[disneyjenny]

Does anyone have any good character interactions with their chilldren or themselves?

[thevandusens]

Our family's most memorable experience was with Goofy. Our DS was 2yrs at the time. While Goofy was signing his autograph book our DS sat down so then Goofy sat down. Next DS layed down on his tummy and Goofy did the same. Goofy drew a picture of himself rather than just signing his name. Got it on 35mm & video camera, it was great:)

[craziebabie1]

We took my daughter to DL for her 2nd Birthday. She was a little leary about the characters at first. We brought her to see Mickey at his house in toon town,and I remember seeing her eyes light up. She just ran over to him and latched on. She kept kissing his nose. I had a hard time pulling her away. It was truly the first time she showed no fear. My most memorable would be running into Tigger in Critter Country. I was having my picture taken with him, and he leaned over and told me my perfume smelled good. :laugh

[MickeyMac]

What a *great* question!

Mine would have to be on the Disney cruise. We were on the second floor overlooking the atrium and there were a bunch of characters down below. Captain Hook and Smee were there - my daughter is PETRIFIED of them. She would NOT come down stairs, and was sobbing, etc. We tried everything, including canceling dinner that night and offering to eat in our rooms. Alice came up and talked with her, Aurora, etc.

Finally, I see Goofy come bounding up the stairs, pretending to make great big bounding leaps across the balcony, hiding behind the posts and "yelling" at Captain Hook the whole time. By the time he got to my DD, she was giggling. He scooped her up and pretended to dance with her, then set her down and pretended to profess his love to her. He then sheltered her down the stairs, hiding her behind his back all the while 'yelling' at Captain Hookand Smee who pretended to be scared of Goofy. We were all laughing. It was great.

The second one again involves our buddy Hook. DD would NOT go into the MK and we had a PS at CRT (xyz, pdq, etc... hee hee!) Anyways, she was hysterical and the staff was MOST unfriendly about canceling our PS without refund. They must have called CRT, because a moment later, Alice came down, calmed down DD, and held her hand and skipped her way down Main Street with my DD...

Oh glory, I'm getting all teary now...

[BuzzLightyear]

My then 2 year old yelling for Eyeor at the top of his lungs during our character meal at Crystal Palace.
A memory we will never forget:)

[dab]

MM I cracked up reading about Hook. What a sweet moment that must have been with Goofy and Alice! My DD was terrified of him also until he and Smee made a cute photo with DD... each was holding up one of her pig tails pretending to "catch" her. Everyone watching thought it was cute and started pointing and smiling. Our Abbey thought she was a star and ate it up.

My most memorable was a recent non-WDW experience. We were at our local mall for the grand reopening of the DS and Mickey and Minnie were there. We strolled around the mall waiting to see Minnie...didn't have the patience for the extremely long ling. When we finally gave up and were leaving, Minnie and helpers were coming in a service entrance and nearly bumped into us. She walked by without looking at us and DD yelled at the top of her lungs "Hey Minnie! Look over here! It's me Abbey!" Minnie turned to wave but had to keep walking. DD turned to me and said "I think she remembers me from Disney World since I've seen here there so many times. " I don't have any really magical personal moments to share about WDW experiences. All have been very special and I think the characters do an amazing job of making each moment with them special.

[mickaholic4077]

My most memorable moment has to be with the statue at France. The look on my face my mother managed to snap as the statue lifted my hair is priceless!!!

[Goofy3230]

My most memorable (and there have been many great moments) was when my dd was 3. She wasn't speaking at the time, but she knew sign language. We were at the GF princess dinner. All of the princesses came over and took the usual pictures and signed the books. My dd was trying to communicate with them, but wasn't really able to. The princesses, trying to fit everyone in on their visit, didn't really have time to spend with her, which frustrated her a little. Then Cinderella came over to see her. Her face lit up and she was jumping in her seat. Cinderella tried to talk to her, and we explained our situation to her. With that, Cinderella sat on the floor, put our dd in her lap and started doing sign language with her. It was such a great moment (which of course we got on video) for us. She spent quite a few minutes with her, she brought her mice over and my dd had her own little character greeting. It was something I'll never forget!

There is one downside to this, but it's a happy one! Our DD is now 6 and her speech is fine. She doesn't get why she doesn't get her "special" visits any more, lol!

[LRTJS]

DisneyJenny: Welcome to DC!!
I probably shouldn't print this. Years ago the characters just appeared in the parks and there were no lines, just mobs of people trying to get to them. My DS was about 6. He was trying to see Goofy. He was behind him with about 100 people around. His dad told him to say something to get his attention. He kicked him slightly in the rear. Goofy turned around and saw the scared look on DS face and scooped him up in a big bear hug! I guess he understood the frustration of standing there so long! We have it on tape and I love to look at it.

[roncss]

Disneyjenny:
Welcome to Disney Central. My most memorable interaction was at a family gathering for our first Character Breakfast at Ohana's in 1987. DS was 12 and almost past the age where it was cool to interact with the Characters; but he did. Minnie came around and we got a couple of good pictures of DS and Minnie. Minnie then leaned over and planted a kiss on DS's cheek. I have never seen that color of red before. We got him a stuffed Minnie to commerate the event. I think he still has it.

[MickeyMac]

Cinderella tried to talk to her, and we explained our situation to her. With that, Cinderella sat on the floor, put our dd in her lap and started doing sign language with her.

Anyone else getting all teary reading this?? :cry: How incredibly sweet. Maybe someday *your* daughter can return the favor by being a Princess in the college program and light the life of another little girl.

[DisneyAnne]

MM....can you pass a tissue? Goofy3230...that is a beautiful story that I am sure you will treasure forever...

I will treasure two different character interactions from two visits to WDW each involving a different child.

