Disney Characters In The Parks (Worldwide)

[Atlantica]

I don't know if this is just me, but I love to youtube the different character meet and greets from the parks around the world to see how they differ, what the 'friends' are like, and so on …. so I thought a topic could be created to reflect a discussion on them ?

I saw a couple of clips recently of the 'Lost Friends' in the US parks, and some of the characters in there are amazing; Hercules ! Meg ! Tarzan ! Ping ! Half of them should be a permanent feature, in my opinion.

And have you ever been let down by a character in the park ? For me, there is no greater a disappointment in Disneyland than meeting the Princesses. I love them (you all know I do, ) but they are just so … bland and generic. They all have the same lines to say, and are all so passive and sweet etc etc, when their movie counterparts had so much more spark. Especially Ariel - where did her personality go ? The breath of fresh air IMO is Rapunzel - from the meet and greets I've had, and clips I've seen, she is spunky and fun, as she is in the film. THAT's whats missing with the others.

And Disneyland Paris always has hordes of animal character meet and greets, which I have always found a little unusual ?

[thedisneyspirit]

Do they base the character appearances on the popularity of the film?

Because I once saw an old pic of a Milo and Kida face character, and I presume that would've been promotion for the film...

Something that always rubbed me off was when "human" characters had masks and so. I understand the animal characters wearing suits and masks, but why can't Gepetto and Lilo be intreperted by normal people like say Aladdin or the princesses? They could simply age up Lilo ala Alice and Wendy and Gepetto could be played by an older gentleman.

Because some of the human face masks look so scary. *brr*

[pap64]

I too ADORE the meet and greets at the Disney Parks, because to me, it is the closest I will ever get to meeting and interacting with the Disney characters.

Although, atlantica, it seems that you have bad luck with the Princess characters. I have met many of them and nearly 90% of the time the session is unforgettable. The only time I felt disappointed by a princess meet and greet was when I met Rapunzel last year for the first time. Looks like her friend was very off that day, so she was way too downbeat, like "yeah nice to meet hey wanna take a picture". This completely changed this year when ALL the princesses were on their A game at Disney World. Cinderella sounded and acted NEARLY IDENTICALLY to Ilene Woods Cinderella, she even showed me her show in the same manner as in the movie! Aurora was also very talkative and full of life. Rapunzel was THE Rapunzel I wanted to meet the first time, and Ariel was very energetic and sweet.

Although when I met them again in Disneyland, they seemed very off and very toned down, which surprised me because Disneyland is supposed to have the better meet and greets. And this should answer thedisneyspirit's question as to why there are not face characters for the characters he mentioned; based on what my cast member friends told me, it is very expensive to train and costume face characters, they are also the ones that have to do the most acting out of the cast of characters, so that's why they often go down the easier route and do masks for some characters since with fur and mask characters, all they need is to do basic gestures and poses that are adequate for the characters they are performing. So they leave the face characters for the really big and popular characters (like princesses, heroes and such), and any other character is a mask.

[Linden]

I've gone to Disneyland for years, and I never really met any face characters. My family was never into it, and I was more into rides than meeting people. When I worked at WDW, I started trying to meet characters. The highlight for me was Mulan at China Pavilion, who talked to me about how to make swords. She was fun and in character. Most princesses I've ever met were bland.

I've watched some on youtube too, and all the classic and renaissance princesses seem to act the same, with high voices and Snow White hands. I think it's because some people are friends to so many princesses they blend into one generic Disney Park princess.

[Atlantica]

I've watched some on youtube too, and all the classic and renaissance princesses seem to act the same, with high voices and Snow White hands. I think it's because some people are friends to so many princesses they blend into one generic Disney Park princess.

I think you have hit the nail on the head with that; they all seem to blend into one !

I just can't at the Stepsisters and Lady Tremaine in the US parks - they are truly SUPERB. Would much rather play something like that over a Princess. … .

[RyGuy]

+1 for meeting Mulan at Epcot. We've done that twice now and both actresses were awesome! They were so great with my kids, you felt like they'd give you all the time in the world. Another great experience was Princess Dining at Cinderella's Royal Table. The first time we went, my daughter insisted on wearing her Halloween costume (she was Cinderella) so my son insisted on wearing his (he was Captain Hook). Ariel was outstanding. She asked to try on his hat, then took her finger, making her own hook, and in her best pirate voice, shouting arrrrggghh. She even went so far as to yell across the restaurant, "Hey Belle! What do you think?" We couldn't stop laughing.

While we've had the drab princess here or there, by and large WDW hires good actors. It's their handlers that I can't stand. They seriously are some of the rudest cast members I've ever encountered.

[pap64]

+1 for meeting Mulan at Epcot. We've done that twice now and both actresses were awesome! They were so great with my kids, you felt like they'd give you all the time in the world. Another great experience was Princess Dining at Cinderella's Royal Table. The first time we went, my daughter insisted on wearing her Halloween costume (she was Cinderella) so my son insisted on wearing his (he was Captain Hook). Ariel was outstanding. She asked to try on his hat, then took her finger, making her own hook, and in her best pirate voice, shouting arrrrggghh. She even went so far as to yell across the restaurant, "Hey Belle! What do you think?" We couldn't stop laughing.

While we've had the drab princess here or there, by and large WDW hires good actors. It's their handlers that I can't stand. They seriously are some of the rudest cast members I've ever encountered.

Yeah, after I visited Disneyland last August, I have come to the realization that WDW may be hiring better actors for their characters. The princesses in particular were a stark contrast, with the WDW characters being more alive, active and more in character than the Disneyland ones.

