Tips for Character Pics?

[newtodis]

Does anyone have a tip to get a "good" picture with a character? I know "good" is relative and I don't mean perfect with everyone looking and smiling. I have DS3 and DS1. How do I get cute pictures of like DS1 with Mickey without DH or myself holding him? I know you don't have a lot of time with each character so I'm trying to get the best in a few seconds.

TIA!

 

[Fran98765]

Well, to be honest, at that age you probably won't get pics of them with the chars without you or DH. They are tiny small people and Goofy is over 6 feet tall. He's only 2 inches tall on tv!

The more your kids "LOVE" a character, the more likely they will be to go without parents. But one of you will probably still be holding a hand!

With my son, Goofy was one of the last characters he felt comfy with. I have a Mickey kitchen so he's plastered all over the place and he felt the most comfy with Mickey and Minnie when he was tiny. He was most familiar with Mickey and lets face it, Minnie is Mickey with eyelashes.

No matter how brave your kids are normally, you won't be able to tell what will happen until you get there. Don't force them to do anything they don't want to with the characters. When we stopped by characters he wasn't familiar with he wouldn't get out of the stroller. My son has been 6 times now at 5 yo and he knows the drill. Get up, make cute faces for the camera and move along. LOL

He still adores seeing Mickey, esp on Mickey Avenue. We always have such wonderfully magical meetings there, it's amazing. When he was younger, and would be grumpy from just waking up or being hot or whatever, we'd just search out Mickey and send him in and like magic my son would be beaming with smiles and happiness. Even with his love for Mickey at 2 yrs old, he still wanted DH or me nearby. Luckily for those wonderful pics, we were able to move outside the camera range.

Sorry for the rambles... I hit memory lane haha!

 

[DRRluvsWDW]

Take pics too of your kids looking at the characters, walking up to them watching them sign the book... etc

Sometimes you giving the character the book and the kids can give the pen (retractable sharpie ) works well.

You talk to the characters too. "Minnie we love your dress" "Belle, what books have you been reading?" There is a what to say to the characters thread. That helps the "stranger anxiety" if parents talk to them first.

Keeping the 1yo in the stroller helps too. Just wheel your stroller up to the character and face it toward the camera. The in and out of the stroller made my kids crazy. Not the most perfect photo, but if they aren't crying...
The caracters seem to pose differently too. We have Chip & Dale practically in our stroller.

Enjoy! Take lots of pics and some will surely be great! The crying with Santa & Easter Bunny pics always make the newspaper.

 

[Lil'Simba]

dd11 was almost 3 the last time we were in WDW. I showed her how to go up to the a character and ask for an autograph nicely. When they actually signed the book, she looked at me like "It worked!" - that was it. She took over. The excitement on her face just waiting in line was a picture.
The best picture I have of her, though, just happened. We saw Eeyore. She said "Eeyore needs a hug" - Eeyore, who happened to be standing by a curb, sat down on the curb to be more in line to her height. she went up to him and, sat down next to him, and put her head down on his lap. he just bent forward to give her a hug. No smiles - just a genuine "I love you". It was the best picture and it wasn't posed!

 

[MazdaUK]

DS(8) has had variable response to characters - at 5 we had a lovely spontaneous one of him hugging Pooh at Crystal palace, and one of him looking thoroughly grumpy at Chef Mickey's Keep the camera on burst mode and delete the ones that don't work!