We Knew It Was Coming . . .

[AquaDame]

There were some tables, however, that were only interested in the autograph and the photo and that was it- they didn't really want the interaction and that was fine. In the back of my mind, though, I always thought of those people as the ones who didn't go somewhere for an experience, but instead just for proof that they actually went there.

Next time you speak with Tigger (I assume you are still on good terms, at least I hope? ) Please let him know we don't do character meals to say we've gone but usually as a strategy to make the most of our time in a park. Early entry is serious business for us and the pics are a bonus!

 

[goofyintoronto]

1) Crystal Palace has gone (almost fully) to handing out character cards, instead of character signatures.
2) Only a few people have complained!
3) Now, two other character meals have made provisions to just hand out cards.
. . . Tusker House (AK)
. . . Garden Grill (EP)
4) This is in place of characters stopping to sign autographs.
5) We "hear" the plan is to go property-wide with the process.
6) Stopping to sign autographs is talking too much time, as guest become more-and-more demanding.
. . . autographs for each person at the table
. . . autographs on hats, t-shirts, etc (not on paper, or in an autograph book)
7) Guests have no one to blame but themselves !!!

NOTE: As that famous comic strip character (POGO) says, " We have met the enemy, and it is us."

This is great news! Thank goodness! There's nothing more annoying than waiting for the table of 8 next to me EACH have their autograph book signed and also having EACH of them take a separate picture with the character.

Can't say I mind this. I never understood the appeal of getting character autographs, and it takes forever while other guests are patiently waiting for a simple picture.

Yup, totally agree! Had they instituted a one or two signature PER TABLE policy, it may work out. But oh well, I like it this way better. If you want a signature, go lineup for characters at the parks. Many people do it this way.

And its true that no matter what Disney changes or takes away, people will complain.

 

[alltwelve]

Next time you speak with Tigger (I assume you are still on good terms, at least I hope? ) Please let him know we don't do character meals to say we've gone but usually as a strategy to make the most of our time in a park. Early entry is serious business for us and the pics are a bonus!

That was always the smartest strategy for families! As Tigger's "friend," I only got to see the lunch crowd and never had the chance to interact with the early birds!

 

[Tigger's ally]

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

I think that is why they started their sentence with "Personally".

 

[Tigger's ally]

That was always the smartest strategy for families! As Tigger's "friend," I only got to see the lunch crowd and never had the chance to interact with the early birds!

Can an Ally be a friend? Cause I'm his ally!

 

[lucyddr]

I've spent over $60 in autograph dolls designed in Japan for our upcoming trip. I hope they can still be used in a few places. To me, autographs are BEST done in high priced, dining situations and less practical in general population meet and greets. At least in character dining venues, guests are paying a premium for the experience.

When the cards become the norm, our character dining days will likely be over. It's not all bad...my wallet will thank me and more people can book!

 

[Colleen27]

Every time Disney does something to take away from the guest experience, it is presented/defended here as "The guests have no one to blame but themselves" but the reality of it is that it is Disney with the ability to make changes. They're choosing to make changes that diminish the guest experience rather than making changes to manage the unruly few who in the apologist narrative have ruined it for everyone.

My last trip to Crystal Palace was a nightmare from start to finish - character handlers who wouldn't even politely correct wandering kids from other tables who butted in, waitresses who said there is nothing they can do about kids laying and coloring in the aisle or playing hop-scotch on napkins, an hour long wait for a table because the restaurant was seating all the people who made 8 to 8:30 ADRs and then just showed up after Wishes, and a manager who claimed there was nothing he could do about the no-show fee if I decided not to wait. It doesn't surprise me one bit that Disney's solution to all of this is to toss down a card to minimize the time spent with the characters, rather than changing any policy that would improve any of the many problems that place has.

I'm glad our character hunting days are behind us, but this is just sad for the kids who look forward to that as part of their trip and will now get a pre-printed card and a much shorter character interaction.

 

[HopperFan]

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!

Nope, not forgetting anything at all. Gross and Net are two completely different things. Since I don't know how much they pay net for food products it is best I just go with Gross since that is important. Labor would remain unchanged because it's the same capacity at any one time = same number of servers, same number of cooks, same number of everything. Building is open same number of hours so overhead remains unchanged, same electrical etc are in play, maybe a wee bit more water. The change will be in the volume of food eaten and napkins used, but it can also have play since folks who sit 1.5 hours waiting to see all the characters may in turn make more visits to the buffet and therefore food may not be that off. Cost of cards would be new.

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.

YUP. And you always have to allow for a substitute that day that may be "trained" but rarely puts in play so rusty.

 

[SL6827]

Our character dining days were over a very long time ago. The prices ended it for us.

 

[BuzzyBelle]

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".

All characters have an official signature- even ones that don't meet. "Friends" of characters are trained to know all of the signatures in their height range. Some friends are better at giving autographs because they are better artists, have better handwriting, or are more experienced at writing in the costume. If a friend is producing autographs that aren't official or unacceptable in some other way they can be reprimanded for it.

