We Knew It Was Coming . . .

[Minnesota!]

Hallelujah!

This might get me back in the door for a character meal. Less time all around.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

And remember, the time issue isn't just at table. It's also in training of friends. The time required to get every Tiana trained to sign as Tiana, and every Mickey to match up? It's non-zero.

 

[Roxyfire]

I believe @HopperFan was referencing revenues, not profits.

AH ok, I see this a lot on here and people forget the simple fact, they're not getting free supplies and labor. Food prices go up and they're not soaking that cost!

 

[HopperFan]

Just talking to DS about it and he said he can totally see Autograph Books going away if the cards become standard. Imagine them becoming collectables, selling binders/books with plastic pocket sheets like they do Sorcerers, at way more than an autograph book. The faster you get folks out of line and out of things like PFH, back to spending some money hopefully.

And no more training "friends" to do signatures and no more sharpie marks to clean out of costumes. Cost cutting a variety of ways.

Only one slight quibble with your napkin math is we don't know their actual costs for food, labor, etc. Some here can help us get that but you're giving them a full profit which isn't entirely fair. Again, not "Grading" just pointing out it won't be quite as much in the house's favor as your napkin math suggests. It'll still be quite nice but they can't hold onto all of that money, they still must pay the line items first. The real bonus is if they are able to increase the table turnover, which might make the (good) waitstaff happy.

As for the other get an autograph the first time and after that we just snap a photo, do a hug/high fives just to keep our time spent minimal. That being said, I feel for parents with young ones who believe in the characters. I like the autograph card and would also ask for two to display front and back. At least it isn't a plain index card!

I believe @HopperFan was referencing revenues, not profits.

Yes, thank you @DisBuckMan it was revenue. It is revenue they didn't have before with nothing really more in expenses than costs of food consumed by extra seating and signature cards. Same overhead, same employee costs. No we don't know that number but if you can increase your revenue at one restaurant that much in one year with only food costs changing, guaranteed your profits will be quite high.

 

[carmelhp]

Blame the guests?? Welcome to the new Disney. After all, a happy compromise would have just been to say "we only sign paper" and move on, but instead we decided to blame the guests for our cost saving move.

This is the new customer service model, the customer is always wrong, give us your money and move along. There is a breaking point and I think it's coming sooner than Disney expects.

 

[TJDisneymama]

I think they did it backwards, they should keep the characters at meals signing, and have the characters in parcks give out the cards. Those lines are always so long! We did several character meals on our trip last week and at every one the characters had all come through before we were done eating. There was no waiting around for them to get to our table.

 

[nursejackie]

What a disappointment this is. It is a great way for children to take something away from the character breakfasts as, let's face it, the photos are more for the parents (well, in our case they are). Luckily our 10 year old only likes two of them now (1900 Park Fare and Garden Grill breakfasts), so we may not have many more to do in the future.

 

[22Tink]

As an adult who gets character autographs- we DO look at them becuase I am a scrapbooker and they go in our albums and we look at the quite often - so remember that you are speaking for yourself, not everyone

This. My kids' autograph books also have pictures in them so we do look at them! The autographs were a special part of their character experiences.

 

[Redcon1]

Leave it to today's Disney to always go to the extreme when making changes. Instead of perhaps trying out a new policy of limiting autographs/pictures (say two each per table), they decide to stop offering autographs completely. This is the way they've been operating the last few years. Instead of finding a compromise that helps both the company and customers, they institute a change that is weighed toward their side, not the guests. Pretty soon, the meals will just include a handshake and a pre-taken photo.

Oh, and for the person who said about getting two cards, one for front and back, don't be surprised if the
cards become limited as well someday, one per customer.

 

[Simba's Mom]

Just curious-do the characters hand out the cards? Or do the handlers carry a stack and hand them out? Fortunately, for us it doesn't matter since our DGDs just go for a picture, not an autograph.

