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Thread: MousePlanet: My Disney Top 5 - Top 5 Character Experiences at Walt Disney World

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    MousePlanet: My Disney Top 5 - Top 5 Character Experiences at Walt Disney World

    Chris Barry is back with his monthly Disney Top 5 list.

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  3. #2

    What a great top 5 list! I love those special character interactions.
    One of my favorites is when I was wearing a shirt from Joe's Crab Shack that said bite me on the front (they almost didn't let me in the park that morning!).
    Well, back in Toontown, Minnie bit me! Then we both covered our mouths and giggled.
    Mom said she wishes she had a video camera rolling and all the CMs started laughing. It was a nice time!

    I also loved a time when I kicked Mary and Bert out of the picture and asked if I could just have a picture with the penguins. They both jumped up and down and were so excited that someone wanted a picture with just them!

    Hmmmm, wondering if you have a bottom 5 character interactions list?


  4. #3
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    Great stories. I do like the penguins.

    Bottom 5 characters...that's tough. I don't think we've ever been disappointed per say. We've definitely met characters that haven't turned on the extra personality, but I don't think any of them have ever been rude or a letdown. Sometimes I've felt that the princesses at Akershus in Norway feel a little rushed, but they do have a big room to cover.

    Do you have a bottom 5 list?

    CB


  5. #4
    Hacker, nonmammaltarian, Warrior Andrew's Avatar
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    I don't know about a top 5, but the most memorable for me was during Disneyland's "Star Wars Days" experiment in the mid-90s. Back then I was especially "shaggy", with long unruly hair and a pretty full beard (I looked ridiculous) and as we walked past Star Tours one day Chewbacca* started wildly motioning to me- apparently he thought I was a cousin! We took a picture, Chewie and me next to the Star Tours entrance, and I'm not embarrassed to say I got a big thrill from it.

    I will try to find that picture and upload it soon.

    Thanks for the great article!

    *He's a costumed character in a Disney park next to a Disney attraction themed to the movie in which he appears. That counts.

    Last edited by Andrew; 08-06-2010 at 09:35 AM. Reason: fixing stupid phone spell check mistakes

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    Hangin' with Mr. Cooper! Maus's Avatar
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    During a character meal at the Garden Grille, Chip stopped by our table as I was making notes for my trip report. He wanted to sign my book. I told him no, I was writing a report, so he took my notebook and wrote, "Then Chip came along and wrote in my book!" along with his name and a smiley face (with two front teeth). I have it in my scrapbook of that trip. I love unexpected moments with characters! Great article, Chris.

    Very little is needed to make a happy life; it is all within yourself, in your way of thinking. ~~Marcus Aurelius

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    Ready for MA World Explorers! Drince88's Avatar
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    That was a fun one!

    One year a dear friend on MousePad was very very sick, so I decided to make an ABC Disney album as a 'get well' present for her. So I brought a sign that said "Hi B" and took pictures of a number of characters with that sign. Belle even asked me about her, and was glad that Miss B liked to read!

    But the best part of that trip was when I went to the Character Connection. It wasn't very busy at all (when you couldn't see the characters well from the outside) and aside from a short line for Mickey, there weren't many others. I was going to each character, but had to skip Minnie for a minute. I could have waited, but Minnie was having WAY too much fun down on the floor with a crawling infant, that I didn't want Minnie to cut her interaction short with that girl just because I was waiting for her.

    Another time, at the Character Connection, it was unseasonably cold out (record highs in Oct on the weekend, record lows by Tuesday) and I had to buy a sweatshirt. Minnie noticed her boyfriend on my sweatshirt, and we continued to have an extensive conversation about her needing a ring, and ending with a promise to go shoe shopping some time! I also noticed on that visit that getting a picture with both Chip and Dale is good, because their fur coats are nice and warm!

    Cathy

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    We definitely need to see the Chewbacca photos.


  9. #8

    My top 3

    -I went with my (then) middle-school daughter, Sarah, to Epcot, when we were in "China" we saw a character from Mulan -- I asked if she wanted her picture with him. She made a face and sneered, "No-o-o" So I thought, "Well, guess she's gotten too old for that." We continued walking and exploring to England. Pooh was in the garden area and next thing you know, Sarah was saying "Mom! Mom! I need to get my picture with Pooh!" The face and sneer was because she didn't want her picture made with a villian, not because she was too old. She's now a college grad, and still gets excited about photo ops with Pooh and just about any character(that's not a villian!)

    -Another day at Epcot, with both daughters and 2 other friends (now high school and college aged), it was rainy, so Pooh, Tigger, and Eeyore were in the gift shop in England. Pooh was making kissy noises, Eeyore was dispondently hanging his head when Sarah asked to have a picture with only Pooh, and Tigger was being bouncy fun-fun-fun. We were outside when they left the store, and Tigger gave us the sassiest tail waggle on the way out that you've ever seen!

    -On yet another trip, we were getting photos with Alladin, Jasmine, and the Genie, when the Genie went GA GA over our redheaded 16 year old daughter. He made sure he was by her in every picture -- he chased her -- he put his arm around her -- My husband turned to me and said, "You know, I'd probably clock that guy if he wasn't a Genie."


