Adults without kids - why do you visit characters?

[DisneyFanJon]

Like others say, it just makes me happy and I can't explain why. I guess they represent that character and it's not really logically different from meeting a pop str etc in that you are meeting a character - famous people rarely act genuinely with the public and project a persona. I think its great that the characters at the dinners etc include everyone, and I find it sad when some adults cannot see why others would want to meet characters because I think it really means they've lost a certain sense of enjoyment from make believe.

Walt always said that if he aimed only at children then Disney would not last

 

[erinscreen]

I will wait in line for a character and I'm 25 years old. For me, I think as adults we loose that sense of innocence. And WDW is a place that you can "pretend" that you are talking to that favorite character of your childhood and no one will judge you for it. I love that I can be silly and act like a kid again. It's a true feeling of letting go of all the adult responsibility and dipping back into childhood.

THIS! I have never been one of those people who like characters. I will probably never stand in line for a photo. But I go to Disney because I love it and it reminds me of my childhood. I know that I can go there and be worry-free. It reminds me of being with my family and making memories.

I am taking one of my old sorority sisters there in 2 1/2 weeks. It is her first time. She wants to do a princess meal, so we are! Although I am not super excited myself, she is over the moon and was the ONE thing she knew she wanted to do even before she knew about the rest of the planning.

For me, I LOVE to see that huge grin on a person's face when they are in their happy place--regardless of age.

 

[Cyrano]

I'm genuinely curious why adults without kids visit characters. Obviously by that point in your life, you know that it's not *really* Mickey or a princess standing in front of you and you don't actually have Cinderella's signature in your book, so what's the draw to the characters?:

Wash your mouth out with soap and water Surely you meant to say friends of Mickey or Cinderella.

Only ever been on one trip to Disney before the children were thought about and loved every minute of it.
I think it is the feeling of bringing out that inner child in us all. Along with the fact that there are plenty of other adults wearing Mickey ears etc which makes us think this is perfectly normal behaviour

 

[Mickeyrella]

I'm genuinely curious why adults without kids visit characters. Obviously by that point in your life, you know that it's not *really* Mickey or a princess standing in front of you and you don't actually have Cinderella's signature in your book, so what's the draw to the characters?

I'm asking because on our trip last week, we were in line to see Tiana and there was a couple who were most likely in their mid-20's a couple of families in front of us. They both had autograph books and the guy took an unusually long time talking to Tiana and doing different poses with her. So much so that that one mom in front of us started getting testy and said in a loud voice "Come on. There are KIDS waiting to see her. You had your time."

Now I do get that Disney is not just for kids, but I don't understand why an adult would stand in line to meet a character. Character meals are a little different since you get food there, but all you get in a character line is to meet the character. Can you tell that I really can't wait until my girls don't want to stand in character lines any more?

I am 20 years old and I still take picture with the characters, specially Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Goofy and Donald, and I always go to Chef Mickey's! I love how Disney brings out the kid in you! I really don't mind waiting in lines either, but then again I never do rope drop so I guess different families have different things they love doing no matter what age you are

 

[SapphireMarie]

If I see Winnie the Pooh I am knocking my kids over to get to him!

 

[kamik86]

I am a 25 year old and me and my 28 year old husband have met many characters. I have a book with many animated characters in it and its my favorite disney souvenir. I have had every character I meet sign there page (or the pages in the front and back if they are too new to be in the book)

I like meeting characters. I like getting pictures and seeing there antics. I love talking to Belle... she is my favorite princess.

I won't stand in huge lines for them, nothing more then 30 min. And we dont take too many pictures, a few poses sometimes when there is a photopass photographer or if they do something fun... like when Pinocchio took our book and started to read his page (sat down on a nearby bench) or when Stitch started to tease Lilo that he got two pages and she only got one.

Phineas and Ferb told us that summer vacation never ends (when asked why they weren't in school in October... I mean I know you get 104 days which is WAY longer then I ever got as a kid but still!!)

Sometimes we don't even wait in line at all. Like when we were walking through frontier land and we see frontier Donald all by himself! Now we couldn't allow that he already has a complex because Mickey is more popular.