Our first trip to WDW in 13 years was as part of a convention my hubby was attending. I took my almost 5 year old to the park while he attended classes. We had been looking for characters all day to no avail. When we got to Toontown, we saw Smee and Radcliffe from Pocohontas. We stood in line for a few minutes and then the CM who helped characters to get away ended the visit... As I tried to explain to my son, he broke away from me and ran to the characters. They kindly entertained him as everyone else had left the area.

When our football team found themselves at the Outback Bowl for a second year in a row rather than the Citrus Bowl in Orlando, the administration kindly sent us to WDW the day after Christmas. I had never been at this time of year and had no idea how many people would be in the park - UNBELIEVABLE. After we entered, we headed to Adventureland. As we waited for one of the coaches wives to catch up, my #2 son looked over to see Aladdin standing in one of the stores completely alone. He ran over and hugged him and asked where Genie was. It was precious. Aladdin asked him how old he was and he told him four. As if to verify, Aladdin held up four fingers. It was a precious moment that I got a picture of. It was #2's first interaction ever...

There are pix of both in My Favorite WDW Picture thread so you may have seen them....

[WVWISEGUY]

I have 2 experiences, one for each son.

When we took our oldest son to WDW for the first time he was 2 (he is now 6 going on 18). We were entering EPCOT through the International Gateway in the afternoon and my DW pass would not work so she had to go over to Guest Services. My DS and I went through the gate and Eyeore and Tigger were sitting on a Bench and My DS was a little apprehensive. They got on their knees and approached my DS and next thing I knew, Eyeore was laying on a bench with my DS and Tigger sitting on his stomach. We were the only ones around, and they spent about 5 minutes interacting with him. After that he was never afraid of any of the characters again.

For my youngest son who is 3, we took him to WDW this past June. While we were eating at Chef Mickey's, Chip sat down beside him and took his cookie he was getting ready to eat. My DS saw him and Chip put it back and acted embarassed. As Chip left, my DS grabbed his cookie and took off. He caught Chip and handed him the cookie and said he could have it, and Chip gave him a big hug. Got a great picture!

[iluvwdw]

What a great idea for a thread! My FAVORITE character interaction I ever had was during my last visit to WDW in August.

We had a PS at CP. My 22 month old son absolutely LOVED all of the characters, but I almost didn't take him to the Pooh breakfast. Lately at home, Mickey was the one he was excited about and he could care less about Pooh!!! :dazed So I decided to keep the breakfast anyway, and I am so glad I did!

We got to the table and my DS was sitting next to me. His back was to the buffet area, and he was facing Cindy's castle out the window. Beautiful view, by the way! Pooh did not walk around to all the tables during breakfast, he would always be standing by the buffet so anyone could go see Pooh whenever they wanted to! Nathaniel did not see any characters yet, so he wasn't excited yet. Then he saw Piglet, and all of the other characters started walking around our area. He was laughing, waving, trying to get their attention. I figured I would get up to go to the buffet to get my food before the characters got to our table, so I wouldn't miss anything! So I get up and get my food. Little did I know, that when I got up, my son didn't want me to go, so he turned around to see where I was going and was getting ready to call for me...when all of a sudden, HE SAW POOH by the Buffet! My DH told me Nathaniel started bouncing in his highchair, he was trying to climb out! He was screaming and clapping and laughing...POOH! POOH! POOH!!! I got back to the table, and he was still doing it! He was so excited!

After our meal and our amazing interactions with Piglet, Eeyore and Tigger, it was time for us to go see Pooh. Well, I have never seen a child more excited in his life!!! He jumped to Pooh and would not let go! Thank God there was no one else waiting for Pooh, because we were there for a while! Nathaniel was hugging him for what seemed like FOREVER at the time. He was in heaven. So finally, we pull him away and start to leave the restaurant. I am holding my son's hand while we walk towards the door. All of a sudden, loud music starts in the restaurant and all of the characters start parading around the restaurant, holding signs...apparantly it was a little girls birthday and it was their birthday celebration! Pooh grabbed the little girl (about 8 years old) and started parading around the restaurant with her and other children joined the fun too. Well, my son noticed Pooh walking around and that is all he cared about! He broke free from my hand and RAN after Pooh through the restaurant! He ran past all of the other kids who were following Pooh, so he could be in the front of the line, right behind Pooh! It was the funniest site to see this little guy, 22 months old, running after Pooh while other kids were in line (they were 6, 7, 8 year olds...) and all the while my son was screaming POOH! POOH! POOH! Clapping and screaming at the same time. I never laughed so hard, my hubby got it all on video!!!! Everyone in the restaurant was staring at my son and laughing, because it was the cutest thing in the world!!!

That was my favorite character interaction...one that I truly will NEVER EVER forget!!! :D

[WEDINDISNEY]

This is a really neat thread...

My most memorable moment was last year while we were at the POLY for our wedding.
The whole thing started the year or so before the magical day with us planning the wedding. One of the things that I wanted was Mickey and Minnie to show up at the wedding. My DH didnt want it and also thought that it was too much $$$$ (I did agree with that part but still wanted them.)
I respected my DH wishes and didnt get the characters.

Well right after the wedding while we were getting our pictures done outside the POLY I saw Mickey and Minnie walking towards us and I nearly fell over. I didnt understand what they were doing there, someone made a mistake and they arent supposed to be at my wedding. Well there was my DH with a BIG ol SMILE :D
Oh I wanted to kill him and kiss him :love: at the same time.
We got the pictures done etc and Mickey and Minnie left.
So I said to my DH, I thought you said no characters..... His response was" I never get to surprise you with anything and I wanted to get you the perfect wedding gift so I figured this did both"
He was right.
:) :) :)