adult feeling awkward during meet n greets?

[CawfeeGuy]

We are two grown men if I ever felt uncomfortable I would complaign - characters are a HIGHLIGHT for us.

agreed.
CawfeeMate and i have taken a bunch of character pics and they're always super warm.

 

[Maleficent Dragon]

I am going to do them by myself and I dont give a poopie what anybody thinks. My park ticket, food, MVMCP ticket costs the same as everybody else's.

I am even considering getting Memory Maker for little ol' me, too.

 

[godders]

I got MM and it was great! Meant I didn't have to hand over my expensive camera to anyone and I could get photos whenever I wanted.

It was awkward in that I'm quite a shy person so any one-on-one interaction is difficult but the characters were great. They are very good at picking up little details to ask you about to start a conversation for example Ariel asked if a prince had given me my necklace (or treasure as she called it), the Tremaines asked me about my cat pawprint tattoo, Jack Sparrow asked why I was dressed as mouse (at MNSSHP) when they drink all the rum.....all in all the characters will sort out for a great interaction

 

[toni nicole]

My last trip was the first time that I ever felt concerned or self-conscious about my age (I'm 28) - I had a sort of weird interaction with Peter Pan, and I felt like it was literally forcing me to grow up, haha. It very well may have been the Pan that I ended up with that day - the rest of my interactions have been wonderful. I'm curious to try Peter Pan again next month when I go.

My last trip I had great interactions with tons of characters, except Pan, I was most excited for him but the Pan we got was super awkward and didn't even notice the huge Peter on my friends shirt, we basically just took a photo and left. Super disappointing.

 

[Zimbing]

My last trip I mostly stuck to meeting the "furry" characters and had some great fun with them, in particular Chip and Dale, but mostly I stuck to a hug, a short talk/miming and a silly photo .

The only face characters I met was Jack Sparrow at the Xmas party which I couldn't pass up on and had a great experience by proposig a joint business venture with me as a geologist looking for the gold and getting paid in rum .

The second was Santa Claus, who got a laugh when I explained I had never gotten my photo with Santa growing up, so here I was at 26 years old, getting a photo for my parents of their "little girl" with Santa

So overall, I say go for it, you only live once

 

[GregLautz]

I think its great doing meet and greets as an adult because I could be more clever with my questions. I recently told one of the green army men outside Toy Story Mania that I melted soldiers as a boy, and I told Tinkerbell that I stole some fairy dust and got away with it. Saying it in a playful way goes a long way because coming off too serious can sound creepy.. tons a fun

 

[Pemeberly]

My last trip I had great interactions with tons of characters, except Pan, I was most excited for him but the Pan we got was super awkward and didn't even notice the huge Peter on my friends shirt, we basically just took a photo and left. Super disappointing.

Weirdly, my last experience with a character was with Peter Pan, and it made me really self-conscious, too. This was in 2009 and I had just graduated high school. I was there with my dance team and we had done Peter Pan that year and were really excited to meet our characters. I was Wendy, and I told Wendy and Peter and they just seemed to be laughing at me in a bad way. It was really awkward.

So I'm a little nervous, too, about my trip in September because I would like to have some nice character interactions. Plus, my BF isn't super into M&G so I think if the first one or two don't go well we probably won't do many.

Love the tips in this thread, though!

 

[Chuckers]

My best was when I asked Minnie why Mickey hadn't married her yet... and boy, did she go off! Mickey was standing next to us and she just pointed at him, shook her hand and got playfully mad.. it was really cute.. and then I got a kiss

 

[toni nicole]

Weirdly, my last experience with a character was with Peter Pan, and it made me really self-conscious, too. This was in 2009 and I had just graduated high school. I was there with my dance team and we had done Peter Pan that year and were really excited to meet our characters. I was Wendy, and I told Wendy and Peter and they just seemed to be laughing at me in a bad way. It was really awkward.

So I'm a little nervous, too, about my trip in September because I would like to have some nice character interactions. Plus, my BF isn't super into M&G so I think if the first one or two don't go well we probably won't do many.

Love the tips in this thread, though!

