We Knew It Was Coming . . .

[CaliforniaGirl09]

Doesn't matter. They paid for the character experience BUT the price of the buffet doesn't guarantee anything. Disney can do whatever they want, and they have. They felt this is best, and i totally agree. If it wasnt such a problem, they wouldnt have made this change. But they have, for good reason. It takes too long to see characters. Wait staff must have noticed that customers have finished eating long before seeing the characters.....so they camp out at the tables just waiting, and waiting, and waiting for characters. The restaurant loses money this way.

I personally think this is great. It wont take as long to see characters with this method. And as i said, you can still get autographs by lining up at the parks to see characters.

This happened to us on at least 2 character meals in July. We were done well before all characters made rounds and had to sit there. At Tusker they actually had the last character--can't remember who it was--come out of order to our table. And guess what was a couple tables ahead of us? Huge table with multiple autograph books. Watching characters sign each one was painful.

 

[karrit2000]

My four year old loves the autographs. I've never understood why adults wait to get signatures from other adults in costumes but to each their own.

Maybe because that adult never had the chance to meet the characters and get their autographs when they were a child. Maybe that adult has never been to WDW before & is experiencing everything for the first time. Maybe that adult really enjoys the escape from reality one experiences while @ WDW and getting the autographs makes them happy.

 

[DisBuckMan]

Not magic... they simply seat the restaurant in sections so that it's intentionally timed for you to meet the characters early in your visit.

Impossible to do once the restaurant is full.

Nice try, though.

 

[freshmanjs]

Impossible to do once the restaurant is full.

Nice try, though.

No it's not. They seat in waves. Your attitude is repulsive.

 

[DisBuckMan]

No it's not. They seat in waves. Your attitude is repulsive.

Again...impossible once the restaurant is full. People do not eat at the same rate from table to table. Some eat faster, some eat slower. They fill a table when it's available.

I'll remain mature enough to refrain from personal attacks.

 

[freshmanjs]

Again...impossible once the restaurant is full. People do not eat at the same rate from table to table. Some eat faster, some eat slower. They fill a table when it's available.

I'll remain mature enough to refrain from personal attacks.

What you're saying is simply not true. They do staged seatings in the various areas throughout the service. It's easy to see if you watch.

 

[Ralph&Pam]

What you're saying is simply not true. They do staged seatings in the various areas throughout the service. It's easy to see if you watch.

I have certainly observed this at breakfasts at Cape May and Tusker House.

 

[DisneyHardin]

Again...impossible once the restaurant is full. People do not eat at the same rate from table to table. Some eat faster, some eat slower. They fill a table when it's available.

I'll remain mature enough to refrain from personal attacks.

They absolutely do seat in waves. If a table is taking FOREVER to finish, they may go ahead and reseat the section with them still in it. I've seen it done this way at both Akershus and Chef Mickey's. At both of these places we were one of the first tables seated in a nearly empty section (and we weren't the first seating of the day).

 

[TJDisneymama]

I don't know about seating in waves, I am not that attentive to detail, but that does remind me on our recent trip at 3 out of 4 of our character meals (1900 PF, TH and H&V), the hostess/waitress (can't remember specifically) at each did mention when they seated us that the characters would be at our table very , very soon so we might want to wait to go up for our first plate (all buffets). I did run up and grab a couple quick things really fast b/c I like to start nibbling right away. I did barely make it back though for each, and DD wwould be frantically flagging me down as a character was always close to our table.

The only time that wasn't the case (the characters coming by really quickly) was at CRT, which isn't a buffet. that was done differently as about 1/2 hour went by before they started announcing the princess' entrances. But that must be done in "waves" too because they dont just seat you as you check in, they hold back all the 12:30 ADRs....then check them all in at once. Then they hold back all the 12:35 ADRs......and check them all in at once. And so on an so on. So they must time it that once a group is seated (say all the 12:00 - 12:30's.....)then they plan for the princesses to come out maybe a few minutes after the 12:30 group? That makes sense because we were the 12:05 group and it was about 1/2 hour before the princesses started coming out.

 

[TeresaWen]

Maybe because that adult never had the chance to meet the characters and get their autographs when they were a child. Maybe that adult has never been to WDW before & is experiencing everything for the first time. Maybe that adult really enjoys the escape from reality one experiences while @ WDW and getting the autographs makes them happy.

This!!
I also love sharing my pictures and autographs with my friend's children who also love Disney. They get such a kick out of it.

I will never understand the attitude that Disney is not for adults. We can be more than chauffeurs for children. Kids also enjoy seeing adults get into the moment.

 

[kniquy]

I honestly don't think the autographs are as important as the pictures and the experience of my child getting to hug their favorite character. My boys had autograph books with a few signatures and it really meant nothing to them. The pictures are what keeps the memories going forever. If it helps to decrease the craziness of the meals and allows a little more time for pictures then i feel that it is worth it. I don't see this as a significant revenue boost for Disney, so with this change maybe they will get a handful of more people in the restaurant. We never did signatures so for us our meal is not going to be any quicker now that they have changed this procedure.

 

[TJDisneymama]

I honestly don't think the autographs are as important as the pictures and the experience of my child getting to hug their favorite character. My boys had autograph books with a few signatures and it really meant nothing to them. The pictures are what keeps the memories going forever. If it helps to decrease the craziness of the meals and allows a little more time for pictures then i feel that it is worth it. re.

but that's you. If my kids had to choose between pics & autographs, i bet they would pick autographs.

 

[Jays2013]

Huh. I honestly don't get it. My then-4-year-old got some autographs on our last trip four years ago, but that's not what has pride of place in his room. That's the photo of him with Captain Hook.

I do wonder if it comes down to the tables wanting numerous non-autograph book signings and then still expecting photos/other interaction. I agree with others that Disney could just say "just autograph books" or "just 1-2 autographs" but then what happens if the parents have the kids ignore the rule? (Because you know some would.) Simpler to just do this. I also don't see how it's all Disney's responsibility to "enforce moderation." The adults at the table should be doing that as well.

(I get that autographs means a lot to some people. My son enjoyed getting them. But I don't understand it being such a driving force behind everything!)

 

[LongLiveRafiki]

We were at CRT on 8/21, Garden Grill on 8/23, Bon Voyage breakfast on 8/25, Tusker House on 8/27, and Crystal Palace on 8/29. All characters signed and we were never offered an autograph card that I recall.

I don't think each autograph took more than about 5 seconds with the exception of Elsa (obviously not even at a character meal) and Eeyore because Elsa decorated hers with snowflakes and dots, and Eeyore drew a rain cloud. Even still, they didn't take more than 10 or 15 seconds to sign. We were a party of 6 and only had one autograph book to sign. I had the book open and handed the marker cap off to the characters as soon as they came over, they signed, and I snapped repetitive pics while they signed and for the next 30 seconds or so while they interacted with the kids. With the exception of Garden Grill, I don't think we had a single character meet that lasted longer than a minute total. But we didn't try to do posted photos, and it was only pics of the kids interacting with the characters together, and none of adults.

All of the characters came out quickly and we saw them all long before we finished our meals. At Garden Grill, we saw 3 of the 4 twice and it seemed like Pluto was really just looking for something to do the second time around because he played with my son for about 10 mins. Even with that extra interaction, we were out in exactly one hour. TH, BV, and CP were also an hour long. CRT took about an hour and a half, but that was because we weren't actually seated until around 15 mins past our reservation, and it took at least another 10-15 mins for for our server to take our order. Characters had still all been by before dessert.

 

[Colleen27]

but that's you. If my kids had to choose between pics & autographs, i bet they would pick autographs.

Mine too. My 16yo still has and uses a purse she had autographed years ago, when she was 9 or 10. She's got a couple of pics from past trips up in her room too, but none of characters - they're of her with her brother & sister, or with my brother, or her BFF who traveled with us once.

 

[MickeyWaffles]

We ate at Crystal Palace for lunch yesterday (9/5) and the server made sure to tell us before the characters came that all characters would sign autographs. csn confirm that characters signed autographs for anyone who wanted them.

No pre-signed cards that we experienced (other than the usual pre-signed birthday card.) All a normal experience yesterday for us!

 

[allsaintsatx]

Does this mean that the autograph cards that were handed out will now be considered hard-to-find collectibles? I'll put it on the shelf next to a Hocus Pocus magicband!

 

[TJDisneymama]

Arent there any friends of these characters around here who can shed some light -- was this a test? Has it been nixed?

 

[Vala]

Maybe because that adult never had the chance to meet the characters and get their autographs when they were a child. Maybe that adult has never been to WDW before & is experiencing everything for the first time. Maybe that adult really enjoys the escape from reality one experiences while @ WDW and getting the autographs makes them happy.

This.

If you remember "this is an adult in costume" all the time, good on you. For me this goes out of the window in approximately 30 seconds when I talk to a character, even less if it's one I particularly like.

And sometimes getting the autograph is the experience.

I draw. Never met Pocahontas before this story takes place because she'd been rare in the US parks and impossible in Paris.

Then one Halloween party in DLR Pocahontas was with the princesses. We kept trying half of our first party to catch her, but no such luck. The CMs noticed the drawing and told me they'd speak to her if we'd miss the last set too.

We did miss it indeed and they asked her to come over and see me. She agreed. Due to the set up of the Royal Theater a picture was impossible because there was a rail between us. But she was the sweetest thing ever about signing my drawing, even personalized for me.

When she insisted on hugging me twice yes, the "adult in costume" had this adult Disney fan almost in tears.

 

[jsternad]

I can't say I mind at all. They take so long, and neither of my kids have ever been into it.