What Is Your Most Memorable Character Experience?

[KaliSplash]

Many, many long years ago. like probably late 1980s, had my wife, our only son at the time, my mom and dad, my sister and brother-in-law and their only son for a visit of several days. Stayed at Holiday Inn West up Irlo Bronson. I headed to parks early to go to Epcot to make dinner reservations, then took Monorail back to MK to meet the family (waayy before you could do online reservations!). As I was sitting in Town Square in front of the Exposition Hall waiting for the rest of the family to arrive, Snow White showed up, just herself with no handler and sat down beside me. We talked for 5-10 minutes before she was mobbed and had to do Snow White-stuff. She was charming and beautiful and fun to talk with. Far and away my best character encounter!

 

[nighttowll]

About 10 years ago we were at HS during a Star Wars weekend, and they had a Who Wants to be a Millionaire show going on that was Star Wars themed. This meant there were Star Wars characters spread throughout both the contestants and the audience. The theater was set up with a few jumbo screens to help with viewing. Since there were only about 5 or 6 characters in the whole theater, they kept switching from shots of the contestants to shots of the characters out in the audience. I'm not sure how, but me and my sister ended up with seats directly in front of one of those big pig guards from Jabba's palace which meant we kept ending up on the jumbo screens. After a while, the "pig" started acting up. He started poking my sister and touching her hair and in general doing villainous piggy things. My sister has mild sensory issues and touching her hair / head is a big no no for her. She can't stand it. Suddenly I looked up, and she has pulled out her lightsaber and is attacking the "pig"! They fought for awhile, until he finally ran away in defeat. He ended up finding a different spot to sit. It was hilarious watching this giant monster run away from this tiny little girl "Jedi". I think she was only 10 or 11 at the time, and the best part was that it was all broadcast on the jumbo screens for everyone to see.

 

[Superpocky]

I found Perter Pen without his handler hiding near Pirate of Caribbean entrance one year. He seemed to be looking for his handler to go back to the backstage with. I quickly got my daughter and took her photo with Peter and got his autograph. I didn't want to bother him too much so left quickly. Not sure if he ever found his handler...

 

[DuckTalesWooHoo1987]

Where was Rafiki at when that happened?

We were standing basically over next to the Fire House.

 

[NelleBelle]

We were walking out of the park at AK when my son was 15-months, just walking up towards the ticketing booths on a late afternoon. Off to the side was King Louis from Jungle Book. My son, who just started walking by himself on this trip, toddled over to him. There was literally NO ONE around waiting for picture so we got to spend probably 10 minutes with him. My son hugged/loved on him, blew him kisses, and was actually signing "I love you." What impressed me is that King Louis actually signed quite a few things back to my son, so they had quite a little bit a cute "conversation" going. As we finished up and turned to leave, there again with NO LINE was Mickey AND Minnie...TOGETHER! SO RARE to actually get a picture with both of them together so I feel very lucky to have that picture with my son and me (my son grabbing onto Minnie's nose the whole time).

 

[Punky]

I'd have to say my daughter's first visit. I remember we ate with the Princesses at Epcot and Belle remembered my daughter from earlier in the week. I think it's because of the way I braided her hair, but either way I was impressed.

 

[Queenof<3<3]

During the parade prince Philip came to my 6 year old daughter and extended his hand and did a huge elaborate princey bow. My daughter instinctively curtsied back and philip giggled and smiled.

 

[mimitchi33]

My favorite was when I met Joy and Sadness and showed them my stuffed Bing Bong, telling them "Hey, Joy! Riley remembers you after all!". Joy hugged him and gave him a kiss, while Sadness stared at it and showed it to the guy taking our picture.

 

[SyracuseDisneyFan]

I love reading all of these.

 

[kleo!]

