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

[twinmom13]

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 suggestion is to go when crowds are light, if you can, like during another event. Last year, we met Elena and Cinderella during the fireworks during the Halloween Party. There was no one in line behind us, so they spent extra time with my boys. Elena is a favorite of one of my sons, so it was a great experience. He showed her that he had her picture on his Magic Band, which delighted her -- she said she had never seen that before. They talked at length about Avalor. A bonus: when we came out, the fireworks were still going on, right over our heads and all around us.

 

[chris benton]

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.

I don't think they "shoo" or "turn" people away. But I think there are much more passive ways that they do this. Like certain (very polite) statements or gestures - mostly from the handlers. I'm not sure if "handlers" is the correct term, but I'm referring to the OTHER cm's that are not in costume - like the ones who take the pictures, or lead you into the room for the meet/greet.

 

[AngiTN]

I don't think they "shoo" or "turn" people away. But I think there are much more passive ways that they do this. Like certain (very polite) statements or gestures - mostly from the handlers. I'm not sure if "handlers" is the correct term, but I'm referring to the OTHER cm's that are not in costume - like the ones who take the pictures, or lead you into the room for the meet/greet.

Handlers is the term used for the CM that accompany Characters.
They still allow the guest the time the guest wants.
The guest is never removed till ready to go. Period. At least as long as they are not being inappropriate

 

[sponica]

My kid was looking at the backdrop in the Anna and Elsa M&G and not to the camera when we posed with Elsa. So Anna had to provide a distraction so she'd look at the camera....while I looked at the line stacking up, feeling the wrath.

What I found more annoying was my inlaws seemingly deciding at the last minute they wanted to be in the pictures. I'm sure we aggravated people then...

 

[tbia]

I don't know if it is a thing or not, but on our last visit, a family was taking a LOOOONG time with Elsa, while Anna's family had moved along. Anna watched for a few minutes, then gave an Anna-ish comment about how everyone always loves to spend all of their time with her sister, and never with her. The Family took the hint and wrapped it up.

If intentional, VERY successful.

 

[Disneypro1]

How long my kids want is how long. It’s not my concern what others think is too long. Not do I care. It’s our vacation. And there is no rule on this. So that’s that. If my kids spend a minute. That’s it. If they spend 5. Then that’s it. I certainly don’t spend my day trying to please anyone else. I can’t imagine any kid there more than what 3-4 minutes? Not really a big deal.

 

[brevebelle]

When my husband and I go to Disney without the kids, we are super quick with the character meet and greets. We're probably in and out in 30 seconds, and we only do a couple of them if the waits aren't long.

Our first trip with our kids (in 2016, they were 4 and almost 3), our son was dressed up like Captain Hook, and our daughter was in a Tinker Bell costume. As they walked in to meet Tinker Bell, our daughter went first and Tink smothered her with attention and excitement, and then she saw our son and freaked out! It was hilarious. Tink pulled our daughter behind the big flowers on her set and was scared of the "bad pirate," and made my son swear to her that he wasn't a bad pirate before she would come out. Then they hugged, they talked, and took pictures. And we were probably pushing 3-4 minutes at that point, but we let Tink lead.

The only time I've ever felt annoyed by people taking up character time was once at Chef Mickey's, where the table ahead of us had a mom who wanted character photos with her kid, a photo with the whole family and the character, plus signatures on a picture frame mat, a pillow case, and an autograph book. I thought that was a bit much.

 

[gharter]

In general, my experience has been that if families are spending too much time, the characters handler tends to help move them along.
It also seems like our kids spent much more time with the character people than those in costume.

 

[DuskKodesh]

I fear I'm one of the rude people sometimes. Most characters about a minute, I let the handlers direct there but on a few I was a doofy clingy idiot. Probably two minutes with Stitch because I kept asking questions and with Joy and Sadness I told Sadness that I had a friend that I sent a plushie of her to for whenever she feels sad and... I kinda started crying. Grown adult there, crying to Sadness. They didn't send me out until I was smiling again so maybe two and a half minutes, then my husband teased me the rest of the day.

 

[xipotec]

Back in the day, we spent about 15 minutes with the Pixie Hollow gang. No on seemed to realize where the m&g was at that time, and the place was empty.

It was hilarious, they were frantic and we have video and pictures that are outrageous.

They played hide and seek, discussed the merits or being pirates vs lost boys and were given the fun task of playing tag with Peter ( a WDW favorite)

 

[xipotec]

Long story short, spend the time you can get, without holding up the line too much

 

[brevebelle]

I fear I'm one of the rude people sometimes. Most characters about a minute, I let the handlers direct there but on a few I was a doofy clingy idiot. Probably two minutes with Stitch because I kept asking questions and with Joy and Sadness I told Sadness that I had a friend that I sent a plushie of her to for whenever she feels sad and... I kinda started crying. Grown adult there, crying to Sadness. They didn't send me out until I was smiling again so maybe two and a half minutes, then my husband teased me the rest of the day.

