We Knew It Was Coming . . .

[DisBuckMan]

I don't see it as a cost-cutting move. I see it as a revenue-generating move....and I completely understand.

We haven't waited for character interaction in 4 or 5 years at character meals, simply because (thankfully), our son grew out of the desire for that interaction when he was 7. He'd rather be spending time riding rides rather than waiting around to get a picture taken with a character he already has a picture of himself with.

That said, and back to the original point of my post...I can certainly understand it being a revenue generating move for Disney. And, like I said, I don't blame them. Almost all of the character meals are buffet/family style. There is zero way it should take 90 minutes or more to have a buffet meal, but we routinely see it at character meals, simply because it takes that long for the characters to make it all the way around the restaurant...mainly due to having to take up so much time at several (not all) tables. So, speed up the character interactions, and turn tables quicker. If you speed up every table turn by only 10 minutes, you've made a substantial increase in revenue for the restaurant for that day.

 

[BabyPiglet]

Ugh! Our trip next week is the first one that we were planning on doing autographs. We have a Disney themed kitchen and were planning on bringing a photo matte for the characters to sign. A pre-printed card is absolutely un-magical.

 

[DisBuckMan]

If part of the time that you're paying a premium to receive includes getting an autograph, how can anybody say that you're not entitled to get that autograph?

I'm not sure I've ever seen anything that says the premium you pay at a character meal includes getting an autograph.

 

[Allie B]

Well that just sucks. My daughter bought a white hat for autographs this time.

 

[JerseyJanice]

I'm not sure I've ever seen anything that says the premium you pay at a character meal includes getting an autograph.

How much time of character interaction is allotted per party at a character meal? Would be it fair to say 5 minutes? However that 5 minutes is spent shouldn't matter whether the guests are taking photos, joking or getting a signature.

 

[SaintsManiac]

FWIW several people on Facebook have reported that characters are signing again at CP.

 

[marcyleecorgan]

Good grief.... at least my family is probably one-and-done with Garden Grill and Crystal Palace. We got photos, that was great... I wanted 2nd Trip to have all the signed souvenirs at the Character restaurants worth eating a 2nd time at, so I was going to start stocking up, but... I seem to be amending my planning for ADR's instead! Already crossed Ohana off the list, so if we have to *just* have photos at Tusker House I will live.... but making that ADR was quite dependent on 1) Daisy, and 2) signed souvenir items like pillowcases/hats/t-shirts.

But... the policy is fairly inconsistent at this time. And I have plenty of time to sit back and observe!

 

[jrmasm]

Next they'll quit taking pictures because that takes too long too.

 

[alltwelve]

Cards cost a LOT less than employee time. Employee time as costumed characters includes both training (to sign with character consistency - every Aurora has to have the same signature, every Pooh, etc.) and time at table (sign 3 books, a pillow case, a quilt square and this template for Bob's tattoo).

A card, printed by the zillion? Less than a nickel each and that's if they do full color glossy. Includes one-time costs of design.

I can see that... I guess, speaking as a "former friend" of Tigger who's 5-day schedule included 3 days of "helping" Tigger at Crystal Palace lunch (back when lunch was a then unheard-of $17.99! Ha!), I remember the focus was on the character interactions. I always thought that the children who came to visit would enjoy having that autograph in their book, but they would (at least hopefully, anyway) more importantly remember how Tigger played with a girl's pony tail, or was the first character a boy ever got to meet. The autographs never took up that much time, but it did kind of put a halt to the whole interaction process. There were some tables, however, that were only interested in the autograph and the photo and that was it- they didn't really want the interaction and that was fine. In the back of my mind, though, I always thought of those people as the ones who didn't go somewhere for an experience, but instead just for proof that they actually went there.

I've noticed, though, that at Disneyland it seems like the focus is more on the interaction with the characters rather than the actual autograph compared to WDW. Maybe its because those folks are mainly locals?

