How Much Time Do You Spend With the Characters?

[va32h]

I was showing off some pictures of our recent Disney trip to a friend. Many of the pictures were of my 2yo daughter with various characters. She loved meeting the characters and really got into conversing with them. I have pics of her dancing with Sully, showing her pin collection to Minnie, making silly faces with the Mad Hatter and Alice, and just basically having a jolly good time with all sorts of characters.

My friend commented that the people in line behind us must have really hated us - because it looked like we were there (with the characters) forever! He said it jokingly, but it made me think.

On the one hand, hey we stood in line as long as anybody else, so why should we hurry ourselves along for the sake of other people?

On the other hand, there were situations in which my kids would probably never have left of their own accord! When we met Ariel in her grotto, my daughter climbed up on the seat next to her and settled in for the afternoon! She definitely had no intentions of leaving of her own free will.

So how long do you think it's acceptable to hang out with the characters before it starts getting rude to the folks behind you?

 

[FanOfStitch]

I think it depends on different things. I make sure that I get my, oops , I mean my son gets his picture and autograph that he wants, but I also like to play with them for a little while. Not usually more than a minute or two.

However, if the character is in a mood, then you really have no choice. We were in line once for Chip and Dale and my son went for the picture with a soda in his hand. Well, they decided to play keep away with the soda. They were playing for about five minutes. I could tell that people were getting upset, but I just blew it off. Nothing that I could do about it and they were having such a good time, I wasn't going to stop it.

I think the characters have a pretty good sense of how long to interact with people. As long as your DD is having a good time, then I say just enjoy it.

 

[Lady SnowElla]

The CM with the characters will move families along if they feel that you have spent too much time.

 

[roliepolieoliefan]

We usually don't spend that much time. Enough to get pics and autographs. DD when she was 15 months old really took a liking to the baboon and the other character from the Jungle Book. ( sorry their names escape me right now) We would walk away and she would run back and hug both of them over and over. Even the CM made a comment thatt most kids her age are afraid of those 2.

I know the people behind us were getting annoyed since we were first in line. But the CM and both characters kept encouraging more hugs so of course she kept it up.

We do try and hurry usually though especially if its a long line. That being said also I never get pics taken with the characters unless my kids are with me. I know from past posts alot of people beg to differ but I feel the characters are mainly for the kids and I wouldn't want my time in line to take a turn away from a kid who might miss the character.

 

[Joanna71985]

The CM with the characters will move families along if they feel that you have spent too much time.

Actually, there is no set time for when you have to leave. Of course, if it gets ridiciously long, then we will hurry it along. But you can take as many pictures and play along as you want (within reason).

 

[GEM]

We had a group of 12 last week and we always did one big group shot followed by individual pictures and autographs for everyone. And, since it was a group of high school kids, they loved clowning around with the characters and really had a great time. Unexpectedly, character pictures and autographs were one of the real highlights of their trip! I know it took our group a long time with each character, but probably not any longer than if the people behind us in line had been waiting behind 12 individuals instead of one big group. I was aware, though, of holding up the line and I tried to keep it reasonable. We never had any problems from CMs or others in line behind us.

 

[BYC]

We don't spend anytime with characters. I never seek them out. But...if I happen to run into Pluto...my favorite...I do have to give him a hug! Not Mickey, though...he pisses me off! He is always mean to Pluto!

 

[jeankeri]

My boys will wait to meet characters they like, say very little, pose for a picture, get the autograph, the basics. The characters do most of the interacting with them- Donald, Stitch and Minnie have pointed out their shirts when they are wearing 'them'. Donald took off my son's 'Donald' hat and autographed it; my son never would have asked, it totally made his trip. He was 10. Minnie was disapproving of his shirt (it was from Universal Studios) and tried to make him feel guilty.

 

[STEAMBOAT209]

During a visit with the grandsons, we will take our time with the pictures and autographs, DS taking his pics and DSIL taking his pics, and of course grandpop taking his. We normally try to get this all at once, but we also want the adults in the pics as well. Normally we will let the CM with the character take the lead with the timing to make sure we are not over stepping. When its a visit with just DW and I, we take the time to get pics of each other, or ask the people behind us to snap our pic for us, and this helps move things along quicker.

 

[#1 Pocahontas]

We usually just spend enough time for a picture and an autograph.

However, if the character initiates more interaction then I am not going to hurry my child along.

Once when my DD was a baby the Fairy Godmother would not giver her back to me. I had her dressed like Cinderella and the FG kept talking about how beautiful she was. It felt like she held her forever. Then she wrote about how cute she was in her autograph book. I am sure the people in line behind us were annoyed or antsy. I can understand that but when your child get a chance at more magic time you can't just pull them away.