Oh and my last reason (said in jest as I know you weren't trying to be mean but this is what I think about those that loudly state that I shouldn't see characters) "I visit with the characters to remind me to still be a kid sometimes and so that as I get older I will never get as cranky and mean as you are." This also explains why my husband sometimes wheres a Mario Tinuki (not sure if I have that right but the racoon suit) sweathshirt with ears on it around toon. Why I bought and wore Mickey ears in the parks. Why I go to disney so often. Why I watch "My Little Ponies" and many other things I do.

 

[FirstTimeDisneyVisit]

Maybe people out there like my self couldn't go to Disney as a child ? my mother who was a single parent couldn't afford to take us as children and missed out on meeting my favorite characters as kids! I cant tell you how excited i was to go for my first time last year and meet as many as i could !!! To me, it was great i had a smile from ear to ear just like all the children. Disney isn't just for kids as i am sure you are well aware of. For some of us its s chance to catch up on what we missed as children. i cant wait to go back and meet them again bc to me, meeting the characters is truly Magical !

 

[danceintherain]

I've read all your follow up comments, and I understand what you're saying....to a point.

This argument has been put out in a million different ways in the time I've been frequenting these boards. Everyone constantly questions the "value" of certain things. The truth is that everyone assigns different values to different things.

Some people don't understand why any of us would choose Disney as a vacation destination year after year.

Some people don't understand choosing to stay on the property in cramped accommodations when you could rent a whole house for less.

Some people, even though they love Disney, don't understand spending the money to stay in a Deluxe resort.

Personally, I prefer waiting in a few short character lines in the parks rather than doing character meals, because I don't like to pay the price to go to a character meal and sit eating crappy food for an hour, while I wait for the characters come around. Most of the characters I like to see don't have their own character meals anyways.
When my kids are older, I'm sure I'll see a higher value with the character meals, because it will save us a bit of time, but it will depend on the particular character.

One of the reasons I prefer meeting the characters in the parks, rather than at meals, is the staging. When you take pictures with characters at meals, the backdrop is the restaurant. Many of the character meet & greets are staged for photos specifically.

For example, I did 4 character meals on my honeymoon. Two of them had Mickey, but I still chose to go see Mickey at his meet spot in the Magic Kingdom.

vs.

We stayed at Disney for 10 days on that trip, so there was plenty of time to see some characters and ride all the rides.

Basically, if the adults in line with you didn't think it was going to be worth their time, they would not have been waiting in line.

I have a friend who scrapbooks a lot, and she likes to put the character's autographs in her scrapbooks. It means more to her if it's an autograph that she actually got herself.

 

[TheMorgans]

As an adult I have waited in lines with and without my children to get photos with the characters. I went to WDW many times with my parents as a child and I have been too many times to count as an adult with and without the children. Do I feel silly waiting in line to get my photo with the characters? Yes, but that is part of the Disney magic - being silly. Do I feel like I am taking time away from the children who want to see the characters? No, I believe the young at heart are entitiled to the full WDW experience as those who are still physically young. Characters are part of what makes it a magical experience.

To me WDW is not just a place, but a state of mind. It is a place to excape the everyday stress of life that comes with my job (trauma center ER nurse) and just everyday life. I get to release my inner 6 year old. It starts the moment we land at MCO and escalates from the moment we drive under the welcome sign and lasts until our plane takes off again. It is my favorite spot on earth. It is MY place.

On our most recent visit my DD and DDBFF were having breakfast at O'hanna and when Micky appeared I (literally) squeeled "It's Mickey". I totally embarassed the girls, but OMG it was Mickey. I didn't care that I had seen Mickey many, many times before. It does not matter if others say he is not "real", its what he represents.

 

[kamik86]

If I see Winnie the Pooh I am knocking my kids over to get to him!

My mom's first visit was when she was 62 years old. We were planning ADRs for our family and at one point thought about taking out Crystal Palace. My mom looked at me and immediately said "but then I won't get to meet Pooh!" btw that was one of only two requests she made about the entire trip... so of course we still went and she got to meet Pooh.

