Crossing my fingers this turns out to be nothing more than a failed test.
I think it's easy to brush this off as no big deal when you're either a very frequent Disney guest who has had their fair share of autographs over the years, you were never into autographs to begin with, or you (and your children) are past that stage. I can't say I agree with the attitude that all you're paying for is a meal and it's acceptable for Disney to do what they will as long as there is some sort of food provided.
Not only is the idea that they're moving towards cards over signatures disappointing, the whole reasoning behind it bothers me. There are SO many things that make Disney parks so special that are not direct revenue generating activities. Think of all the opportunities for shopping/dining that would open up if people stopped spending so much time waiting for and watching the afternoon parades, and how much they're paying in labour costs alone every time they put on a parade. Think how much faster they could shuffle people through the character lines giving them more park time and ultimately leaving them more time for spending money if they decided to do away with pictures in favour of handing one out instead. Think how much faster they could move people through the buffet/family style restaurants if they started limiting the number of plates you could make. To me this is a slippery slope, it is (in my opinion) a huge cut in character interaction which is (again, in my opinion) a major if not the major reason to visit these character meals in the first place.
Twenty years later my family still fondly remembers the time a character goofed around with my younger brother and stopped to play tic tac toe with him (prompted by the character) in his autograph book. Those memories last much longer than remembering how fast you got through a character meal. Autograph books have been a staple of character interactions for as long as I can remember. I still have mine from
Disneyland in the early 90s. I really hope my kids can grow up with fond memories of it too.
And for the record, we have visited Disney many times over the years with multiple character meals each trip, and the vast majority of them haven't taken significantly longer than a meal at a non-character buffet. We too have had meals where they've been to our table more than once. If multiple autographs were really a major issue, a much less drastic solution would be to limit autographs to one per person and paper only. Although, I suppose they chose the cards instead as Disney isn't known for their enforcing rules and confronting guests when needed.
Disney has plenty of options for families who just want a quick meal. To me this screams cost cutting/revenue generating, not alleviating long waits at character meals. Ultimately I hope this pans out to be nothing (preferably before March
), hopefully those Facebook reports are accurate and it stays that way!
