Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt Well here's a surprise, WDW's Enchanted Tales With Belle has won the Thea Awards for Outstanding Achievement. <a target="blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.orlandosentinel.com/travel/blogs/theme-park-rangers/os-thea-awards-enchanted-tales-disney-20131119,0,3254319.post">http://www.orlandosentinel.com...319.post</a>
Originally Posted By FerretAfros Yah, it does seem weird that they couldn't get the pictures right Although what I've seen of the Belle meet & greet looks well done, I'm not really sure it necessitates an award. THEA seems to just create and abandon categories on a whim, just for the sake of handing out awards, and this seems to be more of the same. Yes, it's much more than an autograph station and photographer, but I'm not sure if it really revolutionized meet & greets
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt "It's a shame that the pictures are for a different experience" I noticed that too. And the story is from the local paper! Lazy journalism strikes again.
Originally Posted By SuperDry <<< Although what I've seen of the Belle meet & greet looks well done ... I'm not sure if it really revolutionized meet & greets >>> I think you need to experience it yourself before drawing conclusions. It's far more than a meet & greet. Although that is one of its functions, and perhaps the primary justification for installing it in order to drive PhotoPass sales, the experience itself is far more. I've been through it, and really enjoyed it, and didn't even take part in the photo opportunity part. It's not something I'd do every time, but it is enjoyable just for what it is, separate from the meet & greet aspect. I think that's what makes it so unique, and worthy of an award.
Originally Posted By Yookeroo Yeah. I did it an liked far more than I expected to. It's really a neat experience.
Originally Posted By Mickeymouseclub I hated it and was embarrassed to sit thru it. Then they had out a Photopass card to everybody as you exit. As if i would pay to take home stranger's pics performing that stupid thing. Where is Spirit when you need him?
Originally Posted By TheRedhead "but I'm not sure if it really revolutionized meet & greets" Yes. It did. One of the more miserable line-waiting experiences in WDW is for the indoor meet and greets (Princess Hall, the Fairies, Mickey on Main Street). When you wait on line for rides or outdoor meet and greets, there is some excitement as you near the ride or the character, getting closer to your turn. The indoor meet and greets culminate in...a closed door. Then there's the movement of the line. Because of the nature of the attraction, the lines move a bit, and then stop for a loooong time. There is no continual movement. Considering the target age of those waiting in line, this is especially painful. With the Belle attraction, you're still waiting a half hour to interact and have your picture taken with Belle. But now you're in her highly-detailed home, you get nifty special effects with the mirror schtick, you get an awesome Lumiere animatronic, the kids do a cute little show, and then you're taking pictures. Instead of a line, I get all that stuff. It's pretty ingenious. "As if i would pay to take home stranger's pics performing that stupid thing." I see this sentiment online a lot, and I'm baffled by it. Disney offers Photo Pass. It's not forced on you. But if a person wanted it on their personal card during the whole Belle picture-taking, Disney would have to go through a whole rigamarole, scanning just the right pic at the right time and it would take forever. So they give you a card with everyone's pictures. Big deal. The process is streamlined. And I get home, look at the pictures, and find my daughter's pic. But I also say, hey, there's the little girl who played the beast. That was cute. I'm not stalking her. I'm not being asked to buy it. I shrug and move on. It is so not a big deal. How many of us have pictures of ourselves on Splash Mountain that we DID pay for that have complete strangers in them? Why on earth would THIS be anything to think twice over?
Originally Posted By FerretAfros >>Instead of a line, I get all that stuff. It's pretty ingenious.<< You get all that, but you also still get that line. From what I've seen online, it seems that this experience routinely pulls a 60 minute standby wait. I'm not sure if that's 60 min until you see Belle or until the first preshow element begins, but either way it's a lot of waiting, and it appears to be outside. Yes, it's far better than waiting in switchbacks or an unthemed queue somewhere, but it certainly doesn't sound like it's for me Then again, the routinely long waits for this could be an indication of its success. (or an indication of the problems with FP+) >>So they give you a card with everyone's pictures. Big deal. ... I'm not stalking her.<< I'm sure the vast vast majority of the people in there aren't stalkers, but that won't stop parents from being concerned about it. From the discussion I've seen, it seems to mostly be "there are extra photos I don't want on the card" rather than "random strangers are getting photos of my kid". In a way, you give up a lot of privacy going somewhere like WDW where everybody has a camera out, but I'm actually surprised at how smoothly this has gone over; I don't think the nitpicky DL regulars would have handled it nearly as gracefully
Originally Posted By Witches of Morva ORDDU: As I've also pointed out before, standing in the long line for this particular meet and greet doesn't even guarantee that you'll get a picture with Belle. You have to be chosen to participate in the skit to qualify for a picture. They won't let you use your own camera if you attempt to take a picture of Belle without being chosen for the skit.