My Dad wasn't into the characters as much. Until the last day when eating breakfast at Ohana's. My Dad somehow managed to act totally somewhere from miserable to indifferent for most of the week, but when Stitch came up behind him and stole his baseball cap and started dancing around with it... he finally got it and had some fun!

 

[blakrose9999]

Because it's fun. My husband and I both have to deal with alot of stress in our jobs so going to disney is our care free no worries week. Last october we went to our first MNSSHP and i didn't care one bit about short ride lines the rides would be there the other days of our trip. I wanted to meet the rarer characters like lotso and jack sparrow. Now we won't wait in etremly long lines to meet a characher (with the exception of getting in line before MNSSHP to meet the dwarves).

 

[ttintagel]

I think it's also good for kids to see adults cutting loose and having some silly fun, too.

 

[TDC Nala]

There are adults who enjoy meeting the characters. Don't see why they need an excuse other than that.


There are guests with children who sometimes also take an inordinately long time talking and doing poses with the characters. Everybody regardless of age should be considerate of those waiting.

If you don't see the "value" in adults meeting characters, remember that value is higly subjective. We can't all be expected to put equal value on the same things all the time. Those who see ride time on a moving conveyance as more "valuable" will never understand those of us who would rather see a show.

 

[Berlioz70]

I've been on every attraction, multiple, multiple times. And while I may notice a new hidden mickey, or see a new sign, essentially it becomes old.

Every time I meet a character it's different - and I would rather wait in line for a new experience than the same thing over and over.

Additionally, Characters will spend more time with people who talk to them. Some people wonder why one Guest goes through so quickly and some seem to linger for ever... it's those that talk that take longer (and the characters like people who talk to them as it helps mix things up for them as well).

I had people yell at me when I was meeting Phineas and Ferb because I was taking to long... you know what, I asked Phineas and Ferb if they liked their cool music which lead to the two of them breaking it down and I got some awesome photos of the three of us dancing.

If other people are looking for a love and shove experience, then I'm sad to say they're missing the point. I have no problem waiting in line for people who have longer interactions, so I expect people to show me the same courtesy, even if I am an adult with no children.

 

[Staceyl0u]

When I was about 17/18 I went to Disney Paris and took an autograph book to collect the signatures for my cousins to make a miniature scrapbook with messages for them, I was physically pushed out of the way by more than one parent and ignored by two characters until the children had finished crowding around for autographs. Bearing in mind I suffer extreme panic attacks and it was out first family vacation in five years I had tried very hard to put myself in a crowded place after lots of years of councilling. Moral of the story some people suck you cant change that everything else is irrelevant about age it's just certain people and there rudeness.

 

[goofy14]

I'm 45 and my sons are 22 & 16. When we meet characters we get just as excited as anybody else in the line, young or old. We have an extensive facebook photoalbum to prove it! I guess Walt sums it up best...."Adults are only kids grown up, anyway."

 

[BigGreen73]

Again w/ another why do adults with no kids take pics w/ character thread? Really!?

It comes down to this: those that are still young at heart just want to be kids while at WDW and want to experience and enjoy everything that WDW has to offer.

If you don't do something, don't want to do something, or have no interest in doing something, ya shouldn't really try to understand why others like to do those things..

I think that some of the characters like some time with the adults w/out kids. They can have some fun interactions and converations with adults. I can't count how many times we've spend 15-20 mins w/ a character because of their doing, they just enjoy the conversation and interactions.

Example, in Sept 2010, we met Tiana and Naveen. The few families in front of us blew through quickly and we spent 20 mins with them talking about where we're from, Maine seafood, and dissing other princesses. It was a blast. We felt a little bad because there was quite the line in back of us, but Tiana and Naveen just didn't let up.

 

[Piglet4Ever]

I didn't make my first visit to WDW till I was in my late 20's, I am turning 40 next month. I take pics with the characters because it makes me happy that is all anyone needs to know!!

 

[goofy14]

one that we're most proud of!

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?...0897638875255.475166.507130254&type=3&theater

 

[GreenCntryGirl]

1. Because I paid for it.
2. Most importantly because I want to.
3. It's no one's business why. We all have memories that are important to us.