buzz ,my DD was 13 last visit and this was a help and a hinder ,yes she could stand her ground a bit more but was sometimes overlooked for the smaller kids

in past trips when she was little she would get quite upset in the scrums and more often than not would come away empty handed. I myself would also like a photo now and again but would never try it unless it was a proper meet and greet

i loved my photo with sully at boo,s door although even though there was a roped off queing area and a cm ,a girl in her twentys still walked up to the front and managed to get a photo unbeliveable you just sort of stand there with your mouth open dont you

Now after 7 visits i have become a bit tougher in my claim to a parade space and do stand my ground when people try to squeeze into the space the size of a postage stamp ,i if people are friendly and politeand not start shoving them forward i will always offer to let little kids sit in front of me if they can

Now the shuttle bus i must admit to the when in rome atitudeas you would be left on the kerb all night sometimes we had a party of 12 last time and its deffinatly safety in numbers

NOne of this however would never ever ever put me off going and I think everyone can meet the charactors they want with good planning and timming dont mind waiting as it IS worth it ,we have done cafe mickey but do find some of the meals out of our budget and if you dont get to meet that special charactor ( i will be stalking flynn next trip) well you will just .......HAVE TO GO AGAIN !!!!!!!

 

[KatyTheFairyPrincess]

I didn't realise it was like this in DLP
Until I get there I suppose I won't really know what to expect but I think this thread has just made me even more sure that Cafe Mickey's is a must-do for our first trip as long as I get a hug from the big Mouse himself I'll be happy enough to pass-by the character scrums for the rest of the trip

Does anyone have any photo's so I can prepare myself??

 

[rottie155]

In my experiences of the resort I have seen the 'scrums' and the pushing and shoving, but also fantastically organised meet & greets.

Certainly within my last 4 visits to DLP I have noticed a HUGE difference. In October, for example, my friend and I wanted a photo with Donald Duck in his Halloween outfit. We stood and waited our turn whilst several children and adults tried pushing their way through the crowd. BUT, Donald refused to pose for photos or sign for ANYBODY unless there was some order. In the end he stood and pointed out people one-by-one to stand with him...

I've noticed quite a few characters take this approach to tackle the pushing lately. It has done the world of good and I, personally, feel there has been an amazing improvement in DLP.

Just remember, it may seem bad for you when you're part of a 'scrum', but just imagine how awful it is for the Character who is in the centre of it.

The Cast Members are doing a tremendous job within the resort and certainly don't get enough praise for it. Unfortunately, just as we've all heard before, there's always going to be somebody to spoil things - and really that's a reflection of people in general as opposed to Disney itself

 

[rottie155]

I didn't realise it was like this in DLP
Until I get there I suppose I won't really know what to expect but I think this thread has just made me even more sure that Cafe Mickey's is a must-do for our first trip as long as I get a hug from the big Mouse himself I'll be happy enough to pass-by the character scrums for the rest of the trip

Does anyone have any photo's so I can prepare myself??

If you like, you can have a browse through my photos from October last year as pretty much all of my character interaction was spontaneous meet & greets in the park (with no queuing system)... You'll see the odd couple of people in the background of some of my character pix, but they are waiting their turn. Which is usually the case in my experience The only "scrum" I saw was for Donald, but he just pointed people out to meet him one-by-one and people soon waited their turn so it was fine

http://s154.photobucket.com/albums/s253/rottie155/Disneyland%20Paris%202010/?start=all