hcswingfield
Active Member
drew smith said:
I guess it's hard to grip a pen without opposable thumbs.
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The Decline of Character Autographs
- Thread starter RogueHabit
- Start date
I guess it's hard to grip a pen without opposable thumbs.
Connor002
Active Member
hcswingfield said:
I think you were kidding, but i just thought i'd mention that i read somewhere that one of the reasons that they have made meet'n'greets is so that people don't take any pictures of others kids, for privacy reasons
I could be making that up completly:brick: , but i'm pretty sure i read it somewhere
hcswingfield
Active Member
Connor002 said:
OOPS! I hope not. Maybe next time I'm down there I'll ask permission from a cast member before I start shooting pictures. I'm so naive, I never saw the harm in it. Plus it's not like I know the kids' names and addresses, and they are fully clothed and not doing anything illegal. Also I focus my camera on the characters, not the kids. That way I get good pictures of Mickey and Minnie without having to wait in line. Gee, if you can't take pictures in the parks, without having everyone around sign permission slips, I may just leave my camera at home.
It's obvious that everyone values something different from their character experience as well as the way they experience the characters in the park. That is what makes it so special. It is an individualized experience, so no one in particular is "right."
I do wish to say, however, that as a former CM (CP with Epcot Merchandise), posters on this board who work closely with our character friends should not use this as a tool to complain about the annoyances of their jobs. You should all feel very lucky to do what you do and should not take it for granted. You should also be careful as these boards are monitored.
Everyone seems to care so much about what is behind the magic that they forget what the magic is all about.
Thanks and that is my $0.02
I do wish to say, however, that as a former CM (CP with Epcot Merchandise), posters on this board who work closely with our character friends should not use this as a tool to complain about the annoyances of their jobs. You should all feel very lucky to do what you do and should not take it for granted. You should also be careful as these boards are monitored.
Everyone seems to care so much about what is behind the magic that they forget what the magic is all about.
Thanks and that is my $0.02
WDWKat26
New Member
HookSmee said:
I understand and partially agree with what you're saying but let me just say one more thing.
I think you're probably referring to my rant a couple pages back, and I want to let everyone know that I LOVE my job with a passion, and I wouldn't give it up for any other position in Disney (Except for CEO...) but it just gets a little frustrating when people complain when you are putting out 200%. I understand that doesn't go for every Cast Member and sometimes you will get someone only putting out 50%. But, either way it just seems like sometimes guests are never happy with what was in front of them and what they had which was an experience to remember with the character, not the way the autograph looks. But then again, I should quote you and say "Everyone seems to care so much about what is behind the magic that they forget what the magic is all about." I hope you're referring to some of the guests. People complain when they don't understand why Walt Disney World Entertainment does things, but there's always a reason, it's not to upset guests intentionally (for example someone calling the Stamps for Buzz "impersonal" and asking why he couldn't sign because it seemed the same as Eeyore). I just got a little frustrated at that, because those are two COMPLETELY different characters, and I was explaining how Buzz is a toy, and his Jet Pack sometimes impairs his ability to even touch his fingers, let alone write hence the reason for the stamps. Eeyore is completely different, and always is able to sign so when you're comparing 2 totally different characters sometimes people just need to know why things are done. I love the guests that I get to meet with every day, a lot of them are what keep me coming back to my job every day! (Well, I can't forget my fellow CM's too who also motivate me at work!). I'm not trying to be harsh when I say this HookSmee but, until you've spent a month in Entertainment and experienced it head on you won't really understand how much effort is really put into every day in Entertainment.
Last thing, we know these boards are monitored, a good portion of CM's who join this board are aware of that as it is usually posted in every post made by a CM.
That's just my $.02.
WDWKat26 said:
/Begin Rant
I just wanted to say, I HATE reading constant complaints on Disney forums about CM's not being "perfect". I have been going to Disney my whole life and I always have the best experiences with CM's. It's the only place I've ever been in this country where the employees actually make you feel like they're happy you are there. Every other place you go you're made to feel like a huge inconvenience to the employees. I absolutely love Disney CM's and it would take a lot to get a complaint out of me. If I ever have a bad experience I just assume the person was tired, having a bad day, or whatever and I move on with my life. I think it's horrible that some people feel the need to write emails and letters and make phone calls to Guest Relations over every stinkin little thing.
My personal opinion is that the reason Disney is on the "decline" as many people have been saying, is because people won't stop complaining so much. Everyone is so ungrateful. WDW is one of the greatest places on the planet, but that's still not good enough for people - they just want to continue to hunt for anything that isn't 100% perfect and complain about it. Imagine how that must eat away at the morale of all the employees? Well I don't blame them for not trying harder. Even if they did everything to the best of their ability they would only receive complaints anyway. I think society these days is horrible with their ridiculous demands and expectations.
