Handling Character Meet & Greets
My sister and I both refused to sit on Santa’s lap at the mall when we were kids.
Neither of us are big fans of people in costumes and we aren’t particularly touchy-feely. We knew that this might be a problem when we booked a Rivers of Light Dinner package. It was a character dinner (shudder) at Tiffin’s in Animal Kindom. The show was new so convenience and guaranteed seats won out over feeling a little weird about having to take pictures mid-meal with a stranger in a costume when you are over 10 years old. My son was with us and he was tween age at the time so we figured that might help to negate some of the awkwardness.
I don’t begrudge anyone from 2 to 92 that wants to link arms with a Princess or a very large mouse and smile for the camera.
Knock yourself out. It is part of the Disney World experience and I don’t think that there is an age limit on that. It’s just not something that I felt natural doing as a kid so it stands to reason that doing it in my 50’s was going to be a bit of a challenge.
A couple of years ago, my sister was determined to get her picture taken with Tarzan who was doing meet and greets in Animal Kingdom.
For her, meeting a “character” not fully housed in a sweaty costume was okay. His physique may have also had something to do with that. The first “Tarzan” available for this looked to be about 18 years old and I shamed her into waiting for another time. If the “Tarzan” is not yet old enough to buy alcohol, perhaps someone old enough to be his mother really shouldn’t be all “Hey, Tarzan” for a photo op.
Later in the day, when a more age appropriate “Tarzan” showed up, my sister joined the line with all of the other middle aged ladies and I took their picture after he leaned over and said “Welcome to the jungle” to her. Priceless. That “Tarzan” certainly understood his audience.
For the character dinner, however, we were going to interact with full on head to toe Daisy, Donald, & Goofy in safari attire.
We were prepared to be good sports. All three of us had, after all, signed up for this. We would grin and bear it confident that they would spend more time doting on the little kids climbing out of their skin with excitement than the two grown women with apprehensive smiles and an almost teenager. The characters would make a perfunctory stop at our table, we’d take some selfies and then get on with stuffing our faces full of buffet.
That is, for the most part, what happened. I awkwardly leaned into Daisy and my sister took a picture. My son stood next to Goofy and smiled. We paid the price for our seats at Rivers of Light. Done and done, right? Until both my sister and son went to the bathroom and left me alone at the table.
I felt a little vulnerable, I’m not going to lie, but I HAD already said hello to all three characters and taken the obligatory pictures.
I was pretty confident that I was home free. That’s when Goofy came around again. I avoided eye contact. Certainly, these fine Cast Members are trained to read body language and EVERYTHING about my body language said “Move along.” Goofy did not notice this. I gave him a little wave and said something like “Thanks. We already got a picture with you” and smiled weakly. Goofy was not having this. I was a grown adult at a table BY MYSELF clearly trying to be polite. But, I was also very much conveying “No thank you Goofs, I already did my obligatory good sport thing and I AM DONE.”
That’s when Goofy decided it would be a good idea to lean over and bear hug me as I was sitting at the table. Here was this giant headed costumed person trying to embrace a stock still 50 year old woman who CLEARLY DID NOT WANT TO BE EMBRACED. Who knows what those Cast Members can see through those outrageous costumes. Maybe Goofy couldn’t see me and had no idea I was not into it. Or, maybe he/she just got a kick out of making me feel uncomfortable like your least favorite Uncle at a family gathering.
That experience soured meet and greets for me for the rest of the trip.
I really wanted to get a picture with Mary Poppins. Unfortunately, a combination of “I am a grown adult” and the Goofy situation kept me from actually getting in line. What I eventually learned from that experience (besides now harboring a deep, deep dislike of Goofy and NEVER allowing everyone else at the table to go to the bathroom at the same time ) is that character meals with characters that I’m not that wild about or who are silent and in full costume is not my thing. I’m okay with that. Regret once I got home mingled with the magic of being in the parks on our next trip got me in line for Mary Poppins eventually.
Sometimes it’s about being comfortable enough to engage with the character.
It is so much easier for me with the characters that speak. When I told Mary Poppins that I was not confident that my kid was going to take a good picture of us she lamented that she often couldn’t trust Bert to do any job very well. To stir the pot a little, I told Kylo Ren that I didn’t like how he treats his parents. He whisper hissed “Reckless!” right in my face. It was awesome.
If you are thinking about doing meet and greets at a ripe old age, go for it. You know which characters you will feel comfortable with.
Don’t worry about being a dork. Loads of adults stand in line for meet and greets with or without children as their excuse. I will just avoid the fully costumed ones in the future. That’s just not my bag.
Except for Chewbacca. That wookie gives good hugs. Goofy could take a lesson or two from him.
