Is it rude? (picture question)

[ppony]

@OP. I think it's really nice that you are concerned. Lots of people aren't and that's sad. I'm sure w/ your concern, you'll get it done click, click, click and on your way. I'm also one that really gets concerned (to the point of severe anxiety) about others behind me in any line. I'm working through that w/ my therapist. Have a wonderful time! I hope the pix turn out.

 

[jc040404]

I can not disagree with the in and out philosophy more.

I think that's doing a dis-service to both your kids and the characters. The characters and/or the handlers will let you know if you've overstayed your welcome.
I remember a post on Post Secret from a CM that mentioned how much they hated parents who rushed their kids, and hearing them interact with their "best friends" was the highlight of their job!
I haven't rushed my daughter once since reading that.

I'm with you. It really bugs me to see parents rush their children up to pose and run them off to the next thing while the little one is begging to talk to whoever it might be. We've heard the same from CM's before, too. One even expressed how much she didn't like the rush up for a pic and leave game.

I almost always let one kiddo go ahead of the other, depending on how important that particular character is to each child. But, we visit the characters to visit the characters, not to pose and get an autograph. (We don't even bother with autographs outside of character meals.) We follow the characters and handlers lead usually. In the rare cases that someone in line has gotten vocal about waiting too long, I've found that the character will seem to go out of their way to keep my boys longer! Mary Poppins was hilarious in this situation.

I see absolutely nothing wrong with wanting individual pictures of your children with the characters. Disney is about waiting your turn most of the time, and I would never want to rob a child of their "moment" with a treasured character. OR that special picture they'll talk about and love for the rest of their life. I never realized these were supposed to be run like assembly lines or something..

 

[tony609]

I see nothing wrong with. I always take different combinations of character photos (always organized),never been over a minute if I have it's barely. You can accomplish a lot in a minute. Besides it's no different than 4 kids, four photos and 4 autograph books. Those groups take way more time then me. BUT i also figure they waited in line like me, so who cares.

 

[megan926]

I can not disagree with the in and out philosophy more.

I think that's doing a dis-service to both your kids and the characters. The characters and/or the handlers will let you know if you've overstayed your welcome.
I remember a post on Post Secret from a CM that mentioned how much they hated parents who rushed their kids, and hearing them interact with their "best friends" was the highlight of their job!
I haven't rushed my daughter once since reading that.

If a guest behind you says anything, I'd explain that with 2 kids sometimes one has their eyes shut or it is generally a good pic of one kid, but not a flattering picture of the other one -- you're just hedging your bets!!

I feel like this was directed toward me.

In no way do I rush my 4 year old with characters. My DD has talked with the princesses and some of the best photos I have are of them talking...it is sweet.

I also only have one child and don't have a million other adults with me to take pictures of. Personally, I do not need any more photos of me with characters (besides the usual Mickey Mouse!), so I only take pictures of my daughter with the characters. I do not just take one and done...BUT I do think of the other people behind me in line and try to be respectful because everyone is waiting.

The Chip and Dale incident in June was obnoxious. The people in front of me were rude and inconsiderate...and I don't want to be "those" people.

 

[megan926]

We are a family of 7--actually 3 families total. So I guess we will keep the two families still in line while the kid gets her photo. then the mom and dad and kid.. then everyone. 3 photos.

And I am sure you were organized and it did not take long. I do agree that is the key.

 

[all4disney98]

I don't think it is rude at all. I don't get upset at people doing this because, in the OPs situation what if the 3 of them were not together and were actually 3 separate guests? It would then take just as long to take their separate pics and perhaps even longer.

It bothers me when some in the line start rolling their eyes, it should not be a marathon visit with the characters. My children are 6 and 9 and last year was their first time with autographs. A woman behind us said "I hate when people use those" and something to the effect of "wasting her time". I turned around and looked at her. She turned away and I bit my tongue. One of my kids is very shy (shy in general, he is not afraid of characters) and it was a nice way of him interacting with the characters. Because of the autographs we did not do individual pictures, just autograph and a picture together. It would have been nice to have some separate (with their favs) but I, too, was afraid of taking too much time.

 

[wideeyes]

When we do the Photopass we get a picture of DD with a character and then us both with the character. It is usually the photographer or character that suggest it like sleeping beauty said, "lets get a picture with your mom too".

