What Is Your Most Memorable Character Experience?

[DisneyFans4Life]

This past Saturday, we were doing the character meet and greets in front of the Great Movie Ride and got to spend some time with Donald. He is my 2 year old daughter's favorite character, so of course when it was her turn, she ran up to him and gave him a huge hug. Donald was kneeling down and spent a solid 4-5 minutes just hugging her because she wouldn't let go. My wife and I were even saying "let's take a picture" or "come on honey there are other kids that want to see Donald."

At one point, my wife even tried to go over and turn her around for a picture, but Donald shoed her away lol.

Eventually after the long hug and many kisses, we got the pictures we wanted and then Donald walked her over to where Daisy was, waited for the family that was with her to finish and then pulled Daisy over to spend time with my daughter. The three of them spent another couple minutes together...it was super cute and definitely made her (and us) extremely happy.

Only at Disney...

 

[Schneewittchen]

Back in 2011, we took my then 15 month old son to WDW for the first time. It was early spring and for whatever reason, a very quiet week at the parks. We aren't meet n greet, autograph seeking kind of people, we tend to do character dinners rather than stand on line.

We took my son to Epcot and were just wandering around World Showcase when a CM flagged us down in England and asked us to come meet Pooh and Tigger at a character meet n greet. There was no line and no one around at all.

Anyway, my son was basically a baby and Pooh was his favorite stuffy, so he was just overjoyed, in love, over the moon, etc. We got a ton of lovely photos with my son and the characters. For one brief shining moment, we were the best parents ever.

 

[belledream]

As a child...dressed in Belle's blue dress, I met her in front of the fountain at France and being the shy kid I was, I just handed her my autograph book waiting for her to add to my collection, and she said to me, "You look just like me!" All smiles.

As an adult...Chip tried to steal me away from my husband at Garden Grill and he got the finger wave.

 

[ShoalFox]

Having not done character meet & greets in ages, my most memorable experience is from this past February. Now, I only did these as I started watching Disney's animated canon and became familiar with the characters.

This past February I met Marie at Town Square in MK. After waiting for a long time, it was finally my turn and she came right up to me and gave me a smooch. We did lots of cute poses for pictures, and at the end we said goodbye with big hug. Not very memorable by other people's standards, but I thought it was the best character experience I had out of the four I did that trip. It's too bad they replaced her with Stitch.

When I was at Tokyo Disneyland in March I got to meet all 3 Aristocats, Thumper, and even Gideon from Pinocchio

 

[DisneyFans4Life]

Back in 2011, we took my then 15 month old son to WDW for the first time. It was early spring and for whatever reason, a very quiet week at the parks. We aren't meet n greet, autograph seeking kind of people, we tend to do character dinners rather than stand on line.

We took my son to Epcot and were just wandering around World Showcase when a CM flagged us down in England and asked us to come meet Pooh and Tigger at a character meet n greet. There was no line and no one around at all.

Anyway, my son was basically a baby and Pooh was his favorite stuffy, so he was just overjoyed, in love, over the moon, etc. We got a ton of lovely photos with my son and the characters. For one brief shining moment, we were the best parents ever.

That M&G is kinda tucked away and of the times I've gone...there's hardly ever been a wait. Plus the setup is so cool!

 

[Princess Lily]

Last summer I made it my mission to meet Alice in MK. A theatre company I'm part of had a competition running through the Summer where the person who got a picture of them in their company tshirt in the coolest place won a prize, and a few weeks before we'd just finished a production of Alice Through the Looking Glass in which I'd played Alice, so I decided I neeeeeeded to get a picture of me wearing my tshirt with Alice!

When we got to MK, the queue was really long and when I went to join the CM said that she was going in soon so I wouldn't get chance, but told me to come back later when her and the white rabbit were back out. So I did, and this time the same CM apologised and said Alice was going to get ready for the parade and after that she wouldn't be coming back out. I was really gutted as I knew we wouldn't be coming back to MK or going to Epcot so I could meet her in England and I'd so wanted to get the picture for the competition.
Just as I was walking away really dissapointed and Alice was saying bye to a crowd of people, someone came up behind me and grabbed hold of my hand and started pulling me along, it was Alice! We skipped around in Fantasyland and she gave me a hug and I managed to get my picture! I was so pleased, firstly because I got the picture but mostly because Alice is one of my favourite characters and it made me smile so much. She really did make my day, as you can see from my smile in the picture haha, I was totally not expecting it (although I felt a bit bad for the people who had been sent away!). I don't care what anyone says, whether you're young or old characters can provide such memorable experiences, definitely something I'll remember forever!

Oh, and guess who won the competition?

