Tips for meeting characters in the parks..

[jpmom97]

Ok, when I went to Disney two years ago, I went with my husband and no kids. I was on a mission to find every character I could but had no clue where to look. I got the schedule and went everywhere they said to go, I followed the caravan in epcot, but..I want to know where they are hiding. I was online to get my pic taken at Ariels grotto and the lady in front of me told me Jasmine was at the restaurant in Morocco. Also I found the characters at the toontown fair. Do they hide anywhere else? I am going next time with my son and daughter and will be on a bigger mission to find them for my kids. Even my husband got into it, we were waiting in line to see Goofy and there were two families ahead of us and a women just walking by cut in front of all us to get her pic with Goofy. My husband stuck up for all the families in front of us and told her there was a line and there are families with children waiting to meet Goofy. We will do plenty of characters meals, but I like the thrill of the hunt in the parks. Anyway where are these characters hiding!!

[stacy6552]

you can meet the toy story gang behind muppet theater at al's toy barn.

we also saw mary poppins and megara at mgm.

we found belle and the beast in france and saw aladin and jasmine near moracco in the WS. we got to hang out with mickey in america at the ws. we also met turk there, go figure.

you can meet mickey's crew and pooh's gang at meals.

[pointandshoot]

http://disboards.com/newreply.php?s=&action=newreply&threadid=336669

This link is a good start to finding characters. Generally in MK, characters seem to be near the Magic Carpet Ride (Alladdin, etc.), Pirates (Peter pan, etc.), Castle and Town Square. Some less seen characters are found behind Toontown near the railroad.

At MGM and Epcot, it seems a bit harder to find them but ask CMs and they will help.

Regards.

[Kteacher]

In Epcot there is a quiet little garden in England. we have usually been able to find the characters from Alice in Wonderland there. BTW, it's also a really peaceful spot to just sit and relax for a bit:D

[jpmom97]

Thank you, I am writing all this down. I am going to go to that link too. Do you all think I am crazy? I just want my son to see all the characters and meet them before the magic is gone for him. I don't know when we will be able to afford to go again. I did not know about the garden in England will definetly check it out.

[B&WMickey]

We did EE at MK in December. There were a ton of characters lined up on Main Street when we entered the park. We even had Mickey and Minnie all to ourselves for a few moments at the end of Main Street.

[buzz2400]

At AK go to camp minnie/mickey. Mickey, minnie, goofy and another were there. We also saw one of the bears from the country bear jamboree (at least that is who we think it was). We also saw the two ants but they did not pose for pictures. They just walked around the park and we had to run in front and turn around to get a picture. One of the best bets is do a character breakfast. Also ask at guest relations at each park and they could tell you if a character you want will be there. Last year Lilo and Stitch were at MGM behind the animation studio. The maps of each park will also have character spots. Also be on the lookout when you enter each park because there are usually some characters hanging around the front of the park.

[KathleenFL]

I just bumped my posting on the Families Board, with a link to the characters and location -- It's a good starting point, maybe......

You'll notice there are a lot more characters in the parks now -- Disney has decided to put an emphasis on them, so it'll be a lot easier for you to find them than 2 years ago --- If you can get to MK just before it opens, they have lots of characters there to meet & greet.......

[pointandshoot]

Are you crazy? No! We spend a lot of time at character meet and greets with our DD. They can take some time, though, away from seeing other attractions. If the character is playful, it can be a truely magical moment that you will remember.

A cool trick we have done is to enter MK on an EE morning and ride a few rides. Then drift back for the 9am rope drop. The EE crowd for the characters had dispersed and we were able to see quite a few characters before the 9am rush.

