Marathon Weekend 2020

[lhermiston]

Probably why I never went to meet him by myself.

In my defense, it was late and I just hopped into a line at the theater without knowing what it was for. By the time I got to Talking Mickey, it was too late to bail. I cringed hard when I saw the photos.

 

[rteetz]

In my defense, it was late and I just hopped into a line at the theater without knowing what it was for. By the time I got to Talking Mickey, it was too late to bail. I cringed hard when I saw the photos.

Now I want to see them!

 

[lhermiston]

Now I want to see them!

There's nothing about them that really stand out, tbh. Just me and Mickey, but since I know the context - 30-year-old guy alone at Disney doing meet-and-greets with talking characters - it just makes me feel cringe-y. I probably forced a smile and was just trying to get out of there. I think the talking made it so much worse, ha ha. And I don't even know why! But that's been the only time I felt like my Disney fandom went one step too far.

Edit: the photos are gone, anyway. I'm sure I took one look at them and swore never to look at them ever again. I probably didn't even download them.

TO BE CLEAR: there is nothing wrong with anyone, at any age, doing meet-and-greets. On a personal level, this interaction made me feel weird.

 

[drummerwife]

There's nothing about them that really stand out, tbh. Just me and Mickey, but since I know the context - 30-year-old guy alone at Disney doing meet-and-greets with talking characters - it just makes me feel cringe-y. I probably forced a smile and was just trying to get out of there. I think the talking made it so much worse, ha ha. And I don't even know why! But that's been the only time I felt like my Disney fandom went one step too far.

Edit: the photos are gone, anyway. I'm sure I took one look at them and swore never to look at them ever again. I probably didn't even download them.

TO BE CLEAR: there is nothing wrong with anyone, at any age, doing meet-and-greets. On a personal level, this interaction made me feel weird.

I agree with this completely!
I’ve done many of the races solo and always do meet and greets with the medals and have never felt awkward. The one time I did the talking Mickey meet and greet I felt very uncomfortable. I can’t put my finger on what or why, it just felt awkward.

 

[Neon Cactus]

Wearing a running medal is a good way to make it a little less cringe-worthy. That made me feel a little better seeing Vanellope, Anna and Elsa this year. I don’t usually do character meals solo but on my solo trip in February I’m doing 3, mostly because of price because I’m doing the dining plan. I haven’t been to Garden Grill in many years and nobody in my family ever wants to go. Hollywood and Vine because it’s a Fantasmic package and Mama Melroses wasn’t available. And Tusker House because of price and being in AK.

 

[lhermiston]

Wearing a running medal is a good way to make it a little less cringe-worthy. That made me feel a little better seeing Vanellope, Anna and Elsa this year. I don’t usually do character meals solo but on my solo trip in February I’m doing 3, mostly because of price because I’m doing the dining plan. I haven’t been to Garden Grill in many years and nobody in my family ever wants to go. Hollywood and Vine because it’s a Fantasmic package and Mama Melroses wasn’t available. And Tusker House because of price and being in AK.

I agree that medal pics - and character stops during races - are the exception. It's part of the experience.

 

[lhermiston]

I agree with this completely!
I’ve done many of the races solo and always do meet and greets with the medals and have never felt awkward. The one time I did the talking Mickey meet and greet I felt very uncomfortable. I can’t put my finger on what or why, it just felt awkward.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who felt that way!

 

[Neon Cactus]

I was thinking of getting a FP for a medal picture with talking Mickey after the marathon. I’m rethinking that now.

 

[rteetz]

I was thinking of getting a FP for a medal picture with talking Mickey after the marathon. I’m rethinking that now.

It’s not talking Mickey anymore it’s just regular Mickey.

 

[DerTobi75]

SAFD: No FPs for us right now, as we stay OffSite and are in the 30Days Range
Anyway, managed to get a reservation for Storybook Dining on Marathon Sunday, to hopefully celebrate my first Dopey and letting Snow White sign my BIB & Medal(s)

 

[StarGirl11]

On the topic of character meet and greets go I think it depends on the day and who you get. I do character dining a lot and sometimes it’s completely natural and I have no problems even playing off even the fur characters. Other times it’s definitely more awkward. Even with non fur characters.

Here’s just a few examples:

Case 1: I did Oogie Boogie Bash at Disneyland. KH Donald recognized the costume and we were able to talk/mime our way through a costume about magical objects. (I was dressed as Sailor Neptune). Great time that had me smiling.

Case 2: Elena at the Fairy Tale meet and greet last January. The entire conversation just felt awkward.

Case 3: Rapunzel and Flynn at Disneyland. Had a absolutely great conversation with both of them about who would win in a race Pegasus (I was wearing a Hercules shirt) or Maximus.

Case 4: Part of the reason I keep going back to Crystal Palace is most of my interactions with the Pooh characters there have been great. 2018 had them playing around with my balloon.

