Are we the only ones not into characters?

[ToyStory3]

We've literally been going to WDW since it opened. Went all through the 70s 80s and 90s with our parents. Now we bring our own kids. We love WDW but I guess we are all about the attractions and rides. We also enjoy the shows and parades. We like the characters but in all these years we have never once stood in line to meet a character or gone to a character meal. It's never really appealed to us.

We've met a few characters just walking through the park and we have always enjoyed that. I remember we met Sleeping Beauty last time in Epcot and there was no one else around. It was very cute. But, we've never even thought about standing in line to meet someone. As soon as the kids see that a line is for a character they bounce right past it looking for the next ride.

I think we will do a character meal on our next trip just to see what it's like. Anyone else not into character meets or character meals?

 

[prudence64]

We did them when my daughter was 4 1/2, and had fun watching her interact. But, when we got home she said, "I really think those were all just regular people in costumes". So, it was fun while it lasted but no need to spend our time on that this time around.

 

[shyjade]

Us! We enjoyed meeting characters when my DD16 was younger, but we've never been the kind of family to hunt them down (other than Stanley, but he was a childhood favorite and she even brought her Great Big Book of Everything to have it autographed).

We realized after our last trip we never once "met" a character our entire trip. The lines just seem so long that we tend to skip it now.

 

[Jess30]

I didn't think we would be in to them but my daughter (7 at the time) loved doing the character meals and m&g's. She knows tenure people in costumes, but it was still super fun for her. She prefers the characters like Minnie because she's very shy and they don't talk to her or ask her questions. The princesses make her nervous because they talk to her. Lol

 

[BrianL]

I love to watch the characters, but I have never waited in a line to meet and greet them. I don't really care about pictures and such, but I sometimes like to stop and watch them interact with others. It's great just knowing they are there!

 

[3Goofy's]

Nope, we're not into characters either, and quite happy about that! We do like a character bfast, really just for fun pictures.

 

[jgasko]

We recently got annual passes and my wife said she never realized how into disney I am. I told her, I just like the parks. So you are not alone.

 

[patty57]

We never did M&Gs...even when my boys (in their 20s) were little. They weren't interested.

 

[Music City Mama]

Even though I've been going since I was a kid and raised on Disney movies, and my kids have been raised on all things Disney, they're just not into meeting characters. Fine by me since it's a huge time suck.

If we happen to come across them, we'll wave, etc., but not stand in line to meet them. When I first took the kids, my younger DS had recently turned 3 and we did Chef Mickey's. Every single photo his hand is precariously placed on the characters' crotches because of his height/their height. So, I'm glad we did that just for the laughs. But we really don't care about meeting/interacting with them that much. Just not our thing.

 

[Hannathy]

When my DD was 4 we went in December (this was 18 yrs ago so less crowded) and she had an autograph book and had it signed. BUT we never waited in lines if there was more than 3 people waiting we didn't do it. That was the only time we have ever waited to see them. And this was pushing it as far as my DH was concerned!

My DS was totally not interested in seeing them, thought it was dumb since they were just people dressed up, knew this even as a toddler. I have 1 picture of him with Chip and Dale only because he was boredly waiting on is sister and I to come out of the bathroom in AK and they were walking thru and saw him and started giving him a hard time. and when I came out and said let me take a picture he made a face so then they made him stand there and pose for me!

Usually even when they were little was to look as we passed by.

 

[wareagle57]

I've never stood in line to meet a character, but I would enjoy having my picture taken with 2-3 each trip if they were just roaming around the park like they used to.

I took a long break from Disney and went back for the first time a year ago. The thing I was most shocked about was that I didn't see a single character walking around the park my entire trip. They used to be everywhere. Why has Disney changed this?

 

[KORY]

MY first trip to disney was 2010 with my wifes family i was 26 at the time i raced my wifes 9 year old cousin to every character. and waited in lines but no longer then about 10 mins that was in disney land. we are going to wdw in sept with my 3 1/2 year old and 1 year old so i will probaly wait in lines with them as my 3 year old is in love with diseny characters and knows almost all there names.

 

[ShelliRenee]

We stood in line when my DS was 4 years old. (His first time at Disney) Now we do a character meal and get a few pictures. Most fun we have with characters are those unplanned ones. Like one time we got off the train in MK and was greeted by Pluto. It was a magical moment for the entire family and was a great time for pictures because we were all surprised and it showed on our face.

 

[cmurray234]

Nobody in my family is really interested in characters. We did it when the kids were small (like 3 and 5) but they were never that into it, even then.

A couple of weeks ago, we had their picture taken with Stitch, but that's only because he was standing in MK with literally nobody in line. The kids complained, but it was still kinda cute.

The concept of using fast passes to meet characters is odd enough to me that I thought, "who would ever do THAT??!" when I saw them on the FP+ list. Just goes to show how much I know.

 

[ArielFan4Life]

When my son and daughter were smaller kids we did do the wait in lines for meet n greets... More so for my daughter with the whole princess thing..Now my son is 19 and my daughter is 15,we are going next week and its rather nice knowing there will be no waiting in lines for meeting characters this trip.

 

[tndisneyfan]

When DS was younger he enjoyed the characters. I think the last time he enjoyed them he was nine. Now none of us care about seeing the characters. We have done a couple of character meals but just because we like the breakfast at Crystal Palace. We just smile and wave at the characters as they go by.

 

[Vivianne]

I'm not into M&Gs but sometimes it just happens I was at DL California Adventure park years ago sitting on a bench in an isolated area waiting for DH & Flick came over & tapped my head. He was with the Princess or Dot I can't remember. It was nice I wish DH came around in time for a picture but it was too late. We have done Liberty Tree & Crystal Palace the interactions are cute

 

[Minnesota!]

We are not, either. We will do a random wave as we walk by, but my kids have never believed that they are anything more than a person dressed up, And, while they will exclaim "look, it's Mickey", none of us care to actually stand in line to see them...

 

[kmb584]

We do character meals several times each trip but that's it. I've given DD the option to wait in lines but she has no desire to wait 60 minutes to meet characters so I happily skip the M&G lines.

 

[bluezy]

None of my kids have ever been interested in waiting in line to see any character. When my older boys (now mid-20's) were young (around 8-10) we have pictures of them with a few different characters but only because those were the days when they roamed the parks and you didn't have to stand in line for an hour to meet them. And we would get to MK at least 45 minutes before it opened (again, back in the good old days when you could actually get in the park and walk up to the castle for rope drop.). The characters would come out around the hub about 30 minutes (I think) before park opening and it was like Characterpalooza -- characters all around and only a few people (if any) standing in line to meet them.

The younger 3 kids (now 15, 14, & 9) have very few pictures with characters because they have no interest in standing in line for them. If we came across a character with no line, I could usually convince (read: bribe) them into getting a picture with them so we have a few pics -- Jiminy Cricket, Mike Wizowski, Rafiki, and Snow White. On our trip last June, we went back to MK one evening just to buy a few souvenirs and ride one or two rides and I noticed that Mickey Mouse only had a 10 minute wait so I forced my husband and kids to wait and get a picture with him just so we had *one* picture with Mickey. While they didn't grumble too much about waiting, we all decided that was the longest line we ever care to wait in for a character picture.