Someone convince me that the character MnG in DL are not awful, please.

[cobright]

Skip to the TL-DR section if you like, this is just a little emotional history...

Hint of backstory. We went to WDW in 2016 and DLR in 2017 and Moana had a MnG at each but ... my family had never seen the show and didn't know how great it was. That's ok, we had a family trip planned for 2017 we'll see her then ... then we find out they pulled Moana's MnG from WDW. Gah! But! Then we learn that she gets a MnG at MNSSHP and so we adjust our dates to get in on that action.

I built my daughter a Tamatoa costume, complete with crabby claws and a glitter encrusted fiberglass carapace. She's 13 and in that lovable sullen, moody, unappreciative phase; but she sees it and hugs me. It took a Tamatoa costume to bring my little girl out of her shell.

Day of the party, it's 94 degrees Fahrenheit. The costume is a hit. She actually becomes a minor celebrity. People were running up to her telling her they had heard there was a Tamatoa girl... People in line chatted her up on it... everyone dressed as Moana made a point to come up and say high. The photopass photographers told us that a call had gone out on the radio about my kids costume.

It was a great day, what could make it better? Meeting Moana!
Nope! Went straight to her line and it was over 3 hours long. If you didn't read the previous paragraph, it was 94 deg. and 8000% humidity. I ask the cast member if it's really 3 hours ... she says, oh at least. We tried to stick it out but it just wasn't happening. Defeated we left the Moana line and mostly enjoyed the rest of the party. Heartened by the thought that in 6 months or so a business trip will give the wife and I a chance to visit DLR and we can at least get a photo and maybe a chuckle out of the little wayfinder with our costume story.

TL-DR
So most of the Character MnG in DL work like this:

1. A character shows up.
2. People and families who love that character rush over and (generally) form an orderly line and begin to patiently wait their turn.
3. A CM informs everyone that there is no line, that everyone should just crowd up on the character. The CMs tell us that if you want an autograph or photo with the character to just walk up and ask.
4. At this point humanity here is best described by that scene in Lord of the Flies after the conch shatters.

I can think of a few reasons why they would do it this way, but none of them are very good. It lets the character be more spontaneous ... fair point. Nostalgia for a time back when characters roamed the parks... I get that. Yet more lines for something somehow feels less magical...touché.

But here's what you get, and a little on how that effected us.

Moana shows up. Yay! 2-4 of the previous list occur. Boo! Shy kids decided they didn't want to go see her as everytime they started to a bold kid (often encouraged by a bolder parent) pushed past. Not roughly, just exploiting the other child's hesitation. There was no photopass. After stepping forward and then holding the floor for a couple shy kids (something we say literally no one else do, let alone any of the 5 cast members) we met and said hello to Moana, asked for a picture.

There's no cameraman or CM willing to use my camera, so I ended up taking the picture of my wife with Moana instead of getting a shot with all 3 of us. And then we were on our way. Amid loud grumbling from the semicircle of parents and eager children that their kids should go before any adults. Start to finish...less than 10 seconds with the character.

Some time later we saw Merida, a favorite. We like to do this thing where we get a series of photos of me telling her a 'dirty' joke. She laughs. We do it to some other princesses but instead of a (not really)bawdy joke we say that the evil queen coming. So it looks like each Princess hears the joke and is shocked, but Merida thinks its hilarious. ... Anyway, same story with Merida except we give up amid an almost uncontrolled mob of kids and parents.

We stopped and watched other character meets throughout the trip and they all seemed to play out this way to one extent or another. For the life of me, I cannot imagine a person who has experienced WDW character meets preferring the DL style of them.

 

[tnzzz]

Hopefully someone with more experience at DL can chime in... but I wanted to say the two trips that I have seen Moana have been in Adventureland and there was most definitely a line and m&g that seemed organized. The line was always too long for my young kids to wait in (probably 30-45min max) but I watched for a bit one time and it definitely wasn’t a free for all.
Also we have caught random characters who show and often wait in a line with no problem. This probably depends on the character and if they’re roaming or not, but it’s usually how we have experienced characters. Even those not in designated spots.
ETA I haven’t been to WDW so can’t compare but I honestly love the randomness sometimes of catching characters throughout the park. Even if that means we don’t always get to spend much time interacting with them.

 

[Skyegirl1999]

These aren’t meet and greets. They’re roaming characters. At DL, there’s a huge difference.

I’ve expressed on these boards before that I wish Disney would do something on the app to explain/differentiate between the two, but I admit that I’m not sure how they’d do that clearly and succinctly.

I know quite a few characters (I taught high school in the area and have former students who work at DL in a whole bunch of capacities). Some characters only do roaming sets (think Gaston), but certainly the VAST majority of character appearances at the parks are traditional meet and greets. There are only a handful of characters who truly roam, but Merida is one, and Moana varies between roaming and meet and greet sets.

