That's right, I can't stand Winnie the Pooh. But let me explain. My family and I love meeting characters at WDW. Every character greeting holds something new and time we get to spend with Disney characters is time well spent.
But seriously, enough Pooh already.
He's EVERYWHERE! On our last trip we saw his fat behind at Crystal Palace, the England pavilion, 1900 Park Fare, the Hollywood Studios hat, the HS Animation building, and Main St USA. We were there for only 4 days.
Why can't there be some different characters out there? I mean, Pooh took over where Lotso was last year, and he's all alone. No Piglet, Tigger, Rabbit, Kanga, etc, just Pooh. What a great group photo that would be with all of the Hundred Acre wood characters together! But no, we get more Pooh.
I get it - he's popular. But Disney needs to get creative in the character area. When was the last time anyone saw Huey Dewey and Louie? Does anyone remember who they even are? Any recent sightings of Kuzco and Kronk? Character freaks would go nuts just to see some of the classic Disney characters circulating again. Get the Beauty and the Beast crew off stage and put them in front of the hat once in a while, do something different.
Usually too much Pooh will send you to the doctor's office, but at WDW it seems OK.
From a totally emotional point of view, you're right. Sure -- bring H/D/L out to meet and greet! Bring out Kuzco and Kronk!
But from a practical POV, you have to think about how that could happen. The reason H/D/L are not out in any of the domestic parks -- the only place you can see them is Japan -- is because Disney simply can't keep those characters cast. Think about it ... think about how short Donald is and how short
the person inside the costume needs to be. Then remember that H/D/L need to be
shorter than that. That's tough to cast initially, and nearly impossible for daily M&Gs.
Kuzco and Kronk are much the same, from a casting standpoint, but there's also a huge costuming cost. Those characters had a couple of sets of costumes built for the parade and when the film came out. If K&K were to begin doing daily meet & greets, a stockpile of costumes for both would need to be built, and that's pricey for two characters who just simply don't demand the kind of lines that Pooh does. Overexposed or not, there's always a line to see Winnie the Pooh.
Getting the B&B crew off the stage and in front of the hat is problematic as well ... you can already meet Belle & Beast in France, and since none of the other characters (Lumiere, Cogsworth, Mrs. Potts, Chip) are able to sign autographs, it's a bit awkward to have them meeting and greeting. Sure, photo ops are nice, but all of those costumes are built for a couple of shows a day in a fairly controlled, shaded environment. Put them out under the sun and into the humidity and rain, and you're once again talking about a large expense to build the number of costumes required to service a M&G.
Lots of other more rare characters are the same. You have to think about the logistics, training, building / maintaining of costumes, storage, etc. when you demand other Characters.
I know it seems as though Disney just has warehouses full of Character costumes, gathering dust and waiting to be used, but they don't. They don't build costumes unless Character popularity warrants it, and they only maintain those costumes used regularly. Those "rare" characters you spot at
MNSSHP or during a Character-palooza may be wearing the only servicable costume for that Character that exists.
Not sure who you mean by "classic Disney Characters", but all the heavy-hitters are there. Some of the older characters never had walk-around costumes to start with, and others (Bambi, Lady & Tramp, Dumbo, etc) just don't work in a M&G setting.
