- My Forums
- Tiger Rant
- LSU Recruiting
- SEC Rant
- Saints Talk
- Pelicans Talk
- More Sports Board
- Fantasy Sports
- Golf Board
- Soccer Board
- O-T Lounge
- Tech Board
- Home/Garden Board
- Outdoor Board
- Health/Fitness Board
- Movie/TV Board
- Book Board
- Music Board
- Political Talk
- Money Talk
- Fark Board
- Gaming Board
- Travel Board
- Food/Drink Board
- Ticket Exchange
- TD Help Board
Customize My Forums- View All Forums
- Show Left Links
- Topic Sort Options
- Trending Topics
- Recent Topics
- Active Topics
Started By
Message
Disney - Meeting Characters
Posted on 12/14/16 at 12:00 pm
Posted on 12/14/16 at 12:00 pm
The wife and I haven't been since we were kids. My kids have never been. Planning our trip next year and wondering what to expect for meeting characters. I remember just running into them in the park and grabbing a picture. There were no character meeting spots with lines that I knew of. Now I see families spend all day waiting in character meet and greet lines. Some people only have pictures with characters from their trip, each with a wait time.
Can you still run into characters just walking in the park? Is there a list of character meet and greet spots with times well in advance? I only have boys so they don't care about princesses but Toy Story, Mickey, and others might be fun for them. Just not sure if I need a fast pass for these things or how much of a wait to expect. I'd rather ride rides and they probably would too but not sure how it all works now.
Can you still run into characters just walking in the park? Is there a list of character meet and greet spots with times well in advance? I only have boys so they don't care about princesses but Toy Story, Mickey, and others might be fun for them. Just not sure if I need a fast pass for these things or how much of a wait to expect. I'd rather ride rides and they probably would too but not sure how it all works now.
9
Posted on 12/14/16 at 12:33 pm to Clark W Griswold
Posted on 12/14/16 at 12:42 pm to Clark W Griswold
One thing I would do is get an autograph book for the kids. It is a neat thing for them to bring home with them and it makes the meet and greets more fun IMO. For the main headliner type characters, Woody, Buzz, Mickey, the line can get a bit long at times.
Posted on 12/14/16 at 1:05 pm to Clark W Griswold
You absolutely cannot just walk up to them anymore randomly and ask for pictures. There are spots for all of them now and most have Fastpasses available. It's become a giant PIA to see characters but your kids will love it. A better way to get more intimate pictures with them is to book character dining.
This post was edited on 12/14/16 at 1:07 pm
Posted on 12/14/16 at 1:05 pm to Clark W Griswold
I'm going to assume that your question is with respect to Walt Disney World as the experience there is different than that of Disneyland from what I've heard.
No. People ruined this years ago by mobbing characters as soon as they saw them. Characters are always accompanied by a handler now and are only out for a set amount of time. Lines will get cut off.
Regarding FastPasses for them, it really depends on when you're there and which characters you're looking to meet. And, of course, there are only specific meet & greets where FastPasses are applicable.
Magic Kingdom
In Main Street USA, there is Magician Mickey that actually talks. He's in the building on the right right hand side of Town Square as soon as you go under the railroad station. Buzz Lightyear has a meet & greet in Tomorrowland between Space Ranger Spin and the Carousel of Progress. Goofy & Donald have a joint meet & greet way in the back of Storybook Circus in the tent near the railroad station there. Make sure you get in that line and not the line for Minnie & Daisy. Woody & Jessie are sometimes out near the queue area for Splash Mountain practically underneath the Frontierland station. You can also find random characters in spots in Adventureland (Rafiki, Aladdin & Jasmine).
Epcot
It MAY make sense to use a FastPass here for the Character Spot in Epcot. You meet Mickey, Goofy & Minnie in one trip. So you can knock out big ones relatively quickly. This line can get long and there aren't that many other options for FP+ given the tiering.
Hollywood Studios
There's a Toy Story meet & greet across the walkway from the entrance to Toy Story Midway Mania....usually 2 characters there. There's also Sorcerer Mickey...they've moved his meet & greet recently but I think it's off to the left when looking at the Chinese Theater (maybe across from the ABC Commissary). If he's at all into Star Wars, bring him to the Star Wars Launch Bay to meet a couple characters there.
I'm not really sure about meet & greet locations in AK. By the time we go there we've done meet & greets with Mickey and the rest of the Fab 5 so we rarely look for them here.
quote:
Can you still run into characters just walking in the park?
No. People ruined this years ago by mobbing characters as soon as they saw them. Characters are always accompanied by a handler now and are only out for a set amount of time. Lines will get cut off.
Regarding FastPasses for them, it really depends on when you're there and which characters you're looking to meet. And, of course, there are only specific meet & greets where FastPasses are applicable.