Back in 2013, I met Chip n Dale as many times as I could (which, of course I'm doing again this year!) One time, Chip n Dale danced with me and fought over me. Another, I was in Magic Kingdom and I met them wearing my Chip n Dale hat. They loved it! They kept messing with it and laughing. When it was time for pictures, they kept turning me around and getting pictures with their side of the hat. At the Garden Grill, Chip held my hand. They give the best hugs. Unforgettable!

 

[Doug Means]

my daughter, who was 15 on our last trip, just loves to meet any and all the characters. the last trip we just had to meet Gaston...he was great. he was very sarcastic with me and her and just made us laugh. she was so happy during and afterwards...it was amazing and kind of funny the way she was acting. Among many others she just had to meet, Alice was very cool, too. the time she spent talking to my daughter and they just walked around the greeting area looking and talking about stuff, in character of course.

i am always just so amazed (over my daughters 16 years and about 10 trips to WDW) how much the CM's stay in character, but even more amazed with just how much they are willing to interact with us. its not just a "hurry up and get your autograph and pic and get out of here." i can go down a long line of times where the CM really made an effort to make my daughter feel special.

one more instance of great CM work, was when my daughter was 4, and before the town square theater was even a meet and great area, my wife, my daughter, and i were just sitting on the curve outside the town square theater having a hard time with my very tired daughter. we were discussing if we wanted to got back to the hotel and rest awhile, struggling with a very unhappy 4 year old, when a cast member came and sat by us. this young man started talking to us, mainly my daughter, when he quietly asked her if she'd like to meet Cinderella?
my daughter shook her head yes. the CM looked at us and asked if it was ok, and he said Cinderella was waiting in a back room. we all walked into the town square theater, and he took us to an area where, there she was just waiting with another cast member. she probably spent a good 10 minutes with us, most of the time squatted down interacting with my daughter. this changed her mood for the rest of the day...and really made my day soooo much better.

 

[Matt_Black]

I've shared this many times here before, but I love this story to bits, so I'll share it again.

Anyway, December 2012, mom, sister, and myself are having breakfast at 1900 Park Faire. While mom is up getting more food, Alice comes by our table. My sister gets a picture with Alice, and then it's my turn. Alice begins speaking to me to suggest a pose for a picture.

"You look like you do a good deal of thinking and read a lot..."

My sister interrupts. "Yeah, he's a nerd."
Alice turns on her. "Well THAT is a terribly rude thing to say! I myself do a great deal of thinking and read a great many books, and I would NEVER refer to myself as a nerd!" To me, Alice says, "She's quite mad, isn't she? She'd best be careful, or the Queen of Hearts will have her head!"

So, I get my picture, and once Alice leaves, the s***-eating grin I've been stifling finally comes out. "Oh, you got scolded by Alice!"

 

[Scrungo]

Kylo Ren waved his hand in front of me and told me to be quiet.

 

[IanDLBZF]

Sorry to bump, but I felt I needed to share this!
Anyway back in December, during MVMCP on 12/16, I decided to meet Nick Wilde & Judy Hopps from Zootopia! Ever since Zootopia came out, Judy Hopps became one of my new favorite characters (alongside Nick Wilde). They never did M&Gs at WDW, that was until MVMCP came, and when I got word they would be meeting I just knew from the get go I couldn't resist! However, with the fact that I had at the time a phobia of meeting the characters, this was a double-edged sword! Not only would I be going to MVMCP for the first time, but I would do something I never done since I was around 7!

Fast forward to the evening December 16, 2016....
Since it was me and a friend of mine who were going to MVMCP, I told him that once we did POTC, we would go our own ways until we reunited for dinner. Thats what we did! I basically told him "See ya at Village Haus at 9 PM!" At this point as a began my trek from Adventureland to Tomorrowland, thats when my anxiety levels were high, my heart was pounding, I was shaking, and I was just a little on the nervous side. I actually practiced some calming techniques (deep breathing and counting) to calm myself down and to relieve the anxiety!

And to the actual meet & greet itself.