[Kteacher]

jpmom- don't worry about the magic being gone-I'm 43, and it's still there for me ( my staff photo at school shows me with Mickey at Chef Mickey's:D ) Also, not sure if they are still there, but by the ABC Commissary in Disney Studios is a back door-kind of looks like a loading dock- last time we were there there were posted times for characters from Monsters Inc. :D

[capegirl]

When we were at Epcot's World Showcase last February, the entire cast of characters was on a double decker bus. The bus stopped at the entrance to Showcase Plaza and the characters got off for pictures etc. This took place in the a.m. right before
World Showcase opened.
:D

[kilee]

In April ('02) my son got 9 autographs. On our trip (2 1/2 weeks ago), he got 38. We also seen quite a few that he didn't go up to. There were characters everywhere it seemed.

Mike and Sully are in the Monster's Inc. garage by the ABC comissionary. Also, we seen Snow White and Dopey near It's a small World.

Also, when we were in France we seen Belle and Beast. There was nobody else around.

[DebbieB]

I was there 3 weeks ago and the characters were everywhere, you didn't have to look hard. Some I never even seen before - like a Penguin.

[jpmom97]

WOW! I am so excited about all these characters, I am writing it all down in my Disney notebook. I missed like all of them then when I was there.

[nativetxn]

Can't see your photo, jpmom :(

[SandraC]

I am crazy for characters! Thank goodness my kids are young enough to love them too (although I think dd might be getting out of them). Last April, both kids got over 50 autographs (about 4 were Mickey repeats). We love character meals too! S

[HugsForEeyore]

We were at WDW in January, and all my nephew wanted to do was search everywhere and meet characters! He could have cared less about most rides. We got 72 unique autographs total on that trip - we needed more than one book! Some of the best places were Camp Minnie/Mickey, the Epcot Holiday bus, and the Toontown Train Station - but we only saw characters there at Toontown station on Friday, never any other day. But when we finally found character there - it was well worth it - many rare ones to be found! :)

Character hunting is fun! We want to go back and get more!! :)

<img src="http://home.att.net/~disneysue/hugsmall3.gif">

[3MouseMom]

We saw jungle book characters on the mainsteet at AK, Buzz right outside the buzz ride at MK, Mary Poppins in England/Epcot and Belle/Beast in France/Epcot. That was the best--Belle and Beast were sitting in a little alcove behind the Library in France--all alone. We had the to ourselves for about 8 minutes before other people found us.

Another fave was Lilo and Stich in AK (on the road to camp mickey minnie).

One of the guidebooks suggests taking the train directly to toon town if you get to the MK early. You can see all those characters with little wait. We saw Cindy, her mice, Wendy from Peter Pan, Pooh and friends, etc.

Happy hunting!

[jpmom97]

Is Peter Pan ever seen? He is my sons favorite.

[SandraC]

We had breakky with Peter Pan in Cinderella's Castle. S

[kilee]

After our last trip dh and I wondered the same thing. I'd be interested to hear where anyone has encountered Peter Pan in the parks.

Our toughest 2 had been Donald Duck (believe it or not). Every time we turned around on our last trip he was there. Also, Pinocchio. We also got him at MGM in front of the hat.

Also, I couldn't believe how many times we saw Mickey this time just out and about in the park.

[lilsonicfan]

We saw Peter Pan and Wendy in... I think Adventureland, not too far from the Swiss Family treehouse. I actually saw them twice.

Also after the Cinderella Surprise Celebration show, tons of characters come out. On that note, does anyone know the name of her mice?? I only heard that one was Suzy.

[SandraC]

Perla is the other gal mouse! S

[micles]

We where at WDW Feb 12 -17 and saw more characters around the parks than ever before. We have been going to WDW for the past 4 years straight. When we walked into Magic Kingdom around 10:30-11:00 one morning there where all the major characters and some new ones. We saw Lilo and Stitch, Govenor Radcliff. At Animal Kingdom we saw characters from a Bugs Life and many more. They were walking about the parks and saw them several times a day. The character breakfast are also a great way to meet them. The princess breakfast at Epoct in Norway was great. Saw Jasmine, Sleeping Beauty, Mary Poppins, Bell, and several others.