Based on conversations I’ve had, the characters tend to really enjoy the roaming sets and express frustration with people who “just want a photo and autograph and don’t even want to interact,” but obviously lots of guests are trying to collect as many photos and autographs as possible... which is why I think Disney needs to be more transparent about the idea of “roaming” character sets and what they entail.

A character on a roaming set is ABOVE ALL supposed to “continually keep moving,” typically doesn’t pose for pictures or sign autographs (some will sign on a limited basis, usually while walking)... the point is to be part of the ambiance.

There are also sets where the characters “play,” like when Peter Pan leads red light/green light or Alice does musical chairs or a tea party, but I forget what those sets are called.

 

[tiffjoy]

We have met Moana with the line up, but this past weekend, she was just roaming, like a number of other characters. I can't say we saw anything like you are describing the several times we saw her. My daughter really likes her, and she went up and said hi, but my DD didn't want a pic or autograph. It wasn't any problem and the character was lovely. We didn't experience any mobbing.

They do it this way at Tokyo Disneyland, too. It can be a little intimidating, I understand. It's not my favorite way, but neither is standing in a three hour line. I prefer meeting at DL, still, to WDW. I don't have to FP every character interaction at DL, and I love seeing the characters wander the parks like they really live there.

I'm not understanding at all your joke description, so I can't answer to that part. I'm lost on what you are trying to say, I guess, or why you are telling a dirty joke to a Disney character???

 

[DLgal]

There are two kinds of character interactions at DL, both Roaming and Fixed Location meet and greets. The roaming ones don't have a line and you can try to interact as they are moving. The other kind definitely have lines and Photopass photographers and it's very organized.

I thought Moana was a fixed location character meet in Adventureland. I have never seen her roaming.

 

[Skyegirl1999]

There are two kinds of character interactions at DL, both Roaming and Fixed Location meet and greets. The roaming ones don't have a line and you can try to interact as they are moving. The other kind definitely have lines and Photopass photographers and it's very organized.

I thought Moana was a fixed location character meet in Adventureland. I have never seen her roaming.

She has roaming sets. We’ve seen her both ways.

And I will say that a TON of characters don’t have Photopass photographers. Heck, we waited over an hour for Jack and Sally in October and then had no Photopass photographer, we had no Photopass in Fantasy Faire last week (that one’s a bummer because a phone simply can’t get good pictures with the lighting in there)... and those are places that you can usually count on them! In Town Square, we meet the Fab Five all the time and quite rarely have a photographer. It’s definitely not like Disney World in that respect; I saw Photopass with every character there!

 

[mom2rtk]

Not a fan of the roaming characters either since people have been conditioned to expect a line and want to take photos with the characters.

That said, I'm not sure it's any better to have 3 hour lines.

We met Moana in Adventureland in December with about a 20 minute wait.

 

[sherilaine]

We have seen both types of character situations - some where the character is with a CM and there is a line formed and managed by the CM - some have a photographer and some don't but where there is not photographer we just take a picture with our phone. My kids love the characters that just roam - but they are not shy and will go up and interact with them and have a great time.

Expectations are everything and if you have your heart set on a character experience being one specific way then disappointment is much more likely. If that is the case then I cannot convince you that your experience isn't going to be horrible - but ours have been fabulous!

 

[Skyegirl1999]

since people have been conditioned to expect a line and want to take photos with the characters.

This is why I wish they’d explain the difference somehow! I think people are often confused by the roaming characters because they don’t line up with the character expectations that have been created BY Disney. Information would really help, I think, so people understand and don’t get frustrated when the characters won’t sign their book and whatnot.

 

[SOCALMouseMommy]

I like the roaming characters, but then again I don't really care about photo ops too much. I just like to watch my son interacting with them. One day we were walking from Fantasyland to Frontierland and there is Woody on the path, all alone, no handler or photographer. It was in the morning and there also happened to be very few other people around so Woody took my son's hand and went for a walk down the pathway with him. I did snap some photos with my phone. It was a precious moment and much more memorable than the standard "wait in line, snaps some photos, move on" MnG that most people think of. Also, the other day Pluto was randomly roaming in DCA. My son was playing alone under the big bear stature at GRR and Pluto came behind and played hide n seek with him for a few minutes. It was adorable.

 

[SOCALMouseMommy]

 

[bumbershoot]

So most of the Character MnG in DL work like this:

1. A character shows up.
2. People and families who love that character rush over and (generally) form an orderly line and begin to patiently wait their turn.
3. A CM informs everyone that there is no line, that everyone should just crowd up on the character. The CMs tell us that if you want an autograph or photo with the character to just walk up and ask.
4. At this point humanity here is best described by that scene in Lord of the Flies after the conch shatters.

To the blue sentence, nope.

A meet and greet is in a fixed location with a line.