Oh my gosh, don't feel doofy! I get super emotional about silly things. When my husband built a lightsaber at Savi's Workshop months ago, the CM giving the presentation got me SUPER emotional. I was quietly crying because he was killin' it! So much emotion, such great acting, and the music in the room.. the lightsabers.. I mean, it really got me.

 

[bizeemom4]

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.

10 minutes?! Kind of feeling badly for the characters and friends there.

 

[KPeterso]

Take as long as you need. I try to be quick, but I usually have a Pluto stuffie with me and that gets major attention from a lot of the characters. One time at the character Spot, Mickey took my Pluto and was cradling him and showed it to Minnie and Goofy. And then each of those characters also made a fuss over my Pluto. Similar fun things have happened many other times.

And after the family I was behind at AK to meet Mickey and Minnie last year, I don't feel so bad. Only 1 party in front of us when we got let in the room. But that party was about 15 people. They needed individual pictures for each kid, some of the adults, each family, the whole group, and smaller subsets of the group. It was at least 10 minutes or more that they monopolized the characters and by the time they were done, the entire small room was full of families waiting.

 

[Unvoiced_Apollo]

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?

A lot of times cast interaction involves adapting to what they perceive as the comfortability level for the guest. Or just their own comfortability (as I guy I understand if a princess wants to just have a few quick words and send me on my way).

I've had short interactions and I've had good 2-3 minutes of interactions. Do you think your kids aren't getting the time they'd like? Or do they still feel really happy getting to meet the characters? As long as they're happy, then it's a great interaction. At least IMO. I understand the feeling if you think your kids are getting the shaft.

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?

I would say have your kid practice talking to a character with you. Suggest some topics regarding the character she can bring up and then try and have a conversation about that subject. Another thing is have her make her own autograph book (or other items for signing). Just get a journal type notebook, construction paper for a cover, and disney stickers (found mine at Party city). Some characters really take notice and will mention it. Phillip & Eric both noticed my respective books when they signed. And of course dressing up as her favorite character. Disneybounding as Flynn Rider got me some good conversation from both Raps and Flynn (MVMCP) and a really awkward picture of me failing to smolder

 

[2019TripIdeas]

I feel like it's kind of rude (and clueless) not to just be quick when there's a massive line behind you. Seems like common sense to allow your child a chance to say hello, sign the autograph, take the picture and move right along. Though handlers always seemed to ask if the parents wanted to jump in for a photo, we just declined and said the one photo with the kids was enough.

We did have an AMAZING character interaction at Disneyland with Cruella where she took my daughter around for- I'm not joking- probably close to 10 minutes. She didn't have a line and just spent SO much time making my girl feel important and it was really neat. Thinking back on it, I don't even remember her having a handler at all- she was just out hanging out.

In general though, my children were far more awkward around the princesses so I don't think we'll even attempt to meet them on our upcoming trip.

 

[epcotobsessed]

We're a 30 second family. I fully admit to getting annoyed with people who spend a lot longer, which is why we pretty much never stop for characters. There are characters who my kids have never "met" because of this and to us, that's ok.

 

[AngiTN]

I feel like it's kind of rude (and clueless) not to just be quick when there's a massive line behind you. Seems like common sense to allow your child a chance to say hello, sign the autograph, take the picture and move right along. Though handlers always seemed to ask if the parents wanted to jump in for a photo, we just declined and said the one photo with the kids was enough.

We did have an AMAZING character interaction at Disneyland with Cruella where she took my daughter around for- I'm not joking- probably close to 10 minutes. She didn't have a line and just spent SO much time making my girl feel important and it was really neat. Thinking back on it, I don't even remember her having a handler at all- she was just out hanging out.

In general though, my children were far more awkward around the princesses so I don't think we'll even attempt to meet them on our upcoming trip.

DL does let most of the Characters roam freely, no lines but there are still Handlers with each of them. Off to the side, usually not in plain sight but they have the buttons on their shirts that say "Ask Me" with the Mickey hand pointing, or something like that. They wear a different shirt than the ones at WDW.

 

[Turn the Page]

At AK a few weeks ago we went to meet Minnie and Mickey and I swear the family in front of us took 6 minutes. It was a larger group, a few adults and several kids but still. They all had to have individual pictures, group pictures, autograph books signed, and then they pulled out the pillowcases to have those signed as well.

The CM's were visibly annoyed but not enough to actually usher them out.

 

[Dug720]

At least for the most part at the parks you have a clue how large the parties ahead of you are. On the cruiseline, other than the ticketed greets (Frozen and the Princess Gathering), it is not at all uncommon to think there is only a parent and kid (or just a solo adult) in front of you only to have multiple siblings and/or cousins and other adults come up to “join” just before meeting and then all the zillion combinations for pics. Much harder for that to happen with the major meets like Mickey, Tink, princesses, etc.