Character Interactions

**arielfan316** · 01-13-2013, 07:28 PM

As a writer I love telling stories, but I also love hearing others people's stories. No trip to Disney is complete without at least one meet and greet with a character. Some meet and greets stand out more than others. Have you ever had a meet and greet so special that you'll remember it forever and when you think of it, it brings a smile to your face no matter what mood you're in?

I had 2 awesome meet and greets that coincidentally happened in the same day.

It was this past September and I was in the Magic Kingdom celebrating my birthday (which was actually a month prior. Shhhhhhhh!)

I was in Adventureland and saw Ariel (my favorite Princess) and Eric out in front of the Adventureland Veranda so I got in line. When I got to the front Ariel spotted my Birthday Button right away. I told her she was my favorite Princess to which Eric replied "Something we have in common". Then Ariel spotted my lanyard full of pins. I pointed out the one of her in mermaid form with jewels embedded in her tail and said it was my favorite. Then Ariel talked about her collection of human things in her secret grotto. She asked me if I knew what her favorite item was. I guesses the dinglehopper and she said I was right. Then she asked how many Dinglehoppers I have. I thought about how many fork were in the silverware drawer at home and said about 20. While I was thinking Ariel turned around and dug through a box. Then she kept her arms behind her back. When I said 20 she said "now you have 21. Happy Birthday." and presented me with my very own Dinglehopper. I had never heard of a guest getting a gift from a character before.

When I got home I bought a special case for it and have it sitting on a pillow. To everyone else it's a simple plastic fork. To me it's the best birthday gift I ever got. My very own dinglehopper personally handed to me by my favorite Princess.

Character Interactions-dingle-hopper.jpg

Later that same day, during Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party I was in line to meet Merida from Brave. I was expecting the typical character meet and greet. Walk up, chat a few seconds, take a picture, move on. What I got blew my mind.

Merida ran up to me at full speed and almost tackled me giving me a huge bear hug. We talked for a good 5-10 minutes during which I told her I loved her movie and saw it 4 times on the big screen. That's when she gave me a 2nd hug. Then she noticed my custom made Backside Of Water shirt (which got my recognition earlier in the day but that's another story for another thread) and asked if I had been on the Jungle Cruise while wearing it. I said yes I went on the Jungle Cruise 4 times. She laughed saying I must love to do things 4 times. I ended up with about a dozen pictures in various poses and a 3rd hug before I left for a total of 3.

That catapulted Merida to 2nd on my favorite Princess list knocking Belle to 3rd. (sorry Belle) Merida may have taken the first spot had I not been given the dinglehopper earlier. Either way both of those meet and greets will always stick out in my mind.

**joanna71985** · 01-14-2013, 10:39 AM

I have a ton. Some of my favorites include:
*getting picked to go on the Teacups with Alice and Mad Hatter. Such a great experience!

*Back when Cinderella's Surprise Celebration was running, characters would come down to meet in front of the castle after the show. I was waiting to meet Mickey, and when I got up to see him he dropped down to one knee! That is probably my most favorite picture ever

*Meeting Boo at the Pixar Weekend event in 2011. She came out later then the rest of the Monsters Inc characters, and got the biggest round of applause when she came out. She was so cute! And she gave the biggest hugs

**arielfan316** · 01-14-2013, 09:20 PM

Awesome!

I'd love to ride the teacups with Alice or the Mad Hatter

**ohiodisneydad** · 01-15-2013, 12:19 AM

Mine happened at DHS one year. It was getting later in the day and most of the character meets had pretty much turned into a quick photo op because all the characters had to hurry because Fantasmic was scheduled. We were inline to meet Snow White, Mulan and Pocohantas. We got up there and had our pics taken and the photo pass CM mentioned that my youngest had covered her eyes. The CM "bodyguard" was rushing my girls off and Snow would have none of that. She called my daughter back and got down on one knee to talk to her. She told the CM the show would wait and spent a good bit of time talking to my daughter. Snow kissed Kara on the cheek and the photo pass CM was snapping pics like crazy. Kara was only two but she remembers it!

**HauntedGabe** · 01-15-2013, 12:42 AM

My son just 4 at the time, in Mickey's Tent show being called up to be the guest performer with Roger Rabbit. Still have the gift Roger Rabbit and TShirt. The TShirt meant to fit Roger would fit the largest Football Center.

My DD was peacefully eating tidbits of food in her highchair at an Aladdin Character breakfast at the studios, she was just over a year old and was tuning out everything around her, a strange coping mechanistic she had that worked quite well for our Disney trips when she was quite small. Jafar comes to the table, DS happy, DD ignores until Jafar goes over to her snatches her breakfast much to her dismay and he made a sinister sound at her.
Meltdown city. From peaceful child to full out hysterical fit in 10 seconds. Meal over, settled bill in lobby as not to disturb others. CMs felt so bad including Jafar and poor waiter, so not his fault. DD calmed and we were giving counter service comp lunch.

**arielfan316** · 01-15-2013, 02:28 AM

ohiodisneydad: That is so awesome! THAT is what sets Disney apart. I love how your daughter still remembers it.

HauntedGabe: sorry to hear that

Usually the characters are better at judging when to keep there distance from an uninterested or scared child. I'm glad you got it all settled peacefully.

**joanna71985** · 01-15-2013, 10:50 AM

Originally Posted by arielfan316

Awesome!

I'd love to ride the teacups with Alice or the Mad Hatter

It was a lot of fun! Although...I don't think I've ever had the cup spun that fast before (those 2 sure could spin)

**HauntedGabe** · 01-15-2013, 12:39 PM

Originally Posted by arielfan316

ohiodisneydad: That is so awesome! THAT is what sets Disney apart. I love how your daughter still remembers it.

HauntedGabe: sorry to hear that

Usually the characters are better at judging when to keep there distance from an uninterested or scared child. I'm glad you got it all settled peacefully.

I think I felt worse for the CM then my DD. Felt soooo bad, likely DD got over it long before Jafar did.

We didn't know it at the time, but my DD has an over the top IQ. She retained stuff that we didn't know she retained as she was incredible quiet and drifted into her own little world often. What we didn't realize was she wasn't shy or a daydreamer, she was analyzing everyone and everything, absorbing. Her memories are amazing and almost creepy. As she learned to communicate more and she started sharing her memories it creeped me out. I discovered she could actually fluently read as she turned 4 in McDonalds. She just started reading everything there outloud. It was quite disconcerting at the moment, I didn't know how to process that. Then to discover the books I thought she was just paging through she could actually read. When she was a little older I asked her how she taught herself to read as a preschooler and told her how dumbfounded I was at the time. All she could say was she didn't understand our fuss and confusion 'cause everyone could read. Ahhhhh.