kennygman
Active Member
I'll agree with almost everything, but really don't care for Photopass.
BTW: Updated all the schedules for all 4 parks: http://kennythepirate.com/character-schedules/
-
Welcome to the WDWMAGIC.COM Forums!
Please take a look around, and feel free to sign up and join the community.
Abundance of characters out
- Thread starter cwolnowski
- Start date
I'll agree with almost everything, but really don't care for Photopass.
BTW: Updated all the schedules for all 4 parks: http://kennythepirate.com/character-schedules/
kennygman
Active Member
Epcot spread the characters out around the park more and opened the Character Spot.
WDWYankee15
Well-Known Member
We can complain here (which can be fun), but I also encourage everyone to write to Disney to express their feelings there. You can write as I did to 'wdw.guest.communications@disneyworld.com'
Here are some other e-mail address you might want to send it to also:
Robert.A.Iger@email.disney.com
Tom.staggs@disney.com
meg.crofton@disney.com
Here is what I sent yesterday and it sums up my family's feelings on the matter:
My family is sad to learn that you have reduced the characters available for meet and greets at Animal Kingdom again. For my kids, visiting the characters is one of their favorite things to do. Over the last few years I feel that Disney World has reduced the number of characters to meet and the variety of characters so much. Not everyone can go during times of the year when special events occur to see different characters. All Disney fans love the broad scope of characters in the Disney vault. In fact, while the Fab 5 are the heart of what people think of when they think Disney, most kids are very familiar and sometimes more so with the vast library of Disney films. Their Disney experiences and knowledge is actually very much more PIXAR centered and involve the full length classics. While younger children are exposed now to the Fab 5 through Disney Junior, there is not much other knowledge of the Fab 5 for many besides the amazing branding Disney has done and the stories we as parents share with our children of our Disney memories. That is why they want to "meet Mickey." But they also want to meet Captain Hook & Smee, the Dwarfs, etc.
Even where there is opporunity for variety in set locations, the variety has been limited or taken away. As an example, a few years ago my daughter was able to meet six different fairies in Pixie Hallow. Now they rarely rotate, if at all, and most of the fairies have been retired. There is nowhere to meet villains any more either. I know everyone loves to meet the Fab 5, including my kids, and they love meeting them in different outfits. However they also love to meet different characters.
They loved the one day we were in the Animation Building at Hollywood Studios and they got to meet a bunch of different characters, including ones they have never meet before.
I encourage you to stop eliminating the number of characters available for meet and greets and also to increase the variety available. I hope that with the expansion of Fantasyland in the Magic Kingdom that you are pulling some meet and greet opportunities from other parks to use the Entertainment budget from those parks to expand the meet and greets in the Magic Kingdom. I would like to think there is a grand plan to enhance guest experience rather than to reduce it. I hope Pete’s Silly Sideshow will provide an opportunity to meet different characters (maybe even “mystery “ characters) and that at some point when the princesses move out of Town Hall to the new Princesss Fairytale Hall that that space too will be used for a variety of characters.
I would be in favor of expanding the Magic Kingdom meet and greets as it is the “Magic” Kingdom after all, if that mean lessening the opportunity in the other parks to essentially mainly the Fab 5 in appropriately themed attire (for their location) then so be it. That might even be fitting, but the “Magic” Kingdom should be just that, “magical.” Please increase the opportunities and varieties available.
My family loves meeting the characters and spends lots of time leading up to our trips to create homemade photo autograph books. This is a great tradition we have and I hope that it will continue. I have hopes it will actually grow and will be reinvigorated with new opportunities during our next trip in 2013.
Thank you so much for your time and consideration of my e-mail.
Here are some other e-mail address you might want to send it to also:
Robert.A.Iger@email.disney.com
Tom.staggs@disney.com
meg.crofton@disney.com
Here is what I sent yesterday and it sums up my family's feelings on the matter:
My family is sad to learn that you have reduced the characters available for meet and greets at Animal Kingdom again. For my kids, visiting the characters is one of their favorite things to do. Over the last few years I feel that Disney World has reduced the number of characters to meet and the variety of characters so much. Not everyone can go during times of the year when special events occur to see different characters. All Disney fans love the broad scope of characters in the Disney vault. In fact, while the Fab 5 are the heart of what people think of when they think Disney, most kids are very familiar and sometimes more so with the vast library of Disney films. Their Disney experiences and knowledge is actually very much more PIXAR centered and involve the full length classics. While younger children are exposed now to the Fab 5 through Disney Junior, there is not much other knowledge of the Fab 5 for many besides the amazing branding Disney has done and the stories we as parents share with our children of our Disney memories. That is why they want to "meet Mickey." But they also want to meet Captain Hook & Smee, the Dwarfs, etc.