Just look at this video for the Fairytale Hall Disney did:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPYIhIuwi_4

The actress did a really good job of portraying Ilene Woods' whispery and elegant quality , as well as Cinderella's own mannerisms. Also last year when I visited for my birthday and met the princesses , Belle was the absolute BEST! Not only was she genuinely excited, she noted that it was my first visit and my birthday, and I said how excited I was to be there... AND SHE GAVE ME A HUG! Seriously, I was so elated afterwards because I was under the impression that princesses do NOT hug male adults, so to get one from her was amazing. She also noted my blue Disneyland t-shirt and said how much it reminded her of the outfit Beast wore when they danced, which made me EVEN MORE elated! She was very loving and talkative, easily the best.

Oh and ditto about Mulan. When I met her last year, she saw that I had Merida's signature, which she enjoyed. The actress did her homework regarding the Mulan/Merida mash ups and said that she was taking archery lessons with her. Really, it depends on both the cast member and the directions he/she are given regarding the character. I've yet to discover a princess meet and greet that was EXTREMELY disappointing (only Rapunzel comes to mind, and even then she wasn't that bad either).

[Atlantica]

Ariel was outstanding. She asked to try on his hat, then took her finger, making her own hook, and in her best pirate voice, shouting arrrrggghh. She even went so far as to yell across the restaurant, "Hey Belle! What do you think?" We couldn't stop laughing.

Ok wow …. just WOW ! Now that is the Ariel personality that I find so often missing in Disneyland Paris !

Having said that, Alice & the Mad Hatter are always entertaining, as are Wendy and Peter when they are more or less left to their own devices in Adventure Land. Could it be that Paris meet and greet situations aren't as good ?

[RyGuy]

I went back through my photos and found a picture of Ariel hamming it up! Couldn't find one of her making the hook though.

9443538039_14aaf7e10d_o.jpg (34.09 KiB) Viewed 13404 times

[thedisneyspirit]

The last pic of Ariel is cute.

Also, I'm a lady pap.

[Atlantica]

Oh my gosh that's amazing!! Do you have a video by any chance?

[RyGuy]

Oh my gosh that's amazing!! Do you have a video by any chance?

I wish I did! At that time, my kids were 3, 2 and 11 months. In retrospect, I'm surprised we had as many pictures as we did.

[Atlantica]

Ahh ok, fair enough then, sounds like you'd have your hands full in Disneyland of all places !

But those photos though … absolutely brilliant !

[Linden]

It's their handlers that I can't stand. They seriously are some of the rudest cast members I've ever encountered.

My roommate was a character attendant, so I know a little about their jobs. I've heard tons of horror stories. Character attendants get so much crap from guests, I tend to cut them more slack than other roles.

[RyGuy]

It's their handlers that I can't stand. They seriously are some of the rudest cast members I've ever encountered.

My roommate was a character attendant, so I know a little about their jobs. I've heard tons of horror stories. Character attendants get so much crap from guests, I tend to cut them more slack than other roles.

I would imagine that's true. Overall, I do find cast members at WDW to be more surly than those at Disneyland. I'm sure they get crap, but it's like, "I'm not giving you crap. Quit shouting at me!"

God help you if you have stroller. I'm so sick of being screamed at, "You can't park there!"

Fine, but a simple, "Sir, would you mind moving your stroller to the designated parking area over there?" would work just as well.

All that to say that Disney World is expensive, and I don't think it unreasonable to want to be treated courteously when I am paying that much money.

What's it like at DLP, HK or TDL?

[Atlantica]

I haven't had rudeness from handlers, but what is quite stressful is when you go and see the Princesses in the Princess Pavillion; you queue for ages (but it is a lovely queue mind you), and then you get plonked with whatever Princess is free. There are two in there, and you just get allotted one of the rooms. Girls have actual let downs if they don't see who they want. On one occasion it was Jasmine and Rapunzel ….. two girls refused point blank to go and even see Jasmine ! Cried until they could see Rapunzel. The cast members temper was getting shorter and shorter, but she dealt with it well, all things considering.

[RyGuy]

Not sure how it is now, but when the princesses met on Main Street at Disney World they had 2 rooms with the same princesses so it didn't matter which room you went in, you got to see who was advertised.

Then which princesses were on duty, so to speak, were posted out front.

I don't know if they followed that format with the new Fairy Tale Hall (or whatever it's called) or not. I'll find out in a few weeks.

[Linden]

My roommate was a character attendant, so I know a little about their jobs. I've heard tons of horror stories. Character attendants get so much crap from guests, I tend to cut them more slack than other roles.

I would imagine that's true. Overall, I do find cast members at WDW to be more surly than those at Disneyland.

I've noticed that too. I was really surprised with the cast memebers when I first arrived at WDW, having grown up with DLR.

I don't want to defend their rudeness, though. Just put it in perspective I guess. Obviously, they shouldn't be acting that way.

[Walter]

I would imagine that's true. Overall, I do find cast members at WDW to be more surly than those at Disneyland.

I've noticed that too. I was really surprised with the cast memebers when I first arrived at WDW, having grown up with DLR.

I don't want to defend their rudeness, though. Just put it in perspective I guess. Obviously, they shouldn't be acting that way.

My experience with CMs at WDW, have been more good than bad, though the bad ones really stick out. I try not to get upset about it, and would later feel bad myself that I would, when my issue isn't really a big deal compared to others.

[Atlantica]

The best single character anyone has ever met ?

I'd love it if they had the Faries over here in the Paris park for a meet and greet area; they look like a hoot and a half in the US parks. Especially the Tink / Vidia dynamic.