adult feeling awkward during meet n greets?

[LuvGoofy6]

My last trip was the first time that I ever felt concerned or self-conscious about my age (I'm 28) - I had a sort of weird interaction with Peter Pan, and I felt like it was literally forcing me to grow up, haha. It very well may have been the Pan that I ended up with that day - the rest of my interactions have been wonderful. I'm curious to try Peter Pan again next month when I go.

My last trip I had great interactions with tons of characters, except Pan, I was most excited for him but the Pan we got was super awkward and didn't even notice the huge Peter on my friends shirt, we basically just took a photo and left. Super disappointing.

I hope Peter Pan hasn't changed from when I saw him in 2011. My daughter was 16 at the time and he is her favorite character. He asked her if she was there with anyone and she pointed to me and said my whole family is here but my mom waited in line with me to see you. He pointed to me and said, "Is that your mom?" When she responded yes he said, "Cool, she can be my mom too!" Then he walked over to me and posed for a photo with me.

I like to start conversations with simple things like, "Goofy, my trip is complete now that I've found you!" or "Hello Mickey, I hope you're having a great day!" They usually respond right away. My husband sometimes kisses Minnie's hand and then Mickey acts jealous~it gets conversations going.

 

[TheDisneyNurse]

I'm not judging here, just bewildered. I do not understand why an adult, with full knowledge of the reality, would ever feel anything other then uncomfortable doing that. It's one thing to let your inner child out, it's quite another to let it take complete charge of our adulthood. Sort of a balancing act, the way I see it. Anyway, if you enjoy it then do it. If you feel out of place, then you probably are. Move on to something a bit more age appropriate or at least something a tad less definable.

You probably wouldn't like this because he is a fake, non-living character... Buuuuut, in the words of Thumper: "If you can't say something nice, don't say nothing at all!"

To each their own, I suppose.

 

[karly05]

I do understand that some people feel that way, I just don't really understand why. If there were real people (hero's) that were actually in the movie, or it was even a true story, I might be better able to understand. To me it's like having a meeting with the President and some guy shows up in an Obama mask. It might look like him, but, it ain't him. I cannot go back home and say to my friends... Hey, I met the President. Who I met was just a poser.

I don't fault you for feeling that way, just cannot relate to it. Just the way my mind works as opposed to yours. My whole point was, if someone feels uncomfortable, as I would, then something is telling them that they really don't belong there, again, all for personal reasons.

I am almost 67 years old. I travel to WDW yearly as a solo. I go to shows like Peter Pan, Pooh and others by myself and stand in line with bazillions of small children. No one knows I am by myself until I get to the front of the line and am forced to say... Just one please! But since I love the old rides and they bring back a lot of memories for me from when my children were young, I don't feel the least bit out of place. However, I am going to see the actual show, not a picture of it. That is the point I was trying to make, if it did feel uncomfortable about it, then I wouldn't do it. I suspect that you feel the same way about Meet & Greets. That's fine, but, it still remains true, that if you didn't, you shouldn't be doing it. You do, so that's fine.

We all have different takes on things and different ways of thinking/feeling, and that's all fine.

I will say, I think there are a couple of different versions of "uncomfortable" at play here. For some people, meeting characters is not something they care to do, and they shouldn't feel obligated to, or like they're missing out on some important part of a WDW vacation. People have great Disney vacations all the time without meeting characters, or doing certain attractions, or eating at certain restaurants. It just depends on what (the collective) you enjoy.

I do think - and this was how I took the OP - some people actually do want to meet characters, but aren't sure what to say, or are afraid of what other guests will think, or how the characters will react. That's why some of us who do it come in to offer tips and encouragement.

 

[goofyernmost]

We all have different takes on things and different ways of thinking/feeling, and that's all fine.

I will say, I think there are a couple of different versions of "uncomfortable" at play here. For some people, meeting characters is not something they care to do, and they shouldn't feel obligated to, or like they're missing out on some important part of a WDW vacation. People have great Disney vacations all the time without meeting characters, or doing certain attractions, or eating at certain restaurants. It just depends on what (the collective) you enjoy.

I do think - and this was how I took the OP - some people actually do want to meet characters, but aren't sure what to say, or are afraid of what other guests will think, or how the characters will react. That's why some of us who do it come in to offer tips and encouragement.

And I agree and have stated, repeatedly, that this isn't about those that have no problem with meeting them and DON'T feel uncomfortable, but, if someone is feeling uncomfortable there is probably a reason for it and probably should be listened too.

It is all a matter of end result. If actually meeting them has a completely positive end result, then it is probably worth it. Just not to me, but, then again I have no desire to do that at all. So I don't have to concern myself with it. I did sight my own awareness of going to kids rides by myself, however, that is because I am aware of what others, in the sad world we live in, may be thinking. I just don't care enough to not do what I enjoy. So, I am not uncomfortable at all. If I were, I wouldn't do it.

