Last week, I wrote about my recent trip to Animal Kingdom in Disney World. I’m still fondly reminiscing about it, especially the interactions I had with costumed characters. Those are always some of my favorite parts of Disney trips. In addition to thinking about how good they make me feel, I’ve also been pondering why I find their interactions so comfortable and free from fear while most normal human interactions I have are uncomfortable and generally contain lots of fear. Here are some ideas I have about that.
To start, I don’t know if I ever actually met any costumed characters at Disney World until my trip to the Magic Kingdom back in July. If I met any as a kid, I’ve long since forgotten about it. As an adult, it was such a thrill to meet Mickey and Minnie Mouse, Donald and Daisy Duck, Goofy, Pluto, Chip ‘n’ Dale, Russell, and Dug on my two most recent trips. I’m glad I took advantage of the opportunities to see them all instead of letting some initial hesitations dissuade me.
All the characters I’ve met always appear glad to see me and I’m always glad to see them. They welcome me just as warmly as they do with kids even though I’m in my early 30’s. Aside from greeting me with warm hugs and friendly faces, they make me feel safe, comfortable, and excited to be around them due to their familiarity. Since I’ve seen them in movies and shows since I was a kid, I feel totally at ease around them as seeing them is like visiting old friends.
At each character greeting, it always seems like it’s only me and the character or characters I’m meeting. I never have to split my attention between the characters and other guests or vice versa when it’s my turn. They make it extremely easy to forget about all the other guests and make me feel comfortable to act silly, enthusiastically, and have fun with them. Short visits of just a minute or two at most with the characters (and most of my visits have been less than a minute) ensures that the interactions don’t go on so long that they become uncomfortable.
While some costumed characters speak, the fact that all of the characters I’ve met don’t speak gives me more room to talk than I usually get in interactions and also allows for some lovely silent moments, such as when we’re sharing a hug or posing for a picture. That said, I don’t monologue to them or make the whole conversation about me. At Animal Kingdom, I complimented Mickey and Minnie’s cool safari hats, learned about Goofy’s favorite bird to see while birdwatching, and told Russell that he’ll someday get the one merit badge he’s missing. There is a wonderful synergy in creating these wonderful interactions together, whether I or the character introduces a topic or takes the interaction in a particular direction. That is much nicer than the desperation to speak that pervades so many other kinds of interactions and more often than not results in me getting steamrolled and never getting to talk about what interests me while the other participant(s) ramble on endlessly about whatever they want.
It will be no surprise to anyone who’s read my blog a lot that I especially enjoyed meeting the three dog characters: Goofy, Pluto, and Dug. Pluto was my favorite of the three to meet as he acted most like a dog during our visit, such as enjoying a good scratch by his ear and giving me a “kiss” when we said goodbye. Seeing him spin around with excitement when I told him dogs are my favorite animal was also a lot of fun. Visiting with him, Goofy, and Dug reminded me of visiting with my late dog Sawyer and brought me even more comfort than I usually get from character meetings.
Earlier today, I realized one reason that it was so nice to talk with Goofy about bird watching. When my grandparents were alive, I enjoyed sitting with them and watching the birds in their backyard. In fact, one of the gifts my family and I got my grandmother for her final birthday just over a year ago was a bird feeder with a camera so she could watch on her phone any bird who landed on the feeder. While none of that was consciously on my mind during my visits with Goofy, I’m sure it was in there subconsciously.
After getting back from Animal Kingdom, I had a rough week at work. My normal workweek is four days, and last week it was only three days due to Labor Day. Still, each workday was worse than the last, and I felt terrible emotionally by the time the weekend arrived. I wish I could have gotten big hugs from Disney characters throughout that week as I’m sure they would have made me feel much better. That week reminded me how awful folks can be in regular life in contrast to how wonderful they can be at Disney. It also made me wish I could just go to Disney World all day every day and have fun around kind humans while leaving the cruel ones alone to rot in their misery.
I think most of those who work as costumed characters have a lot of love for what they bring to visitors. I can imagine that it might be just a job for some, although I can’t imagine anyone doing that kind of job who hates it. The only time I can see that happening is if someone is truly desperate for work and that’s the only job they can get. There are plenty of other jobs with lots of customer interactions that don’t require nearly as much patience, compassion, enthusiasm, and love as character work. Anyone who has taken classes in acting, improvisation, mime, and so on to enhance their character work has put far more effort into their job than anyone I’ve ever seen in retail, food service, call centers, help desks, etc. All the Disney character interactions I’ve had have seemed as if there’s a lot of love coming through from beginning to end, and I believe that most of those folks are pouring straight from their own hearts with every autograph, high-five, and hug.
Costumed characters always make me feel happy and welcomed. Their big, warm hugs and friendly interactions keep me smiling and feeling good for days afterward. Whether I was already feeling good or down in the dumps, all the characters I’ve met have cheered me up just by being friendly and welcoming me with big hugs, sweet photos, and fun interactions. Several of them have drawn me a heart in the air with their hands! That’s a wonderful way to show love and concern without saying a word. It’s always well worth the wait to meet the characters on Disney trips and I look forward to meeting even more of them on future trips.