 

[DrunkJam]

We thought about getting autographs this time, but, this move means we will only be looking for photos, and won't be introducing the kids to the idea of autographs, still, it's a saving to me on books and large pens. I would imagine that if interactions become more minimal than they already are, they will have trouble shifting ludicrously expensive slots at character meals, since people will opt for the cheaper, better food options

 

[_auroraborealis_]

I can see that... I guess, speaking as a "former friend" of Tigger who's 5-day schedule included 3 days of "helping" Tigger at Crystal Palace lunch (back when lunch was a then unheard-of $17.99! Ha!), I remember the focus was on the character interactions. I always thought that the children who came to visit would enjoy having that autograph in their book, but they would (at least hopefully, anyway) more importantly remember how Tigger played with a girl's pony tail, or was the first character a boy ever got to meet. The autographs never took up that much time, but it did kind of put a halt to the whole interaction process. There were some tables, however, that were only interested in the autograph and the photo and that was it- they didn't really want the interaction and that was fine. In the back of my mind, though, I always thought of those people as the ones who didn't go somewhere for an experience, but instead just for proof that they actually went there.

Yeah. This wouldn't just be about table turn time, but also overall staff time. The biggest expense of character interactions is really the staff time, as I suspect you're aware. You've got multiple people in the back for a single character, each with a helper.

 

[TJDisneymama]

well that sucks. Even if you have 3 autographs to sign at the table, how long does it take to actually sign - 10 seconds each? so they are saving 10 seconds per autograph by not signing.....my kids are very shy, they are not big on the "interaction" part, they are more "collectors". They just want an autograph, a picture, and that's it - each character averages about 30 seconds at our table. If we're not going to get an autograph, I will be sure to chat each character up....spend way longer with them than we ever did. I'll aim for 5 minutes spent at our table. Want to make sure I get my money's worth.
Seriously, they just keep taking more and more stuff away, yet continue to raise prices.

 

[verleniahall]

I agree - but no matter what they do the guests would complain.
They could say that only children get autographs - but you know there would be complaints.
Personally I never understood adults wanting autographs - as someone else said they will probably never go back and look at the autograph book.

Maybe they can sell an autograph pass for those that want autographs - and everyone else gets a card.

As an adult who gets character autographs- we DO look at them becuase I am a scrapbooker and they go in our albums and we look at the quite often - so remember that you are speaking for yourself, not everyone

 

[Praying Colonel]

I can't get over how expensive character meals have become, and now you can't get an autograph if you want one.

Raise the cost a little here, shave a little off the guest experience there...it's the Disney Way.

 

[DisBuckMan]

How much time of character interaction is allotted per party at a character meal? Would be it fair to say 5 minutes? However that 5 minutes is spent shouldn't matter whether the guests are taking photos, joking or getting a signature.

5 minutes per table? Not even close. Do you have any idea how many tables are in those restaurants? At 40 tables per restaurant (which is probably a low estimate), it would take between 3-4 hours for each character to make the complete round. I'd say 2 minutes max, which at only 40 tables per restaurant would be nearly 1.5 hours.

Doing autographs is awkward for nearly all but the face characters. They have to grab the book in a certain way. They have to grab the pen in a certain way with those huge paws. They have to get their head turned right so they can see the paper from inside the head of the costume. Then, they have to sign in a specific way...every single time. It takes a lot longer than 10 seconds each, as another poster stated.

 

[elaine amj]

Not cost saving so much as an increase in the revenue stream. Getting the guests out of the restaurant faster equals more guests served and more revenue for Disney.

The more I think about this, the more irrationally angry I get about it. (I say irrational because I don't have little ones of my own anymore.)

You pay a premium to eat at a character meal so that your party can have time to interact with the characters, presumably getting more time than you'd get from just Meet & Greets.

If part of the time that you're paying a premium to receive includes getting an autograph, how can anybody say that you're not entitled to get that autograph?

I agree. This would suck. True, I don't care much about autographs personally, nor does any of my family. We actually aren't big on character meals ourselves - my kids are teens now anyway. Still, we just took my 3 yr old niece and her parents definitely wanted the autographs for her. We didn't worry about repeat autographs though (we did a few character meals) so did take up less time at Tusker House as we only needed one autograph out of the 4.

Still, that's besides the point. It is now breathtakingly expensive to eat a character meal. That SHOULD include a decent amount of time with each character, whether it is interaction, autographs, whatever.

it sucks to be waiting on a large group that seems to take forever sometimes. But often it's because you are a small group watching a large group before you take photos, get autographs, interact, etc. Say I am a party of 4 watching a party of 12. I just mentally count them as 3 separate tables. So rather than expecting to be seen very quickly, I treat it as if the characters are 3 tables away. Why shouldn't the party of 12 get the same time as 3 parties of 4? It takes longer to deal with a large group and that's just how it is.

I have to add that I just got back and we had multiple interactions at Garden Grill 2 weeks ago (still the BEST character meal by far) and no issues with autographs at Tusker House last week.