If the character is mobile it’s not a meet and greet. It’s hearkening back to what people feel is the good old days of just happening upon characters.


As people have said, some characters do both. We have only seen Merida in a fixed line location (at the Halloween party). Back when he was around we saw jack sparrow twice in a fixed line and I saw him roaming once.


With Halloween parties I feel it’s important to figure out what aspect you want to do is on and focus in it. If characters are what you want, figure out priorities and do that. If rides are, then do rides. Don’t try to do it all, it’s impossible, because the people who made characters a priority (like your attempt at meeting Moana) will all be there already.

 

[lcp9]

Skip to the TL-DR section if you like, this is just a little emotional history...



TL-DR
So most of the Character MnG in DL work like this:

1. A character shows up.
2. People and families who love that character rush over and (generally) form an orderly line and begin to patiently wait their turn.
3. A CM informs everyone that there is no line, that everyone should just crowd up on the character. The CMs tell us that if you want an autograph or photo with the character to just walk up and ask.
4. At this point humanity here is best described by that scene in Lord of the Flies after the conch shatters.

You are doing it wrong. I have personally been able to meet all the princesses, toting a 5 year old, in 3 hours.

1. Check the app the day ahead of time to have a ballpark of who meets where, when.
2. Ex: Ariel meets 9:15 at wishing well, Aurora is 9:45
3. Go to wishing well at 9:05 and start the line.
4. Be first in line to meet Ariel.
5. Go to back of line.
6. Be at beginning of line again when Aurora shows up.
7. BAM.

You have to be watching the app. We probably have pics and signatures from 95% of characters and not a single one has been because a character showed up and we ran up to a mob.

FWIW we did this with Moana on Halloween. I got in line for Jack and Sally with my son, my husband and mom went over at 9:05 for Moana. She showed up at 9:15, photopass photographer in tow. They finished and were able to come meet me.

 

[Vala]

You actually lost me with your Disneyland part too. Are you worried this will happen or did it happen to you? The title suggests you are worried about it might happen, but the post seems to tell a previous experience. And for the record, I do not understand the joke part either.

If you don't want to meet roaming characters, check the app. Moana was roaming only for a while, but now most set seem to be fixed location - mostly without Photopass, CMs even told us to complain when we were shaking our heads at this last trip.

I don't mind the roaming characters. Actually I have a slight preference to them even because very often this is the only way you will find a rare character. It can be a bit iffy on occasion, I agree. But if you think Anaheim is bad - which it is not - do yourself a favor and never even get close to Paris. They hate lines there and people even will push in on your character interaction when there are lines - parents encourage their children to just duck under ropes and run in.

Anyway, and I am sorry I have to say this... but you have over 1000 posts on here. It sounds like Moana was a really big priority for your daughter. Everyone posting in the WDW section in the party thread made it clear that the line will be long and if you want to see her you best go for her line first and go as early as you can. I am really not clear why you did make other lines (and the way you write it it sounds like quite a number of them) a priority instead of going for Moana first? She is insanely popular and out only at the party. Of course her line will be mental if you go there halfway through. This problem at the party could have been avoided with a little bit of research.

I passed on Moana during the party knowing I'd see her in DLR the week later. As soon as they opened the gates for party tickets I got my wristband and beelined for the Jack Skellington line. My friend got food, kept our spot for the dwarfs , I took over when I had seen Jack and Sally and she went for the Pooh and Friends line. Yes, we waited three hours for three character lines. But we got two of the most popular meets of the party covered, and characters are our priority. We knew we had to take those long lines into account.

 

[cobright]

For some of the classic characters I totally see the fun of roaming sets. In particular Fur or mask characters where your range of interaction is narrower. But sometimes you want to have a bit of fun with that character. Something with a little back and forth and what I've seen so far at DL makes this near impossible. Some exceptions. I think pixie hollow was set up well. But far fewer scheduled character meets at all and when you do find one you have to dominate a mob through it.

I'm not understanding at all your joke description, so I can't answer to that part. I'm lost on what you are trying to say, I guess, or why you are telling a dirty joke to a Disney character???

Nobody's telling dirty jokes to Disney Princesses. Not really. But just imagine the reaction if you did. Cinderella, appalled. Belle, disgusted. Snow White, shaken to her very delicate high pitched core. Merida ... Oh come on, she laughs like a Scot at a bearfight. That's the photo collage I've got in my hallway.

 

[katyringo]

Best advice we got before going was to know our must see characters and ask a CM when and where they would be. The looked it right up. For us this was captain America. We knew what time and wheee his meet and greet was and headed there about 30 mins before. Son met his hero with very little wait.

 

[katyringo]

And we had great interactions with all the characters. Banter and all.

