Disney Characters

andlorna · February 11, 2014, 07:19:19 PM

Just read that from Nov 2014 Disney Characters will no longer meet and greet guests in any of the Disneyland hotels

....... is this true if so bad move Disney

zaza · February 11, 2014, 07:45:56 PM

Really? I hope it's not true

Aurora1 · February 11, 2014, 07:58:25 PM

Really??? That would be a shame!
Where did you read that?

Gemma W · February 11, 2014, 08:31:43 PM

Oh I hope jot I loved meeting the characters at the hotel and also visiting the pink hotel for decent of the stairs x

andlorna · February 11, 2014, 09:03:33 PM

Quote from: zaza on February 11, 2014, 07:45:56 PM
Really? I hope it's not true

its on a site on twitter and facebook called InsideDLParis

kate87 · February 12, 2014, 10:14:09 AM

Sadly true

Very poor decision from disney. What are the real benefits of staying on site now? There's plenty of other hotels providing free shuttles & you can be in val d'europe in less time than it takes to get to santa fe/cheyenne.

Characters add much needed disney feel to the hotels. Without it they're not left with much x

Aurora1 · February 12, 2014, 11:03:53 AM

Quote from: kate87 on February 12, 2014, 10:14:09 AM
Sadly true

Very poor decision from disney. What are the real benefits of staying on site now? There's plenty of other hotels providing free shuttles & you can be in val d'europe in less time than it takes to get to santa fe/cheyenne.

Characters add much needed disney feel to the hotels. Without it they're not left with much x

totall agree.On a rainy morning it is great to walk by the hotels and meet the characters!
I hop, if this is really going to be true, that they would let more characters roam the parks.

Mitchell · February 12, 2014, 12:14:30 PM

This also looks like it means goodbye to all the great costumes the characters have (Sequioa, Sailing, New York, Cowboy, Mexican etc) and also probably goodbye to Hyacinth, Launchpad and Max Goof who all meet now and again at the big two.

Im not happy about this but I think I'll wait until I've calmed down about the news before I comment :p

Princess Chloe · February 12, 2014, 12:38:59 PM

I think its very sad news. There seem to be making too many cut backs now and its spoiling the whole experience. I'm going 8th September so now I'm going to make it my mission to go to all the Disney hotels and have my photo done before they stop the meet and greets. I think they have made a big mistake in stopping this. It was so much easier to meet the characters in the hotels without the pushing and shoving like in the parks now its just going to be a one for all in the parks with people trying to get to the characters.

SVioletS · February 12, 2014, 06:25:50 PM

Actually now in the parks character meets and greets now have organized queue lines. This started a while ago and it worked really well!

one good news!

daddyof2 · February 12, 2014, 07:32:35 PM

Impromptu/bonus character meets are an important part of the experience as far as I'm concerned - let's hope there's a rethink

pialykke · February 12, 2014, 08:43:05 PM

Those of you who have met characters in other hotels - how do you do it? Do you go round every hotel on your first day to check which characters are there? Or would they know at City Hall?
And is it roughly at the same time every day? I've only been once, and only met characters at our own hotel - but if they are the same characters this year, then I'd rather go somewhere else......
Such a shame they are axing characters at the hotels... I hope this means more characters in the actual parks... Guess we'll have to wait and see...

polar vixen · February 12, 2014, 10:45:23 PM

When we've stayed at Davy Crockett its been great, there's rarely been a character standing in the photo point, but we bumped into robin hood in the shop one year, which was fantastic, and saw pluto walking near the critter coral, it was brilliant, my kids mobbed him, he knelt down as they all ran to give him a hug and nearly knocked him over, but there was no-one else around, and he messed around with them for a few minutes, it ws really special and stood out in my head far better than any of the other character meets. Glad we're going in september, so hopefully something similiar will happen one last time

Sulley's Arms · February 12, 2014, 11:22:50 PM

We've also had great character interaction at the Crockett Ranch over the past few years.

On our first ever DLP trip we checked-in, walked down to the pool and Goofy was milling around the pool reception area with his towel! Later we ate in Crockett's Tavern and Chip & Dale were signing outside and doing photos.

The next evening Goofy appeared in the little square outside the Trading Post and hosted a dance class, which we just turned up at the right time for, and best of all I had the video camera to keep that cherished memory!

We've had a number of character meets over the years, always with the characters in different costumes, which they would never wear in the parks, which definitely makes those moments and memories even more special.

If the news is true that this small but sentimentally important highlight is about to cease, I agree that we may as well stay at the Adagio, for example, as a far cheaper bed for the night.

haribosmum · February 13, 2014, 11:47:16 AM

pialykke - the characters are always in the hotels at breakfast time (well certainly in HNY and DLH when I've stayed there) from about 8 - 10. Sometimes they have an itinerary of who will be there for each half hour slot. It's mostly for the guests as you walk into or out of breakfast but anyone could go in there to see them. On our first morning last year my 5 year old gave the biggest hug to Pluto and it made me melt. She was so excited he was in our hotel!