1. Have your autograph books ready! Autograph books are available at almost every gift shop in the parks and at every hotel. There are the classic autograph books and the new autograph/picture books where the character can sign and you put the picture right next to it. Always remember to write your name and address in the front of the book in case it gets lost, somebody can return the book to you. When I was a young child, my parents were pros when it came to character greetings. They always attached a pen to me and my brother's books and would rubber band the last page we used. This way every time we met a new character, they had a fresh new page to open up to without any rustling through pages and pages.
2. Have your camera ready! There is nothing worse than being next in line in Disney world and the person in front of you just starts to take out their camera in the middle of their child's visit. Have your camera and video camera ready ahead of time with plenty of room left on a memory card. Remember to charge all cameras the night before so they have enough battery for the entire day. Nothing worse than having your children meet Mickey, and your camera dies! Disney has also begun photopasses where you get a photo pass card and give it to each photographer to take professional pictures of the entire family! Then later use your card number to look the pictures up online. Have this card ready so that when you get to the front of the line, you can hand your card right over!
3. Always make sure your child wants to meet the character first! This one sounds silly, but you would be surprised! Many children, especially around the age of 2, are easily frightened by these giant sized characters. I can still remember being 4 years old and being so excited to meet Mickey for the first time, but as soon as we got up there my 2 year old brother had a melt down and threw our autograph books at Mickey Mouse (yes a true story). If this happens don't worry! Many kids get afraid when they meet their first character. But always ask them first because there isn't anything worse than waiting in line in the horrible heat of Florida for a half hour just for your child to break out into hysterics. Never force your child to see a character that they are really afraid of (such as a villain). They will always remember that terrible experience and won't want to meet other characters on the trip.
4. Always check the times guide! When you enter the park, next to the maps are times guides with show times and character greeting locations. When traveling with children, always check this first. Characters are out only certain parts of the day and it can be pretty upsetting if your son wants to meet Aladdin and you miss it because you are waiting online for a ride. Pick a few characters that your children absolutely need to meet and plan around that. Lines can get pretty long so allow 20-30 minutes per character and try to get there a little earlier than the time on the times guide. A line usually begins to form even before the character gets there. Also the times guide is just what it is, A GUIDE! Sometimes characters leave a little bit earlier than the time on there or the line gets closed off because it is too long. Never take the chance if it is something your child really wants to do.
Hope these tips are helpful! Some families just skip over characters but they are what make Disney such a magical place. Even if you just get a few autographs, your kids will love the experience! My brother and I always went a bit overboard in out 15+ trips to Disney World. We even compiled a list and found we met over 100 characters, some more than 20 different times! Meeting characters was always so exciting for us and I think it made our Disney trips even more memorable!
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