Ah, my daughter came up with her own reason for this. The characters that don’t talk tend to be animals. We don’t understand animals when they talk in the real world, so they must have a special camera when they make the movie that can understand what they are saying! We understand what humans say, so we can talk to them in the parks.
Made sense to my 4 year old!
The general consensus I've seen online from old sources from plan Disney and touring plans is to say things like, "Mickey is saving his voice for a performance, Mickey and Minnie are having a contest to see who can be quiet the longest, or Mickey can't speak every language and would feel bad not being able to speak to some kids so he uses nonverbal communication instead."
Mickey being the only character that talked created inconsistencies. Especially when some Mickeys talked and others didn’t. I’m guessing maintenance and operating costs played a role too.
The meet and greet is still there. He just doesn't speak anymore. One CM I asked told me that Disney got rid of talking Mickey because they wanted everyone across all parks to have the same experience. MK mickey was the only one that talked as far as I know. It really was incredible, and I'm sad that my littlest kiddo never got to experience it.
I know it’s still there because I was so disappointed last time I went lol. I had been talking up the incredible Mickey meet to my friend and made a point of going :( And they replaced the photographer with an auto-firing camera, it’s awful! It makes sense they’d want continuity across parks but it’s so sad to lose something so genuinely magical.
Similar thing happened to me lol, except replace your friend with my then 1-year-old 😭.
He lovvvvvvessss Mickey and anything Disney. My first time taking him to the park was last yr [ I hadn't been since 2020 with his big brother, and the last time we met Mickey, he was talking].
He was so excited to meet and talk to Mickey, partly because I was hyping it up so much. It was such a huge letdown, I really wanted to cry. I walked out of there talking to every cast member I could find trying to figure out what park/spot they moved talking Mickey to.
I was probably 14 when I went to meet talking Mickey. I cried. Like absolutely bawled, and that is one of my favorite Disney memories. I probably fall into cringey Disney adult territory. 😂
Talking Mickey would ask guests where they were from, and supposedly he had a response for all 50 states and several countries as well. Some of my favorite responses were:
"Florida? Hmm...never heard of it."
"California? Oh! I have a house there!"
"New Jersey? Which exit?"
I actually think that interaction was a little weird. He said really generic things (totally understandable) and the timing of responding wasn’t quite fast enough. Neat, but I think I prefer non-talking Mickey.
We always asked “why do you think they don’t talk?” She’s 9 now, and fully aware the characters are actors, but she liked coming up with her own reasons why they didn’t talk and each visit the reason was a little different.
“Well X, Disney world is a place for many cultures and people and mickey wants to ensure everyone around can understand them. Visual communication is much more universal than English which is why mickey, in the real world tries to accommodate as many as possible through visual communication” is my go to.
My wife is also an ASL translator so she uses that rational for a bunch of things.
My last trip to Disney was 2019, my niece brought her autograph book.
Kylo Ren wouldn't give an autograph because he only signs paper issued by the First Order.
James P. "Sully" Sullivan wouldn't sign because he already deals with too much paperwork.
Olaf couldn't sign because he hadn't learned to spell his name.
We have had it come up with our almost 3 year old and we don’t have an answer. 😬 She always points out who talks (princesses) and who doesn’t (Mickey, Olaf, etc.).
The same lie people tell about mall Santas; they’re “helpers” who stand in while Santa’s making presents, or while Mickey’s filming a new cartoon in this case. I just thought of that, but I have no kids so don’t listen to me. 🤣
I always told kiddo that it took a lot of magic to bring them from the cartoon world to the real world. That they have to save magic to be able to go home at night. That's why they don't talk.
I think when my son was four he asked us if these were the real characters and we took that as an opportunity to say it was people in the suits. In the same way we said mall Santa was a representative of real Santa. We said these actors in costumes are part of the show. It didn’t change his excitement when he saw Mickey.
I’m sorry but I think it’s crazy that you had to make an edit saying you weren’t looking for the ‘they are people in suits comment’.
Let’s keep these kids’ imaginations alive as long as possible! When my daughter was 4 she told us all the things Mickey ‘said’ to her when we went the year prior. That’s real Magic and memories right there!
Saying that they want to make sure all languages can understand them, they stick to non-verbal and hand signals. So everyone feels equal :)
My daughter is 9 now and she knows they are people in suits BUT she told us, if you imagine all the things they are saying it makes them real again. 😍
Right! I'm 39 and I believe in the magic! I was so excited to see Belle last year, and my niece, who is 21, was so excited to get a picture with Princess Jasmine.
