Need advice on meeting characters as an adult w/out kids

[belledreamer]

I'm a single adult and have never been much on meeting characters until recently. So I have decided that I'm disneybounding each day of my trip (as a character or from the movie of a character I'm planning to see) and trying to meet as many characters as I can while I'm there, especially those that I've never met before. I know some people have mentioned that when going to meet characters (especially face characters) without any kids with them that they would take the opportunity to have a little more of a conversation with them but I get a little starstruck and can never think of anything...

So I'm hoping to share who I'm planning to see so that I could hear your experiences and recommendations of what I can talk about with them, and who I should see that I wasn't planning on. Also if anyone has disneybounded as a character with the intent of getting a pic with that character, how was the character's reaction?

Here we go!

Hollywood Studios - I'm going as an Ewok and DM is going as Princess Leia so we're definitely planning on seeing Chewbacca and Kylo Ren.

Magic Kingdom (Day one) - I'm going as Winnie the Pooh so Pooh and Tigger are must do's on my list.

Magic Kingdom (Day two) - Since I'm going as 'Little Town' Belle, I'm definitely planning on seeing Gaston and doing Storytime with Belle in the hopes of getting a picture with Belle there. But this is definitely the day of face characters so my must do's are Peter Pan and Tinkerbell (who I've met before), Tiana, Anastasia and Drizzella. Also, can you still meet the Fairy Godmother at the castle? It would be a dream come true if I could see her!

Epcot - Dressing up as Grumpy so I have to find Snow White and I think we're also doing the character spot with the Disney Visa

Animal Kingdom - Since I know Tarzan no longer does meet and greets, I decided to disneybound instead from my favorite show there, Finding Nemo: The Musical so I'm dressing up as Dory.

Looking forward to seeing your recommendations and reading your experiences!!

 

[joyjoy]

We Disney Bounded in Sept and it was great. Ariel (in her grotto at MK) was the sweetest. I bought a shell locket and put a picture of Prince Eric in it. When she looked at it she said "Oh, it's my Eric!". Tarzan doesn't do meet and greet anymore? We saw him just hanging out on the Discovery Island trail. We talked to him about how he learned to write (Jane, natch). Talk to the stepsisters about their dresses (they're new) and their hair. Ask if they think Cinderella is beautiful. They'll talk your ear off. Talk to Tiana about her favorite Cajun recipes.

 

[belledreamer]

We Disney Bounded in Sept and it was great. Ariel (in her grotto at MK) was the sweetest. I bought a shell locket and put a picture of Prince Eric in it. When she looked at it she said "Oh, it's my Eric!". Tarzan doesn't do meet and greet anymore? We saw him just hanging out on the Discovery Island trail. We talked to him about how he learned to write (Jane, natch). Talk to the stepsisters about their dresses (they're new) and their hair. Ask if they think Cinderella is beautiful. They'll talk your ear off. Talk to Tiana about her favorite Cajun recipes.

Tarzan still does meet and greets?! I didn't see him on MDE and I had seen some reports that he wasn't meeting guests anymore but I'd love to find him. Definitely will have to keep my eyes open! Heard tons of good things about the stepsisters. Thought I'd ask for advice on finding a prince And I'm from the South so I'm sure Tiana and I can find recipes to swap.

 

[AngiTN]

Pretty sure Tarzan is retired, after the opening of Pandora.

As for meeting characters, there are tons of great idea on Kenny The Pirate's site. I suggest that.

 

[oceanmarina]

Pretty sure Tarzan is retired, after the opening of Pandora.

As for meeting characters, there are tons of great idea on Kenny The Pirate's site. I suggest that.

Yep to that! I swear by both my lines app & my Kenny the Pirate app!

 

[belledreamer]

Pretty sure Tarzan is retired, after the opening of Pandora.

As for meeting characters, there are tons of great idea on Kenny The Pirate's site. I suggest that.

Thanks! I'll definitely check it out!

 

[DisneyLiz20]

I believe you can find Snow White in Germany! And I always get pictures with characters, I don’t care what people think!

 

[only hope]

Meet Alice at the UK pavillion. I’m not a big fan of the movie but met her recently on a signature gathering hunt for a gift and was pleasantly surprised. She is a lot of fun. It was amusing watching her meet the people before me. Definitely check out Kenny the Pirates website.

 

[figmentedfollies]

When I did my last round of character meet and greets, I was having them sign a reusable shopping bag (instead of an autograph book) and that ended up being a focal point of many conversations. Also, face characters also pick up on what you're wearing and will make comments. One day I was in a dress with a book pattern, everyone asked me if I was going to see Belle (answer: yes).

If you do get a bit nervous, try to think back to their movie and pull something from that. I hadn't seen Frozen before meeting Anna and Elsa, but I knew they both liked chocolate and so I used that.

Good luck!

