will hugging characters return ?

[Brandon Tanioka]

I have a disability hugging characters help my anxiety . Any idea on this coming back?

 

[Bjkandma]

Disney has not officially addressed this. My personal opinion, character meet and greets going back to allow hugs, etc won't return or even be considered until all can have the opportunity to be vaccinated. Only those 12 and up can now, hopefully scientists, doctors, etc can figure out the vaccination for all ages soon.

 

[MonkeyKnifeFight]

Hopefully soon. I was at cedar point recently and they are allowing hugging of characters again. I don’t think Disney cares about safety measures anymore at least for guests. Maybe they do for their cast members or they are doing protective things at the unions request. Hard to say. Hopefully they ramp back up the opening soon before the anniversary.

 

[Meglen]

I kinda hope it never comes back. Hugging dirty costumes that other people hugged as well always grossed me out even before covid. High fives, and special interactions are more my style. But than again I was never a hugger.

I hope they allow side by side photos those I enjoy.

 

[Prince John Robin Hood]

Canada's Wonderland (cedar fair park) is allowing hugging of characters. I was surprised as things have been strict in Canada but the kids were loving it.

 

[pigletliz]

I agree with Bjkandma. I can't imagine that Disney unions would allow their cast members to hug potentially hundreds of unvaccinated (or vaccinated) strangers. I am pretty surprised that people want to do this right now.

 

[Karin1984]

I can't imagine it doesn't return. Americans hug so much in their culture.
But no doubt it will be a requirement for the actors to be fully vaccinated and of course willing to hug strangers. They can only restart when they have a big enough pool of actors to create a schedule. If you would need 20-30 Cinderella's in a pool to have her meet at the restaurants daily, meet & greet in the parks etc. (This is an estimation).

 

[Lilylogan]

I think it will eventually. I have a photo of Snow White kissing my toddler on the cheek - never even thought about germs at the time lol

 

[sponica]

In one of their last updates they said it was part of the plan, they just didn't have a timeline.

 

[charmed59]

I think it will return as soon as the pandemic is over.

 

[cgattis]

I think it will eventually. I have a photo of Snow White kissing my toddler on the cheek - never even thought about germs at the time lol

I know…I have pics of my son, then 4, on our very first trip with lipstick marks all over his face from each princess at CRT. Wouldn’t let me wash his face all day Sad for the littles who may never get to experience that but yeah—it seems kinda crazy now to think we’ll ever feel comfortable doing that again. But hugs I think are eventually manageable, especially fur characters.

 

[wdw&sonny]

I can't imagine it doesn't return. Americans hug so much in their culture.
But no doubt it will be a requirement for the actors to be fully vaccinated and of course willing to hug strangers. They can only restart when they have a big enough pool of actors to create a schedule. If you would need 20-30 Cinderella's in a pool to have her meet at the restaurants daily, meet & greet in the parks etc. (This is an estimation).

Um. There’s only one Cinderella.

 

[mom2rtk]

Um. There’s only one Cinderella.

Well, fortunately that should be easy to cast then.

 

[boop0524]

I agree with Bjkandma. I can't imagine that Disney unions would allow their cast members to hug potentially hundreds of unvaccinated (or vaccinated) strangers. I am pretty surprised that people want to do this right now.

Yup, I think people forgot about the unions and I see this being a big concern for them. Understandably so

 

[Aprilshack]

Yup, I think people forgot about the unions and I see this being a big concern for them. Understandably so

Disney would probably get non union workers to fill those jobs.

 

[Jacq7414]

When we went to Hershey we were allowed to take photos with the characters there. My daughter high-fived them and was able to stand next to them to take photos. I can’t remember if she hugged them or not but I feel like it could be coming back at some point at Disney too.

 

[Jennasis]

Hugging? No. Stand next to? Sure,

Frankly, no touching should have been the rule a long time ago, and not because of Covid.

 

[fla4fun]

I think it’s more likely for the fluffy characters like Mickey than for face characters like the princesses. I do think when closer character greetings begin, they may be socially distanced, where you are actually interacting with the character from a distance but both in the same photo (as opposed to now, where you can take a photo with a character playing in a field behind you, but not necessarily interacting with you personally). From there, I would expect fluffy character greetings to go to more of a pre virus format, and I think face characters will be last. It will help for the CMs to be vaccinated, as I would be most concerned for their health greeting so many guests from so many different places. Since the deadline for that is two months away, I don’t expect any changes for a while yet.

 

[mercuryvenus]

Didn’t Chapek say at one point that they look forward to the day when hugging characters returned?

 

[ElyseInWonderland]

I don't see it returning anytime soon, TBH.