 

[saffronica]

Whoo boy Jennifer! You have no idea what RUDE is!! I was at Epcot and my daughter and I were taking a "shortcut" to get Fast Passes for our group to ride Test Track (actually we were sight seeing and taking our time!) We went by the place where a photo opportunity was happening. The family at the front of the line was about ten people; if I had to guess I'd say five adults, five kids. They had two mothers snapping photographs as A) one kid posed with Mickey, B) two other kids posed with Mickey, C) those two kids and the other kid posed with Mickey, D) one of the two other kids posed with Mickey then the OTHER of the two kids posed with Mickey, E) the other OTHER two kids posed with Mickey then took turns posing with Mickey, F) ALL the kids posed with Mickey, G) just when you thought it couldn't get worse, the ADULTS ALL took turns individually posing with Mickey!! After two of the adults posed with Mickey and the LOOOONNNNGGG line behind them started lighting their torches and sharpening their pitchforks, my daughter and I walked away laughing hysterically. I couldn't believe how rude those folks were being! Three pictures are perfectly acceptable, as long as they are organized and taken in a reasonable period of time. TWENTY PICTURES though? A bit much!

It still makes me smile to remember that. Might not have if I had been in line!

 

[pixiefairy]

I don't necessarily think it's rude...especially if you are organized. For us...I wouldn't do it simply because I have 5 kids...and I wouldn't want to make people wait. Whoever wants to get in the picture gets in, lol. I try really hard to just enjoy the moment and hope that everyone else is doing that as well. I'm sure there are people that push the limits...but it doesn't sound like you'd be one of them, OP.

 

[maroo]

I totally agree with the posts here that say it is totally fine as long as you are organized. I think it is annoying when you have waited forever and get to the front and have not taken out the camera, autograph books, pens and the participants have no idea what they plan to do.

Otherwise - have a blast!!

 

[BEASLYBOO]

The only time I would deem it "rude" is when we as amateur photographers take too much time trying to get that perfect, perfect shot. Sometimes not all of the elements come together at the same time and we just have to move on and hope it goes better the next time. Thank goodness for digital photography, at least now I have a better shot at it than with my multi rolls of 35mm film!

 

[OneBadApple]

I don't think it is rude at all. Everyone it that line has the right to spend some time with the characters, it is not an assemby line.

On our last trip, my parents came with us and when we went to see Mickey (no autographs), the photopass photographer insisited on doing grandparents w/ Mickey, kids w/ Mickey, mom, dad and kids w. Mickey and then everyone, And not only did he use his camera, he took my camera and took the pictures that I was in. My plan was just to get my parents w/ Mickey and then the kids w/ Mickey.

That said I don't think we were with Mickey for more than a couple of minutes.

I have to agree with a PP about the candid shots. One of my favorite pictures is of my then 11 year DD getting an autograph from Mickey. The expression on her face was priceless to me. There were also a couple of other candid shots from that meet and greet that are on the top of my list.

 

[Hooked On The Mouse]

My children are 6 and 9 and last year was their first time with autographs. A woman behind us said "I hate when people use those" and something to the effect of "wasting her time".

Now THAT is rude!

 

[sandym718]

As many posters have said, I don't think it's rude as long as you're fairly quick and organized about it. I would say 3 photos and 2 quick autograph signings is about the limit though. I do NOT appreciate it when either in a character line or at a meal, there is a group and they all want individual photos, then they want a group photo, then they want just the kids in the photo, then they have a bunch of autograph books, they also want their sweet petunia to dance with the character, they want to hold a "conversation" with them, etc. That is a bit much, I think. Even at the meals - it can REALLY drag out the time you're there waiting to see them all.

I think it's important to just think of others and all the other kids who want to see them, and then to choose accordingly. For us, we have 2 children. They do the autograph books, so I chose to just get one picture of them together with the character. A few times I got extra photos - walking up to the character in line, for example, or if one of them did something silly with a child at the meal. I actually got 3 copies made of each photo - 1 for each of their autograph books, and then 1 for our family scrapbook. No need to have the children separately for us.

 

[santadog]

....that other people are waiting to have the exact same experience right behind you!

I don't want to have the exact same experience -- the uniqueness is what makes it great. I've enjoyed watching other people's "moments" as much as ours. I remember once at the Character Spot in Epcpot, there was a couple celebrating their engagement. Minnie took the woman by the hand and headed over to Mickey, giving him the hint as to what a woman expected. Did this delay the line(s)? Yes. Did anyone complain? No. It was one of those unique moments that makes Disneyworld such a special place.

I feel like this was directed toward me.

My comments were in no way directed towards you (nor were they intended for anyone in particular). I just think everyone is entitled to their own Disney experience. I remember the first time my daughter met Alladin, she was so shy. She'd look at Jasmine, but Refused to make eye contact with Al.
He put his arm around her, and sang "Whole New World" to her in it's entirety. I didn't push, I just sat and watched. When he was done, everyone in line applauded. I am sure not everyone got that treatment, it was just something that happened.

 

[nooneshome]

Don't forget to get a picture with you and the character too!!!

 

[snookiedoodles]

Not rude at all....It's a nice keepsake for the kids! Although I have seen the characters roll their eyes when I do this...........

 

[mom2aandj]

As everyone else has said, it's not rude if you are quick and well organized. Prepare your kids, have your camera ready, and get it done!

