Originally Posted By ssWEDguy I've picked up on a rumor. The Pooh characters in the ToonTown character meet room are to be moved outdoors somewhere near the Pooh Playground for their daily meet and greets. The room they are leaving would be visited by more of Mickey's Friends rather than Pooh, Eeyore, Tigger, Piglet, & Yellow Rabbit. No date on this, and not confirmed yet. But it makes sense.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros That makes a lot of sense. I would bet that a lot of people would go there expecting to meet them anyway, so it works to have them there. That way, the characters will be where geusts are looking, and there is more room for others in the other area. I think this will turn out well, unless they just close the other area in Toontown.
Originally Posted By vbdad55 Does that mean they could remove them from Crystal Palace - at least for some of the meals ?
Originally Posted By t1lersm0m I doubt it. That would mean they would have to lower the price of the meals. Oh wait, this is WDW, no they wouldn't.
Originally Posted By mickey_ring It would be great to move Poo and pals from that boat dock in AK to the playground, then bring back the AK boat ride.
Originally Posted By Indigo Saw Pooh, Tigger, and Eeyore out in the play area today. Can't imagine this is a good move for the actors. It's A/C'd in toontown and 94 and sunny today with no shade for the characters in the Play area. From the guest point of view, having three lines snaking through the play area makes it much less playful. In fact, the moment the characters appeared the kids stopped playing and got in line. No one slid down the slide the whole time we were waiting for our picture with Pooh. Not a good change if you ask me.
Originally Posted By TDLFAN >>That would mean they would have to lower the price of the meals. Oh wait, this is WDW, no they wouldn't. << Funny how you have no problem making fun and adding a smiley about a statement that says so much about what's wrong about WDW now a days, yet you diss me for having strong opinions that problems that do not match the price of admission to WDW. Must be something in the water up in Penn.
Originally Posted By ChiMike Indigo, I like your point. So basically this area will now be a Meet & Greet first, a spectacular play zone second. Funny, considering they were using 20K's queue house as an M&G. I really miss the day where one would consider themselves fortunate to bump into a character randomly along a path. The characters improv'd so much more then... It wasn't some assembly line for the guests and it allowed the characters more freedom to move around instead of just standing/sitting somewhere bored, or in the above case - without shade.
Originally Posted By ssWEDguy >> I really miss the day where one would consider themselves fortunate to bump into a character randomly along a path << I can see the attraction in such a thing. Really. At the same time, I can also see the value in the more structured meet-and-greet that's more typical now. At least it limits one family at a time with a character. Unstructured meet-and-greets would be hard for autographs. Or for the character to get away when they wanted/needed to. Interestingly, I think WDW does this structured thing. But Disneyland does not?
Originally Posted By TDLFAN >> I really miss the day where one would consider themselves fortunate to bump into a character randomly along a path << I know... My fans live for such moments when I am out and about doing my "quality control walks".
Originally Posted By ChiMike >>I can see the attraction in such a thing. Really.<< I'm glad you can. It is what helped originate the idea of a 'Magical Moment' way back before they were fabricated must-do's scheduled in time guides surrounded by queue stanchions. The character actually interacted with the child and/or adult. It simply wasn't a repeated process of >grunt< >humph< >here's a pen & paper< >smile< >click< >flash< >grunt< >nod< and repeat. It also didn't cause one to have to maneuver through Town Square like it's a demilitarization zone. Weaving through haphazard lines and pushy parents is exactly how I like to enter the MK. >>At the same time, I can also see the value in the more structured meet-and-greet that's more typical now.<< You're a better man than I. I too can appreciate that some people want a VERY structured experience with this as well as Priority Seatings (or whatever they are called now) and FPs. It simply isn't my own style, that's all. I became accustomed to the MK when you would spend 4 days between the Bay Lake activities and MK, and that was really it. It was much more of a get-a-way resort in my mind. You got up when you wanted, you went to bed when you wanted - because you could count on MK staying open past sunset, you ate when you wanted, and you swam when you wanted. That care free agenda is much harder to get away with now, but I try to stick to it. I always wonder if the people who love to schedule everything down to the minute would have preferred the care-free way. It doesn’t matter since it is much harder to do that now then it was 20 or 30 years ago. Well, and that it doesn't matter to some others, it's in their nature to schedule, as it is mine not to. Nothing wrong with everyone having their preference. >>At least it limits one family at a time with a character.<< And this is one of the reasons I am sure they do it this way nowadays. The social graces that guests carry when they are at the parks have changed dramatically, no thanks to Disney's own conditioning of behavior. There was a time where if a 5 year old girl was playing patty-cake with Minnie, it could go on uninterrupted while other families w/ children watched. I'm sure nowadays there would be some bad egg in the crowd who would put it upon themselves that the girl’s time was up and their child can go interrupt. >>Unstructured meet-and-greets would be hard for autographs.<< The time I am referring back to, kids didn't want to get an autograph from a twenty something in a rubberhead, they wanted to chase the 3 little pigs with the big bad wolf. I'm sure autographs were fun even then, but they weren’t the bees-knees as they are today. >>Or for the character to get away when they wanted/needed to.<< Once again, this goes to a changing of the time with different guest social graces. For sure there are horror stories from earlier times. It's just those bad incidents were much easier blown off by the CM and/or guest. For the most part getting off-stage was just as easy as it is now – or as difficult (depends how you view the glass). At least then you didn't have your handler clicking off guest counts on a pitch counter. I guess Magical Moments need a trendline now. >>Interestingly, I think WDW does this structured thing. But Disneyland does not?<< No Disneyland also has the Meet & Greets, however, imo, there is still a way better chance for a random encounter at DL than at WDW. Two trips ago, a little boy came across Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Goofy & Donald all standing in front of Toontown's closed gates about 1/2 hour before Toontown opened. There was NO other guest around. That boy played with all the characters for a good 6 minutes. After some time had passed the boy’s parents tried to get him to leave (as not to overburden/hog up the characters time) but the characters gladly kept the boy busy. The pictures turned out AWESOME. No autograph was had and I'm sure that doesn't take away from the boy's memory of a real (not fabricated or clicked’off) magical moment.