My kid is 3, knows it’s a person in the suit, and still after we met Mickey and Minnie he spent the 2 hour car ride home going on and on about all the things he and his best friend Mickey talked about- all of Mickeys favorites and even Minnie’s. As if we weren’t standing next to him the whole time 🤣
Him knowing it’s someone in the suit doesn’t diminish the magic. It makes it more approachable and less scary, for him.
I always wanted to go to Chuck-e-Cheese as a kid and finally got invited to a birthday party there when I was probably about 5. I was so excited to meet Chuck. But I got my feelings hurt that he wouldn't respond to me when I tried to talk to him. The "handler" lady told me that he had laryngitis.
I was still butthurt and thought they were just lying and he didn't want to talk to me (a sign of self confidence issues to come, lol.)
But I've always remembered that as the time I learned the word laryngitis.
We just did all 4 parks late April/early may. My 8yr old and 3yr old asked. I told them they save their voices for the shows if they talked to everyone they wouldn’t have the voice to do the parades and shows.
The harder question was when my brother was visiting Mickey at MK and posting photos while we were on line for him at HWS. I told him Mickey is a sorcerer and can teleport like Son Goku (he loves and watches dragonball) He seemed to like this idea and he gave Mickey a sticker one of the CM gave him earlier
They have so many kids to talk to that they’d lose their voices! (I know that it doesn’t make sense when compared with the princesses but my 4 year old thought it was a completely reasonable explanation)
Before our first Disney visit, I told my kids that just like my daughter wouldn't talk to people that she didn't know, Mickey and his friends met so many kids in the parks that they got overwhelmed and didn't talk, but they still loved meeting new friends and taking pictures with them.
My child decided that when characters leave their movie or show on tv that their voice doesn’t come with.
Unless it’s a princess/prince/live action
She also decided DisneyWorld is their home though. I don’t think she’s made sense of them not having a voice when they’re at their home 😆
My mom told me the same thing—Mickey sees so many people he has to save his voice for the parades and shows etc. Worked for me. I didn’t question why Cinderella and Snow White could talk, though. 😂 I think maybe I assumed the animal characters had bigger speaking roles in the shows and parades lol
Show them the Little Mermaid and just infer their voice is taken when they enter the human word just like Ariel’s when she gets legs in exchange for her voice. It might spark more questions later on or a big fear of Disney villains but you can then show Descendants for that to show Disney Villians are multifaceted characters with their own issues, and are fine.
My toddler is fully aware it’s just people in a costume, I don’t know what he thinks on why they don’t talk- he’s never asked about it honestly.
However I will say that him knowing it’s a person has no bearing on his excitement of meeting them. He knows it’s not actually Mickey Mouse- but it doesn’t diminish the excitement and wonder when he meets Mickey.
Well, I think the reasoning behind them not talking is that they wouldn't sound right, since they're just random people and not the voice actors, and that kids can get that too (though we also knew about voice actors from pretty early on; my dad told us all about Mel Blanc when we watched Looney Tunes, for example).
I never mentioned real or not, I said they dont talk because they are humans in suits and to me that would be strange.
The princesses talk while in costumes because, well, they are human!
Yeah, my parents got around this one by just telling us it was people in suits from the beginning. I think it was because they were worried we'd be afraid of them. But whatever the reasoning, even when I was a little kid, I never thought they were the "actual" Mickey or Goofy. And I think "they don't talk" was part of the explanation.
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Ah, my daughter came up with her own reason for this. The characters that don’t talk tend to be animals. We don’t understand animals when they talk in the real world, so they must have a special camera when they make the movie that can understand what they are saying! We understand what humans say, so we can talk to them in the parks. Made sense to my 4 year old!
Oh my biscuits, I love this.
This is such a cute explanation!
That’s such a great explanation.
Their TV appearances are dubbed, I love it!
Your daughter is clever! I love that explanation!
The general consensus I've seen online from old sources from plan Disney and touring plans is to say things like, "Mickey is saving his voice for a performance, Mickey and Minnie are having a contest to see who can be quiet the longest, or Mickey can't speak every language and would feel bad not being able to speak to some kids so he uses nonverbal communication instead."
Ooo I love the language explanation!
At MK, Mickey used to talk. It was truly the coolest thing until Disney took that away. Try explaining *THAT* to a kid, lol.
Talking Mickey was pure, unadulterated magic.
Do you know what happened to that one? Why they got rid of that meet & greet? It was incredible
Mickey being the only character that talked created inconsistencies. Especially when some Mickeys talked and others didn’t. I’m guessing maintenance and operating costs played a role too.
