What is your Favorite Character Interaction/Photo?

[DisneyKatie1]

Flashback to my very first Disney Dreams View attachment 784065View attachment 784068View attachment 784066View attachment 784067

What is Disney Dreams? Are you in these pics?

 

[Mags2002]

What is Disney Dreams? Are you in these pics?

Disney Dreams is one of the shows performed in the Walt Disney Theater. It’s so much fun, one of my favorites!
Yes I was hanging out with Cinderella in those pics

 

[Mags2002]

Sorry, I just assumed it was you. Tell your friend she is a beautiful Cinderella

I’m so sorry for confusing you. You were right the first time. Performers who portray characters say they are friends with their characters rather than playing their characters

 

[DisneyConvert]

I thought it might be fun to do a thread about characters (my absolute favorite Disney topic). I am currently a DCL performer and have worked as a performer at WDW.
What is your favorite character memory/interaction/magical moment?

So many.

Chip & Dale when our little boy was tiny. Just exuberant, friendly play . . . We saw them so many times over 3~4 days in Magic Kingdom and perhaps they "knew" him after a while?
Close 2nd was repeated meets with Captain Hook and Smee on a DCL cruise . . . the evil scowl got old and my little son nuzzled and kissed the Captain's hook as he pulled back in disgust.

Sword fighting with Captain Jack Sparrow outside of Pirates of the Caribbean . . . He picked our little Pirate'd son to spar with, our son got a sword touch, and it made our visit.

"Princess Walk" on the Dream as I mentioned above. "Have a good day, on your feet!" Ariel wished us.

Also mentioned above, characters can have a lot of fun, when there's no line. At a character breakfast at "Restaurantosaurus" in AK, it was clearly the "end of the shift" with relatively few diners/customers left in the restaurant. Goofy and Donald began improvising, and it was hilarious. Clearly doing this for fun and enjoying themselves.

Also at AK, they used to have a Pooh character "meet" at one of the Discovery River Boat landings. The fur characters would actually take a boat to the landing (which was quite the picture), and our son had the most lovely hug with Piglet and Pooh.

I told Tigger that I used a doll-version of him to present the engagement ring to my wife (She loved Disney before I was converted, and the Tiger is a college connection), and he motioned "Me?"

Also Tigger related, when our son was little, we regularly bouncey-bounced along with Tigger and he noticed that Tigger had sneaker-like shoes . . . and connecting that info with the regular unmasking on each Scooby-Doo episode, he figured it out.

Early morning at HS (we knew all the tricks back then), while thousands were dashing for the big attractions, we wandered down Commissary Lane and surprised our son by turning a corner where he met Sully & Mike.
"Where's Boo? There's her door." my son noted. The handler quickly responded, "She's still sleeping."

As my son got older and less innocent, and probably a bit jaded, from multiple visits to HS and the experience of rope-drop, fastpass retrieval, a quick ToyStoryMMania run, and then showing up for our pre-registered turn at Jedi Training Academy, he chose to kneel in front of Darth Vader and present his light-saber in supplication. The Jedi Master of Ceremonies was not pleased and they shuffled him off the stage. Sigh. At least we got memorable pictures.

 

[FastPasser.]

Also at AK, they used to have a Pooh character "meet" at one of the Discovery River Boat landings. The fur characters would actually take a boat to the landing (which was quite the picture), and our son had the most lovely hug with Piglet and Pooh.

Great Character stories. The one at AK and the Discovery Riverboat caught my eye because I rode them during the AK CM pre-opening day event. The short lived Discovery Riverboats only ran from 1998 until 1999 so your son is an adult now. I’m curious, did his Disney connection continue in any way or has it faded away?

 

[Mags2002]

So many.

Chip & Dale when our little boy was tiny. Just exuberant, friendly play . . . We saw them so many times over 3~4 days in Magic Kingdom and perhaps they "knew" him after a while?
Close 2nd was repeated meets with Captain Hook and Smee on a DCL cruise . . . the evil scowl got old and my little son nuzzled and kissed the Captain's hook as he pulled back in disgust.

