For the mouse

http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2011/02/mickey-fastpass-first-ever-reservations-to-see-mickey-mouse-begin-this-spring/

That's kind of sad. I guess they really like catering to the type that overplans their day...

12:05 Meet Mickey

12:10 Buy shirt for Johnny

12:37 Ride Space Mountain

12:41 Clean vomit off of Johnny's new shirt

12:46 Go to restroom

etc...

I always thought character greetings were more of a spontaneous thing- "Hey, let's go see Mickey!", not "Hey, it's 1:07, better hurry up across the park to see Mickey at his scheduled time!"

Oh well, what do I know.

I understand why they are implementing this. I have seen people start lining up for the character's 2 hours before they make an appearance. I have also seen people wait in line for a hour and not get to meet a character, because of mandated naps for the mouse. So this way they can ensure everyone who wants to meet Mickey can and will see Mickey.

That's kind of sad. I guess they really like catering to the type that overplans their day...

12:05 Meet Mickey

12:10 Buy shirt for Johnny

12:37 Ride Space Mountain

12:41 Clean vomit off of Johnny's new shirt

12:46 Go to restroom

etc...

I always thought character greetings were more of a spontaneous thing- "Hey, let's go see Mickey!", not "Hey, it's 1:07, better hurry up across the park to see Mickey at his scheduled time!"

Oh well, what do I know.

With all do respect your post strikes me as someone who has never been to Disney World. Even though I believe you have.

For those who have went and know the old Mickey setup area understand the last thing Disney wants is for their guests that want to meet with Mickey to miss their opportunity or to wait many hours in line to do so. Since the Old location has been closed due to the new construction for the new area they needed to move Mickey to a temporary location and it is a bit smaller than the old location. So to keep things moving you can get a ticket and be given a whole hour to get in line and not to the minute as some would like to mislead you to believe. This I know too sometimes you will miss that time due to a dinner reservation, ride malfunction/slowdown, being held up or for a 100 other reasons, well Disney will still let you get in line with you past due time. For those who prefer the old way and stand in line while at one of the greatest parks in the world they still can. I applaud Disney in steeping up and recognizing the problem and spending the money to help families have some private time with Mickey with no worries.

We'll have to see if the boys want to meet Mickey in the park during our upcoming Disney trip (a little over a month away!). If they do, I'm glad that Disney is offering a Fastpass option. I think FP is the most fair and best line management system around.

Keith, if you have a Disney Visa, there is a special meet and great with 2-5 of the fab 5 at Epcot. This is so much better then the normal meeting places. With the Visa one, you have them all to yourself for quite a while longer then you get at the other character spots.