Question about character interaction for those who have gone with just one child.

[JennaDeeDooDah]

My husband and I were discussing something this weekend and we wanted to hear about other people's experience. We have noticed that when we go to character meals with our daughter (age 5), we have a different experience than when we go with a large group or just the two of is. When we go to restaurants with our daughter, we have noticed that the characters don't really spend all that much time at our table and it is certainly less time than they spend at other tables. We thought that it was probably because we only had the one child so characters spent more time at tables with multiple children so as to spend equal time with each child, but then we went to the parks just the two of us. When we went to the same restaurants just my husband and me, we noticed that the characters spent more time with us than when we had our daughter with us. With our daughter, they usually say hello, smile for a photo, make a cute comment that pertains to their character, and are gone. With my husband and me, they will joke around a bit longer. When we are with a larger group, it's the same as with just my husband and me. Our daughter doesn't always speak up so we thought that it might be that they don't always understand what she is saying so they are quick to move on so as to not upset her by not knowing what she is saying. I don't know. Also, I'm not saying that we have had a bad experience. Our daughter doesn't know anything different than what we have experienced so she is perfectly happy with the interaction. I was just wondering if other people have noticed that they don't get as much time with the characters when they have one child or if it is likely due to our daughter just not speaking up and speaking clearly.

I hope that makes sense. Please let me know if I need to clarify.

 

[Robo]

Unlikely a "trend" or intentionally different timings.

After years and years of character interaction with different numbers of guest and ages in our parties, we have not noticed any quantifiable differences.

Much more likely a function of the number of total guests in the location, and (more importantly) the demeanor of the "helper" of a given character on a given visit.

 

[mom2rtk]

You're seeing differences and assuming it's about who is in your group. It probably isn't. It's probably just because it's a different DAY.

We have done a bazillion character meals through the meals. The experience is always different. Some "good" different", some "not so good" different.

 

[sophiasapientia]

With our daughter, they usually say hello, smile for a photo, make a cute comment that pertains to their character, and are gone.

This has largely been our experience at character meals, both when we've been dining with just our soft-spoken Only, and when we've done character meals with family and friends and their kiddos. Some characters are definitely more engaged and spend more time but it is typically a brief visit/photo while the characters make their rounds. The princess character meals at CRT seem to be the most rushed for us. I've just chalked it up to time constraints at the meals and perhaps, too, in recent visits, that DD is no longer a little kid. DD has more time with characters at the Meet & Greets in the parks and on the Disney Cruise, especially when things aren't super busy.

 

[JennaDeeDooDah]

Thank you for the responses. I love doing character meals and my daughter has a great time so I can't really say that we are "bothered" by the lack of time we seem to have with the characters. I just was hoping that it might be more of a coincidence than anything else rather than it being because my daughter is a bit harder to understand, you know? I can definitely get that some characters will connect with some families more than others just like anybody else so knowing that it really just varies and is more of a coincidence rather than anything else that they seem to spend more time with my husband and me than when our daughter is with us does make me feel better.

 

[THEJOEL]

We have one child a DD.
The main factor I've seen as far as quality of interaction had been my DD. The more playful or talkative she is the more the characters reciprocate.
For instance she LOVES Pluto always has those moments have always been priceless.

 

[Maggie'sMom]

We have one child a DD.
The main factor I've seen as far as quality of interaction had been my DD. The more playful or talkative she is the more the characters reciprocate.
For instance she LOVES Pluto always has those moments have always been priceless.

This has been my experience as well. When DD is in the mood to chat, she gets more time with the characters as they will interact with what she is saying. When she's hungry and just wanting a quick photo, autograph, and then back to the meal, that's what she gets.

 

[IrishNYC]

We have one child a DD.
The main factor I've seen as far as quality of interaction had been my DD. The more playful or talkative she is the more the characters reciprocate.
For instance she LOVES Pluto always has those moments have always been priceless.

I fully agree with this. We also have one child, and we noticed that when she/we interacted more with characters, or got more excited, they would spend more time with us.