If I went to a friend and every day of their life pointed out every single mistake they ever made, do you think that would motivate the friend to be a better person? What motivates people to do better is praise, respect, admiration, etc. Complaining and whining only demoralize people and make the situation worse. I think the so-call "fans" of Disney, who think they are making things better by flaw-hunting and reporting, are the very people who are causing things to go downhill.
/End rant!
Yeah, what she said!!! 
We're at the point now where we'd rather get pictures with the characters instead of autographs. We've done autograph books, had t-shirts for the characters to sign.... it just gets kind of old and redundant after a few times. I'd rather have pictures to look back on instead of a (silly) autograph book.
We're at the point now where we'd rather get pictures with the characters instead of autographs. We've done autograph books, had t-shirts for the characters to sign.... it just gets kind of old and redundant after a few times. I'd rather have pictures to look back on instead of a (silly) autograph book.
RealHawker
Member
The characters are always swamped, they are in those hot suits in hot weather, they can hardly see through the eye slits sometimes, and they'res tons of kids clamoring for a pic and sign.
I think you will see a move to sig. stamps soon for all charachters.
The back of each blue autograph book disney has, has what some of the sigs should look like.
Alot of parents think their child trip is meaningless unless they get a photo and sig of each char. Some take it a bit to seriously.
I think you will see a move to sig. stamps soon for all charachters.
The back of each blue autograph book disney has, has what some of the sigs should look like.
Alot of parents think their child trip is meaningless unless they get a photo and sig of each char. Some take it a bit to seriously.
DisneyBound
New Member
My daughter got her first character autograph book when she was 3. She played "meet n' greet" for months after we got home and she learned how to do many of the autographs on her own. This is her favorite part of going to Disney and she can get Mickey’s autograph a hundred times and treasure each one. A year later, she could tell you where she got autograph #5 from Minnie as if it were yesterday. Yes, sometimes a few of the autographs are difficult to read but we understand that it happens. We always commented on how hot they must be, how heavy that suit must be, how hundreds of screaming kids all day, every day HAS to be stressful and mostly, we discuss how when we have bad days at work, or aren’t feeling well or have personal problems in our lives we can stay in our office and a character cannot have a bad day...always happy, always feeling great. I can’t imagine doing a characters job (although I would love to try!!) ...to be quite honest, the characters could scribble on my daughters book and she would still be thrilled and thankful...and if there came a time when she was no longer thankful, we would stop going. If every autograph was personalized and every autograph was perfect, there would be nothing to separate them and make them special. Snow White once signed Abbi's book with a red crayon, on occasion, a character will draw a picture in her book, sometimes a character will personalize an autograph by using Abbi's name or writing comments (Aladdin wrote "Three Wishes" and drew the lamp with great detail...Fairy Godmother wrote a paragraph nearly! once, Pluto didn’t write his name at all, he drew a bone and a paw. Sometimes the autographs are upside down because my daughter handed them the book wrong. Sometimes the toontown Mickey auto is a little different than the one from AK. These differences are what make each autograph unique and special. In my daughter’s eyes, there is no such thing as a "bad" autograph...each is a special memory, a moment with someone who is special to her and certainly not judged by penmanship! I have auto books from 2000-2005 and in each book, there are some really good ones and a few ok ones. I still see decent consistancy in how they are signed...and it is still more care than most corporations would take.
Kudos to anyone who is friends with the characters. Over the years, I have learned to never criticize unless I have walked the walk. You have our respect and our daughters admiration. :sohappy:
Kudos to anyone who is friends with the characters. Over the years, I have learned to never criticize unless I have walked the walk. You have our respect and our daughters admiration. :sohappy:
Atta83
Well-Known Member
OK me and my friend here just got to put in out .04 cents here, if you dont get the math there then my friend you just dont get it. OK we just have to say whoa amazing yeah they are disney characters and just like normal human beings they are not always up to 100% or even above that, they are not perfect. Like you and me, they have their own personal flaws I have to admit. No one is perfect and if someone thinks that Mickey was able to house train Pluto in one day then they have something else in for them. Second not all the signitures turn out the same, in ex. have you signed your name the same twice or even three times in a row when you are rushed?? Yeah didnt think so. Also, when I stand in line to get my pic and autograph with the characters I always say please and thank you, out of being in line when this happens do you know how many times I hear children or even parents saying please or thankyou, maybe a handful of times, or maybe this comes from the toddlers learning manners. I mean I was taught manners and to say please and thankyou for something i got and wanted. These characters are supposed to be treated like real people and if they are not treated with this same respect then they turley are not real then. I mean say you were famous and some person off of the streets came up to you and just handed an autograph book or a peice of paper in your face and didnt say anything to you, how would you feel??? Thats what I can truely say right now, if I wanted to go more into detail i might just get in trouble. So yeah there is our .04 cents!