 

[lovelymarshmallow]

what a bummer. as a parent, i see my 4 year old grin with excitement as they sign. there is always a CM around so why can't they be the bad guy to institute the one autograph per person rule? what about a stamp like buzz lightyear? a card? ugh... i understand a lot of people love disney for different reasons but the biggest fans are the kids and a lot of them enjoy this aspect. there goes the custom autograph books i got them for this year's trip. i'll get the glue stick ready to glue the cards in.

 

[JerseyJanice]

This supposed training so that Mickey's signature looks the same every where you interact with Mickey has to be a new thing.

Back in the day--and I am talking 2008 specifically--we got signatures from Chip and Dale plus Mickey at both Garden Grill and Chef Mickey's.

The signatures did not look the same between restaurants. My son pointed that out, and I was like seriously? You are 12. Did you really think that they would?

When he was 4, he didn't notice that Pluto's handwriting was different the two places where he signed the book.

Most of what they're signing is for little kids. They aren't signing bank slips. There is no signature card. I don't buy for a second that the characters are being trained to forge signatures.

 

[DisBuckMan]

I don't buy for a second that the characters are being trained to forge signatures.

You're very naive, then. It's real.

 

[KrazeeK120]

I actually would have loved this on our last trip. My son was 18 months old and had no understanding of an autograph book. We took pictures with characters at the character meals we did (GG and TH), but obviously got no autographs. An autograph card would have been a nice keepsake. He will be just shy of 3 on our next trip and I'm not sure whether or not he will be interested in autograph books.

 

[JerseyJanice]

You're very naive, then. It's real.

No, I am not. There is a certain cartoony-looking script that a lot of them use. You can call it a font if you'd like, but like block printing, it doesn't look the same by everyone who uses it.

 

[TJDisneymama]

This supposed training so that Mickey's signature looks the same every where you interact with Mickey has to be a new thing.

Back in the day--and I am talking 2008 specifically--we got signatures from Chip and Dale plus Mickey at both Garden Grill and Chef Mickey's.

The signatures did not look the same between restaurants. My son pointed that out, and I was like seriously? You are 12. Did you really think that they would?

When he was 4, he didn't notice that Pluto's handwriting was different the two places where he signed the book.

Most of what they're signing is for little kids. They aren't signing bank slips. There is no signature card. I don't buy for a second that the characters are being trained to forge signatures.

theyve always been trained to have the same signature for each character..... of course, some may not be as perfect as they're supposed to be but in general - each character has their own unique "signature".

 

[loves to dive]

I have no dog in this hunt but, I don't see it as a bad thing. We have been going since my son was just shy of 3 so, yes, I have my share of pictures of him with characters. Back then, they just sort of roamed the park and they were at one or two meals but he never asked for a picture at a meal. It was dangerous to interrupt that boy while eating. I don't think he would have wanted an autograph and since I received "the worst mother of the year" award from him when he was about 8 or 9 (I cherish it, and yes, it was a joke) I certainly would not have carried around a book all day for him to get them. As far as someone enforcing the one signature rule, you read many stories here on the boards of someone getting upset right when the get up the the character in line and the handler turning them away. Fights have broken out, so enforcing the one signature rule could get just as ugly.

 

[Bubbenstein]

We were at Crystal Palace on Friday and no card was handed out and characters signed autographs like normal.

We had dinner at Hollywood & Vine last winter, when they were trying out autograph cards and we saw plenty of families still having their books signed. I'm wondering how they will enforce the "no autograph" rule if they do switch over to the cards.

 

[DisBuckMan]

No, I am not. There is a certain cartoony-looking script that a lot of them use. You can call it a font if you'd like, but like block printing, it doesn't look the same by everyone who uses it.

Do you expect them all to be exactly alike, as if they were using a stamp? They are trained to do the character's autograph...100% fact. It's impossible to be exactly the same, but the similarities are there.

 

[TJDisneymama]

Do you expect them all to be exactly alike, as if they were using a stamp? They are trained to do the character's autograph...100% fact. It's impossible to be exactly the same, but the similarities are there.

yes, we have almost 10 years worth of autographs....if you look at any specific characters over the years, you will see they are very, very similar. Some almost exact.