 

[magical-me]

Solo meet and greets are so much more fun than group ones! I did a solo trip in November and doing another one... next week xD. I low keyed Disney bounded Snow for a day and she noticed. And yes u do get more out of your interactions. Don’t worry about not knowing where to start a conversation, some of them really drive it.

One thing I really enjoyed was vlog with them and ask them one interesting question thats pertinent to something going on in the kingdom. You’d be surprised at how cute their answers are lol

 

[magical-me]

I believe you can find Snow White in Germany! And I always get pictures with characters, I don’t care what people think!

She’s also at the MK by the front. It switches between her or Aurora.

 

[magical-me]

Also Starlord is my fave meet and greet in HS. His line is always short.

 

[belledreamer]

When I did my last round of character meet and greets, I was having them sign a reusable shopping bag (instead of an autograph book) and that ended up being a focal point of many conversations. Also, face characters also pick up on what you're wearing and will make comments. One day I was in a dress with a book pattern, everyone asked me if I was going to see Belle (answer: yes).

If you do get a bit nervous, try to think back to their movie and pull something from that. I hadn't seen Frozen before meeting Anna and Elsa, but I knew they both liked chocolate and so I used that.

Good luck!

I love this idea! I haven't done signatures since I was little but this would be so much fun! Definitely need to do something like this!

 

[Cinderella94]

I met Tarzan during July 4 week this year. But, I don't know if he was only out because that's a busy week and they wanted more things for guests to do. He was in the app, though, so it wasn't a last-minute surprise.

 

[AngiTN]

I met Tarzan during July 4 week this year. But, I don't know if he was only out because that's a busy week and they wanted more things for guests to do. He was in the app, though, so it wasn't a last-minute surprise.

His retirement is recent
Again, I'll direct anyone curious about what character is where to Kenny's site. He has all that info

 

[sunshine1]

Tarzan still does meet and greets?! I didn't see him on MDE and I had seen some reports that he wasn't meeting guests anymore but I'd love to find him. Definitely will have to keep my eyes open! Heard tons of good things about the stepsisters. Thought I'd ask for advice on finding a prince And I'm from the South so I'm sure Tiana and I can find recipes to swap.

They replaced Tarzan with Timon from October 1st 2017.

I know this because I was pleased that as I put my trip back a month due to Irma I could meet Timon.

 

[karly05]

I love meeting characters as a solo. The best interactions I've had are with the characters I'm a big fan of (Russell and Dug were awesome when I opened with "You guys are my heroes!"). I think with any characters, letting them know you know their story and are a fan will get you off to a good start. My rusty old high school Spanish isn't much, but Handy Manny and Elena both loved being greeted with a buenos dias. I was really lucky to meet Tiana and Naveen on Mardi Gras, which was a great starter.

The only Disneybound I've ever done was on my 4 parks in 1 day day, when I put on an orange and white striped tee, dark blue capris, black socks and black & white sneakers and went to see Phineas & Ferb - they got it at once, and when I told them I was wearing my outfit from their Summer All the Time fashion collection, they went nuts over me. I love P&F and met them every trip until their m&g ended; they were great.

Also Starlord is my fave meet and greet in HS. His line is always short.

Oh, I so want to meet Starlord and Groot! But I don't have a trip planned for this year. I trust when they eventually get the GOTG ride open at Epcot there will be some sort of m&g attached to it.

 

[caribbeandream]

My last two trips were to Disneyland and I had not had good experiences interacting with characters in the California parks as an adult. Heck, even Anna and Elsa in Disneyland were awkward around my then 12yo son. I did not need to worry. I was so impressed with how good all the characters were, even when it was just 50yo me in the photo. Character interactions in WDW are amazing! I could not get over them, especially Alice and Snow White in EPCOT.

 

[BalooFan]

You can plan ahead of time what you might want to say to a character, but they are normally excellent at keeping the conversation going. The characters seem to really enjoy seeing someone Disneybounding as them and will compliment your outfit, hair, etc. I did a sort of a Disneybound-lite as Cinderella and wore my Pick-a-Pearl Cinderella’s carriage necklace and she pointed it out and asked if I traveled to see her in my carriage. I have a great PhotoPass picture of this encounter. Even though I am a middle-aged woman, I look like an awestruck little girl in that picture.

 

[Vala]

Yes, Fairy Godmother is still at the castle. She was alternating with Anastasia and Drizella when I was visiting in fall.

Don't be concerned. If you show you are willing to play the characters will play. Disneybounding is a great thing to start with. Anything that catches their attention and is a conversation starter is. Pins on your lanyard, something special to sign etc.

I was Disneybounding as Rescue Ranger Chip last trip. Of course Chip got ridiculously excited when he saw me, and Dale sulked. But a lot of characters picked up on it. Two (along with several CMs) even started signing the Rescue Rangers theme!

My friend was Disneybounding as Scrump, Lilo's doll. She was stunned when out of all characters possible Aladdin was the one to recognize her.