ETA: I have signatures from Pluto from when I was a kid that look the same as it does today. Also, I was "friends" with characters in the early 2000's so official autographs aren't new.

 

[karrit2000]

In my opinion the people who are looking to get autographs on something other than a piece of paper or an autograph book are a big part of the problem. While it's nice to have a unique souvenir by having them sign a picture matte or tee-shirt, ball cap, vinylmation, etc. these interactions take way too long because the characters have to figure out how to sign an uneven surface or where to fit in their autograph among the many others already on the object. Disney would have been better off starting with instituting a paper/autograph book only policy.

 

[TinkandGoofy'sMom]

We just ate at Tucker House this morning and the characters were signing autograph books.

 

[Geomom]

I see that some recent visits have had characters signing autograph books--I hope they will keep doing that. My girls are now 17 and 13, but they still love using the Disney photo/autograph books--they make great mementos for them. We were one of the parties that slowed things down this past February, we were a party of 6 with 4 books, but we only did 2 pictures, one on each side of the table. 2 books were for my girls, and the other 2 were for DH's cousins (who are in their 50's/60's). This was their first trip (and possibly only trip) to Disney world. It was a wonderful keepsake. Plus, without the autograph books we wouldn't have had the hilarious character interaction at Garden Grill, where after signing 4 books, Dale signed the table...with our Sharpie, tried to use water...didn't come off, then he covered it with the sugar holder, left, came back and changed 'Dale' to 'Chip', then came back and used tons of Equal packets to clean his name off the table (it worked!) Anyway...there was more to that story it went on for a long long time and brought us all to tears laughing.

I do think a 1 item/person limit is good, and only 'flat' items. Also, make sure to have items ready to sign. We always have the books stacked and open, ready to sign, so it can be done quickly.

 

[hakepb]

Another one of the problems caused by the dining plan.

Character buffets are the best "value" on the dining plan, which results in more people choosing more character buffets.

With excessive demand, price was raised. With increased prices, guests demand greater service. (More time with characters). But too much time means guests cannot receive visits from all characters during a meal time.

The only other answer (than signature cards, etc) would be reducing ADR's taken by 50%, at increased prices for that exclusivity...

 

[TXAKDisneyFan]

Besides revenue issues, could part of it be that they're trying to avoid having guests interrupt each other's interactions? On several occasions, we've had other guests come up to characters and ask for an autograph while they're at our table. (For whatever reason, we've only had these interruptions for autographs, not pictures.) I can definitely see that causing guest complaints and/or even fights.

 

[Roxyfire]

Nope, not forgetting anything at all. Gross and Net are two completely different things.

I'm not saying you in particular after you explained it, but there's quite a few who see a charge for something and think it's all pure profit. Don't they wish!

 

[HopperFan]

I'm not saying you in particular after you explained it, but there's quite a few who see a charge for something and think it's all pure profit. Don't they wish!

As stockholder ........... yes I wish.

 

[VAfamily1998]

This is great news! Thank goodness! There's nothing more annoying than waiting for the table of 8 next to me EACH have their autograph book signed and also having EACH of them take a separate picture with the character.

Yup, totally agree! Had they instituted a one or two signature PER TABLE policy, it may work out. But oh well, I like it this way better. If you want a signature, go lineup for characters at the parks. Many people do it this way.

And its true that no matter what Disney changes or takes away, people will complain.

I'm guessing that EACH of those 8 people paid the price of the meal and it wasn't a PER TABLE rate?

 

[jenjersnap]

Raise the cost a little here, shave a little off the guest experience there...it's the Disney Way.

You forgot...blame the guests for the change! Also, the Disney Way.

My oldest, in particular, treasures his autograph books from each of our trips. I make my own - dated, and I must say pretty snazzy. This year we only had one book for the family because they are getting older. Anyway, we just spent 20 days at WDW and encountered the Crystal Palace no sign rule. Our server seemed...indignant about it but matter of fact that it was a cost-saving measure so not every CM is blaming guests like OP. Maybe she was pretending though, I dunno. The Hunny Pots that were signed were cute and I can add them to the books, but still not the same. Oh well, at this point all I can do when they remove something is sigh and move on. :/

 

[Cinderella94]

This is extremely disappointing. Disney did (does) need to enforce moderation. Autograph-seekers alone are not the problem here. My table asks for two autograph mattes to be signed, and that's it. We have the lids to our Sharpies off and ready to go. The table next to us who needs 6 different photo combinations of Pooh with mom and dad, Pooh with kids only, Pooh with grandma, Pooh with whole family, etc. I guarantee took much longer. Who is anyone to say that my autographs are a less valuable use of Pooh's time than 6 photos? Autographs are more important to me. Disappointing. Not that it will matter, but I'll definitely be emailing Disney about this.