Once the last guest finished their M&G, Nick turned towards me, and as I began to walk up to him, he opened up his arms! I came up to him saying "Hey Nick HOWS IT GOIN MAN?!" (I remember being excited I actually said that loudly) and he gave me a big hug (mind you Nick is an amazing hugger, believe me!) He rocked me from side to side and rubbed my back! I also remember saying when I hugged him "Oh my god so good to see you!"

Then once Nick let me go I turned to Judy, and she opened her arms! I said "Judy! How are you?!" and then hugged her as well. But when I hugged her, something I never expected happened... Just as we were about to let go, I heard a "smooch" sound come from Judy Hopps, as a matter of fact she kissed me on the cheek! Mind you, I never have heard that sound come from the fur characters before. I thought they couldn't make any sounds, but boy was I wrong! Hearing that sound also sent a tingle down my spine & brain as well!

At this point I became very euphoric and said "Why Judy, thank you very much!" which may have made her "blush." Next thing I say to her is "Oh, and how's Clawhauser doing?!" When I said that, I also heard her gasp in shock! (Never heard that sound either from the characters!) She said (actually mimed) that "Clawhauser's doing great!" I also mentioned that she should bring Clawhauser some donuts one day.

I then decided to take a selfie with them, and just I was trying to get the camera app on my iPhone up, I accidentally unlocked the phone and I said "hang on having a bit of trouble here" and Nick was like "oh brother." (He put one paw to his face and shoke his head)

In the end, Nick & Judy were amazing! I might have the chance to meet them again once they become regulars at WDW! I should've also shown Nick my phone case (it has Finnick on it)!

This whole meet and greet experience however, especially with Judy kissing me, left me red in the face, giggly (broke into laughter at some points as well), smiling, and had me humming/singing the song "Attitude of Gratitude" from Spongebob Squarepants, in particular this part...

Oh, I’ve got a whole new, attitude,
A lifetime subscription to, gratitude,
Friend you’ve got to change your latitude,
Livin' attitude of, gratitude,

...for the rest of the night and most of the following day!
Sorry if this is long, but I wanted to share this!

 

[WDW_Sam]

When I proposed to my girlfriend @PrincessRiot in front of Minnie Mouse in Epcot character spot.

I'll never forget how happy we were for the rest of the day and vacation!

Most magical moment ever

 

[Ryan H. Serowinski]

Anyways, I had a memorable second experience with Rapunzel that was more memorable than the first time(i always liked her, but there wasn't a lot to see from her):
Over by Princess Fairytale Hall on August 7th, 2016 I got in line to meet Rapunzel(along with Tiana, but my topic is about Rapunzel), 25 mins later, I got into the room where Rapunzel was, and a few people were getting ready to the next princess, and I was ready to see the Lost Princess, that I found. Then I opened my arms up to give my favorite princess a hug, and I told her that I love her, and her arms opened too to hug me, but there was no photo of the hugs(sorry), but anyways, I've gave her my autograph book(she was my first autograph of the entire trip)and she said that she never met anybody who said these kind words to her, then she signed my book and I got very ecstasy about it(because I love to see characters signing their autographs), she talked about Pascal. and then we both posed for the camera(she gave my book to a CM, and gave it to Tiana in advance), she posed very sweet, and after the couple pictures, I gave her one last hug goodbye, and we blew kisses to each other(as I was a little shy of kissing her by the hand ), here is my updated character memory, which was my most memorable yet!

 

[nickys]

On our first visit, youngest son was 5. We were at DHS and he and I waited for quite a while for Russel and Dug, inside at the back of Animation Studios. It was hot, DS was restless and I was almost at the point of taking him out....

However luckily we stayed. when it was our turn, DS ran up and hugged Russel and then Dug. He wouldn't let go and was beaming from ear to ear. Didn't say anything either, just smiled at them and kissed Dug on the nose. He looked about 3 tbh. I'm sure the pollen count was very high that day, because my eyes were watering ... The photographer there took loads of photos and afterwards asked me to sign a waiver form to allow them to use the photos for publicity. No idea if they ever did!