Originally Posted By SuperDry ^^^I think that's a bit misleading. More accurate would be: "... doesn't even guarantee that you'll get a picture with Belle" WITH YOUR OWN CAMERA. Everyone can get their picture with Belle on PhotoPass at the end by getting in line.
Originally Posted By TheRedhead "You get all that, but you also still get that line." True (though we used a FP+ so we walked right into the first room). And I'm not sure when they begin the wait time. I would assume the time until you get into the first room. But my point is that the line for these kinds of things is usually awful awful. At least the fairies queue had the good sense to hang a tv to entertain us, but that's a cop-out. With Belle, when I'm standing in the room with the wardrobe being entertained, I get that I'm standing there because I'm waiting for the group ahead of me to clear out. >I< know it's a line. My daughter only sees a show. That is why I can understand some group recognizing Disney's creativity.
Originally Posted By TheRedhead "You get all that, but you also still get that line." True (though we used a FP+ so we walked right into the first room). And I'm not sure when they begin the wait time. I would assume the time until you get into the first room. But my point is that the line for these kinds of things is usually awful awful. At least the fairies queue had the good sense to hang a tv to entertain us, but that's a cop-out. With Belle, when I'm standing in the room with the wardrobe being entertained, I get that I'm standing there because I'm waiting for the group ahead of me to clear out. >I< know it's a line. My daughter only sees a show. That is why I can understand some group recognizing Disney's creativity.
Originally Posted By TheRedhead "You have to be chosen to participate in the skit to qualify for a picture." Maybe they've changed the experience since the last time you were there, but that's not at all what happened to me one month ago. They asked for volunteers and my daughter (she's 6) froze and didn't want to do it. My son (he's 4) hid behind the whole group - he was, after all, there under protest (Princesses yuck). When all kids volunteered, the CM made a last call, saying she had characters left if anyone wanted. A woman ran up, grabbed a salt shaker, and no one objected or even seemed to care. When we went in, my daughter sat on the floor. My son sat in the far back of the room playing with cars. When it was time to line up for pix, they let my daughter get in line, despite not participating. A CM even walked back to my son, asked him if he'd like to meet Belle, and when he got a harumph he handed my son his own bookmark. Also, when it was my daughter's turn to meet Belle, I stood right next to the Photo Pass guy and snapped my own pictures. Other people were doing the same. Oh, and that woman who volunteered herself to be in the show got her own moment with Belle, picture included.
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt Sounds pretty neat, if you like that sort of thing, that is. If and when I go to WDW I'll probably be the one looking around at all the details, ignoring most of the show.
Originally Posted By Mickeymouseclub Thats not the way I remember it. Long line to get inside the cottage, long wait inside cramped cottage…enter for the pre-show with the talking closet drawer… enter and wait for Belle's entry watch performance Belle will take pictures with only those guests that performed in skit and then whisks away thru a door … Does not remain for any extra photos! And only those that participated get the bookmark gift from Belle ; others receive a photo pass card. That has probably changed since all cast members are reminding guests they can not take pictures during meetngreets unless they are photographing their own children.
Originally Posted By Witches of Morva ORDDU: When my sisters and I went we were not allowed to photograph Belle at all. We were told we had to have been chosen to participate in the skit in order to get a picture of her. Unless things have changed--which we were recently told they had not changed--this is a reason to NOT get in such a long line.
Originally Posted By danyoung >And the story is from the local paper! Lazy journalism strikes again.< Well, the story was by the Orlando Sentinel, on the Orlando Sentinel website. So I'm not sure why that was lazy journalism.
Originally Posted By TheRedhead "We were told we had to have been chosen to participate in the skit in order to get a picture of her" And again, neither of my children were chosen to be in the show, and yet both were offered to have their picture taken with Belle. My son refused, but still got the bookmark. AND I took my own picture of my daughter with Belle. So either things HAVE changed, or they treat children and adults-without-children differently. And the phrase "being chosen" doesn't jive with my experience either - if you didn't get picked you could ask to be part of it after the CM gave out the acting partds (albeit as a background character). I even saw an adult volunteer.