Originally Posted By TDLFAN Great post Chimike. It goes back to what I mentioned in another topic here... that guests at Disney have now become 'robotic' about the ways they enjoy the resort and Disney is partly to blame for that.
Originally Posted By Labuda "Two trips ago, a little boy came across Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Goofy & Donald all standing in front of Toontown's closed gates about 1/2 hour before Toontown opened. There was NO other guest around. That boy played with all the characters for a good 6 minutes. After some time had passed the boy’s parents tried to get him to leave (as not to overburden/hog up the characters time) but the characters gladly kept the boy busy. The pictures turned out AWESOME. No autograph was had and I'm sure that doesn't take away from the boy's memory of a real (not fabricated or clicked’off) magical moment." What a wonderful experience! I found it cool on my DL trip last January when leaving the first aid station (I had the flu at the time) to head to dinner at the Blue Bayou, Dlanddug & I ran into Tom Saywer & Huck Finn! How cool is that? We don't eve have them at WDW, I don't think!
Originally Posted By ssWEDguy Question -- Why can't there be both structured meet 'n' greets, AND the random character walk as well? Also -- I've never understood autographs anyway. A photograph is much better proof that "I was with so-and-so" than a written signature. I think in many cases the autograph experience is a substitute for having to do or say something on your own.
Originally Posted By Goofyernmost TDLFAN...I've always kind of fluctuated between agreement and disagreement with your opinions but I always respected your expertise on all things Disney. Something must have happened to you because that isn't the case anymore. You have crossed over the line from critic to mean spirited and rude. If it's not your opinion then it is not valid. I know you will take this and say some cute thing about how happy you are that what you say upsets people but come on...enough is enough! It might not occur to you that not everyone works for an airline and not only can fly free to Tokyo but get paid to do so. Your robotic obsession with TDL is just as obvious to the rest of us as our robotic obsession with WDW is to you. I'm sure given the chance some curmudgeon other than yourself could cut TDL to ribbons and leave you gasping for breath. If something has happened lately to alter your mood from critical to nasty, then I am sorry. If not...how about giving less fortunate folks a break.
Originally Posted By ChiMike >>Why can't there be both structured meet 'n' greets, AND the random character walk as well?<< Nothing and no one says that there can't be. If anything it is Disney that has tilted the scale heavily one way. Not any poster here. For me, I was pointing out my preference. If I had never been to a Disney park I probably WOULD stand in line to meet a rubberhead just because that would be all I have to go on. However, in my eyes, that just isn't a good way to interact with a character at a theme park. If I were really into seeing all the characters - if they were must do's - I probably would prefer the M&Gs because I, as a guest, could be in control over what I am seeing. To me though, it is more an issue of quality over quantity. In earlier days, one might visit and not be able to see Mickey outside of a parade or show.. But when they did, I would venture to say that it was better then a quick 10 seconds in front of a photo backdrop. Where I get critical of Disney is, like most things, I think they have overdone the M&G concept. It's Disney excess at it's finest. For me it becomes a little less special to say, "Oh man, it's 1:20 we better get over and get in line to see Snow White. It also has been another way for Disney to take the emphasis off of traditional attractions with M&G areas getting the same sort of billing as an activity. Worse, they slickly ask the guests "do you enjoy seeing characters?" to further justify to themselves that attractions just aren't that big of a deal. I do hope that mentality is finally in the past. What's ironic is that the new head of Six Flags is trying to take more pages out of WDP&R's flawed 21st century playbook by putting most of the characters there who were accustomed to walking around and putting a much larger focus on structured M&Gs with backdrops and everything. On a more positive note, the first time I saw the Pooh playground in person I actually was suprised that it blended (from a distance) into Fantasyland much better than I expected. I think once you get close enough to it to see in it remains a complete disaster.
Originally Posted By mrichmondj FWIW, I was at WDW a few weeks back and saw a lot of characters wandering the park outside of any structured queues or backdrops. There were also plenty of characters on Main Street with folks queued up. I thought there was a pretty decent balance.
Originally Posted By TDLFAN >>Question -- Why can't there be both structured meet 'n' greets, AND the random character walk as well?<< You mean like at TDR?? >>I know you will take this and say some cute thing about how happy you are that what you say upsets people but come on...enough is enough!<< OH!! So are a DONNA fan or Barbra fan???
