We'll We Ever Meet N Greet The Characters again?

[TsWade2]

Hi,
First of all, I'm happy that Disneyland is reopen again. I'm so relieved. But I have a concern. While that I expect that Disney Characters have to be social distanced right now, but I hear some people say that we will never get to hug or high five the characters ever again. So, before I decide to be overdramatic about this, are we ever going to meet n greet the characters again? I hope so.

 

[gelatoni fan]

I think meet and greets will start again but not for a long time (at least one year from now). The US is among the most vaccinated countries with many countries still struggling to get medical staff fully vaccinated. In some countries, it's supply chain issues or lack of international political clout preventing them from getting sufficient vaccines. In other countries, it's people's reluctance to get vaccinated until they know it'll enable them to travel internationally. That means, eventually, many countries will be forced to prematurely open their borders in order to convince their citizens to get vaccinated or to ease the strain on their supply chains. This will inevitably introduce new strains to the US. I think that in a best case scenario, at least 60% of Americans are fully vaccinated by the end of this year and get their booster shot next year, meaning that proper meet and greets return in 2022.

 

[mom2rtk]

My money says they return at WDW late 2021. DLR much later.

 

[Karin1984]

I can imagine that in the future there will be a requirement for actorsn who want to play characters to be vaccinated. At least for the coming year to make hugging possible again. For non-hugging meets, that will return sooner.

I do not believe society has changed so much to get rid of hugging strangers all together.

 

[Kit Jackson]

I totally understand why they ended close interactions with characters due to COVID. It makes perfect sense. As more people get vaccinated, I really hope they bring that back. I have a trip planned for May 2022 and I'm really hoping we'll be able to hug and give high fives to characters by then.

 

[pigletliz]

I wouldn't expect it to happen anytime soon. I just don't see castmembers (vaccinated or not) hugging a bunch of strangers. I don't think that would be a reasonable request/requirement by their employer. My guess is Disney will work out some socially distanced meet and greet by 2022

 

[Evita_W]

I don't know, Knott's is close to have traditional meet and greets, so I think it is possible we see them sooner than many think. The issue is current management doesn't seem to think entertainment of any kind should be a priority at DLR and that seems to include character meet and greets.

 

[Karin1984]

I wouldn't expect it to happen anytime soon. I just don't see castmembers (vaccinated or not) hugging a bunch of strangers. I don't think that would be a reasonable request/requirement by their employer. My guess is Disney will work out some socially distanced meet and greet by 2022

I thought Disneyland had socially distanced meets already? I thought it was similar as with us in Disneyland Paris, the character is in a roped off area. The guest stands in a spot 6 ft away to take a selfie with the character.

I thought I had seen pictures of this. But maybe I misremember it.

 

[pigletliz]

I thought Disneyland had socially distanced meets already? I thought it was similar as with us in Disneyland Paris, the character is in a roped off area. The guest stands in a spot 6 ft away to take a selfie with the character.

I thought I had seen pictures of this. But maybe I misremember it.

Nope, you are correct. They did have something like that for some of the characters, in spots that kept them distanced while they interacted. There was definitely no hugging or high fiving, but you could take a picture with them in the background. I was more focused on getting on all the rides and eating.

 

[Karin1984]

Ah, good to see my memory still works! Characters and shows are a big part of my trip routines. Socially distanced characters are not perfect, but it something. And it has some pros as well: queues are much shorter and we had some unique characters/costumes, something new that made it interesting for AP holders.

It was not without flaws, it really was trial and error for Paris. This is an ongoing process, I am sure Disneyland will find a way that works for their audience.

 

[Timandalicia]

Hi,
First of all, I'm happy that Disneyland is reopen again. I'm so relieved. But I have a concern. While that I expect that Disney Characters have to be social distanced right now, but I hear some people say that we will never get to hug or high five the characters ever again. So, before I decide to be overdramatic about this, are we ever going to meet n greet the characters again? I hope so.

Yes.

 

[Evita_W]

I thought Disneyland had socially distanced meets already? I thought it was similar as with us in Disneyland Paris, the character is in a roped off area. The guest stands in a spot 6 ft away to take a selfie with the character.

I thought I had seen pictures of this. But maybe I misremember it.

Not quite the same as that, there are interactions, but not really very good selfie spots.

 

[Karin1984]

Not quite the same as that, there are interactions, but not really very good selfie spots.

Yes, that was one of the trial and error we had in Paris. We have a Wishing Well, where Snow White & Prince were meeting. But instead of using the path to the well to position the guests for the selfie, they use a path opposite the well, separated by a moat. This was a distance of over 10 feet, I think. That doesn't work with selfies, either the camera would focus on the guest, or the characters. Hopefully they have solved that when the park reopens.

 

[TsWade2]

Then I guess, we’ll never get to meet n greet the characters again.

 

[Becca1007]

I would bet that interactions with "fur characters" will happen sooner than interactions with face characters. Since they could potentially still wear a mask and have a little more of a barrier between them and the guest

 

[TsWade2]

I would bet that interactions with "fur characters" will happen sooner than interactions with face characters. Since they could potentially still wear a mask and have a little more of a barrier between them and the guest

Well, I guess that might be better than nothing.

 

[KPeterso]

We had some great interactions with the characters via the distanced meets. We saw Pluto and Daisy together in DCA. I had my Pluto with us and waved him at Pluto and both of them went crazy. Daisy came a little closer and signaled me to put Pluto down near them and she picked him up and gave him a hug. Here is a picture. Daisy is holding one and one is out front. Oh and we got virtual hugs too! Not totally the same but made us super happy.

 

[afan]

I would bet that interactions with "fur characters" will happen sooner than interactions with face characters. Since they could potentially still wear a mask and have a little more of a barrier between them and the guest

I doubt you would find anyone that wants to wear a mask inside that. They look through mesh, there's already not a ton of air flow and they get quite hot. (Basing this off an NHL mascot head I've seen and had on years ago and guessing they are similar but hopefully slightly better and things improve) Really to me, if they are vaccinated and in a full costume like that, it is almost a mask. If they keep them outside that also reduces the risk. And they could always say no hugs at this time only high fives or something.

I do think face characters will take longer since cms are all still required to wear a mask. I realize they don't in the cavalcades but they are far from people.

 

[mom2rtk]

I doubt you would find anyone that wants to wear a mask inside that. They look through mesh, there's already not a ton of air flow and they get quite hot. (Basing this off an NHL mascot head I've seen and had on years ago and guessing they are similar but hopefully slightly better and things improve) Really to me, if they are vaccinated and in a full costume like that, it is almost a mask. If they keep them outside that also reduces the risk. And they could always say no hugs at this time only high fives or something.

I do think face characters will take longer since cms are all still required to wear a mask. I realize they don't in the cavalcades but they are far from people.

We're not that far from Disney dropping masks for CMs. Nobody is going to wear a mask inside one of those costumes. I'd like to think they can find vaccinated CMs to do the job.

 

[LanceQ]

We had some great interactions with the characters via the distanced meets. We saw Pluto and Daisy together in DCA. I had my Pluto with us and waved him at Pluto and both of them went crazy. Daisy came a little closer and signaled me to put Pluto down near them and she picked him up and gave him a hug. Here is a picture. Daisy is holding one and one is out front. Oh and we got virtual hugs too! Not totally the same but made us super happy.

Your Pluto is a superspreader.