Will character interactions EVER go back to how they were?

[MJ6987]

I’m just wondering aloud. Do you think that character interactions, whether thats in meet and greets, or character meals, will ever go back to how they were pre-Covid? I.e. close face-to-face interaction, conversation (with face characters), hugs, autographs, selfies etc

I assume that Covid will always be with us, like other long-standing infectious diseases, and it will fairly soon get to the point where everyone who can, or wants to be, vaccinated has been - at this point things aren’t going to get any better and we need to decide how life is going to be going forward.

 

[BadPinkTink]

I doubt it. As the Unions are involved, I would say that it has gone from a temporary Covid restriction to a permanent OSHA restriction. From a OSHA point of view, hugging and close contact puts the CM at risk from a contagious infection. The job can still be done without hugging and close contact so therefore as part of OSHA risk assessment, it makes sense that hugging and close contact will stay removed from the job description for a long time.

 

[mom2rtk]

I doubt it. As the Unions are involved, I would say that it has gone from a temporary Covid restriction to a permanent OSHA restriction. From a OSHA point of view, hugging and close contact puts the CM at risk from a contagious infection. The job can still be done without hugging and close contact so therefore as part of OSHA risk assessment, it makes sense that hugging and close contact will stay removed from the job description for a long time.

If it never goes back to normal it will not be because of OSHA. That’s not how this works.

I do think that it will be a while before it goes back. Partly because once it’s established, there’s a risk Disney decides to stick with it. Distanced meets move lines faster mostly because it’s less interesting so there’s less demand.

The problem is that’s people are accepting of it now but long term many (myself included) won’t go back without it.

 

[amylevan]

I’m still waiting for someone to explain to me how COVID could be transferred to someone in a full costume via a hug. Face characters, sure, but how is someone with his/her face in a Mickey or Pooh head at risk? They’re more covered than someone in a mask.

 

[OhThePain]

IMHO, I think character meals will eventually get close to what they were but I hope that the way they are doing things now around the parks sticks around. It feels a lot closer to the way things used to be when characters roamed freely in the parks. Things are just looser and less uniform. They still interact with guests, they will still pose for pictures and it feels a little more spur of the moment and natural than having to wait on line for 20-60 minutes. The same goes with the cavalcades. Things change. Times change. Not being able to hug or be hugged by a stranger in a costume isn't the end of the world.

 

[mom2rtk]

I’m still waiting for someone to explain to me how COVID could be transferred to someone in a full costume via a hug. Face characters, sure, but how is someone with his/her face in a Mickey or Pooh head at risk? They’re more covered than someone in a mask.

Can't answer your question about transfer between CM and guests. But I would assume there's a problem wearing a Pooh head then handing it to a different CM to wear next. Possibly a significant risk. Can't say whether they have enough to assign a separate one to each CM or if they have some sort of irradiation system that could sanitize each one between use. But I could see it being an issue.

 

[mom2rtk]

IMHO, I think character meals will eventually get close to what they were but I hope that the way they are doing things now around the parks sticks around. It feels a lot closer to the way things used to be when characters roamed freely in the parks. Things are just looser and less uniform. They still interact with guests, they will still pose for pictures and it feels a little more spur of the moment and natural than having to wait on line for 20-60 minutes. The same goes with the cavalcades. Things change. Times change. Not being able to hug or be hugged by a stranger in a costume isn't the end of the world.

People keep focusing on the hug. Not everyone even hugs characters. Just getting photos to bring home or post on social media has always been a big thing to some.

We're doing a couple of distanced character meals on our upcoming trip. But we won't do it on subsequent trips. Short version: We're willing to accept it now since we see this as an evolving thing. But we won't settle for it long term.

 

[OhThePain]

People keep focusing on the hug. Not everyone even hugs characters. Just getting photos to bring home or post on social media has always been a big thing to some.

We're doing a couple of distanced character meals on our upcoming trip. But we won't do it on subsequent trips. Short version: We're willing to accept it now since we see this as an evolving thing. But we won't settle for it long term.