Sword fighting with Captain Jack Sparrow outside of Pirates of the Caribbean . . . He picked our little Pirate'd son to spar with, our son got a sword touch, and it made our visit.

"Princess Walk" on the Dream as I mentioned above. "Have a good day, on your feet!" Ariel wished us.

Also mentioned above, characters can have a lot of fun, when there's no line. At a character breakfast at "Restaurantosaurus" in AK, it was clearly the "end of the shift" with relatively few diners/customers left in the restaurant. Goofy and Donald began improvising, and it was hilarious. Clearly doing this for fun and enjoying themselves.

Also at AK, they used to have a Pooh character "meet" at one of the Discovery River Boat landings. The fur characters would actually take a boat to the landing (which was quite the picture), and our son had the most lovely hug with Piglet and Pooh.

I told Tigger that I used a doll-version of him to present the engagement ring to my wife (She loved Disney before I was converted, and the Tiger is a college connection), and he motioned "Me?"

Also Tigger related, when our son was little, we regularly bouncey-bounced along with Tigger and he noticed that Tigger had sneaker-like shoes . . . and connecting that info with the regular unmasking on each Scooby-Doo episode, he figured it out.

Early morning at HS (we knew all the tricks back then), while thousands were dashing for the big attractions, we wandered down Commissary Lane and surprised our son by turning a corner where he met Sully & Mike.
"Where's Boo? There's her door." my son noted. The handler quickly responded, "She's still sleeping."

As my son got older and less innocent, and probably a bit jaded, from multiple visits to HS and the experience of rope-drop, fastpass retrieval, a quick ToyStoryMMania run, and then showing up for our pre-registered turn at Jedi Training Academy, he chose to kneel in front of Darth Vader and present his light-saber in supplication. The Jedi Master of Ceremonies was not pleased and they shuffled him off the stage. Sigh. At least we got memorable pictures.

So many fun stories! I love that people have such fond memories of meeting characters many years after the event

 

[Mags2002]

Not all magical interactions happen between Guests and characters. This was my friend Rapunzel chatting to Cinderella about dreams coming true

 

[MomOTwins]

I remember a time my two year old saw a Minnie in a hallway and took off at a sprint before I could reach him. In his rush, he tripped and fell flat on his face, got a bloody lip, and started bawling. She rushed forward and gave him the biggest hug, and he went totally calm and just hugged her back for the looongest time and wouldn’t let go. I kept trying to collect him saying m okay sweetie, time to go now, Minnie has to go back to meeting other guests (plus, was worried about him getting blood on her) but Minnie just shook her head and signaled with l her hand to “say” he can hug me just as long as he wants. Meant more to me and him than any character photo or autograph.

 

[FastPasser.]

Oops, I thought I was on the questions thread, oh well.

How long does it take to get a princess ready for a meet and greet? How big is the staff?

 

[Mags2002]

Oops, I thought I was on the questions thread, oh well.

How long does it take to get a princess ready for a meet and greet? How big is the staff?

Staff?? apparently it is difficult to find staff willing to work for a Princess on a cruise ship!
Princesses usually spend anywhere up to an hour getting ready to make sure everything is perfect before going onstage. Times will differ slightly between Princesses depending on intricacies in costume, wig and makeup

 

[Mags2002]

I remember a time my two year old saw a Minnie in a hallway and took off at a sprint before I could reach him. In his rush, he tripped and fell flat on his face, got a bloody lip, and started bawling. She rushed forward and gave him the biggest hug, and he went totally calm and just hugged her back for the looongest time and wouldn’t let go. I kept trying to collect him saying m okay sweetie, time to go now, Minnie has to go back to meeting other guests (plus, was worried about him getting blood on her) but Minnie just shook her head and signaled with l her hand to “say” he can hug me just as long as he wants. Meant more to me and him than any character photo or autograph.