 

[brb1006]

I will never forget my first time meeting Marie from The Aristocats at the Magic Kingdom last May during my Senior Trip. Before the trip started, I decided to rewatch The Aristocats to memorize the context to the film which reminded me that Marie was the very first Disney character I ever seen.

I remember being very eager to meet her on our first day to the Magic Kingdom but unfortunately it rained that day so I decided to meet Mickey instead. I asked him about where she was and he and a very kind female CM told use that she was going to come out but due to the rain she didn't want to get her fur wet and stayed inside. I remember on Thursday a day before we left Orlando, one CM who might have been Spanish or Brazilian told me that she will be out around 10:30am and she made me the first in line to meet her. I remember as we got closer Minnie left her meet and greet location and we waited for her to arrive. My guidance counselor then told me "Bernie look" and I turned around and I watched Marie walk up to her meet and greet area near the flag pole. I remember she was walking in a very playful manner and was pretty bouncer that day. I walked up to her and handed her my autograph book and while she was signing it I told her "You have no idea how much I looked for you." and she nodded at me as she half way done with signing it. When she handed back my autograph book, she started flirting with me and was also very bashful and backed away from me due to how sweet I was to her. She gave me three good hugs and at one point I heard her say "Aww" as I hugged her once last time. I got a bit emotional when I returned to the All-Star Sports Resorts remembering that it was our trip was almost over and because of how kind she was with me. This gave me an idea to write a few good and sweet farewell messages to me from my autograph book which she can sign again for my friends and family back home.

I encountered her again on my final day at Walt Disney World. When I handed her my autograph book she took a moment and read each of the messages I written to her. She signed it and even kissed the book after she signed it and gladly gave me a hug. I then told her "It was my last day" and she made a crying gesture by both of her fingers down her eyes. I gave her one final hug and I whispered to her "I love you" as she hugged me and I remember she really didn't want to let go of me. When I left the meet and greet line, I turned around and she blew a kiss at me. That experience cheered me up about my visit and leaving WDW since she served as a source of comfort.

 

[brb1006]

Having not done character meet & greets in ages, my most memorable experience is from this past February. Now, I only did these as I started watching Disney's animated canon and became familiar with the characters.

This past February I met Marie at Town Square in MK. After waiting for a long time, it was finally my turn and she came right up to me and gave me a smooch. We did lots of cute poses for pictures, and at the end we said goodbye with big hug. Not very memorable by other people's standards, but I thought it was the best character experience I had out of the four I did that trip. It's too bad they replaced her with Stitch.

When I was at Tokyo Disneyland in March I got to meet all 3 Aristocats, Thumper, and even Gideon from Pinocchio

You meet Toulouse and Berlioz? I'm jealous now

 

[danitaytay]

Stitch is my favorite character ever, and after years of going to Disney World and searching for him with no luck, I was determined to find him during my trip this April especially after I heard he was now meeting on Main St.
So our first day in the MK I had no luck and I started to get really disappointed because I asked a CM if they knew when Stitch would be out but she said she didn't think he had a schedule for the week. Well now it's our last day of the trip and we're back in the MK and I go a little bit earlier than my mom so she can pack. We get onto Main Street and no luck, Minnie and Pluto are the only ones meeting. I was absolutely devastated, but I knew I got to meet a ton of other characters I loved the entire trip so I wasn't going to ruin my last day with it.

About an hour later my sister and I are sitting on the Jungle Cruise when I get a call from my mom who tells me that she just walked into the MK and Stitch is there doing meets! She grabbed a spot on the line but it was probably going to be a 30 minute wait and he was leaving for a short break in a few minutes. My sister and I literally sprinted from Adventureland to Main Street to find my mom. Mind you it was also 98 degrees and it was only 11 AM!
Well we stood on the line for about 30 minutes and we were dying in the sun but then it was my turn to go up and Stitch literally ran to me and pulled me into the biggest hug ever. He wouldn't stop hugging me and then he noticed my custom made Stitch themed Minnie ears and he kept on playing with them and trying to keep them for himself. I told him he was my favorite character and I waited years to meet him and he kept on hugging me and jumping around with me.
He spent about 5 minutes with me and before I left he pulled me in one last time and pretended to lick my face! It was the cutest thing ever!

 

[SyracuseDisneyFan]

For me, it was Anna and Elsa in 2014. Elsa noticed my pearl earrings and called them my snow earrings. I was shooting the breeze with them about how cold it was in Syracuse, NY that winter.

 

[DuckTalesWooHoo1987]

Probably when Rafiki watched all of Wishes with my little boy a few years ago at the end of Main St. My little boy LOVES The Lion King and so that made it even more special. We love character interaction and always do a lot of character meals on every trip.

 

[brb1006]

Probably when Rafiki watched all of Wishes with my little boy a few years ago at the end of Main St. My little boy LOVES The Lion King and so that made it even more special. We love character interaction and always do a lot of character meals on every trip.

