Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Parents need to understand that some of the character costumes are very cumber-
some and that cast members often suffer from very poor visibility. You have to look
closely, but the eye holes are frequently in the mouth of the costume or even down on
the neck. What this means in practical terms is that the characters are sort of clumsy
and have a limited field of vision. Children who approach the character from the back
or the side may not be noticed, even if the child is touching the character. It is per-
fectly possible in this situation for the character to accidentally step on the child or
knock him or her down. The best way for a child to approach a character is from the
front, and occasionally not even this works. For example, the various duck characters
(Donald,Daisy,UncleScrooge,andsoon)havetopeeraroundtheirbills.Ifitappears
that the character is ignoring your child, pick your child up and hold her in front of
the character until the character responds.
unofficial
TIP
Explain to your children that the headpiece characters do not talk. Keep in mind,
too, that the characters are clumsy and have a limited field of vision.
It is OK to touch, pat, or hug the character if your child is so inclined. Under-
standing the unpredictability of children, the characters will keep their feet very still,
particularly refraining from moving backward or to the side. Most of the characters
will sign autographs or pose for pictures. Once again, be sure to approach from the
front so that the character will understand your intentions. If your child collects auto-
graphs, it is a good idea to carry a big, fat pen about the size of a Magic Marker. The
costumes make it exceedingly difficult for the characters to wield a smaller pen, so
the bigger the better.
THE BIG HURT
Many children expect to bump into Mickey the minute they enter a
park and are disappointed when he is not around. If your children are unable to settle
down and enjoy things until they see Mickey, simply ask a Disney cast member where
to find him. If the cast member does not know Mickey's whereabouts, he or she can
find out for you in short order.
”THEN SOME CONFUSION HAPPENED”
Be forewarned that character encounters give
rise to a situation during which small children sometimes get lost. There is usually a
lot of activity around a character, with both adults and children touching the character
or posing for pictures. In the most common scenario, the parents stay in the crowd
while their child marches up to get acquainted. With the excitement of the encounter,
allthemillingpeople,andthecharactermovingaround,achildmaygetturnedaround
and head off in the wrong direction. In the words of a Salt Lake City mom:
