Why are people at Walt Disney World having to wait 3 to 4 hours to see characters at meet and greets?

[DodgerGirl]

I never figured out why the Walt Disney World theme parks are making people wait 3 to 4 hours to meet characters now and I don't know how they are doing this habit now? Is it because Walt Disney World is trying a new system to make people meet characters in a new fast manner now or is this new way becoming way too annoying for some people? Because I have never figured out why the line to meet Mickey And Minnie always has a wait time of 100 minutes and to me you can't have young children wait that long to meet a character. But when it's a character like Figment I can't see people waiting in line for hours. But at Royal Fairytale Hall who has a child who wants to meet a princess like Tiana or Princess Aurora who cannot wait for 3 or 4 hours just to say hello to a princess get their hug and autograph and then say goodbye to a princess and leave is just so annoying. What I think Walt Disney World should do for character meet and greets is have families reserve their places and when it's their turn a text message will appear on their phones like this and i'll use a Mirabel meet and greet as an example for this sample message "ATTENTION MIRABEL FROM ENCANTO IS READY TO MEET WITH "FAMILY NAME" PLEASE HAVE AUTOGRAPH BOOKS AND CAMERAS READY IF YOUR FAMILY IS PARTICIPATING IN THIS MEET AND GREET THANK YOU" and this idea would work wonderfully for people who wish to meet characters easily in Walt Disney World theme parks without having to wait in a 3 and 4 hour line to do character meet and greets fast

 

[scrappinginontario]

Waits if this length are extremely rare and often just for a couple of days when new characters are introduced.

It can happen but I would not consider it the norm at all.

 

[DutchJoyce]

A 100 minutes is not 3 or 4 hours. In my experience they close the lines when it's getting too busy.

 

[john7994]

Unclear on Disney making anyone wait for a character meet - it’s ultimately a choice and the times are determined by demand and willingness to wait. In high demand situations, nearby character handlers seem to set expectations or cut off the lines to avoid disappointments.

I have run into situations where it could be more efficiently managed and the character handlers could be more proactive to get the next family ready - but more often than not - I see a lot of times where families (like TSA at the airport) aren’t really prepared for their turn or the little ones are freaking out, and parents trying to livestream it like a vlogger for the perfect video, or there are four kids and they all need an autograph … I have also run into situations where there was no photographer with the character - most annoying thing ever.

Can’t ever see going to a reserved time ( a La dining approach or VQ), I think that would be a disaster in logistics for standard characters - it’s one of those things that maybe sound good on paper - but in practicality with the volume and park distances to cover for a return time - people would have to queue back up anyway on the return time. Maybe a VQ approach for a new character meet on intro week - but people will invariably whine about missing their return - or feeling tethered to a physical location or having to look at their phone all time -

 

[thanxfornoticin]

A child can't wait 100 minutes in line for a meet and greet? Isn't it the other way around usually - the child making the adults wait in the line for the child's meet and greet?!! Seems like meet and greet lines have become like any other attraction or show - wait in line to do what you want to do.....

 

[starlite_]

Disney has never forced me to do a meet & greet.

 

[Mle8308]

Not quite sure where you are getting your information on the wait times, because you are off by quite a bit. When was the last time you visited WDW? If you look at the MDE app you would see wait times are normally 30-45 minutes in the standby line, less for LL. Now during special events or parties do lines get longer for rare characters? Yes, but that is not the norm. The LL is basically what you suggest, it is a return time to meet a character. Not everyone wants to purchase Genie+, so there is the option to use the standby line, but again, there are no 3 to 4 hour waits. Please don't continue to spread disinformation, do some basic research first.