Our last trip there we went with my in-laws. My MIL loves Cruella and had been searching for her the entire trip. DH, DD, and I happened upon her on our last day. So I asked her for an autograph to made out to Nana. So Cruella asked me why to Nana. I explained about her being Nana's favorite and she will be sad she missed her. Anyway, to make an already long story short.... She stood there talking to us for almost ten minutes on how rude it was that Nana missed her and was leaving us alone to see the "world" on our own. She would yell around to all the cast members asking them if they had heard about this missing Nana. Then she took the time to write that all out in my DD's autograph book. I was majorly self conscious as I knew people were probably very annoyed. I just wanted out of there!!!

I don't think I will ever approach Cruella again!! :lmao

Sorry for my novel, but your question made me remember these.

 

[Hannathy]

We just take long enough for a picture and autograph IMO fooling around for "minutes" is rude when there are many little kids just like yours who are waiting and may miss out even meeting them quickly so yours can have excessive time with them. If no one is in line play as long as you want but if there is a line I think a quick hello, picture and autograph is the only fair and considerate thing to do.

 

[GEM]

Happily, the characters seem to feel otherwise. It's usually them that starts the fooling, in our experience. Mr. Smee pretended to steal our light up pen and run away with it because he thought it was cool. Daisy took time to admire the girl's princess hats. Chip and Dale were hilarious begging for cookies that the kids were eating, getting down on their knees and being silly. Peter Pan really had fun with all the kids! Captain Hook engaged them in a mock sword fight. Mickey Mouse himself took the extra time to play photographer's assistant and arrange our big group into a nice pose and then put himself right in the middle. He made a big deal out of setting it up, stepping back to check it out, rearranging, etc. until he signed that it was perfect! Those are some of the best memories from the trip!

Honestly, a picture and authograph and push out of the way for the next person is more like an assembly line than a magical moment. I'm not saying you should stay all day and hog them for yourself, but there's nothing wrong with taking a minute or two to make some memories.

There are plenty of characters and plenty of chances to meet and greet. I don't think any little children are being robbed of their chance just because you take an extra minute to enjoy your experience.

 

[va32h]

It's usually them that starts the fooling, in our experience.

This was our experience, too. The Mad Hatter asked my kids if they knew any jokes, and they told him some, and then he suggested that they all make silly faces for the camera.

All three of my kids had a very long conversation with Ariel, and a sing-along of "Part of Your World" , but it was very much a two sided conversation. Ariel kept asking them questions!

My son had his birthday button on, and was having the characters sign his Tshirt, which we made ourselves and said "My Birthday Trip 2006". Many characters made a big to-do over this. Ariel, Mary Poppins, and Minnie not only signed the shirt, but drew elaborate little pictures under their names.

We never had a CM tell us to move it along, so I guess we didn't overstay our welcome.

 

[DemonLlama]

We love having some extra fun with the characters, and most times it doesn't cause problems for the people behind us since it's only a couple of minutes anyway.

But our encounter with Pan and Wendy on our last trip did get pretty frustrating. They would take a very long time just interviewing people. Everyone in line noticed that lots of folks seemed to just want them to go ahead and sign the autograph and take the picture. The handler kept calling out the minutes left before they had to break, as if to try and signal that Pan and Wendy should hurry things up just a bit, but they weren't going for it.

We finally got to the front of the line and the whole time they were talking with our kids, "How old are you?" "Is this your first time to WDW?" "Did you just ride Splash Mountain?" "Do you like getting wet?" "Are you cold?" "What's your favorite part of the ride?" Pan: "I like looking at Brer Bear's bum, isn't that funny?" "I like your sweatshirt!" "Did you ride Stitch's Greata Escape?" "Isn't it gross when he burps?" Pan: "Better out than in I always say!" and on and on. In fact, we have the whole interview on tape. The kids were trying to make quick answers as they had already endured waiting forever when they were doing this with every other group in front of us. They never did take the hint.

The handler was saying "five minutes" . . . "two minutes" . . . "one minute" and the families behind us who had waited and waited were looking fit to be tied.

Maybe it was some kind of protest. . .

 

[MelanieC]

Jasmine wen't off after my son one time because he "DIDN'T" talk to princess. She came and took his hand and talked to him as they walked back. She made him take a picture with her and Alladin. I have this all on video and a great picture too!!

Snow White also doted on him when he was about two. This was on the bridge at International Gateway in Epcot!

 

[Dorisk3]

I'm thankful that usually my kids just want a hug, picture and autograph- we are generally outta there in about 30 seconds. When it's not crowded lots of individual pics is not a problem- but with a line of 30 people behind me, I would honestly feel a little bad about taking too long of the characters time. I would probably say something to the kids about how other kids want to meet xyz character too- say bye, quick hug, etc. If a character is into long interaction, obviously not much you can do- but families who are character hogs can get a little annoying!

 

[aristocat]

30 seconds tops... just enough to get a quick picture and move on

 

[revcohea]

It depends on the crowds, usually it's just enough time to get an autograph and a photo.