On another note, in reference to your comment in your original post...you should care about the people behind you, and you absolutely shouldn't walk around with the attitude that you can do what you want because you paid so much for your trip...we all did too!

I agree, do it as quickly as you can and it's not a problem at all. But of course you should be considerate of those waiting behind you (it's really nothing to do with "what other people think." It's politeness.) And I would imagine 99% of the people at WDW on any given day think they paid a lot to be there too!

 

[PearlySwan]

Maybe rude is not the right word but here is my question: I have two children. A daughter who is 10 and a son who is 7. When we see the characters I would really like to have a photo of the character and my son, the character and my daughter, and the character and both of them. I wouldn't do this with ALL the characters we see but some of them. Will this take too long? Is this rude of me to want this? Will the people behind me get perturbed at me?

Part of me thinks I really don't care if people get angry, I paid a lot of money for this vacation and we don't go as much as some others. The other part of me thinks I don't want people behind me to get angry and think I am being selfish or impolite. Opinions please?

^^^ I don't think it is rude so long as the situation doesn't turn into the family portrait session. On our trip last month we had a single unpleasant experience at WDW. We waited in what at first didn't seem like a long line for PhotoPass pictures with Lightening McQueen and Maher at Hollywood Studios. We had not done this on our first trip and DS4 loves the Cars characters so we decided to wait in the heat for the photos. I told DH it wouldn't be a long wait as there were may be a 1/2 dozen families in line. Well let me tell you that the relatively small line turned into A LONG LONG LONG LONG wait. There was a PhotoPass photographer taking pictures of the families and a Cast Member handling the line. Two families in front of us there was a very large group (about 10 to 12 altogether). We waited patiently while the PhotoPass photographer took countless pictures with every imaginable pose known to mankind for each member of that group, then for each combination of people in that family. I overhead a lot of grumbling from the people both in front and behind me in line. One comment was along the lines of, "This isn't The Picture People!" another, "They should take their family portraits at Sears," etc. DH and I looked at each other and chuckled quietly. I told DH we should ask the PhotoPass photographer to take ONE or TWO photos of BOTH our kids together with the characters, as I recognized that people in line were getting super impatient, not to mention the several young kids in line getting ansy too. Well let me tell you that we were less than amused when it was our turn to take photos. The PhotoPass photographer up and left and the Cast Member said: "Ok, let me have your camera." I told him I would prefer the PhotoPass photographer to take one or two. The Cast member said, "He is having technical difficulties and had to leave." DH asked: "When is the PhotoPass photographer coming back?" The Cast Member's response: "He is probably not coming back at all." At that point I told the Cast Member that we had waited patiently in line to take two PhotoPass pictures. I reminded him that we had waited a LONG time while several families ahead of us had taken several pictures with several poses. The Cast Member said he couldn't get another PhotoPass person to come over. At that point I told my children to pose and I took two quick photos with my own camera. I can tell you there were several people in line that sounded and looked livid with what had happened. I told DH, "Let's move on. We have to get to Fantasmic!" I guess the point of this long story is simple. Do ask the PhotoPass photographer to take photos of your DS alone with characters, DD alone with characters, and both together with characters, but for the sake of others, who also paid "a lot of money for the vacation," please be considerate and don't turn the PhotoPass photographs with characters into a family portrait session.

 

[Tiger926]

I don't want to have the exact same experience -- the uniqueness is what makes it great. I've enjoyed watching other people's "moments" as much as ours. I remember once at the Character Spot in Epcpot, there was a couple celebrating their engagement. Minnie took the woman by the hand and headed over to Mickey, giving him the hint as to what a woman expected. Did this delay the line(s)? Yes. Did anyone complain? No. It was one of those unique moments that makes Disneyworld such a special place.

You misunderstood my comment - I don`t mean the next guest is waiting to copycat your experience, I mean that the next guest is waiting to experience a character interaction, just as you are.

No one is more special than the next guest; therefore, each and everyone of us is waiting to meet a character, so being organized and brief is the name of the game for character meets. Being cognizant of the fact that you are not at Disney alone, is important. We have had some incredibly personal character interactions, that were inititated by the character. A few took a wee bit longer than I thought was necessary for the guest behind us, and I have always apologized. But, when it is initiated by the person in charge, there is nothing you can do, and since they do it all day long, they know how to be fairly brief, but still personal and attentive to time constraints. That is very different than guests who do portrait sessions while with the characters, and guests who whip out 12 autograph books to be signed without any advance notice or checking with the character handler first.

After logging thousand of park hours, I see so many guests who honestly feel like they are alone with the characters - whether it is the selfish and ridiculous reason that they paid to be there, or a million other reasons, there are many guests waiting for that same special experience. If guests monopolize the experience, then surely that means a guest may not get to experience that character at all.

Tiger