Monday, March 3, 2008

Character Greetings - How to make them successful...

So, I couldn't decide what to blog about next, but in keeping with the previous Character Dinner post I am going to write about Character Greetings. A Character Greeting can happen anytime you are at a Disney World Park. Here is my list of tips to make your Character Greeting experience (and those in line behind you) an enjoyable one...

Camera (assuming you are not taking video)
The key to remembering that Character encounter is having some nice pictures when you get home... Here is a list of things to consider when selecting your camera...
  • Portable - it has to be easy for you to carry, and deal with. A large expensive camera sitting at the hotel room is not going to do you any good when Mickey Mouse shows up unexpectedly, and interacts with your child.
  • Responsive - the key to this is that you have to be able to snap pictures quickly... The need for this is impacted by the age of your children, but for younger children the faster it takes the pictures the better your odds of getting a great one. You need to have fresh batteries on-hand at all times, so that dying batteries aren't the cause of a missed shot.
  • Usable - there are lots of people that buy a new camera right before they leave on vacation, and I think this is a big mistake. You need to know your camera, and have used it in several situations before you are in the "high-pressure" situation of a Character Greeting line. You need to have taken pictures inside, and outside (both daytime and nighttime). It is important for all the adults in your party to have an idea on how to take the photo. Grandma or Grandpa might find themselves taking a picture of your family with the Incredibles, and you want the picture to turn out, so let them use it elsewhere in the park on occasion.
  • Unlimited - in this digital photo world this is much less of an issue, but make sure you have enough memory cards, so that you can take any picture you want to several times. We take well over 500 pictures in a week on our cameras.
My Camera setup consists of a 4+ year-old Canon A80 (4 mega-pixel 3x Optical Zoom) digital camera that has a nice belt holster, and is good for when we are traveling "lite". The other camera is a Nikon D50, and that is the one that lets us take several continuous shots of the dynamic duo meeting the characters. We have 2 lenses, and usually determine which lens to take based on the plan for that section of the day.

Autograph Books
We have done the autograph books on several occasions, and the tricks for these are as follows...
  • Ink Pen - the ink pen needs to be large, and have it open and ready. They sell nice large pens right next to the autograph books at every turn in Disney, so when you buy the book get the pen. The large pen makes it easier for the Character to sign...
  • Page Selection - the book should be open to the page you want them to sign, and feel free to help your child by delivering the book to the Character if the child is struggling with the book.
Photopass
Disney has recently (ok it has been a few years now) introduced PhotoPass where they will take pictures of you and your family through-out the parks. They give you a card at your first encounter during your vacation, and you can use that same card for every PhotoPass person from there on... So, have this out and ready if you see a PhotoPass Photographer.

The Line
Yes, there is a line... I know it is hard to believe, but even if the Character is moving to a new location there is already a line. So, do yourself a favor, and find the person in the yellow shirt as soon as possible, and get in line. I love to see people running to see a Character, and turning around to see the line clearly established and they really aren't next... Don't worry you shouldn't have to intervene, because the Character handlers in the cool yellow shirts will direct them accordingly.

Child Prep
I am sure there are lots of people out there that will think we are a little "over the top", but we really do have a routine for our kids to follow. The kids know to do this, and it helps us to not waste everybody's time while trying to get some nice pictures of our boys...
  • Initial interaction - A hug, or high-five, and a transfer of the autograph book. If there are multiple characters they will interact while the autograph book is passed around.
  • Picture - smile at the camera for the picture, and wait until the "ok boys let's get going..."
  • Leaving - a handshake, hug, or high-five as they are walking away..
Putting it all together... The Character walk-through...
Here is the step-by-step...
  • Get in line - start talking about what page we are going to have them sign on, and get the kids excited for meeting xyz character. Decide who all is going for the interaction, so at the last minute Grandpa doesn't try to get in the picture with Minnie Mouse unexpectedly...
  • Next in line - my wife waits with the boys, and verifies they have the autograph page open. She reminds them to get the book signed, and then smile at Dad for the picture...
    • At this point I setup just next to the Photopass person (or where they would be standing)... They can tell that I am considered to be "on-deck"... I turn the camera on, and remove the lens cap if necessary...
  • As the people ahead of us are leaving the Characters - the boys walk in
    • I hand-off the PhotoPass card (if they are there), and start snapping pictures.
    • My wife has now transitioned to near me, so that she can call for the boys when the nice picture is needed, and when it is time to walk away.
  • After the autographs - We call for the boys, and give the PhotoPass person their opportunity to take a photo (very important when flash is needed), and then I snap, snap, snap some more.
  • Leaving - The wife calls for the boys, I grab the PhotoPass, and we are off to the next character...
A few final thoughts... Kids have great moments and not-so-great moments, so don't pressure them. We have some pictures where our youngest wasn't included because he was on the bench in time-out, for being bad in line etc... If you can't get that nice picture of your kids with the Character in a reasonable amount of time then just move along, and try again at another time. We have a collection of good and bad pictures, but the only one that we are selfish about is the family picture that we get taken in front of the castle on every vacation. That may be in another blog posting, but for that one we have to get a decent picture, because it sits on our mantle from the time we get it until we get another one to replace it... So, I openly apologize to anybody that gets behind us in that line when we are getting our picture taken first thing in the morning at the Magic Kingdom :)

Here are some of our character pictures from last years trips...