Magic Kingdom
In Main Street USA, there is Magician Mickey that actually talks. He's in the building on the right right hand side of Town Square as soon as you go under the railroad station. Buzz Lightyear has a meet & greet in Tomorrowland between Space Ranger Spin and the Carousel of Progress. Goofy & Donald have a joint meet & greet way in the back of Storybook Circus in the tent near the railroad station there. Make sure you get in that line and not the line for Minnie & Daisy. Woody & Jessie are sometimes out near the queue area for Splash Mountain practically underneath the Frontierland station. You can also find random characters in spots in Adventureland (Rafiki, Aladdin & Jasmine).
Epcot
It MAY make sense to use a FastPass here for the Character Spot in Epcot. You meet Mickey, Goofy & Minnie in one trip. So you can knock out big ones relatively quickly. This line can get long and there aren't that many other options for FP+ given the tiering.
Hollywood Studios
There's a Toy Story meet & greet across the walkway from the entrance to Toy Story Midway Mania....usually 2 characters there. There's also Sorcerer Mickey...they've moved his meet & greet recently but I think it's off to the left when looking at the Chinese Theater (maybe across from the ABC Commissary). If he's at all into Star Wars, bring him to the Star Wars Launch Bay to meet a couple characters there.
I'm not really sure about meet & greet locations in AK. By the time we go there we've done meet & greets with Mickey and the rest of the Fab 5 so we rarely look for them here.
Posted on 12/14/16 at 1:18 pm to GeauxColonels
If I book my fast pass a month in advance, are the character meeting times posted by then? Are any of them indoors in case it rains?
Posted on 12/14/16 at 1:23 pm to Clark W Griswold
quote:
If I book my fast pass a month in advance, are the character meeting times posted by then? Are any of them indoors in case it rains?
Most of them are indoors. When you book your Fastpass there should be a timeframe on MyDisney Experience.
Posted on 12/14/16 at 1:38 pm to GeauxColonels
quote:You missed out a ton here. The "Character Spot" in the breezeway to The Land had Joy and Sadness from Inside Out and Baymax from Big Hero 6. Belle is also usually around France. And Snow White is usually close to Germany just to name a couple. There are signs now with set hours for these characters.
Epcot
It MAY make sense to use a FastPass here for the Character Spot in Epcot. You meet Mickey, Goofy & Minnie in one trip. So you can knock out big ones relatively quickly. This line can get long and there aren't that many other options for FP+ given the tiering.
Posted on 12/14/16 at 2:32 pm to ell_13
Go to a character meal. We used to get a reservation for a sit down meal, and the characters come up to your table, pose for pictures, and the kids love it. It's much more casual, and less rushed.
Posted on 12/14/16 at 2:57 pm to Jax-Tiger
Ugh I hate this, but my 3 year old daughter freaking loves meeting characters. We buy a character autograph book ahead of time online or wherever you'll save like 75% from buying it at WDW. Get the one with the picture spot on one side and the autograph at the other, and your kids will love it.
Yeah meeting characters is like a "ride" now. You'll wait for almost all of them, some miserably long and others just 5-10 minutes.
One of the lamest things I see at WDW is the groups of grown adults that wait for 30-60 minutes to meet the characters and then act like they are talking to an actual princess. I've waited 5 minutes for adults to have actual conversations with the characters, lame AF and horrible when you are waiting with your 3 year old for adults to have a conversation.
Yeah meeting characters is like a "ride" now. You'll wait for almost all of them, some miserably long and others just 5-10 minutes.
One of the lamest things I see at WDW is the groups of grown adults that wait for 30-60 minutes to meet the characters and then act like they are talking to an actual princess. I've waited 5 minutes for adults to have actual conversations with the characters, lame AF and horrible when you are waiting with your 3 year old for adults to have a conversation.
Posted on 12/14/16 at 8:08 pm to Clark W Griswold
My wife and I are pretty anti autograph book. What we've always encouraged our daughter to do was to color pictures or bring something to GIVE the character rather than asking for their autograph. It's something different so the experience they get is a little unique and rather than the kid asking for something, the characters are usually the ones who seem grateful and give special attention.
Examples would be coloring a picture of Minnie to give to Mickey or Jessie to give to Buzz. We bought a pair of $1 gloves to give a pair each to Elsa in case an eternal winter comes again, etc etc etc
FP+ can just about alwaus save your time but what I suggest is putting them later in the morning and using the first couple hours on popular rides you dont have FP+ for and popular meet & greets.
Merida is a cool meet & greet )even thought it's a princess because they have some activities for the kids to do ahead of time but in Hollywood Studios you'll definitely want to do the Star Wars (Kylo Ren and Chewie) met and greets and Toy Story like you mentioned before.
Do you have a Disney Visa? the character spots in Epcot and Hollywood Studios can save you time if you do.
