Someone please save Pooh at EPCOT

[brb1006]

I actually like when the characters are out in areas doing stuff - maybe not this specific case where seems like he is just standing there/not doing much. But like when he was really trying to catch butterflies or when Chip and Dale are having a picnic, etc.

I am also a weird one who hated how character meets were at Disneyland, so maybe just me

I strongly disagree, due to Disneyland attracting more locals, the characters were able to have extra fun and giving guests more time to interact with them. WDW used to allow this up till the mid to late 1990s.

 

[brb1006]

I’ve visited Disneyland so much more that this looks extra crazy. You have to work really hard to not have characters approach you at Disneyland! They are free-roaming everywhere!

Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo Disneysea follows a similar approach with Disney Characters' interactivity with guests instead of only meeting in a single location.

 

[brb1006]

Someone please save the guests from WDW Entertainment and their bad decisions.

Imagination- Winnie still doing “sightings”.

Ratatouille opens- Remy and Emile no where to be found.

Cosmic Rewind opens- no GOTG characters anywhere.

Jollywood Nights- using same daily ops characters, no variety, Phineas and Ferb overlays are the supposed main draw.

Disneyland- literally getting new characters every other week.

Animal Kingdom- keeping the flotillas to save overhead and labor. Crafting guest survey questions to keep them in rotation.

Hollywood Studios- not allowing PM set characters to meet together, also keeping some of those characters as “sightings”.

Toy Story Land-No sheltered, or indoor meet and greet location for Toy Story characters.

Magic Kingdom- no characters in Town Square, Festival of Fantasy is a watered down embarrassment.

I really dislike the idea of locking specific Disney Characters behind a paywoll for special events (DVC events and parties, private events, and Run Disney) at Walt Disney World over the past couple of years. Especially rare or obscure Disney Characters compared to Paris, Tokyo, and recently Disneyland.

 

[brb1006]

Wait…. Is this for real!? At Disneyland you’re literally tripping over characters in town square from park open to close (parades and fireworks being the exception).

Yep nothing at WDW.

I remember during the morning hours at the Magic Kingdom, both Minnie and Pluto would meet guests at the Flag Pole (Minnie was on the left side, and Pluto on the right). Around 10:30 am, Minnie would leave her area where Marie from The Aristocats (who used to meet guests regularly at the France Pavilion in Epcot) would spend the remainder of the day meeting guests until the evening. Marie would then replaced with Stitch starting May 26, 2016. A few years back, both Judy and Nick were actually meetable at Town Square in 2019 before COVID hit.

 

[brb1006]

Pooh looks lonely. Bring out Piglet.

When will we finally meet Roo? (being in his mother's pouch doesn't count)

 

[ToTBellHop]

Apparently, they have forgotten what it’s like for a child to enter MK for the first time and immediately see characters. Moments like that make parents book a return trip.

smh

 

[flynnibus]

Pooh looks lonely. Bring out Piglet.

Everyone loves the smell of bacon cooking...

 

[brb1006]

Apparently, they have forgotten what it’s like for a child to enter MK for the first time and immediately see characters. Moments like that make parents book a return trip.

smh

 

[TheMaxRebo]

I strongly disagree, due to Disneyland attracting more locals, the characters were able to have extra fun and giving guests more time to interact with them. WDW used to allow this up till the mid to late 1990s.

Only been to DLR once, in 2015, and character meets were a disaster. People cutting, pushing my kids, characters taking their breaks and coming back 20yards away from where they left and now instead of us being next we are now 10th in line (despite the CM telling us to wait where we were)

Love the organized structures method at WDW vs what we experienced at DLR (albeit just that one experience)

 

[brb1006]

Everyone loves the smell of bacon cooking...

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

Apparently, they have forgotten what it’s like for a child to enter MK for the first time and immediately see characters. Moments like that make parents book a return trip.

smh

Adult children too!!!

This was when I was walking into Disneyland one day earlier in the summer - who wouldn’t smile seeing this!?!?

 

[SteveAZee]

The grass looks like garbage, too. Have they ever heard of fertilizer?

