News Walt Disney World's Character meet locations to reopen along with more shows and entertainment

mm52200

mm52200

Well-Known Member
CaptainAmerica said:
Budget cuts strike again.
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…
Thumper 32 said:
I know you’re trying to be clever, but you do realize that this almost certainly aligns with the end of the Pixar motorcade, right? The drummers are just shifting over here, the characters switch to meet and greet as previously announced, and the entire motorcade infrastructure (cars, drivers, crowd control, etc) all goes away.

Might be a wash, might be a slight savings, who knows. But don’t act like this is some altruistic add-back here.
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Bringing the characters back to the land involved going from having one performer of each, to having 2-3 groups of them, 2-3 attendants per character, additional photopass for each location throughout the day, among other support staff. This most likely costs more than motorcade.
 
MickeyLuv'r

MickeyLuv'r

Well-Known Member
dreday3 said:
That's because he's AMAZING! :D
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A very long time ago...back in the era of dining reservations and walk-ups at WDW, well before the dining plan...

One of the first character meals was at Liberty Tree Tavern around 2002.

[Okay, technically WDW experimented w/character meals before then, but it was the start of the Character meal era.)

We arrived at MK with NO pre-planned dining, and we were able to get a lunch RESERVATION at LTT! We were just looking to eat food. The CM explained there would be characters, but we kind of shrugged.

Character Meals were SO new, that the characters did NOT have to visit every table! Crazy, right?

Since we were adults, no character came to our table, but it was fun to watch them interacting with children at the other tables.


All of a sudden, I feel fur hands come from behind and cover my eyes. Turns out it was Donlad, and he continued to goof around with us for several minutes. No photos, no autographs, just pure joking around and Donald getting to be Donald.

It was so much fun!
 
D

dreday3

Well-Known Member
MickeyLuv'r said:
A very long time ago...back in the era of dining reservations and walk-ups at WDW, well before the dining plan...

One of the first character meals was at Liberty Tree Tavern around 2002.

[Okay, technically WDW experimented w/character meals before then, but it was the start of the Character meal era.)

We arrived at MK with NO pre-planned dining, and we were able to get a lunch RESERVATION at LTT! We were just looking to eat food. The CM explained there would be characters, but we kind of shrugged.

Character Meals were SO new, that the characters did NOT have to visit every table! Crazy, right?

Since we were adults, no character came to our table, but it was fun to watch them interacting with children at the other tables.


All of a sudden, I feel fur hands come from behind and cover my eyes. Turns out it was Donlad, and he continued to goof around with us for several minutes. No photos, no autographs, just pure joking around and Donald getting to be Donald.

It was so much fun!
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That's fantastic!

Our trip in 2017, it was one of those mornings where walking from Haunted Mansion to Thunder Mountain was nice and empty!
I stopped in the restroom and my husband waited out front, and when I came out one of the Country Bears was standing with my husband pretending to talk on his phone. Just the two of them! 😂

It was just so silly and such a great moment.
 
T

Thumper 32

Well-Known Member
mm52200 said:
…

Bringing the characters back to the land involved going from having one performer of each, to having 2-3 groups of them, 2-3 attendants per character, additional photopass for each location throughout the day, among other support staff. This most likely costs more than motorcade.
Click to expand...
You’re probably right. But I also hesitate because of the cast (non-entertainment) they have out on the street for crowd control for the motorcades. This change is almost certainly an increase for entertainment but perhaps evened out for the park as a whole. Which is why I said maybe a wash?

Plus the jury is still out on the other non-toy story characters from the motorcade. Haven’t been any indications yet if the Incredibles, Edna, etc will go anywhere.
 
mm52200

mm52200

Well-Known Member
Thumper 32 said:
You’re probably right. But I also hesitate because of the cast (non-entertainment) they have out on the street for crowd control for the motorcades. This change is almost certainly an increase for entertainment but perhaps evened out for the park as a whole. Which is why I said maybe a wash?

Plus the jury is still out on the other non-toy story characters from the motorcade. Haven’t been any indications yet if the Incredibles, Edna, etc will go anywhere.
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The attractions and operations cast thay do guest control aren’t paid by entertainment and will simply be redeployed to other skills/offerings in their area.
 
T

Thumper 32

Well-Known Member
mm52200 said:
The attractions and operations cast thay do guest control aren’t paid by entertainment and will simply be redeployed to other skills/offerings in their area.
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Yes, no one is losing their job here. But the labor hours are definitely saved. Again, saying it’s a net savings for the park, not entertainment specifically.
 
mm52200

mm52200

Well-Known Member
Thumper 32 said:
Yes, no one is losing their job here. But the labor hours are definitely saved. Again, saying it’s a net savings for the park, not entertainment specifically.
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Not really though because the same week Fantasmic returns which ultimately uses far more ops cast members for loading that theatre and guest control throughout the park before and after the shows. So the parks ops budget is definitely increasing.
 
asianway

asianway

Well-Known Member
MickeyLuv'r said:
A very long time ago...back in the era of dining reservations and walk-ups at WDW, well before the dining plan...

One of the first character meals was at Liberty Tree Tavern around 2002.

[Okay, technically WDW experimented w/character meals before then, but it was the start of the Character meal era.)

We arrived at MK with NO pre-planned dining, and we were able to get a lunch RESERVATION at LTT! We were just looking to eat food. The CM explained there would be characters, but we kind of shrugged.

Character Meals were SO new, that the characters did NOT have to visit every table! Crazy, right?

Since we were adults, no character came to our table, but it was fun to watch them interacting with children at the other tables.


All of a sudden, I feel fur hands come from behind and cover my eyes. Turns out it was Donlad, and he continued to goof around with us for several minutes. No photos, no autographs, just pure joking around and Donald getting to be Donald.

It was so much fun!
Click to expand...
They had Dinner & Breakfast ala Disney in the 70s, Minnie’s Menehune & Terrace Cafe in the 80s, and then Soundstage & Chef Mickeys 1.0 & 2.0 in the 90s. Those weren’t “experiments” they ran for years
 
D

DCBaker

Premium Member
Buzz, Woody and Jessie are back in Toy Story Land meeting guests today.

Here are the times they are around this afternoon -

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