Examples would be coloring a picture of Minnie to give to Mickey or Jessie to give to Buzz. We bought a pair of $1 gloves to give a pair each to Elsa in case an eternal winter comes again, etc etc etc
quote:
ust not sure if I need a fast pass for these things or how much of a wait to expect. I'd rather ride rides and they probably would too but not sure how it all works now.
FP+ can just about alwaus save your time but what I suggest is putting them later in the morning and using the first couple hours on popular rides you dont have FP+ for and popular meet & greets.
Merida is a cool meet & greet )even thought it's a princess because they have some activities for the kids to do ahead of time but in Hollywood Studios you'll definitely want to do the Star Wars (Kylo Ren and Chewie) met and greets and Toy Story like you mentioned before.
Do you have a Disney Visa? the character spots in Epcot and Hollywood Studios can save you time if you do.
Posted on 12/14/16 at 8:42 pm to LSUfan4444
We haven't been to Disney since we were kids. Of course I don't have a Disney visa.
Posted on 12/15/16 at 10:18 am to Clark W Griswold
Get fast passes for the ones you really want to do.
Otherwise, there are plenty enough you will probably encounter along the way where the line will not be as long.
Otherwise, there are plenty enough you will probably encounter along the way where the line will not be as long.
Posted on 12/15/16 at 12:10 pm to Clark W Griswold
These cheat sheets are pretty awesome..just eliminate the stuff you don't want to do and forget about the possibility that you will see/do everything.
LINK
If you guys are Star Wars fans I HIGHLY recommend doing the Jedi Training Academy.
LINK
If you guys are Star Wars fans I HIGHLY recommend doing the Jedi Training Academy.
This post was edited on 12/15/16 at 12:11 pm
Posted on 12/15/16 at 12:21 pm to LSUfan4444
Shoot me an email if you want and I'll send you a GoPro video I made from our trip last May. It has some examples of the Magic Shots offered by Photopass photographers and some of the meet & greets. My daughter was petrified of Kylo Ren but loved Chewie.
LSUfan4444@gmail.com
LSUfan4444@gmail.com
Posted on 12/15/16 at 1:03 pm to LSUfan4444
quote:
My wife and I are pretty anti autograph book.
Why is this? Not against it just curious? Our daughter absolutely loves looking at and showing her book to friends and family with her picture next to the signature?
Posted on 12/15/16 at 1:07 pm to baldona
quote:
Why is this? Not against it just curious?
When she was alot younger she didn't have any interest so we never really brought it up then as she got older I read somewhere online about the interaction that kids have when they bring something to the characters and once we tried that and saw how much they loved it (or acted like they did), we were hooked.
This was from a couple years ago... She colors pictures all year and looks for things to give the different characters. When we met Olaf she had some baby carrots for Sven. She always looks for what she can give to them and we like when she thinks like that.
LINK
This post was edited on 12/15/16 at 1:09 pm
Posted on 12/15/16 at 1:13 pm to baldona
quote:
Our daughter absolutely loves looking at and showing her book to friends and family with her picture next to the signature?
When we went on the disney cruise they used to let you bring a pillowcase to guest services one day and the next day you could go pick it up and it would be signed by all the characters and princesses....we did it and I don't think our daughter even knows where it's at.
Posted on 12/15/16 at 3:59 pm to Clark W Griswold
quote:
Is there a list of character meet and greet spots with times well in advance?
Yes.
quote:
Toy Story
Hollywood Studios - Pixar/Toy Story area...directly across from the Toy Story ride in Hollywood Studios is meet and greet with Buzz and Woody
quote:
Mickey
Magic Kingdom - near front entrance at the beginning of Main St
Epcot - By Innoventions West building there's character meet and greet spot with Mickey, Minnie, Donald, etc
Also, if your sons are into Star Wars...Kylo Ren and Chewbacca are in the Star Ways Launch Bay area at Hollywood Studios.
quote:
Just not sure if I need a fast pass for these things
Most have a fastpass option, but I save the fastpasses for rides that usually have long lines
quote:
how much of a wait to expect
Don't waste 40 minutes waiting in line for character meet and greet. Unless you walk by and its got a short line, just wait until last 30-40 minutes before closing time. I always noticed character lines seem shortest then, guess people trying to use the last bit of time to get on a ride before closing.
Look into Disney meal plan and making reservations for character dinners. Tusker House in Animal Kingdom has Mickey, Donald, Daisy, Goofy. Crystal Palace in Magic Kingdom has Winnie the Pooh and friends. Epcot has Royal Akerhaus which has really good food, but its princesses character dinner. Hollywood Studios has Hollywood and Vine that has Mickey, Goofy, Minnie, Donald, Daisy. I think there's one or 2 resorts that have their on-resort restaurant that hosts character meals but I don't know which ones off hand
Posted on 12/15/16 at 5:37 pm to Tiger Prawn
Go to Kenny the pirate it tells you everything about the characters
Page 1 of 3
Popular
Back to top
Follow TigerDroppings for LSU Football News