I'll be there in May with my BF and feel the same. He isn't into that kind of stuff but I'm hoping if the first couple M&G go well, he'll be in better spirits when doing the others! I suggest staying away from the face characters. My favorite interactions are Mike and Sully, Buzz and Woody, or Mickey, Minnie, Goofy etc.

 

[TJ Brown]

My Girlfriend was in Theater so when we go to Meet and Greet, she is all animated while taking pictures and I'm just kind of standing their looking out of place. Makes for some funny pictures though.

 

[njpyro]

I've had a few great interactions with characters as an adult. When meeting Aladdin, I commented on his fez being cool, and we had a several minute conversation about Doctor Who. Of course, so as to not break character, Genie brought him some Doctor Who things from another time.
I have an autograph book with pictures of each character that I drew, so that always brings about a conversation when they ask if I really drew that, then they flip through the book to see the others and comment on the ones of their friends. Sometimes, they show another character that is near them, or just their handler or photopass person. Minnie kissed the picture of Mickey, then Mickey kissed the picture of minnie. This was at different times, so it's not like they saw the other do it first. This also brought a funny conversation when one character wasn't drawn yet, so I had them sign a blank card.
When meeting Belle, my husband was kind of standing to the side (he's not as excited to meet characters, but is willing to wait with me), and Belle said "I see you've brought your own beast!". I thought that was funny, especially since he's got bushy hair and bit of a beard.

Last year, I had gone to Star Wars weekends with a friend, while my husband was on a business trip in Orlando, so he came to spend a day and half with us. Since we are big Star Wars nerds, he had to wear around his Yoda backpack. While we were waiting in line to meet with Aurora, my husband went forward without us, and used his Yoda backpack as a puppet. The entire time, he only spoke to her in Yoda's voice, and she was phenomenal. She didn't break character, and had a full conversation with Master Yoda, in which she spoke directly to the puppet. Personally, I probably would have been creeped out by a tall, bearded man, apparently travelling alone, talking through a yoda puppet.

 

[Mrs. Max Goof]

Character meet and greets are always the highlight of our trip!

Our best experiences have been with fur characters. Because I travel with my boyfriend, characters like Goofy and Mickey inevitably try to steal me away or make my boyfriend jealous. The more you play it up as a couple, the more fun it becomes! We had Chip and Dale doing the Single Ladies dance! On another trip, Max Goof once took my hand and walked away with me, prompting me to kiss his nose for the cameras. I find that complimenting Minnie or Marie on their bows lead to fun interaction too. They typically have fun kissing on the males in the group. Chip and Dale are always a hoot, as are Stitch and Donald.

Face characters have definitely been hit or miss for us. Some of the princesses go out of their way to hold conversations and have fun, while others seem to rush you along and are a bit awkward. Our favorites to meet at Tiana and Naveen. Every time we visit MK, it is a must for us to stop by their gazebo because they are absolutely hilarious! Merida is another one who truly engages in conversation and encourages fun pictures. In our most recent trip, we had a great time with Ariel in her grotto, but were disappointed with Aladdin and Jasmine, Mulan, and Belle.

My biggest advice to adults who are hesitant to meet characters without children is to GO FOR IT! You paid the $100 to get into that park, and you should get to experience everything! Don't be afraid to be silly, because the best moments come out of it!

 

[sky13]

So I never really properly sought out characters until my trip last week, where I did as many character meets as I could (Off the top of my head I met Mickey about 4 times, talking Mickey once, Goofy 5 times, Minnie twice, Donald once, Duffy once, Anna and Elsa twice, Cinderella and Rapunzel twice, Ariel twice, Lady Tremaine once, Gaston once, Belle once (at ETWB), Beast once (at BOG), Pluto once, Aurora once, Chip and Dale once, and Dale once). It was so fun!

I found that the best time to meet the characters was late at night when there wasn't much of a queue waiting to see them - that way they were happy to spend more time talking to me or playing around with me. E.g. I saw Anna and Elsa twice, once at rope drop (with a ridiculous queue behind me), where Elsa sort of said hi, took a picture with me, and moved me on... and once at 1.45am (with NO ONE in the queue at all) and they took time to talk about random things like Arendelle chocolate being better than any other chocolate in the world.