Aww I love that Minnie was such a comfort to your little one!

 

[FastPasser.]

Staff?? apparently it is difficult to find staff willing to work for a Princess on a cruise ship!
Princesses usually spend anywhere up to an hour getting ready to make sure everything is perfect before going onstage. Times will differ slightly between Princesses depending on intricacies in costume, wig and makeup

Really, no staff! That’s surprising. Is that the case at Walt Disney World?

 

[Mags2002]

Really, no staff! That’s surprising. Is that the case at Walt Disney World?

Usually someone helps with the wigs, but Princesses do their own makeup

 

[DisneyKatie1]

I’m so sorry for confusing you. You were right the first time. Performers who portray characters say they are friends with their characters rather than playing their characters

Sorry I am new to all this. I have only been to Disney once when I was a kid so I have a lot of catching up to do

 

[DisneyConvert]

Great Character stories. The one at AK and the Discovery Riverboat caught my eye because I rode them during the AK CM pre-opening day event. The short lived Discovery Riverboats only ran from 1998 until 1999 so your son is an adult now. I’m curious, did his Disney connection continue in any way or has it faded away?

Hmmm. That's a good one. He loved, we loved, the Youth Activities . . . all the way from "It's a Small World" thru the Club/Lab, kind of skipped Vibe and then Edge a couple of times. Even did those child care centers they had at the Poly, AKLodge, and BeachClub at WDW. Loved them all. As he got older, he talked to the YACounselors about their worklife quite a bit.

He'd been a "Den Chief" in Scouting for CubScouts for 6 years, now as an Adult volunteer as well. Camp counselor, etc. Loves kids and/so we wondered, tried not to push (too much). Disney College Program, post-college was the entré, we were told.

But the YAC life is hard if one wants to connect . . . the interactions can be intermittent and then they are over in 3, 7, max 10 days. So now, just graduated, he says he wants to be a teacher and has a pretty good 1st job at local preschool. Maybe he likes being "home" too much?

 

[DisneyConvert]

Not all magical interactions happen between Guests and characters. This was my friend Rapunzel chatting to Cinderella about dreams coming true View attachment 784199

I think we have celebrated your birthday Ms. Rapunzel. NYC-Magic=>Bermuda in 2021 and 2022. Mother knows best indeed.

 

[FastPasser.]

Hmmm. That's a good one. He loved, we loved, the Youth Activities . . . all the way from "It's a Small World" thru the Club/Lab, kind of skipped Vibe and then Edge a couple of times. Even did those child care centers they had at the Poly, AKLodge, and BeachClub at WDW. Loved them all. As he got older, he talked to the YACounselors about their worklife quite a bit.

He'd been a "Den Chief" in Scouting for CubScouts for 6 years, now as an Adult volunteer as well. Camp counselor, etc. Loves kids and/so we wondered, tried not to push (too much). Disney College Program, post-college was the entré, we were told.

But the YAC life is hard if one wants to connect . . . the interactions can be intermittent and then they are over in 3, 7, max 10 days. So now, just graduated, he says he wants to be a teacher and has a pretty good 1st job at local preschool. Maybe he likes being "home" too much?

Maybe he’ll reconnect with Disney later on. Sounds like a fine young man, good job.

 

[Mags2002]

My friend Pluto with his pals getting ready to celebrate

 

[TinkLoverSam]

My 2 yo meeting SpiderMan in his spidey hoodie. He was a bit hesitant so Spidey said it’s ok, take your time and plopped down to the deck to sit while Walter got comfortable. He got nice and comfy and then I thought we would unmask the little Spidey… well he got shy again!

 

[Mags2002]

My 2 yo meeting SpiderMan in his spidey hoodie. He was a bit hesitant so Spidey said it’s ok, take your time and plopped down to the deck to sit while Walter got comfortable. He got nice and comfy and then I thought we would unmask the little Spidey… well he got shy again!

Awww. Kids do sometimes find it so overwhelming to meet a character that they love