 

[Niltiac]

I've never been to WDW so I've never given this much thought, but I like that there are roaming characters. Meeting characters and getting a photo is not important to us, at least not important enough to take time away from other priorities. But having a few characters walk around and interact with people randomly, or interact with the people bold enough to initiate an interaction, allows more people to be entertained. That is, all the people nearby get to watch and laugh and enjoy the antics. We have been particularly entertained by the stormtroopers detaining people. The roaming characters allow people like us who don't care about formal meet n greets to enjoy characters too. Having seperate, formal meet and greets for those who do want the photo/autograph/one-on-one time gives the best of both worlds, and you can choose which way you want to experience the characters. It seems like the biggest issue is that it wasn't clear that that's how it works, and it makes sense that that would be aggravating. I'm not sure how to fix that though, because having someone loudly announcing that this isn't a formal meet and greet everywhere the character goes would kind of kill the atmosphere.

 

[VandVsmama]

I 2nd what @bumbershoot said. DL meet & greets that are in a fixed location do have a definite line. DL characters that are roaming around? No...there's no formal line.

BUT...I would argue that if you change your perspective a bit and get "in the moment," you can turn those random "roaming character" moments into something pretty great! Maybe you won't get a photo op and an autograph out of it, but the memories you'll get from it are equally as valuable.

Here's an example...I couldn't find this one on Fresh Baked's Youtube channel, but this clip gives credit to Fresh Baked.

I came upon the Evil Queen once about a year ago at DL. She was clearly walking with purpose to some sort of destination and didn't have time to stop and say hello. So I bowed down as she approached and said something like, "Good day, my queen." the Evil Queen didn't miss a beat and said, "Now THAT is a proper greeting!" and she continued on her way.

IT WAS AWESOME! AND SO MUCH FUN!

During our last vacation to DL, we were walking through Tomorrowland and, as you might be aware, there are often stormtroopers patrolling there in the afternoon. They don't have a standard Meet & Greet location. They roam and they interact with guests, but it's not like it's a "stop and take a photo and get an autograph" sort of thing. Anyway, I spotted the stormtroopers, and told my kids, "Follow me!" We caught up to them and I told them, "I have some rebel spies here that you should inspect." And the stormtroopers inspected my kids, called them rebel scum and cool stuff like that. It was a highlight of our trip. I snapped some quick pics while the stormtroopers were inspecting the kids, but it was not a staged thing or anything like that where they posed. It was just in the moment. And it didn't last for more than a minute or 2.

But you know what? My 9 yr old loved it. It was one of her favorites of the whole trip. And it was totally spontaneous. We didn't have to reserve a FP+ for it. It just happened.

LOTS of characters at DL "just roam." For example, we've seen Chip & Dale in Town Square. They will hang around and play with you if you engage them in more than a "can I get your autograph" sort of thing. Talk to them. Even if your kid(s) suddenly clam up and won't say a word. Just talk to the character and respond to their gestures as if you totally understand them. yes, you might feel like a fool sometimes doing it, but you're doing this for your and your family's enjoyment and trust me....your kids will LOVE IT!

 

[cobright]

It sounds like Moana was a really big priority for your daughter. Everyone posting in the WDW section in the party thread made it clear that the line will be long and if you want to see her you best go for her line first and go as early as you can. I am really not clear why you did make other lines (and the way you write it it sounds like quite a number of them) a priority instead of going for Moana first? She is insanely popular and out only at the party. Of course her line will be mental if you go there halfway through. This problem at the party could have been avoided with a little bit of research.

I did ramble a bit so it may not have been clear. From the time we realized how cool Moana is, I have had one shot at seeing her in Orlando and one shot last weekend at DL. During MNSSHP in Orlando, we went to the line almost as soon as they let us into the park. And in fairness, we could have waited it out. I'm not grudging on there being a line longer than I cared to wait in. I was just trying to illustrate a saga of near misses leading up to my somewhat phyrric victory.

It struck me as odd though, regardless of which character, the pattern was so similar. Character shows up, people line up, CMs deorganize the line into a mob. Now, every person who is at the character is surrounded by people clamoring to take their place. The interactions are rushed. It may be that the character may randomly decide to grab that kid and go do something fun, but I watched a lot of these mobs and never saw it. But even so, this occasional bit of magic is not a feature of the disorganized character meet format. they happen at WDW.

What I haven't seen at WDW is a shy kid get to the front of the crowd and then walked past buy other kids and parents until the character's set was over. Or get up to the Princess and after 20 seconds or so have comments fielded at her from other kids or parents that she needs to hurry up, I saw some version of this more than once in each of the 5 character meets I watched.

I thought Moana was a fixed location character meet in Adventureland. I have never seen her roaming.

She's on the schedule it shows on the app, what looks like a string of 10 minute sets over by Tarzan Treehouse. But every time I checked in to see if there was going to be a real MnG she was walking over to the Aladdin's Oasis where she remained.