Ever been rushed while meeting a character?

[LockShockBarrel]

The only reason I can think of is the same as someone already said, maybe there was an issue with the CM in the costume

Still, I think there's better ways to handle something like that. Something like "Oh Marie needs to go use the litter box but will be back at X time!" And I'm sure I've read reports of people hearing things like this, something about Pooh taking a honey break or Mickey taking a cheese break. And really, what's worse. You nicely tell people the character is leaving and you have some people who are mad and don't come back and others who get it, or you rush everyone through the line so they have a crappy experience but they still get to meet the character? Maybe the handler was having a bad day, but no reason to take it out on everyone else.

 

[dolphindan1]

Sorry to the people behind me in line but if this would have happened to me I would have slowed way way down...took multiple pics, even got the CM that was doing the fussing to take multiple pics...I would have took a little while to find my autograph book etc etc...then hoped this CM got real rude with me...I would have then said to the CM smile, took a picture and told them I will make darn sure I report them to Disney with a not so nice letter and this picture...just my feelings

If there was an issue with the character...they could easily just shut the line down and not let anyone tot he character...no reason to be rude about it

 

[2Tiggies]

"Oh Marie needs to go use the litter box but will be back at X time!" .

That could work!

 

[Reto]

So far I'm lucky. At their AK greeting location, King Louie and Baloo often see times without any other guests in line and most CMs allowed me to stay with the characters until the next guests arrived - sometimes I got to spend 2 to 3 minutes with them - I really appreciated that. OK, once there was a handler there who told me to leave after I got the autographs and photos taken - and this despite the fact no other guests were around and it was not yet time for the characters to take a break. I consider that the famous exemption from the rule.

 

[Nebula]

I only really felt rushed once, and that was back when LTT had character meals. It wasn't very crowded and all of the characters were great, except for Minnie. She was at our table for 20 seconds, tops. She signed the autograph and then I had my mother take a picture of the two of us... while my mother was taking the picture, Minnie was tapping her foot inpartiently and as soon as the picture was done she was out of there. I felt like I had leprosy or something. I was 16 at the time and looked older, maybe she thought adults weren't worth her time?

Fortunately, I've had great experiences with just about every other character I've met, and I've also found that sometimes the characters are more personable with adults, especially face characters. Most of the handlers have been very nice as well. But to this day my mother and I still joke about that Minnie!

 

[MsLeFever]

while my mother was taking the picture, Minnie was tapping her foot inpartiently and as soon as the picture was done she was out of there.

I'm pretty sure that foot tapping is how the characters signal to a handler that they are "in distress". Ill, costume malfunction, some sort of emergency. Minnie may have needed help.

 

[lamb616]

we just came back and got a lot of autographs and although we were never told to "hurry up", at least half the time the handler did tell us to have our autograph books open and pens out.

 

[Reto]

although we were never told to "hurry up", at least half the time the handler did tell us to have our autograph books open and pens out.

That makes sense, because it isn't that easy for fur characters to flip through these pages. I always open my book and have my pen ready before I walk up to the character.

 

[Distopia]

On our last trip we came across a great handler with what seemed like a decent system to keep everyone happy. The meet and greet was for Woody and Jessie and the line was quite long and getting longer. He walked up and down the line telling everyone they would be out for X amount of time which was equal to about X amount of people in line, but they would be back after feeding Bullseye in about ten minutes. It seemed to keep people a little more calm about the wait. He in no way rushed anyone and, in fact, when I was urging my children on he said not to worry and suggested I get in the photo too!

I've had at least 5 handlers tell us to take our time with the characters, especially when the kids were obviously having a special moment. All in all, they do a great job.

 

[Nebula]

I'm pretty sure that foot tapping is how the characters signal to a handler that they are "in distress". Ill, costume malfunction, some sort of emergency. Minnie may have needed help.

Wow, never heard that before, maybe that was the case. I don't remember any handlers being around, though. Maybe they were out of sight We're going back many years, so I'm not sure.

 

[inkkognito]

We're adults without kids, and I can't say I've ever felt rushed other than at the really, really busy character meals, like Crystal Palace. But we've had some very laid-back character meal experiences with lots of interaction, too, particularly at Garden Grill. I've also noticed that the characters seem to size up adults at the meals; they can tell who enjoys interacting and those whose posture says, "Leave us alone, we're eating!" I've seen couples and adult groups like that and always wonder if they knew they were booking a character meal.

I've noticed that certain greetings, like the one at DHS featuring whatever movie is current, tend to have long interactions. The photo in my avatar was taken at the Bolt greeting, when he and the other characters spent some time playing around with my little stuffed doggie. They were like that with all the other people we saw, too.

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

We haven't felt like we have been rushed, although there was one time at Hollywood Studios when we were in line to get pictures with Minnie and Goofy at the Sorcerer's Hat where this family in front of us was taking a long time. For whatever their reasons were they were very slow and making sure each of them got their own seperate pictures with them, then they needed a huge group picture to be taken with everyone from their family. Personally in situations like that I wish the character handlers would try to speed up the pace just a little because there are other guests waiting and eventually the characters need to take breaks. So when families with a lot of people are taking extra long with the characters it only adds to the wait for others in line.

 

[robinb]

The problem we keep running into is the handler shutting down the line right before we get there. One thing I am adamant about is not planning my vacation around character meet and greets though.

I like it when they close down a character with a CM at the end. It's much nicer than just shutting down the line, but they need two handlers per character for that to happen.