 

[BagOLaughs]

I've found it to be a bit hit and miss when its myself and my partner, we don't have kids but I'm a disney fanatic.

Some good ones I've had were:

Stitch - he asked my my hand and when i gave it to him he gave me a big slobbery (fake) lick on my hand. I said "oh thanks Stitch, you're such a charmer"

Jawas - this was my favourite encounter and here are the pictures to prove it. I gave an out of date voucher for a free starter for a restaurant and got a free out of date buzz lightyear fastpass. it was great and made great pictures! Thanks to my lovely partner for snapping these.



However we've also had our fair share of "awkward" moments though. The worst was king Louis and Baloo. But they can't all be great can they

If you want to change the encounters you have to make them less awkward, I'd just go in and say something, initiate it with something small and then the character may think that you're someone who wants to play. Talking about their movies is always a good place to start.

 

[nicolej92]

My friend and I just came back from Disney, and I'm having a Disney themed wedding so we took pics with a bunch of characters. They were all sweet, but we spent a brief time with them, allowing the anxious kids behind us to have their time. No uncomfortableness, just a good time.

 

[henry lutz]

for the last few trips i've felt a bit awkward during character meet n greets cuz i feel like there's no conversation between me and the characters.
we just sorta look at each other and then they say lets take a pic and then off i go having only seen them for 5 seconds.
then i see other adults interact with the characters for much longer than i do and i feel like its cuz they've done something special to make it last longer like wear some weird outfit to make the character comment on it or ask some weird question that the character has to come up with an answer to. (or challenge gaston to do something which seems to be very popular at the moment)

thats not me...

so i wonder if bringing an autograph book would give the character more time to come up with something to say?

or how else could i make the interaction seem less awkward?

Kennythepirate.com

 

[goddess_rx]

For me, it's definitely easier to feel comfortable around the characters whose personalities are extroverted and engaging, whether they are atmosphere or face characters (e.g. Goofy, Ariel, Anna etc.). My adult sister and I had a bit of an awkward encounter with Elsa. We felt a little self-conscious to begin with because we were the only adults without children at that meet-and-greet. However, I convinced myself that the awkwardness was because Elsa is supposed to be regal and austere - not a chatterbox. Add to that the fact that Anna is so talkative and social, of course Elsa's meet-and-greet would seem awkward by comparison!

I did the Ariel meet-and-greet on my own. I was so nervous, but whatever the actress playing Ariel might have been thinking, I couldn't tell. She was totally engaged in her character, and I walked out of that meet-and-greet feeling like a million bucks.

 

[LoodlesNoodles]

My bff wanted to do fish faces with Ariel and asked very politely and she refused saying we could but she would do a princess pose instead. We felt very awkward after that and it took some other great meets to get back into meeting characters.

 

[goddess_rx]

My bff wanted to do fish faces with Ariel and asked very politely and she refused saying we could but she would do a princess pose instead. We felt very awkward after that and it took some other great meets to get back into meeting characters.

Oh, sorry to hear that! I guess my the actress playing Ariel when I went to WDW was pretty outgoing (this was the first time I've done a meet-and-greet with Ariel, so I don't have a point of reference). Looking at the situation from both sides, it doesn't sound so bad - the actress just made a judgment call for what she perceived would be more like staying in character. However, from a fan/park goer perspective, something like that could totally burst my bubble, especially for an essentially benign request. Well, it's good that you guys did get back into meeting the other characters. The worst thing is if you let one bad experience sour the rest

 

[Kat73]

I love Chip & Dale, they are always super fun and playful. Last time they had a squirt bottle and were shooting each other with it LOL. Sometimes all it takes is a simple hug or a kiss on the cheek if it's not a face character. One time the Sheriff of Nottingham was out, and when I asked him for a picture he held out his hand like he was collecting taxes- so I got out a dollar! Don't worry about it being weird, just go for it and have fun

 

[goddess_rx]

I love Chip & Dale, they are always super fun and playful. Last time they had a squirt bottle and were shooting each other with it LOL. Sometimes all it takes is a simple hug or a kiss on the cheek if it's not a face character. One time the Sheriff of Nottingham was out, and when I asked him for a picture he held out his hand like he was collecting taxes- so I got out a dollar! Don't worry about it being weird, just go for it and have fun

Oh, yes! I forgot to mention how awesome Chip & Dale are. I always try to get a picture with them when I go. The lines have been relatively short, and I can't imagine why. I think the Sheriff is a rarer character - would have been fun to see him.

 

[AlyssaC17]

I think the most awkward encounter we had with any characters were when we were with my fiancé's family and the kids would go up first and then we would follow behind. The characters always felt we were just with the kids and we would move on and some tried to interact with the kids behind us in line so at that point we kind of felt like we needed to rush and move on.

Any other time we have never had a bad experience, Nick has this horrible tattoo on his shoulder that like every character comments on, Aladdin thought it was an ice cream cone, in reality it is supposed to be an Italian flag with a Yankees pinstripe jersey in the middle...yea not even close!