7 Things Not To Do When Meeting Characters At Disneyland

Seriously, just don't do them. Some are obvious but these things happen on a daily basis at the Happiest Place on Earth. These are coming from a former character host at Disneyland in Anaheim, California.

1. Do Not Hurt the Characters

Do not hit, punch, kick, pull on, or abuse the characters in any way. Unless you're a small child, you know that there is a person inside the costumes. How would you like to be punched by random strangers? Yeah, didn't think so.

2. Don't Force It

Don't try and force your scared child to go up to a character. Some children just like to look at a distance and watch, so don't traumatize your kid by forcing them to take a picture with a character if they don't want to.

3. Don't Overreact

Don't yell at character hosts and/or the character when the characters have to go in. Fuzzies (such as Minnie, Mickey, Goofy, etc) can only be on set for a maximum of 30 minutes and face characters (such as princesses, princes, Alice, etc) can only be out for 1 hour max. When that 30-60 minutes is almost up, the character attendant will usually go to the end of the line and close it. DO NOT YELL AT THEM FOR THIS. They are just doing their job. Kindly ask when the character will be coming back out or where you can find them at a different location. And no, if you're a different race/ethnicity than the host, they are NOT racist. The line has to be cutoff somewhere. So cut them some slack and see if the character will be anywhere else in the park. Chances are, the character will be out again that same day.

4. Don't Make Excuses

Just like police officers hear every excuse in the book when they pull someone over for speeding, Disneyland cast members hear every excuse as to why they should let people stand in an already closed line for a character. For example, when the character attendant says that Mickey's line is closed, a guest might say that it is their child's birthday, therefore they should be given special attention and let in the line. This is one of the worst excuses because EVERYONE comes to Disneyland on their birthday. It is the number 1 reason why people visit Disneyland. And besides, the guest could be totally lying that it's their kid's birthday (it's happened before). The list of excuses goes on, but some others are "But this is our last day in the park" or "We've been looking for this character all day!" or my personal favorite, "My plane is taking off in 5 minutes!" Well then you better run and catch your "flight" instead of waiting for a picture with a mouse.

5. Don't Be Inconsiderate

One of the things a character hates most is when a big group of guests all want individual pictures with the character. 1-3 different picture combinations is fine, but any more than that is annoying to the characters and the people waiting in line. Part of the reason lines to meet characters (cough Frozen cough) are so long is because people take far too many pictures with the characters. Take a group photo and maybe 1 individual and be on your way.

6. Don't be a Flirt

This is more geared towards the face characters. I witnessed men of ALL ages (even married men) hit on the princesses during my time at Disney. They would say perverted things to the girls, ask them to write down their phone numbers in their kid's autograph book, and much more. The ladies do not enjoy it and will tell all of the other cast members on their break what a creeper you were and pray that you don't get back in their line. And if you're hitting on the fuzzy characters, then you definitely need to reevaluate yourself.

7. Don't Ruin the Magic

Yes, everyone with the exception of little kids know that the characters aren't real and are played by multiple cast members. DO NOT point this out when meeting them because chances are there are young children around that still believe in the magic. So don't be a jerk and ruin it for them.