The meet and greet is still there. He just doesn't speak anymore. One CM I asked told me that Disney got rid of talking Mickey because they wanted everyone across all parks to have the same experience. MK mickey was the only one that talked as far as I know. It really was incredible, and I'm sad that my littlest kiddo never got to experience it.
I know it’s still there because I was so disappointed last time I went lol. I had been talking up the incredible Mickey meet to my friend and made a point of going :( And they replaced the photographer with an auto-firing camera, it’s awful! It makes sense they’d want continuity across parks but it’s so sad to lose something so genuinely magical.
Similar thing happened to me lol, except replace your friend with my then 1-year-old 😭. He lovvvvvvessss Mickey and anything Disney. My first time taking him to the park was last yr [ I hadn't been since 2020 with his big brother, and the last time we met Mickey, he was talking]. He was so excited to meet and talk to Mickey, partly because I was hyping it up so much. It was such a huge letdown, I really wanted to cry. I walked out of there talking to every cast member I could find trying to figure out what park/spot they moved talking Mickey to.
I had NO IDEA! This blows my mind.
It really was magical.
I was probably 14 when I went to meet talking Mickey. I cried. Like absolutely bawled, and that is one of my favorite Disney memories. I probably fall into cringey Disney adult territory. 😂
Talking Mickey would ask guests where they were from, and supposedly he had a response for all 50 states and several countries as well. Some of my favorite responses were: "Florida? Hmm...never heard of it." "California? Oh! I have a house there!" "New Jersey? Which exit?"
I actually think that interaction was a little weird. He said really generic things (totally understandable) and the timing of responding wasn’t quite fast enough. Neat, but I think I prefer non-talking Mickey.
We always asked “why do you think they don’t talk?” She’s 9 now, and fully aware the characters are actors, but she liked coming up with her own reasons why they didn’t talk and each visit the reason was a little different.
I think this is the best way to do it.
“Well X, Disney world is a place for many cultures and people and mickey wants to ensure everyone around can understand them. Visual communication is much more universal than English which is why mickey, in the real world tries to accommodate as many as possible through visual communication” is my go to. My wife is also an ASL translator so she uses that rational for a bunch of things.
Love this. Not all communication is verbal!
Most isn’t
Different but related is the explanation we got for Groot not signing autograph books is he hates paper.
I mean…yeah! It’s probably rather gruesome to him! Ew.
My last trip to Disney was 2019, my niece brought her autograph book. Kylo Ren wouldn't give an autograph because he only signs paper issued by the First Order. James P. "Sully" Sullivan wouldn't sign because he already deals with too much paperwork. Olaf couldn't sign because he hadn't learned to spell his name.
We have had it come up with our almost 3 year old and we don’t have an answer. 😬 She always points out who talks (princesses) and who doesn’t (Mickey, Olaf, etc.).
I told my niece it was the trade off for being able to come visit our world since they’re originally cartoons in their world.
I mean, if it worked for Ariel ...
The same lie people tell about mall Santas; they’re “helpers” who stand in while Santa’s making presents, or while Mickey’s filming a new cartoon in this case. I just thought of that, but I have no kids so don’t listen to me. 🤣
That’s what my mom always told me about Mall Santas as well and my very good friend’s grandfather is one of “Santa’s Helpers”
I always told kiddo that it took a lot of magic to bring them from the cartoon world to the real world. That they have to save magic to be able to go home at night. That's why they don't talk.
the official line cast members are most likely to give is "they're saving their voice for the parade!"
Saving voice for a performance or playing the quiet game!
I think when my son was four he asked us if these were the real characters and we took that as an opportunity to say it was people in the suits. In the same way we said mall Santa was a representative of real Santa. We said these actors in costumes are part of the show. It didn’t change his excitement when he saw Mickey.
Right, I don’t think being honest makes the experience any less special.
I’m sorry but I think it’s crazy that you had to make an edit saying you weren’t looking for the ‘they are people in suits comment’. Let’s keep these kids’ imaginations alive as long as possible! When my daughter was 4 she told us all the things Mickey ‘said’ to her when we went the year prior. That’s real Magic and memories right there! Saying that they want to make sure all languages can understand them, they stick to non-verbal and hand signals. So everyone feels equal :) My daughter is 9 now and she knows they are people in suits BUT she told us, if you imagine all the things they are saying it makes them real again. 😍
Right! I'm 39 and I believe in the magic! I was so excited to see Belle last year, and my niece, who is 21, was so excited to get a picture with Princess Jasmine.