I do think the distance at character meals will lax first and characters will go back to visiting tables and taking pictures similar to pre-COVID (I'm sure there will be some difference like less tables but a higher price so there is more space between the character and your table, but it will be close to what it was experience wise). I think focusing on the hug is just the easiest place to go since it doesn't get much closer than that (and also a lot of pro-huggers bring it up themselves, not saying you, just in general). But in reality, you can get just as good of a picture with Mary Poppins in the Tea Garden in the WS with her standing a few feet behind you as you can being shoulder to shoulder. Is it different than what we are used to, absolutely, but different doesn't make it bad or unacceptable.

 

[bsmcneil]

This makes me wonder - were M&G happening when WDW first opened? Or does anyone know the evolution of it so far?

 

[BroadwayHermione5]

I agree that the character dining will be what goes back the closest to normal first.
I do hope the calvacades stay-those are fun.
I also foresee stuff like parades and trolley shows and the dapper Dan’s being able to be on the ground happening before everything else too.
Equity, AGMA and AGVA all have to work together on this. While the fur costumes I can see not being an issue, the face characters are going to be a long time-if they ever come back.

 

[DodgerGirl]

In my eyes I think character interactions will return complete with autographs to Walt Disney World but I think the main reason why Disney Parks did away with full meet and greets with characters was not because of the pandemic but because of the following things,
A. Money
B. Time
C. Character actors being worried about being mobbed by kids
D. Character actors asking for a pay raise
E. All of the above
The final answer to this is probably E and because Disney Parks think that calvacades cost less money to do than parades because this is a new way for Walt Disney World to better market the characters more. Because the way I see it I always thought character meet and greets are a huge pain. Can you imagine having to wait two hours just to get an autograph from Princess Tiana for your little girl? I couldn't wait that long either. But I can imagine ever since these new style meet and greets began I can see little girls crying about not hugging Cinderella or a little boy not getting an autograph and photo with Mickey Mouse and as I mentioned before they should've let kids hug characters in the first place because there is something magical about it. But if you have kids crying about not hugging characters and getting autographs from characters they can do it at home and all you do is buy notebooks and plushies of the characters and let the characters "sign" their autographs in your kids notebooks and you can take photos at home too and it's simple and fun to do

 

[Mambo Junkie]

I guess it's safe to assume that the autograph books I bought for our cancelled 2020 trip are now useless.

 

[Her Dotness]

I’m still waiting for someone to explain to me how COVID could be transferred to someone in a full costume via a hug. Face characters, sure, but how is someone with his/her face in a Mickey or Pooh head at risk? They’re more covered than someone in a mask.

I wore such a costume while working in a mall bookstore once.

Full-body costumes like that have a mesh screen segment somewhere inconspicuous and well-concealed to aid breathing and provide some ventilation to prevent heat exhaustion.

As a result, something as transmissible as covid could easily be contracted by the CM in the costume inhaling a guest's exhalations, especially since viral particles can be suspended in the surrounding air for a couple hours.

Wearing a mask in one of those costumes would be dangerous. It was hard enough to breathe in the one I wore that I was required to go to the back room and remove the head for a few minutes after every 20 minutes of wearing it.

 

[twincitytexan]

Personally, I think there will eventually be a return to regular meet and greets, but it'll be a while. I live in texas so my local theme park is Six Flags, and they've gone in and out of regular and distanced meet and greets throughout the pandemic (when the local numbers are low I've noticed them going back to regular meet and greets, then when a spike starts to occur they distance them). Obviously, Disney is not Six Flags and while I'd definitely trust a Disney bathroom not to give me covid more than a Six Flags one, I think the non-distanced meet and greets are just better for theme parks. I was there marathon weekend and the line for Mickey Mouse didn't seem to reach more than 30 minutes, and I remember my last trip in 2018 Mickey never seemed to go below 45 minutes except for the morning and during the fireworks (Not to mention that during that time Goof, Donald, etc were also available in other places in that park). So I think with autograph books being a source of income and the fact that people just aren't going to distanced meet and greets (which can affect the lines for other things like rides) will eventually cause the ropes to come down. However, I'm not expecting a big announcement that non-distanced meet and greets are coming back. I fully expect to see some vlogger end up trying to see Mickey and realizing the rope is gone and Mickey holds his arms out for a hug. I think they'll try to quietly bring it back.