Case 5: Akhershus at Epcot. I’m not sure what the deal with that was but none of the interactions genuinely felt easy. This isn’t a princess problem I’ve had great interactions with them in the past (see Rapunzel case above).

There have been some instances where with Mickey and others like him where they don’t seem to know what to do. It really does come down to the day and who you are with. Some are just really good with rolling it. Most are in my experience especially if you give them something to play off (ie race medals). Others not so much.

 

[Princess KP]

I have no idea about ADR’s. I enjoy going solo but have to admit that I get a little uncomfortable at the table service restaurants when I am alone. I need to get over it though so I can have some yummy food! Happy Sunday all!

At W&D last weekend, most of my meals were solo except for 2. I guess I could have just done CS, but I wanted to go back to Jaleo and I really wanted to try Takumi-Tei. I did feel weird at first but I got over it. At Jaleo, the server even gave me a free glass of cava. Either he felt sorry for me, dining alone, or it was because of my sparkling personality. I’m gonna go with the latter. Lol

I’m that way about character meals. I’ll do normal dining solo no problem. But I just feel weird going to a character meal by myself.

I just made a solo ADR for the character breakfast at Topolino’s on the 13th. I want to try the food and I want a photo with ”stylishly dressed” Mickey.

 

[rteetz]

I just made a solo ADR for the character breakfast at Topolino’s on the 13th. I want to try the food and I want a photo with ”stylishly dressed” Mickey.

I’m intrigued by Topolino.

 

[StarGirl11]

At W&D last weekend, most of my meals were solo except for 2. I guess I could have just done CS, but I wanted to go back to Jaleo and I really wanted to try Takumi-Tei. I did feel weird at first but I got over it. At Jaleo, the server even gave me a free glass of cava. Either he felt sorry for me, dining alone, or it was because of my sparkling personality. I’m gonna go with the latter. Lol


I just made a solo ADR for the character breakfast at Topolino’s on the 13th. I want to try the food and I want a photo with ”stylishly dressed” Mickey.

How was Takumi-Tei? I have nice sack of gift card money (not a ton but enough to maybe cover a nice chunk of a solo meal there possibly since I don’t drink and don’t eat sushi) as a late birthday gift and I’m trying to decide where to splurge it.

 

[Princess KP]

I’m intrigued by Topolino.

Wanna join me? There’s a 9:15. We can do that before DATW.

 

[Princess KP]

How was Takumi-Tei? I have nice sack of gift card money (not a ton but enough to maybe cover a nice chunk of a solo meal there possibly since I don’t drink and don’t eat sushi) as a late birthday gift and I’m trying to decide where to splurge it.

It was pretty good. A drawback of dining solo is you can’t really try too many things. I had the bone marrow and the Temari sushi. The bone marrow had wagyu short rib on top and it was very good. The sushi was good but I’ve had better. I think their forte is their beef dishes. I would definitely go back.

 

[CDKG]

I’m that way about character meals. I’ll do normal dining solo no problem. But I just feel weird going to a character meal by myself.

I didn’t even think about this when I made my Tusker House reservation. If my friends don’t join me I’ll be solo. It’ll be a little weird. I still wanna go though. Hmmmm I’m gonna have to think about this one.

Disney is really the only place I will do a TS solo. It can feel awkward, but I can usually distract myself with my phone. I had breakfast at Tusker House solo last Tuesday (not my first time). Buffets are a little tricky, because you can’t leave your bag, phone, etc. at your table. Character meals can also be tricky because there isn’t always a handler or waiter around to take you photo. I had to resort to selfies (which I’m not the best at) with a couple of the characters. But, like @lhermiston said, I’m not going to skip some of my favorite restaurants just because I am traveling solo!

 

[CDKG]

It’s not talking Mickey anymore it’s just regular Mickey.

Really? The one on Main Street? I met one of Mickey’s friends when I was there last week (but we did not do the meet and greet).

 

[rteetz]

Wanna join me? There’s a 9:15. We can do that before DATW.

Sure!

 

[flav]

Made my fastpass reservations! But despite getting up at 4:00am to do so, I did not get a FOP pass. Is it worth the stand-by wait?

Got SDD and TSM on days we wanted but missed FOP. Well take Navi river for now and maybe it opens up

First trip to WDW so not totally sure if I made good choices. I got Seven Dwarfs both MK days, Slinky Dog on my super short HS visit. No FOP so did Navi River and the safari. I figure I can single rider Everest. Epcot day I got spaceship earth and Epcot Forever. I really wanted Seven Dwarfs so excited about that one!

Great FP strategy that you described: If you do not get FoP, book Navi and try Modify ing it once in a while. That worked for me in 2017 after many attempts.

I’m that way about character meals. I’ll do normal dining solo no problem. But I just feel weird going to a character meal by myself.

I like character meals and character interactions, solo or not. If I had the dining plan, I would probably have many ADR with them. The same way meeting characters make a race go fast, they make a meal interesting.