Where was Rafiki at when that happened?

 

[bethymouse]

One time, my boy was three, he stepped on the "bad guy's" toe from Pinocchio. I believe it was Honest John (at EPCOT).
Also the Snow White at EPCOT and Mary Poppins really talked to my boys (twins) when they were younger. It was a sweet moment.
One more.... most all of the characters when they met my 76 year old Mom (especially Goofy). They gave her big hugs, and held her hand... just so sweet.

 

[righttrack]

I've had lots with my kids, mostly Rafiki who managed to always surprise us!

For me, personally, I was going to take a picture with Boba Fett and my family on SWWs. Boba Fett sees my "Han Shot First" shirt and crouches and aims his blaster at me. I go, sorry about Greedo, but you know, stuff happens. He stands, puts his fist to his heart and bows his head in tribute to Greedo, then takes the picture.

 

[PeckBobb]

"I saw your movie!"

Sometimes hard to remember for the little ones, these characters are not only real, but movie stars, as well.

At Akershus, Aurora came by. My (very un-princessy) 4 year old daughter got all flustered, "I... I uhh... I uhh... I, I, I.... </sigh> I SAW YOUR MOVIE!" Aurora laughed and my daughter had her moment with a famous movie star!

 

[JIMINYCR]

A few years ago I arranged with Disney events planner to have a b-day celebration for my DW and arranged for Jiminy Cricket to show up. He spent about an hour with us as she opened her gifts and took photos. It was an unbelievable time.
IMG_3945 by wdwjiminy, on Flickr

 

[grim-grinning_toast]

I think my most memorable experience was during the Christmas party, and it was the very first party I'd ever been to that was actually NOT overcrowded. My husband told me to go meet Jack Skellington as Sandy Claws because he wanted to watch the Fireworks. I love Fireworks, but I like Sandy Claws more! It was a wonderful interaction, but surprisingly, as I was walking away from the meet and greet - I saw that Ariel's grotto didn't have anyone in line! I'm not super into Princesses or anything, but I was SO excited for some reason. The CMs in the queue were so playful and when I finally got to meet her, I was so giddy. I started taking a video and asked her if she could give my older sister the steps to become a mermaid since she has always loved them. She said "The first step to becoming a mermaid is stop taking steps! Mermaids don't have feet!"

 

[NelsonRD]

The last time we went actually was the most memorable character experience. The way we were rushed through the Character Spot at Epcot, with less than minimal forced interaction with my behaving 3 and 6 year old, was magical. I understand there was a line and that others were waiting, but we waited our turn, and it just felt like an assembly line. At one point, I told the CM I felt like I was being rushed, and I think that resulted in even less time with the characters. To be clear, my expectations are not unreasonable, I just did not like the hurry up, get the picture, and move on. Additionally, to make things even worse, the photos the 'professionals' took were terrible, both in composition, and quality, some were even blurry.

 

[carriehpotter]

When we were on the Disney Wonder in 2003, one of the musicals that was playing was Hercules: The Muse-ical. For anyone who didn't get the change to see it, it was a retelling of the story of Hercules, but Hercules was kind of a dunderhead and Hades was the real star. It was the best thing ever. Well, on the last night of the cruise, they had this big character meet-and-greet and some of the characters/actors from the different shows were also there. Because it was a "friend" who played Hades in the show, he was a face character.

Everyone was gathered in the lobby and the characters came down the stairs, including Hades, Pain, and Panic! The characters dispersed around the lobby and I kept my eye on Hades. The cruise director then shouted, "All right, everyone go find your favorite!" and I sprinted to Hades. He saw me coming, of course, this 14-year-old girl bypassing the likes of Mickey Mouse to reach him, hurrying like a bat out of hell. I was the first to him and he gave me a once over and said, "Geez, kid, I ain't seen anybody move like that since the last time Hermes was late for one of Zeusy's meetings." The entire time I was getting my photo, he, Pain, and Panic were cracking jokes and poking fun at me and I'm pretty sure I've never looked happier in any picture, ever

 

[mf1972]

couple of years ago, when characters still roamed around, we were hanging out in front of the castle hub waiting for the afternoon parade. my wife unexpectedly got tickled by Chip & Dale. 1 snuck up from behind, the other from the front. I was too busy laughing to keep track who was who.
another didn't involve us. we were eating at the CP, & tigger approached our section. there was a kid in her stroller at the table next to us, & we overheard she's a big tigger fan.
only problem was...she was out cold. parents tried to wake her. even tigger. she stirred, but wouldn't budge.
tigger was good enough to take some pics with the sleeping kid in her stroller. it was funny watching the whole thing play out. we can only imagine the look on that kids face when she sees what she missed.
she never woke up during the rest of our dinner either.