You can meet Disney Characters everywhere across Walt Disney World. They are in the parks, in restaurants and at the resorts. Meeting Characters at Disney World can be just as much fun as riding your favorite attractions. You can create special memories and get some wonderful photos that you can look back at for years to come.
Meeting the characters can offer a personal experience that you can’t get from an attraction or show. You might think that meeting characters is for the children in your party but that’s not the case. Meeting characters at Disney World is for everybody, I got so excited the first time I got to meet Baloo from the Jungle Book as he’s my favourite character and the Jungle Book was the first movie I watched at the cinema (a very long time ago). You can’t beat a hug, chat and an autograph from a Disney Character.
Here are some things to consider when meeting characters at Disney World and planning your Disney World Vacation.
Strike that Pose
If you are having a photo with a character make the most of the opportunity and strike a pose for the photo, especially if it is a lively character. In the past my wife I have been grabbed by Goofy and dragged in for a photo with the kids and it was great fun (we were going to have a photo anyway). Some characters will instigate you striking a pose but try to make the most of your photo if you can. Standing up straight and smiling can be fine, but it isn’t always that fun and exciting. Strike that pose!
Get an Autograph
Every year we go to Disney World we buy new autograph books for the kids because they absolutely love collecting autographs from the characters. It might not be for everyone, but we love it and, in the past, have even taken a wide selection of different coloured sharpies to add a bit of variety to each autograph. The kids love to look at their collection as it builds up during the holiday and will even compared the current autograph book to ones from past holidays.
Interact
This might seem obvious but the more you interact with characters the better your experience will be. Comment on their clothes if they are wearing something different or ask them something funny. The characters will want to interact with you by giving you a hug or a high five.
We had a fantastic experience with the Beast in the Be Our Guest Restaurant, the Beast is a big character and my wife and I could see our my son was either tired or a bit apprehensive when lining up to meet the Beast after dinner, however the Beast spotted this too and as soon the photographer started trying to take a photo of the kids with the Beast he kept putting his large paw over my son’s face and my son found it absolutely hilarious and we got some great photos. My son loved meeting the Beast and that one little nudge from the character really made the experience. You can have some great character experiences by just simply interacting with them and sometimes the characters will push you to interact just like the Beast did and that is fantastic.
Be Prepared for an Impromptu Meet (and keep your eyes peeled)
When you are exploring the parks do try as best as you can to keep your eyes peeled for characters. We have quite often stumbled across a character meet n greet that is just about to start and have been first in line.
This happened on our last visit when Tweedledum and Tweedledee made an appearance on our last day and my daughter and I managed to get a photo and on another previous occasion quite late in the evening at Magic Kingdom we saw Wendy Darling meeting a few people outside the gift shop to the side of Main Square Theater as we were leaving and we have never had that opportunity to meet her, get an autograph and have a photo since. So, try to keep your eyes peeled for character meets that are about to start or maybe slightly out of sight later in the evening when a lot of other people are leaving the parks.
Character Dining
Character Dining is a great way to meet a lot of characters in a short space of time and whilst enjoying a meal. We always book quite a few character meals for our holidays as you will meet at about four characters and the food can be very good too. For more information on some of our favorite character dining experiences check out our Best Disney World Character Meals post.
Use a Fast Pass
Now using a Fastpass to meet some characters might not be the best use to some but if you have some younger children obsessed with Tinker Bell or you really want to meet Magician Mickey then it can definitely be worth considering. Some of the standby times can be around 60 minutes or more for some characters with the Princess Fairytale Hall and Enchanted Tales with Belle being popular so, if you have younger children that might not quite have the patience to wait for that long then it might be worth using a Fast Pass.
Wear an Item of Clothing for Your Favourite Characters
If you have a favourite character and you have a funny T Shirt or item of clothing featuring them, then do try to wear it when you meet them. You can use it as a talking point or the character might spot it as well. I have had Chewbacca spot my Han Solo T Shirt pretty quickly and when my Son wore a ‘I need Anger Management’ T Shirt (featuring Anger the character of course) to meet Joy and Sadness they were all over him straight away. My daughter dressed up as Rey once too and as you can imagine Kylo Ren had a few questions to ask her regarding being part of the Resistance and sensing the light side of the force in her.
Feel the Force
As I’ve mentioned do try to meet the Star Wars characters at Hollywood Studios even if you are not the biggest fan. Chewbacca and Kylo Ren are both fun in different way and BB8 is good too and on your way out you will probably bump into some Jawa’s who like to trade trinkets and there are always First Order Storm Troopers on patrol too. Star Wars has become a big part of Hollywood Studios and is only going to become a bigger part, so you might as well join the fun now.
Should I Get in Line?
When to get in line to meet a character can sometimes be tricky. If you are in a park early in the day and a long line is forming to meet a character at the front of a park, then I would say wait until later in the day. At the beginning of the day in any of the parks people will start lining up for the first things they come across so if you wait until later on in the day the crowds by then should be spread across the park a lot better compared to first thing in the morning.
For characters that are in the same place all day like Mickey and Tinkerbell at Main Square Theater if the standby time looks long then don’t panic as they will be there all day. Sometimes later in the evening can be a great time to meet characters but only if the kids in your party aren’t too tired.
Meeting the Disney Princesses
For some kids (and adults) meeting the Princesses at Disney World is a very big deal so make sure you plan how you are going to meet them.
