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When you arrive at the parks, go to guest relations & ask where
characters will be making appearances that day. If you want
to meet a particualr character, the CMs at guest relations might
be able to find out where it will be appearing that day.
The Toontown Hall of Fame, MK, is a good place to meet characters.
There are three rooms, each with it's own separate queue.
In each room there will be two or three characters, usually
themed, e.g. Pooh & friends in one room, Princesses in another.
The characters change throughout the day, so ask the CM at the entrance
which characters will be there that day.
At Epcot, characters used to make apearances at the various countries.
But now, there is a Characters on Holiday bus that comes to World
Showcase Plaza, and a few of the countries at various times during
the day. There are around 6-8 characters on the bus & they 'meet
& greet' for around 10-15 minutes.
For the character greeting areas (e.g Toontown Hall of Fame, Judge's
Tent) in MK get there first thing in the morning, or during the
afternoon parade, when the lines should be shorter.
Please understand when a character greeter says a character will
be leaving for a few minutes and be right back, under most circumstances
the character WILL BE RIGHT BACK! Character breaks occur approx
every 30 minutes in cooler weather and every 15-20 minutes in warmer
weather. If a character leaves quickly and unexpectedly during that
time, please be aware there is probably a problem and the character
will be back as soon as possible.
Please make sure you have a "clean" page opened and ready for the
character to sign. Please test the pen before handing it to a character.
If the pen requires a cap to be taken off or click to be clicked,
please do so before giving the character the pen. If for some reason
your pen doesn't work, most times the character greeter has a pen
you can borrow. If it is a Disney pen that stops working, you can
exchange it at any merchandise location for a new pen.
Most characters (except for King Louie) can sign autograph books.
If a character moves his hands or paws when handing them a book,
they are probably asking for something to be done (open the book,
give the pen first, etc.)
Most characters enjoy communicating with guests. Characters can
hear, see and have feelings just like anyone else. They can and
will carry on full conversations with you or your child. Pay attention
and enjoy the charades. Characters especially love if you are wearing
a piece of clothing with them on it, holding a stuffed animal, etc.
If you love a character or have something interesting with a character
on it, let them know.
Please don't rush your child into seeing a character. Characters
are very willing to lend a hand in making a child feel more comfortable
around them (even if it takes a little longer). Please don't make
your child have a bad experience with a character by forcing them
up into a character. If a child feels uncomfortable, tell the greeter
and tell the character. See if you can get the child to say hello
and wave to the character. If that works, the character will probably
put his or her hand out to attempt to reach out the child. Encourage
the child (if not screaming or crying at this point) to feel the
character. "Feel how soft his hands are," etc.
Character greeters are a wonderful resource. They can help translate
character conversations, tell you where other Disney characters
are, take family portraits, etc. They are very happy and welcome
to help you.
Characters want you to have the best experience with them as possible.
Please understand that some families (depending on party size, ages,
etc) spend different amount of times with the characters as others.
"Small children should bring a poloroid camera to take pictures
of themselves with the characters. The characters then can sign
the bottom of the picture, so your children can have an autographed
picture to carry with them. This was my 3 year old's favorite part!"
"Just remind them that we feel pain just like anybody else
does when hit or manhandled!!!!! Maybe even more so." - from
a character at WDW
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