Gac with character meet and greet?

[wendylovesdisney]

It just occured to me... does the GAC help with character meet and greet or no? When I went last time with my daughter we were in line about an hour and it was miserable. She cried and was upset and it made me question whether I was being mean to her by even waiting to do it. I never thought to ask about using our GAC.

Just wondering....

 

[Cheshire Figment]

Officially the GAC is for attractions. However, if you show one to a Character Host and explain the problem you might be surprised.

 

[scottsod]

as a rule of thumb most cm will honor it even thought its not policy and a few will tell u so and still honor it but a selecet few wont and say its make a wish only so we just waited or went on our way if they do honor it we waited till the next kid or a few kids went while we waited on the side most would mention to the next parent that we would go next and 90% of them smiled and said shure have fun

 

[mykidsintow]

We were at WDW 2 weeks ago. Aswe went into Epcot my daughter (In a power w/c) wa chattering away to some CMs. One drew her a picture of Mickey and the other went and got a little certificate for visiting Epcot. She was telling them how she was going to see Mickey, etc.

One of the CMs walked us to the character meet place (I forget the building, but there is a building in Epcot with most of the mickey-esque characters). Anyway she told the CM she wanted Julia to go on and see the characters. The CM was taken aback I think she asked for our GAC. I didn't have it my husband had it and he was still outside. So I went to get it from him and evidently the 2 CMs had a rather heated discussion..... When I handed the girl the GAC (as if the w/c isn't clear) she said "They would have gone on in anyway with their GAC". So the first CM told us to enjoy our day and said her fairwells to Julia and exited.....

The line in that particular building would not have fit Julias chair. It was rather narrow. So in that specific location the GAC was totally appropriate.

As for the WC.... I think some just don't undertand. Its like they think its a little go-kart for fun. *shrug*....

Good luck and enjoy your trip!

 

[scottsod]

yes i forgot also we have never had a problem with characters at attractions like toon town we use the gac no problem

 

[ireland_nicole]

I'm glad you asked, I had no idea about that; an alternative (which has worked really well for us) is to book character meals. It is much less stressful for my kids because they are eating, and they have had some great character interation.

 

[BeckyScott]

I also read that it's a good idea to have the GAC out and visible as sort of a heads-up, especially with stuff like autism, so that the character... well like if the kid starts freaking or having a melt-down... it's sort of a forewarning that the child might not have a typical reaction...

(although I suspect the characters see non-"typical" reactions pretty often)

 

[disneyfool_1202]

DS was 2.5 our last trip and had (still has) sound sensory issues so for his GAC I asked for a quiet place to wait when available. In toon town the lines were out of control and I asked the CM if we could find a quiet place to wait our turn while DH and DD waited in the line. He took our entire party up through a back entrance and we waited in a nice quiet spot. We waited maybe 10 minutes to see Pooh & friends, and then they re-escorted us back to the back hallway to wait another 10 min for the princesses. (We had already met with Goofy, Donald and Minnie). We would have been in line over an hour just for one meet and greet with a meltdown to boot. I never expected the shorter wait time but it was really a nice surprise and very nice of them considering DS's age at the time.

 

[NicoleDisneyFan]

so, if you are with make a wish then do you still have to wait in the lines to meet the characters? We are going to go with the make a wish foundation later on this year and was wondering how that works?

 

[scottsod]

yes maw get a special pass and they take care of you dont worry
have a great trip