PECS and character meet-and-greets

[AirplaneJane]

Hello!

I have a 4YO girl who uses PECS. She is so excited to go to DW and meet Mickey! I made her a special DW PECS book with pictures for each of the rides she can/will likely want to go on, as well for her basic needs.

But she’s most excited about the character interaction pages. I made me “conversation starter” pictures (what’s your favorite food/ride/song, I love…, I don’t like…, are you friends with…) and pictures of her favorite characters to combine the conversation starters with. We have been practicing with her stuffed Mickey Mouse, and she can’t get enough.

So, my question is: does anyone have personal experience using PECS in the parks? Can you tell me your stories, particularly about characters, but all stories are welcome.

Did you find that PECS worked well for character meet and greets? Did you inform a cast member ahead of time?

Were there any other pictures/words that you found helpful to have on hand?

 

[SueM in MN]

I don’t have time to respond specifically this morning, but this is a collection of links that might be helpful.
Most are older, but the information about communication devices/AAC itself won’t really change. Some of the pictures are no longer available, but there is still a lot of good info

Communication Devices, PECS
Thread about making Communication Boards
Thread with links in post one to find pictures of communication pages for each park
Link to Scrapbookers thread with many pictures of rides, signs, and assorted WDW pictures. Useful for communication, social stories or schedules.
Link to report of park experience of Dynavox user
Thread about PECs
mousescrapper's special guidebook for her son
Marie S's Going on an Airplane PEC book
Marie S's WDW Visual Schedule and Choice PEC book
DisMomAmy's Visual Help Cards

 

[AirplaneJane]

Thank you! I appreciate those links

 

[podgirl]

This isn’t a PECS idea, but another one that might work for you, especially for the characters that don’t talk, like Minnie, Mickey, etc. My son has always (pre-Covid) shown a little car to the characters, and then they will take it and play with it, showing excitement and then hand it back to my son (he’s 20). Perhaps your daughter would have a favourite little toy to show them. This is of course, assuming that complete character interaction will be back. The characters have always been so fantastic with our son.

 

[AirplaneJane]

That is such a great idea! I bet she’d love to show off her Mickey/Minnie plushies.


I heard classic character meet and greets will be returning “soon”, but who knows whether that will be before our trip or not. Hoping for the best!

 

[SueM in MN]

A couple of suggestions:
1) ‘Face Characters’ are those like the Princesses who show their face. They are usually less intimidating to kids, so you might want to meet a few of those before going on to the ‘fur’ characters like Mickey, etc.

2) Many kids are scared of the characters like Mickey because they picture him as small. It’s a shock and can be pretty scary to meet Mickey or Donald that is bigger than your parents! So, be prepared that even if your child is really excited, they may still be scared.

3) DAS Return Times are available for character meets with a posted wait time (When meets are available). That includes characters like Mickey in MK, the princesses in MK, Mickey & Minnie at Hollywood Studios. You usually won’t see the character until you are the next group or so to get to them.

4) The outdoor meets don’t have a posted wait time and don’t offer DAS (for example, Donald in Mexico, the Princesses outdoors at World Showcase). Their lines are not usually that long in time, but they may be able to offer something, like part of your group wait in the line while one person waits to the side with the child, if being in the line would be an issue. It sometimes works best to ask for something specific.
The outdoor ones have some advantages for timid children - they can see others meeting the character and get comfortable with the idea.

5) I don’t remember if the meets are still socially distanced. You will need to check before you go so you can prepare your child for what to expect.

6) The non-face characters like Mickey have limited field of view - if you see any sign autographs, they usually bring the book and pen high up, right in front of their face to sign. If you/your child plans to show Mickey PECS, be aware Mickey might NOT be able see it; you may want to hold it up and read it, saying something like, ‘Sally made a message for you. She says xxxxxxxx’

7) I’d suggest composing/helping your child compose the message ahead of time, possibly when you get into line. That way, if the child freezes and can’t compose a message at the time, they won’t miss out on talking to the character.

8) Rather than compose a message at the time, some people make up a selection of messages/questions ahead of time, print them on cards and then laminate, punch a hole in corner and then put them on a key ring or snap ring. It’s easy to snap one off or turn it to use. Much less pressure and the child can still select what to communicate.

 

[Joanna71985]

5) I don’t remember if the meets are still socially distanced. You will need to check before you go so you can prepare your child for what to expect.

characters are still currently socially distant

 

[AprilsZoo]

characters are still currently socially distant

Not sure how it is at WDW, but at DL the characters were nevertheless hamming it up, and still talking with guests— just from a little ways away. They were not signing autographs, but they were posing for pictures “with” the guests— generally behind and beside the guest. Some of them did some cute posing, taking advantage of skewed perspective. [For example, Ironman stood on a platform-like thing (might've been a bench, once upon a time) , and then had two kids bend over with their heads touching while he positioned his arms to look like he was fighting them or had caught them or something, and was looming over them. The photo pass photographer backed up until it was all framed just right. The kids were impressed for sure. The princesses and Tinkerbell had some fun posing tricks, too, from what I heard. And Gaston was a hoot!]
So even if they’re still distanced, the characters are still awesome and entertaining. It will be be more difficult to use alternative communication, unfortunately. I like @SueinMN idea of you serving as message relayer, or go-between for your child & the character: “Cinderella, Janey wants you to know_______. She says ______” You may want to explain to your child that you’ll be doing this since the characters can’t get close enough to see their communication device, so you’re gonna be their helper.

Have a good trip!

 

[AirplaneJane]

Thank you! Those are great tips!

I have four kids, so I wonder how that’s going to go with the character meet and greets. My 4yo PECs user is the youngest, and I know at least my 6yo is going to be excited about interacting with characters too, but really the 9 and 11 YOs will also enjoy it. I’m a little worried about her not feeling heard and getting lost in the shuffle while the others jump in.

I’m thinking that while the older kids ride some of the big kid rides, I might take her to meet at least Mickey on her own so she can have a better chance to interact, or maybe let her ask the first question and have the older kids help with that. And I’m sure she wouldn’t mind talking to characters more than once!

I’m planning to get DAS for her because of her sensory sensitivities and tendencies to scream when she’s overwhelmed. That will make it possible for her to see the characters since she won’t have to wait in an hour plus line that she couldn’t handle. It will also make it easy for us to plan on seeing characters while the older kids are riding coasters, so I think that will be really helpful.

 

[Weedy]

As others have said the character meet and greets are still from a distance.
Here’s a Youtube video to give you an idea of how close you can get