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    Ready for MA World Explorers! Drince88's Avatar
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    Do you recall what character that was in China? The only one I've seen besides Mulan is Mushu, the Dragon/Lizard, and he sure wasn't a villian (he was the comic relief/sidekick).

    Cathy

  11. #10

    It was probably Shan Yu.

    "You know, some guys just can't hold their arsenic!"

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    Registered User queenbetsey's Avatar
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    at disneyland we went on the columbia and capt hook came out from below deck after we left the dock. also many years ago disneyland had a parade where the allowed guests to participate. I got to dance along the parade route with robin hood. and finally last june while at disneyworld we got to snag a photo with belle and beast. many many trips to disneyland and 5 trips to disney world and never seemed to catch beast (oldest daughter now grown and out on her own used to search and search for both belle and beast) and also marie on the same trip. out here in cali i have never seen marie. also many years ago we got a photo with meg from hurcules with my youngest daughter,megan (you guessed it we call her meg. she was 5 or 6 at the time) we have never seen meg again in the parks.


  13. #12
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    Meg is a good snag. She's virtually gone. I haven't seen Fantasmic in a while, but I do remember her on the steamboat.

    Marie has been coming out more and more in Florida. In France at Epcot and at the Magic Kingdom.

    Shan Yu is also a good one. Never seen him.

    Glad this article posed so many responses.

    CB


  14. #13
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    Quote Originally Posted by cbarry View Post
    We definitely need to see the Chewbacca photos.
    What.He.Said.X1,000,000%.

    WDW definitely does this so much better than the West Coast!! I really wish we had more space for que'd lines like they have at Epcot and Studios.

    Each time we had a newborn to take to Disneyland, we visited Mickey in his barn. Mickey LOVES babies!! Those were awesome visits.

    My second place experience was probably the time we saw Chip (no Dale) at Goofy's kitchen. My two older boys took longer to warm up to characters than the youngest did and Chip and Dale are among his favorites. When Chip visited that day, he knelt down to Cman's level and Cman was full of hugs and giggles for him. Very very sweet.

    But I have to say that probably the best visit we ever had was with Sorcerer Mickey at DHS at WDW. We really forced and manipulated our youngest to dress as Sorcerer Mickey last year, I won't lie or pretend to sugar coat it. I'd spent a lot of $$$ on the costume when M was young and we'd never reused it. I needed it reused and Cman had been Buzz for 2 or 3 years in a row. The Buzz costumes each had missing pieces and I was DONE with Buzz. Once he figured out that there was a really cool SM hat and that there were lots of opportunities to buy SM plush and assorted toys, he got on board. Phew.

    When we saw SM we KNEW we had to meet him, so we got in line. When we got to the front, we told Mickey that Cman was going to BE him for Halloween. Oh.My.Goodness. First off, SM posed all of our pictures. He taught the boys various SM poses for the pics. SM took photos with all three of our boys and then asked the older two to step aside. He then taught Cman more poses and they took several awesome pictures together. He had a line but we never felt rushed. SM took lots of time to make Cman feel special. And Cman is our most stubborn child. He runs hot and cold. If he's not in the mooooooood to have his picture taken (or whatever it is we want him to do) by golly, it ain't happenin'. When he's in the zone, he's the biggest ham you've ever met. Fortunately, he was ALL ham that day!!

    It was a wonderful experience.

    Adrienne

    Adrienne
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  15. #14

    I had a wonderful time with Goofy and Donald at Animal Kingdom once when it was raining and there was no one in line. Had fun with the CMs there too, as you could tell they were a little bored since no one was visiting.

    I don't think I would say that I have a bottom 5, but 2 kinda off putting experiences. Once with Alice and the Mad Hatter who spent more time playing with each other than taking a picture with my niece - no big deal.
    But once in line to see Peter and Wendy - they noticed my birthday button and Peter wished me a happy birthday. I said thanks and thanks for pronouncing my name correctly. He proceeded to get pretty rude about names and what does it matter what people call me.
    I turned around, told the CM to take a picture (I was standing 2 feet away from them). I took my camera and left.
    I noticed that he wasn't very friendly to the little kids who were a little shy either. He seemed rather irritated.
    I should have gone by town hall on my way out.
    But in the many many character interractions, just 2 not so great moments are far out weighed by the good ones!

    Oh, and I want to see the Chewbacca picture too!


  16. #15
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    Awesome reader response!

    Hey all,

    Just got this response to the article. Thought you'd all enjoy.

    Chris

    Hi - That's me as Mary Poppins in your "Top 5 Character Experiences at Walt Disney World"/Aug. 6, 2010, article. A friend of mine recognized me in the article and sent it to me. I am so pleased that after all of this time, you still remember the character experience. As a performer, that's why we did what we did - to give magical memories to all of the guests. And I'm thrilled that even now, it's still a good memory. Tell Samantha that Mary said "Hello and to have a Supercalifragelisticexpialidocious day!"

    Cheerio -
    ~Julie


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