There's been talk that those famous, and classic characters you know and hold close to your heart aren't going to be helping create magical memories as good as they used to. The photopass section of Disney is putting a ban on characters roaming about the parks. There's not going to be anymore Mad Hatter and Alice wandering Fantasyland, riding Storyboook Land, or the Tea Cups with guests. No more Goofy sneaking up behind you on Main Street to take your hat, and...well, goof off with you for a few minutes of your stay at the Kingdom. No more Tigger bounci-well you get the point. The characters aren't going to be around playing in the parks. They're being bound up to selected meet and greets in the park, with selected times you can go see them. Sounds almost like cartoon prison to me.
The whole reason Photopass is doing this, from my understanding of David Koenig's article on Mouse Planet, is that they want more money in that department. They want you to go to the characters so they can take your photo, you can go to Main Street, buy it through them, and go home with a unnatural smile, under a propped up set. Honestly I would much rather have a potential opportunity to get my little sister riding the carousel with Mary Poppins, or even just a shot with her on Main Street playing Musical chairs with characters at the Coke Corner.
Here's a solution, and Disney listen up. I know I'm just another guest who loves going to the park like anyone else, but how hard can it be to hire more people to that department, and have a scheduled time that character A roams here, character B roams there, and so on and so forth. Then, along with a handler (if you don't know what that term is, it is a Cast Member who is basically the security guard for the character on stage.) , the characters can "roam" and the photo pass people can get great candid shots of children rubbin' noses with Tigger, or walking around Tomorrowland with Stitch and Buzz. Granted, you might get someone else that's not a family member or member of your party, however, how many people get in the guests photos while taking shots of friends in front of the castle, or in front of Small World? So personally, I don't see that as a problem. If there's any other problems or instances I'm missing, please, feel free to contact me on my site e-mail: mainstreetjake@yahoo.com
Hopefully this doesn't become the case, and I sure hope that we can see our favorite characters roam the lands they call home.
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