What’s the polite amount of time to spend with characters?

[TBGOES2DISNEY]

I’ve been watching a family’s trip on YouTube. When they meet characters, they tend to talk for a bit, sign an autograph book, take a picture with the kid, and then a picture with the family, talking and saying goodbye as they leave. I think they probably average at least two minutes (based on video time). I’ve been in line behind families that take a while before, and while I try to be patient, it can be annoying, especially if they are doing multiple autograph books and photos, plus talking and hugging. I feel like my kids get a hug and a photo (few extra seconds if they have an autograph book), and are ushered out in about 30 seconds. So what is the polite amount of time to spend with a character?

 

[pwmitch237]

For me, I always think of the once in a lifetime guests, and remember that many people are not lucky enough to come to Disney multiple times. I do think anything over 3 minutes is excessive, and annoying. I've been to the world over 25 times, but I brought a friend for their first-time earlier this summer, and they could not get enough time with the characters. I politely ushered them and poked them along, but the cast members do a pretty good job of what's appropriate for a group pending size, imo. Do I think you should be doing all of your instagram poses with the characters, no? But I multitude of photos is fine by me.

 

[chris benton]

I’ve been watching a family’s trip on YouTube. When they meet characters, they tend to talk for a bit, sign an autograph book, take a picture with the kid, and then a picture with the family, talking and saying goodbye as they leave. I think they probably average at least two minutes (based on video time). I’ve been in line behind families that take a while before, and while I try to be patient, it can be annoying, especially if they are doing multiple autograph books and photos, plus talking and hugging. I feel like my kids get a hug and a photo (few extra seconds if they have an autograph book), and are ushered out in about 30 seconds. So what is the polite amount of time to spend with a character?

Well, I hate to rain on "the magic," but I'd bet there are metrics in place for the cm's portraying the characters. I'd assume they have a quota, and some protocol in place including signals/gestures from the "handlers." The more ppl they can get through signals more demand for their services, which means more job security - just a guess. This would be a good topic of discussion for a cm. I'd bet they are filmed.

I can picture a staff meeting now:
Hey, Jim, when you were Minnie at Epcot's Disney Visa Character meet, last Tuesday, we only averaged 23.4 interactions per hour on the day, which is down from 24.2, was there a special reason why that happened?

 

[Tink_83]

I think it’s size dependent, I mean a family of 2 kids and 2 parents should take less time then a family with more kids. And I think it’s appropriate for everyone to have an autograph book - just because they are the same family doesn’t mean they should each get to collect autographs.

 

[grossmansr]

I've actually been wondering this too. I know my daughter would LOVE more time with characters, but she can be shy so all we usually get is the quick hug and photo. I feel a bit silly taking up more time than that but it seems we are only there about 30 seconds. I don't want to be rude to other guests but I was hoping for a bit more. 2 minutes seems about right. Any ideas for how to stretch it without overstaying?

 

[cgattis]

Mayb

I've actually been wondering this too. I know my daughter would LOVE more time with characters, but she can be shy so all we usually get is the quick hug and photo. I feel a bit silly taking up more time than that but it seems we are only there about 30 seconds. I don't want to be rude to other guests but I was hoping for a bit more. 2 minutes seems about right. Any ideas for how to stretch it without overstaying?

Maybe practice with your daughter some questions specific to each character that might spur a little more interaction. (I asked the stepsisters where their pretty sister was once......that got them going LOL). Outfits themed to a character usually get some attention. I have an autograph book that I made with our own character pics, and some of the characters love looking through that (presumably for friends of theirs...). Little things like that make more slightly longer, and in my opinion, more fun, interactions.

 

[cobright]

I’ve been watching a family’s trip on YouTube. When they meet characters, they tend to talk for a bit, sign an autograph book, take a picture with the kid, and then a picture with the family, talking and saying goodbye as they leave. I think they probably average at least two minutes (based on video time).... So what is the polite amount of time to spend with a character?

I timed our families MnGs one trip and not counting mask characters (where dialogue can be a bit restricted) we averaged about a minute each. We weren't doing autographs that trip either. But we like to engage the characters and let them express some of their character. On my wife and I's last adults only trip I think we spent 3 or 4 minutes with Pocahontas and probably 3 minutes with Tinkerbell. But most character meets were probably about a minute or a little less. 2 minutes is completely reasonable.

 

[cobright]

I don't want to be rude to other guests but I was hoping for a bit more. 2 minutes seems about right. Any ideas for how to stretch it without overstaying?