No fertilizer, but they added a little Pooh.

 

[brb1006]

Only been to DLR once, in 2015, and character meets were a disaster. People cutting, pushing my kids, characters taking their breaks and coming back 20yards away from where they left and now instead of us being next we are now 10th in line (despite the CM telling us to wait where we were)

Love the organized structures method at WDW vs what we experienced at DLR (albeit just that one experience)

Sounds like bad timing, since you chose the worst time to visit Disneyland. 2015 was the very beginning of their 60th Anniversary Celebration ("Diamond Celebration") which was infamous from Disneyland locals due to attracting larger crowds. It died down as the months went bye. I remember seeing posts from Disneyland locals talking about these issues.

Usually at Disneyland, it wasn't uncommon to see Disney Characters actually having fun in live entertainment (especially unannounced) or towards guests.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Sounds like bad timing, since you chose the worst time to visit Disneyland. 2015 was the very beginning of their 60th Anniversary Celebration ("Diamond Celebration") which was infamous from Disneyland locals due to attracting larger crowds. It died down as the months went bye. I remember seeing posts from Disneyland locals talking about these issues.

Usually at Disneyland, it wasn't uncommon to see Disney Characters actually having fun in live entertainment (especially unannounced) or towards guests.

Maybe - we had a pretty overall negative experience on our trip there (some good stuff but definitely failed to meet my expectations) - probably need to do a do-over trip and give it another shot

And I did enjoy seeing the characters walk around, just once people got close/tried to meet them it pretty consistently became a cluster

 

[Prince-1]

Wasn't how it was 20 years ago when I first visited but it's become that right now...

"Right now" as in the past few decades.

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

"Right now" as in the past few decades.

There were still some characters out in town square prior to Covid. Plus the citizens of Main Street.

 

[brb1006]

Maybe - we had a pretty overall negative experience on our trip there (some good stuff but definitely failed to meet my expectations) - probably need to do a do-over trip and give it another shot

And I did enjoy seeing the characters walk around, just once people got close/tried to meet them it pretty consistently became a cluster

Highly recommend visiting the Disneyland side of the board to get some very helpful tips and advice from mostly West Coast users. Especially if you want to visit the resort again in the future and making it better than your previous visit.

Guide to DLR for WDW Veterans!

Since we get this ALL the time in this forum, I thought it would be nice to condense it into one place that the mods could make sticky - this stuff gets repeated ad naseum around here since the site caters to a WDW fanbase. I'll start with this: GiveMeTheMusic's INFALLIBLE List of Unique DLR...

forums.wdwmagic.com

 

[Prince-1]

There were still some characters out in town square prior to Covid. Plus the citizens of Main Street.

Yes but their numbers were far and few between. And I was talking about actual characters and not street performers.

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

Yes but their numbers were far and few between. And I was talking about actual characters and not street performers.

Cool. I guess you win? lol

Maybe - we had a pretty overall negative experience on our trip there (some good stuff but definitely failed to meet my expectations) - probably need to do a do-over trip and give it another shot

Interesting - perhaps the crowds? I will say the reservations system has helped at Disneyland. It can still get crowded but it was always packed for a while - that’s definitely improved with park reservations as annoying as they can be.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Cool. I guess you win? lol



Interesting - perhaps the crowds? I will say the reservations system has helped at Disneyland. It can still get crowded but it was always packed for a while - that’s definitely improved with park reservations as annoying as they can be.

it was definitely crowded when we went ... and we were pushing a double stroller which didn't help. And the CMs seemed pretty grouchy (lots of yelling at guests, etc). Also felt like DCA didn't have a lot of "everybody" rides - either kiddie rides or stuff my younger two couldn't ride, etc. (so when I rank all the Disney parks I have been to DCA is far away the bottom)

Some great parts too - loved the parades (including having Pain the Night) and some of the rides are definitely better versions there. Quick service was a lot better (though has improved at WDW). And obviously getting to look up and see the light on in Walt's apartment.

Think part of it was just had super high expectations and just didn't live up to them, so some of that might be on me setting them too high