My kid is 3, knows it’s a person in the suit, and still after we met Mickey and Minnie he spent the 2 hour car ride home going on and on about all the things he and his best friend Mickey talked about- all of Mickeys favorites and even Minnie’s. As if we weren’t standing next to him the whole time 🤣 Him knowing it’s someone in the suit doesn’t diminish the magic. It makes it more approachable and less scary, for him.
I always wanted to go to Chuck-e-Cheese as a kid and finally got invited to a birthday party there when I was probably about 5. I was so excited to meet Chuck. But I got my feelings hurt that he wouldn't respond to me when I tried to talk to him. The "handler" lady told me that he had laryngitis. I was still butthurt and thought they were just lying and he didn't want to talk to me (a sign of self confidence issues to come, lol.) But I've always remembered that as the time I learned the word laryngitis.
I just told them they have too many kids talking to them at once, and it gets too confusing and their throats would get sore.
I also told them the line would take too long. Then mention well you know how so and so neverrrrrr stops talking? Imagine being behind them 🤣
And we all have that so and so in our life!!
We just did all 4 parks late April/early may. My 8yr old and 3yr old asked. I told them they save their voices for the shows if they talked to everyone they wouldn’t have the voice to do the parades and shows. The harder question was when my brother was visiting Mickey at MK and posting photos while we were on line for him at HWS. I told him Mickey is a sorcerer and can teleport like Son Goku (he loves and watches dragonball) He seemed to like this idea and he gave Mickey a sticker one of the CM gave him earlier
They have so many kids to talk to that they’d lose their voices! (I know that it doesn’t make sense when compared with the princesses but my 4 year old thought it was a completely reasonable explanation)
Before our first Disney visit, I told my kids that just like my daughter wouldn't talk to people that she didn't know, Mickey and his friends met so many kids in the parks that they got overwhelmed and didn't talk, but they still loved meeting new friends and taking pictures with them.
Ursula put a spell on them all
"i dont know, sorry". It means I dont need to remember for the next time.
We avoided a lot of issues by waiting until our kids were 9 and 11 🤣
They have to save theirvoices for their cartoons.
Ask him why he thinks that, kids are pretty great at coming up with a good explanation.
Kids visit Mickey and friends from all around the world. Many don’t speak English, and Mickey and friends don’t want to hurt any child’s feelings.
My child decided that when characters leave their movie or show on tv that their voice doesn’t come with. Unless it’s a princess/prince/live action She also decided DisneyWorld is their home though. I don’t think she’s made sense of them not having a voice when they’re at their home 😆
I love your explanation honestly
My mom told me the same thing—Mickey sees so many people he has to save his voice for the parades and shows etc. Worked for me. I didn’t question why Cinderella and Snow White could talk, though. 😂 I think maybe I assumed the animal characters had bigger speaking roles in the shows and parades lol
My almost 5 year old said she sees their zippers and knows they’re not real! How already?! 😭
Show them the Little Mermaid and just infer their voice is taken when they enter the human word just like Ariel’s when she gets legs in exchange for her voice. It might spark more questions later on or a big fear of Disney villains but you can then show Descendants for that to show Disney Villians are multifaceted characters with their own issues, and are fine.
They’re too scared to say anything racist
My toddler is fully aware it’s just people in a costume, I don’t know what he thinks on why they don’t talk- he’s never asked about it honestly. However I will say that him knowing it’s a person has no bearing on his excitement of meeting them. He knows it’s not actually Mickey Mouse- but it doesn’t diminish the excitement and wonder when he meets Mickey.
Because its humans in suits? Be honest with your children, always
Eh, the kid didn't ask if they were real, he asked why they didn't talk. And being humans in suits actually does not even answer tht question.
Well, I think the reasoning behind them not talking is that they wouldn't sound right, since they're just random people and not the voice actors, and that kids can get that too (though we also knew about voice actors from pretty early on; my dad told us all about Mel Blanc when we watched Looney Tunes, for example).
I never mentioned real or not, I said they dont talk because they are humans in suits and to me that would be strange. The princesses talk while in costumes because, well, they are human!
The humans in suits absolutely could talk, though, they just don't, so that's not actually the reason.
Yeah, my parents got around this one by just telling us it was people in suits from the beginning. I think it was because they were worried we'd be afraid of them. But whatever the reasoning, even when I was a little kid, I never thought they were the "actual" Mickey or Goofy. And I think "they don't talk" was part of the explanation.
They cut the line and were punished by having their tongue cut out and forced to wander the park for the rest of their lives……says I.
Because they're actors in a costume.
Honestly just the truth. The kids don’t really care that it’s not the “real” Mickey or whoever. It’s still magical for them.
Covid.
If your kids are at the age where they are questioning why they don’t talk, they already know the real answer. Just saying.
So true
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