It's not being rude. You're waiting in line for an attraction, like everyone else. If you waited 30 minutes for splash mountain and once there they let you know you're getting the 30 second version, you'd feel cheated.

The Characters have more fun doing actual interaction instead of assembly line work and they are very good at engaging shy kiddos but you need to signal to them what you want. Asking a few questions is a good bet. Lead off the greeting with something like, "Now Kiddo here might be too demure to say so but we loved your coronation dress". Reference some aspect of their character that's not present, something that would call for the character to do a bit of storytelling. Or bring up the weather and ask if it gets hot like this in ... wherever they're from. This gets them asking about where you're from.

One of our favorite visits with Rapunzel got us onto the subject of Michigan geography,

 

[Mango7100]

I've actually been wondering this too. I know my daughter would LOVE more time with characters, but she can be shy so all we usually get is the quick hug and photo. I feel a bit silly taking up more time than that but it seems we are only there about 30 seconds. I don't want to be rude to other guests but I was hoping for a bit more. 2 minutes seems about right. Any ideas for how to stretch it without overstaying?

My daughter also is shy once she gets up to the characters. I found it helps to have her think of a question she wants to ask and make it specific to that character. She asked Cinderella how long it takes to make clothes for the mice, she asked Flynn Ryder if he still had the crown in his satchel, she told Tiana we had beignets in New Orleans, she showed Minnie her Minnie bracelet. That seemed to help.

 

[PrincessWithABlaster]

The only characters that come to mind as having spent more than 30 secs with my kids were Alice and the Madhatter (who made them walk with their autograph books on their heads), Joy and Sadness because Joy wanted to play patty-cake with my son, and Ariel when my daughters were dressed up from BBB. Other than that, it’s quick autograph, quick picture, hug, and goodbye. My kids are not outgoing so even when we suggest discussions, they will ask a question but not follow up. A couple of the characters have been awesome but mostly it’s a very abbreviated experience. I will try to ask the characters questions which sometimes helps. Despite that my kids still really enjoy meeting characters. So I guess it works for them.

 

[5kidsmommy]

We might be those rude people. Our time is always based on how the character react and most of the time they tend to take awhile with my kids. It's always been that way. I thought it was because we have a large family but even when I've gone with just one or two they've had longer interactions. I'd say 3-5 minutes. I'm just glad we don't do too many character meet and greets anymore. I find them exhausting. The next time my daughter goes will be for her 21st. She is the one that loves characters, I really hope she's outgrown that by then but probably not.

 

[Donzie]

I never let the family linger for more than 3 minutes. I respect the cast members and their hot sweaty work portraying these beloved characters and just try to be polite to them and the folks waiting behind us. Any longer visiting and my 3 kids would figure out these aren't really the characters but poorly paid college age kids in costumes, lol.

 

[chicagodisfan]

I've actually been wondering this too. I know my daughter would LOVE more time with characters, but she can be shy so all we usually get is the quick hug and photo. I feel a bit silly taking up more time than that but it seems we are only there about 30 seconds. I don't want to be rude to other guests but I was hoping for a bit more. 2 minutes seems about right. Any ideas for how to stretch it without overstaying?

My daughter can get a little shy around the characters too and I agree that thinking of a question for her to ask before she meets them helps and sometimes I’ll say something from the sidelines as she’s walking up, like “show Tinkerbell the Tinkerbell medallion on your costume” which got Tink going about why she didn’t have a medallion on her outfit. Or she wore her Rapunzel dress at the Rapunzel/Tiana meet and I apologized to Tiana for not having her dress but we couldn’t fit it in the suitcase and that got a whole conversation going about how full Tiana’s dress was and they did twirls together. But I have to agree that some is just based on the particular cast member that is the character. Some are fantastic and some are more assembly line style. No amount of my sideline chit chat was going to make our visit with Frozen 2 Elsa any longer than the 30 seconds it was. She clearly was making her stats that day!

 

[Leigh L]

We might be those rude people. Our time is always based on how the character react and most of the time they tend to take awhile with my kids. It's always been that way. I thought it was because we have a large family but even when I've gone with just one or two they've had longer interactions. I'd say 3-5 minutes. I'm just glad we don't do too many character meet and greets anymore. I find them exhausting. The next time my daughter goes will be for her 21st. She is the one that loves characters, I really hope she's outgrown that by then but probably not.

