I am a big fan of the characters in the parks and always have been since my first trip when I was only 8 years old. I was a little better at interacting with the characters back then but now I have kind of lost touch and (especially with "fully costumed" characters) my visits with them are brief, too formal, stiff and verging on awkward. It really makes me feel foolish. However, I am decent at interacting with the "face characters" as they have the ability to communicate fluently but again, I find myself lacking conversation material.

My main question here is... how do you strike up some fun with the characters? Do you ask them questions? Do they usually find interesting things to play-off of? I really need some ideas as all I do at this point is hand them a physical item or autograph book to be signed and they may chat a tiny bit (so they don't seem rude) and then they walk off.

We have 2 character breakfasts on our upcoming trip to Disneyland and I'd hate to miss out on some of that great character interation that I see on so many hilarious/smile inducing YouTube videos. I really think meeting the Mad Hatter and Lady Tremaine and Cindy's Ugly Stepsisters would be great experiences... does anybody know where in Disneyland these characters like to show up and when? We know that the Hatter likes to occasionally show up at Goofy's Kitchen, so we're hoping for that.