Oh and for anyone with little ones looking for mega character interactions, nothing topped Mickey's Backyard BBQ. Just WOW for my Mickey-obsessed 3 yr old niece! I thought it was such a nice touch that they also had regular meet n greet lines interspersed throughout the evening.

 

[MusicalAstronaut]

As a kid, I treasured the autograph books. I still have mine in my scrapbook tote. My mom would get us a new one for each year. As an adult I haven't been that into autographs or photos with the characters, but lately as people have been getting different things signed it's been a lot more interesting to me! I think that for adults going, it's neat to get a hat, frame, vinylmation, or whatever else signed. I think it would be very sad if Disney gets rid of autographs altogether. But they have been slowly starting to nickel and dime everything, so maybe they'll just start charging for them. :/

 

[HopperFan]

I will say we did have timing/character issues at CP and Tusker, along with CM and Ohana. Garden Grill has always been the opposite when they actually came by us twice and "they" chose to visit longer.

I did the "fuzzy math" on another thread and I totally get why they are doing this. Call it a loss for the time it takes or a profit for the extra money that will be made with time saved ........ but it certainly boils down to money.

Only one of us gets an autograph and he has every book he every got (one per trip) and they are quite treasured and looked at often. He will not understand but then we will make it work. We can tape the card into the book. Also we can do the photopass pictures with the signatures on them ... and I usually use to make a shutterfly book anyway. I think one thing we will ask for is two cards so we can tape in the book with each side showing ... if they have something nice on each side like samples I saw.

Over time it will become the norm like other unpopular changes.

NOW if I wait in line to meet a character outside I am hoping this will continue to be an option ... or they may as well stop selling those books and we all know they bank on them and their overpriced pens.

$$$$$$$$$$

- Large restaurant for characters to cover
- Most folks sit tight until they've seen them all
- We've had issues at CP, Ohana, CM and Tusker
- 1 hour meal can be 1.5 with time tied up with signing
- Very loose math, no grading
- Random number of 200 guests, probably more
- Random 12 hours divided
- Take 1.5 down to 1 and in 12 hours you gain 4 seatings
- 4 seatings x 200 x an average of $35 each = $28,000
- SO ... (just playing not saying it is right math) = $10 million dollars a year
- That will pay for lots of signature cards with lots of left over

 

[Roxyfire]

I will say we did have timing/character issues at CP and Tusker, along with CM and Ohana. Garden Grill has always been the opposite when they actually came by us twice and "they" chose to visit longer.

I did the "fuzzy math" on another thread and I totally get why they are doing this. Call it a loss for the time it takes or a profit for the extra money that will be made with time saved ........ but it certainly boils down to money.

Only one of us gets an autograph and he has every book he every got (one per trip) and they are quite treasured and looked at often. He will not understand but then we will make it work. We can tape the card into the book. Also we can do the photopass pictures with the signatures on them ... and I usually use to make a shutterfly book anyway. I think one thing we will ask for is two cards so we can tape in the book with each side showing ... if they have something nice on each side like samples I saw.

Over time it will become the norm like other unpopular changes.

NOW if I wait in line to meet a character outside I am hoping this will continue to be an option ... or they may as well stop selling those books and we all know they bank on them and their overpriced pens.

Only one slight quibble with your napkin math is we don't know their actual costs for food, labor, etc. Some here can help us get that but you're giving them a full profit which isn't entirely fair. Again, not "Grading" just pointing out it won't be quite as much in the house's favor as your napkin math suggests. It'll still be quite nice but they can't hold onto all of that money, they still must pay the line items first. The real bonus is if they are able to increase the table turnover, which might make the (good) waitstaff happy.

As for the other get an autograph the first time and after that we just snap a photo, do a hug/high fives just to keep our time spent minimal. That being said, I feel for parents with young ones who believe in the characters. I like the autograph card and would also ask for two to display front and back. At least it isn't a plain index card!

 

[DisBuckMan]

Only one slight quibble with your napkin math is we don't know their actual costs for food, labor, etc. Some here can help us get that but you're giving them a full profit which isn't entirely fair. Again, not "Grading" just pointing out it won't be quite as much in the house's favor as your napkin math suggests. It'll still be quite nice but they can't hold onto all of that money, they still must pay the line items first. The real bonus is if they are able to increase the table turnover, which might make the (good) waitstaff happy.

I believe @HopperFan was referencing revenues, not profits.