I also er, went a bit nuts over Duffy (I actually really like Duffy and have 3 Duffy bears). I'm not sure he expected that!

 

[Hunterr]

It's even more awkward when you realize it's just some joe schmo inside the suit sweating profusely for 12 bucks an hour

But yes, just be yourself. When you can't see their faces, it actually might be less awkward than actors in character.

 

[Dezandthebeast]

for the last few trips i've felt a bit awkward during character meet n greets cuz i feel like there's no conversation between me and the characters.
we just sorta look at each other and then they say lets take a pic and then off i go having only seen them for 5 seconds.
then i see other adults interact with the characters for much longer than i do and i feel like its cuz they've done something special to make it last longer like wear some weird outfit to make the character comment on it or ask some weird question that the character has to come up with an answer to. (or challenge gaston to do something which seems to be very popular at the moment)

thats not me...

so i wonder if bringing an autograph book would give the character more time to come up with something to say?

or how else could i make the interaction seem less awkward?

I might sound crazy but I always wear a birthday pin. Lol it could be 3 months after my birthday two months it could have been booked on my birthday and 4 months later be going I just always say it's my birthday present. It makes the experience more fun the characters always react in different ways

 

[disney world dreamer]

I might sound crazy but I always wear a birthday pin. Lol it could be 3 months after my birthday two months it could have been booked on my birthday and 4 months later be going I just always say it's my birthday present. It makes the experience more fun the characters always react in different ways

well i just went last week and i brought an autograph book and that really did help.
i also told belle that when i saw gaston a couple days prior he told me i should be with beast so he can be with belle and that got a conversation started lol.

 

[Dezandthebeast]

well i just went last week and i brought an autograph book and that really did help.
i also told belle that when i saw gaston a couple days prior he told me i should be with beast so he can be with belle and that got a conversation started lol.

No matter I get lucky with character interaction for some reason something crazy always happens but I have done the autograph book. Buzz slammed my book down cause woody was trying to dance with me . Me and Cinderella were gossiping about the other princesses I think the autograph book shows them your here for the magic not just the picture lol

 

[LizardQueen8]

My last trip I had great interactions with tons of characters, except Pan, I was most excited for him but the Pan we got was super awkward and didn't even notice the huge Peter on my friends shirt, we basically just took a photo and left. Super disappointing.

I must have gortten lucky with Pan my last trip because both he and Wendy were great with my group of four adult women. He asked how old I was (it was my birthday and I was wearing a pin) and then immediately said, "You're 12, right? Never get older than 12." I've done meet and greets on my own as well, and I've never felt awkward, just super excited. And I think the actors pick up on that and are more willing to interact. I've had convos with Cinderella about the Cindy ears I was wearing, with Merida about Scotland and Rapunzel about braids. Just be friendly and find a topic of conversation and it will be great.

 

[pharm55]

We seem to have really brief awkward character interactions for the most part too;however the best interactions we have had were at Storytellers Cafe (DL) character breakfast and at 1900 Park Fare with the stepsisters. They were fighting over my 13 year old son and he just wanted no part of it. It was hilarious and I got some great photos. Cinderella walked up and told the kids to stand for a photo - I took one and she went to the next table. Have not had good luck with most princesses for some reason. Had an Ariel last year at CRT who was quite chatty but that was it.

 

[alievans719]

Characters are usually the main thing I go for when I'm there, and I had the best interactions when I had these tights that had cats on them. A lot of characters loved them, and it was fun. I know there are some awkward ones(Aurora is generally when I run into awkward meetings...one time she told me to get cheesecake? I still don't understand that). I think as long as you have an idea of something to say, they can see that you're really into it. When I knew I was meeting them I tried to come up with something or googled it; sometimes I froze, but they were pretty good at trying to come up with things. My favorite though was doing smolder with Rapunzel, even without Flynn there. She was just totally game for it, and even did a video for one of my friends. That video is like, cherished, and it's great that there are characters who are so pumped to work with adults even.