My DD26 has definitely not outgrown it LOL. We go next week, she and DD13 were mapping out their greets yesterday. DD13 will choose a ride usually over a greet though. Not DD26!

 

[KenHutch]

Well we did about 3 minutes a kid with an exception at the Disa Visa Pictures place there was no one behind us. We spent about 10 minutes per kid there and the characters attendants actually told me it was fine. When another family showed up we ended it.

 

[Ariel620]

Many times we hit the average of a minute or two like you suggest, but many times we have been longer than that as well, so we may be the rude guest you mention. But I think it is very character dependent. For example, when my niece was dressed up as vamperina, the character switched places with her and pretended to wait in line to meet her as my daughter went to meet vamperina (cousin), it was cute and fun and it probably took 5 min. another example of that is when my kids met Mary and Bert, my daughter wanted to show Mary a picture she took of her from the TV screen, then they "stepped in time" with Bert dancing all over the place. There are other examples too, a really cute tickle interaction with Mulan/Mushu, the time when Stitch stole my sons blanket and ran away, the time they played hide and seek with Peter Pan. All these were amazing experiences and they are part of the magic of disney. There are plenty of times when we do the 1 min hug/sign/bye, but the characters are a large part of what makes disney so magical for us, so I would not rush through it, and I don't feel that I am being rude watching my kids enjoy this magic. We waited in line, so I don't feel like we should be rushed out, and no employee ever made us feel rushed either. The flip side of that is that I am also not upset when others take a while enjoying their time, nor am I upset if the characters need a break (Pooh bear needs to refill his hunny, or Rapunzel took a few extra minutes to get out because she was brushing her hair), it's all part of the magic!

 

[5kidsmommy]

My DD26 has definitely not outgrown it LOL. We go next week, she and DD13 were mapping out their greets yesterday. DD13 will choose a ride usually over a greet though. Not DD26!

My daughter loves rides but she has health issues and gets sick and exhausted after a few which is why I think she loves the characters so much. So you are probably right, that probably won't change.

 

[evlaina]

I’ve been watching a family’s trip on YouTube. When they meet characters, they tend to talk for a bit, sign an autograph book, take a picture with the kid, and then a picture with the family, talking and saying goodbye as they leave. I think they probably average at least two minutes (based on video time). I’ve been in line behind families that take a while before, and while I try to be patient, it can be annoying, especially if they are doing multiple autograph books and photos, plus talking and hugging. I feel like my kids get a hug and a photo (few extra seconds if they have an autograph book), and are ushered out in about 30 seconds. So what is the polite amount of time to spend with a character?

I don't think any of us can say what is polite because every person has different feelings on what is rude, when they start to feel guilty, and different level of patience. I am impatient, so I think anything over a minute is rude IF it's not the character themselves making it take longer. Of course I wouldn't roll my eyes at Pooh fawning over a baby or Cinderella twirling a little girl around in her dress, because the CM is having fun with it and doing a good job at performing. However I don't get why anyone wants the same autograph over and over, or why dad has to take 38 individual photos of each one of his kids in different poses with his own camera after the photopass photog has already taken a dozen. We were in line for Russell and Dug this year and the woman in front of us took forever. She had 2 sets of ears she wanted to wear for her photos, wanted individual photos with the characters plus them together, and was really trying to get a reaction from the characters and it just dragged on. I think that's rude

Our kids are 6 and 8, and already over autographs because they've gotten them before. So we just come in for a hug and a picture (with photopass, never our own phones or cameras).

 

[AngiTN]

Whatever time they spend, it's the polite amount of time.
There's no rules, it's fun and it's not like they are going to put a serious impact on your wait.
Let them have their 1 or whatever extra minute.

 

[AngiTN]

Well, I hate to rain on "the magic," but I'd bet there are metrics in place for the cm's portraying the characters. I'd assume they have a quota, and some protocol in place including signals/gestures from the "handlers." The more ppl they can get through signals more demand for their services, which means more job security - just a guess. This would be a good topic of discussion for a cm. I'd bet they are filmed.

I can picture a staff meeting now:
Hey, Jim, when you were Minnie at Epcot's Disney Visa Character meet, last Tuesday, we only averaged 23.4 interactions per hour on the day, which is down from 24.2, was there a special reason why that happened?

Here's why that isn't a thing like, how many did you sell today?
Neither the guests the handlers nor the characters are in control of how long they spend with a guest. The guest is.
They do not shoo/turn a guest away when they've exceeded some arbitrary time frame.