Even where there is opporunity for variety in set locations, the variety has been limited or taken away. As an example, a few years ago my daughter was able to meet six different fairies in Pixie Hallow. Now they rarely rotate, if at all, and most of the fairies have been retired. There is nowhere to meet villains any more either. I know everyone loves to meet the Fab 5, including my kids, and they love meeting them in different outfits. However they also love to meet different characters.
They loved the one day we were in the Animation Building at Hollywood Studios and they got to meet a bunch of different characters, including ones they have never meet before.
I encourage you to stop eliminating the number of characters available for meet and greets and also to increase the variety available. I hope that with the expansion of Fantasyland in the Magic Kingdom that you are pulling some meet and greet opportunities from other parks to use the Entertainment budget from those parks to expand the meet and greets in the Magic Kingdom. I would like to think there is a grand plan to enhance guest experience rather than to reduce it. I hope Pete’s Silly Sideshow will provide an opportunity to meet different characters (maybe even “mystery “ characters) and that at some point when the princesses move out of Town Hall to the new Princesss Fairytale Hall that that space too will be used for a variety of characters.
I would be in favor of expanding the Magic Kingdom meet and greets as it is the “Magic” Kingdom after all, if that mean lessening the opportunity in the other parks to essentially mainly the Fab 5 in appropriately themed attire (for their location) then so be it. That might even be fitting, but the “Magic” Kingdom should be just that, “magical.” Please increase the opportunities and varieties available.
My family loves meeting the characters and spends lots of time leading up to our trips to create homemade photo autograph books. This is a great tradition we have and I hope that it will continue. I have hopes it will actually grow and will be reinvigorated with new opportunities during our next trip in 2013.
Thank you so much for your time and consideration of my e-mail.
WDWYankee15
Well-Known Member
bump
TubaGeek
God bless the "Ignore" button.
This is a fantastic idea. I'm sure the e-mails don't get read directly by the individuals, but I'd assume that it's at least another tally on the "Higher Entertainment budget" sheet.
A lot of people don't realize it, but, since Entertainment doesn't DIRECTLY bring in any money, our budget is surprisingly limited. I'd love to see all the shows and characters pulled for one month so management can see how much of an impact it makes.
Flip83
Active Member
Very true. But it could use better variety like it used to. I can't complain at all about the Character Spot. About every tripwe have been able to hit up all of the main guys there and get great pictures. The characters are also very fun in there. (probably because its well air conditioned and they aren't sweating their butt off lol). But I enjoyed the characters dressed up according to the countries like before. That is what was unique and fun about Epcot Meet and Greets. You have the Mexican Donald and I think that is about it. I liked Goofy in his kilt, chip and dale from china, pluto from France.. Etc etc
Just minor subtitutions I would do. Like I said before, plenty of places you can meet Pooh and Tigger. Why have them in UK too? Why not the Robin Hood characters like they used to?
disneyonmymind
Member
Today my family and I walked out of the character spot at Epcot to find Shaker, Rafiki, and Jimminy Cricket waiting to the left right by the exit. Has anyone else heard of this happening? It was kind of awesome because they were all interacting with each other and there was no wait at all.
dreamfinder
Well-Known Member
It does randomly happen. Not sure if its training, or an alternate spot for rain, but we have run into characters there several times.
TubaGeek
God bless the "Ignore" button.
Was it raining? Sometimes that's where they'll train if the usual locations are getting rained out. Either that or they had some spares that weren't being utilized. And by "training" and "spares", I, of course, am referring to attendants.
DisDadEddie
Active Member
One time we exited the character spot Cinderella was meeting on the left hand side of the exit. Nobody even realized she was there. Everyone just walked out the exit, I'm glad we got to see her that day.
DisDadEddie
Active Member
Who is Shaker?
DisDadEddie
Active Member
We once met Cinderella at the exit of the Character Spot. It was the only time we ever saw a character there.
joanna71985
Well-Known Member
One of the Country Bears
DisDadEddie
Active Member
Thanks! I was wondering and even looked it up on the internet and could not find it. The only Country Bear we ever meet was Liverlips.
asianway
Well-Known Member
AKA Terrance
Zummi Gummi
Pioneering the Universe Within!
Training session?
TubaGeek
God bless the "Ignore" button.
Rainy day. Snow doesn't have a proper rain location, and there's construction going on behind France so there's no prompt way to get to the rain locations. Beast doesn't fit well in C-Spot, so he sent Baloo in his stead.