My advice would be to perhaps consider a dining option like Akershus or even Cinderella’s Royal Table as at both of those you will meet a lot of the princesses. Snow White and Belle also make appearances at the Germany and France Pavilion’s around World Showcase at Epcot so look for the times and as I mentioned earlier there is the Princess Fairytale Hall and Enchanted Tales with Belle at Magic Kingdom. The Fairy Tale Hall can be very popular and standby times for Enchanted Tales with Belle can go up and down so as I mentioned earlier perhaps consider a Fast Pass. You can also meet Ariel in her Grotto at Magic Kingdom and again standby times can go up and down.
One thing worth considering if you don’t want to use a Disney Genie Plus at Magic Kingdom is to try to meet some of these characters during the fireworks in the evening as you can get on a lot of attractions very quickly during the fireworks as a big portion of the parks crowd have moved to the front of the castle to watch the display. On our last visit we rode Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, Winnie the Pooh, Journey of the Little Mermaid and then met Ariel in her Grotto in a very short space of time during the fireworks display, so this is a strategy worth considering.
For a full list of all the characters and the character meals at Disney World check out this article.
Anna and Elsa
Whilst we are talking about princesses do be aware that you can only meet Anna and Elsa at their Royal Sommerhus in the Norway Pavilion in World Showcase at Epcot. So, if you have big Frozen fans in your party that is where you will need to go to meet them.
Don’t Forget the Citizens of Main Street and the Citizens of Hollywood
Do not forget the Citizens of Main Street and Hollywood when exploring Main Street at Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios. At the magic Kingdom you might bump into the Mayor or the Fire Chief and you might get some entertainment too from the Dapper Dans and the same can be said for Hollywood Studios where the Citizens there will provide improvised and scripted shows too. The interaction can be great fun especially at Hollywood Studios where you could be picked to be part of the show and don’t forget to ask for a photo too if you get the chance.
Fantasmic
You don’t meet any characters at the Fantasmic show at Hollywood Studios, but it is worth mentioning as you see so many characters during the show, there are Princesses, Princes, Mickey and so many characters. If you get a kick out of seeing a lot of characters, then Fantasmic is probably the best show for that and it is such an entertaining show too.
Wardrobe Changes
Be aware that you can see Mickey, Donald and Co in all sorts of different costumes across Walt Disney World Resort. Mickey for example is in his magician costume at Magic Kingdom in the Main Square Theater, at Chef Mickey’s he is in his Chef’s outfit and at Tusker House you will see him in his safari outfit. This variation is great, but the kids love it too so, don’t think that meeting the same character more than once might get boring for them. We meet Mickey multiple times on our holidays as well as some of the other characters too and it never gets boring.
Some of My Favourite Character Experiences
I have had some great experiences over the years meeting various characters at Disney World. I thought I would share some of them with you just to give you an idea of how great a time you can have meeting characters at Disney World.
Baloo and King Louie – Animal Kingdom
As I mentioned earlier in the article Baloo is one of my favourite characters and meeting him with King Louie on our first trip was really special. Both the characters were a lot fun and as a thirty something year old man at the time it amazed me at how excited I got to meet Baloo.
Goofy – Pete’s Silly Sideshow at Magic Kingdom
When we met Goofy at Pete’s Silly Sideshow a few years ago now he was so much fun. He was all over the kids who thought he was hilarious and then as I mentioned earlier, he got my wife and I involved and made us pose for a photo. He was interacting with each member of the family and he had a fantastic sense of humour which made meeting him so much fun.
Chip and Dale – Garden Grill Restaurant at Epcot
Now these guys always seem to be a lot of fun at Garden Grill. They will sit with kids, rub their tummies indicating they are hungry and point at our food. They will sneak up on you and a lot like Goofy have a great sense of humour, but they also have a little bit of fun mischief about them too that you don’t get with a lot of the characters. I can’t pinpoint one particular visit to the Garden Grill with these guys as they are a lot of fun every time we visit, and we keep going back every year.
Chewbacca – Star Wars Launch Bay at Hollywood Studios
I am a big Star Wars fan so, to go and meet Chewbacca and for him to make a big thing about my Han Solo T Shirt and give me a big hug was fantastic. He also made a big thing about my daughter being dressed as Rey and he wasn’t too fond of my son’s Kylo Ren T Shirt either. He was great fun and I have a wonderful photo of him giving my wife a great big Wookie hug. Probably the best Star Wars character to meet at Hollywood Studios at present.
The Jawa’s – Star Wars Launch Bay at Hollywood Studios
Another Star Wars character meet but this one is different as they will roam around inside Star Wars Launch bay and this one is memorable as they crept up behind my wife and tapped her on the shoulder and the scream she made when she turned around was hilarious as she was not expecting them (I think she thought it was me tapping her shoulder). But that wasn’t all as my kids wanted to trade with them and they went through all their bits and bobs which the kids loved and, in the end, rejected all the things my kids had to offer too which again showed a great sense of humour. If you do see the Jawa’s at Star Wars launch Bay, then do try to interact with them as they are a lot of fun.
Handy Manny – Hollywood and Vine Restaurant at Hollywood Studios
We have only eaten at Hollywood and Vine once and to be honest the food wasn’t that spectacular but we wanted to meet some of the Disney Junior Characters before the kids started to outgrow them a bit. The most memorable part was meeting Handy Manny and we have never quite had a character experience like it since. He was with us for ages at our table messing around with the kids and it really was something else. The more of a reaction he got from both my son and daughter the more he kept interacting it really was something special. He didn’t ignore us adults either and I have never experienced such attention from a single character before and it really was something that we all still talk about know.
So, there you go some of our tips and experiences from meeting characters at Disney World. Whether you are an adult only party, or you do have kids of whatever age try to enjoy all the characters you can at Disney World. They can be a lot of fun, you can get some great photos and you can make some really special memories to remember long after your vacation.
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Darren
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