Characterpalooza...What is going on?

[PurpleKomodo]

I just read a worrisome article by Kenny the Pirate:

http://www.kennythepirate.com/2015/05/13/what-is-going-on-with-character-palooza/

We have never been to character palooza and we're looking very forward to it his trip. This makes it sound impossible to predict. Anyone have any insight or experience with recent characterpalooza? I hate to think that we won't be able to do it or that we will spend over an hour of time waiting in the hot sun for nothing. I am fine with having to find it. We have enough adults with us to spread out, but with only a 20 minute set, I fear that I wouldn't make it across the park with toddler in tow to catch it if I guess wrong. And the time? I can plan my day around a short time period but I can't go check 3 different locations multiple times throughout the day. It could consume your whole day. What are others thoughts/experiences?

 

[palmtreegirl]

We went a couple weeks ago and it was MOBBED, not fun at all. We met one character and left and said never again. Looks like another victim of the internet.

 

[mom2rtk]

That's really unfortunate. That should give them confirmation that there is a lot of demand to meet these characters and they should find a way to make it easier, not harder for their guests to find them.

 

[ModernArtist]

When it gets so crowded that the situation becomes dangerous it ceases to be enjoyable. It was always meant to be an unplanned "surprise" for guests. Unfortunately, thanks to KtP, EVERYONE knows about it. When you have rare characters out for only a 20 minute set there are going to be a lot of angry people who don't make it to the front of the line in time. Guest relations was getting sick of the complaints and the exit to ToT was jammed with people.

However...I do not agree with randomly placing them all over the park. That's just stupid. They really should have a rotation of rare characters meeting throughout the day in the animation building with the others regular M&Gs. Keep the M&Gs in there so it can be controlled and everyone gets a chance to meet them.

 

[PurpleKomodo]

I agree. I guess my complaint would be about keeping people guessing. They ask us to plan our vacations so far in advance that it seems pretty contradictory.

I also agree with what a commenter said on KtP page. There is not a ton for little ones to do at DHS so I was looking forward to taking my DS to CP for some extra M&Gs. Now I don't know what to do about it. Like I said, I can't spend all day chasing it.

 

[scrappinmom]

As much as I was looking forward to this - I am not about to chase it. We can easily be done with HS before noon - having seen the shows so many times there is just no interest for us. I had planned on having lunch, shopping & basically hanging around till CP - now? We'll go have lunch elsewhere & go to the resort & relax & return for fantasmic. Bad move Disney - you had me & my money for a few more hours....

 

[tlmadden73]

I don't have an issue with the location changing .. with smart phones ..it is not like it will be secret for long. And if the "scheduled" time was just becoming too crowded, then they had to do something otherwise it would just be a standard M&G like all the others.

It will add a little mystery to the day.

 

[pbb322]

In 2013 I took my son on a last minute trip with zero planning and just happened upon what I later learned was Characterpalooza - it was a magical moment for my 4 year old who was completely shocked! Although we later discovered KtP's site after that and made sure we were there for our next 2 trips, it was not as special as that first time. Personally, I'm ok with having one less thing to schedule and letting it just be extra magic if we happen upon it. I may be in the minority, but I am glad there is something left at Disney that has the potential to be a magical surprise on what has now become a very over-scheduled vacation each year.

 

[eeyore45]

I remember when they opened Fantasyland an hour early just for young kids character interaction, the characters "played" From Peter Pan doing shadow chasing, to Stitch riding Dumbo, Snow white was out and about... there were complaints because it wasn't for pictures and autographs, and it was promoted for "young" kids (so single adults were not happy - however, they did not exclude any guests coming in to the park)

DD was a bit older, but we so enjoyed just walking from area to area and enjoying the joy of the young kids interacting!

For CP - I agree, get them in that Animation building, at least its air conditioned and out of the HOT Florida sun! But, in true ignorance, they will cancel it because its too popular and not everyone will get there way, so no one should get to meet and greet.

 

[cinder-ellah]

I was able to do this with my 2 GD 5 & 7, last Saturday / May 16th.
CM's would not tell if it was going to take place. Was even told it was absolutely not by 1 CM.
Jasmine, Pocahontas, Rafiki, Pluto, Tiana were there.
Very quiet & enjoyable. It didn't start until about 6:30pm. I was told (previously) anytime after 6pm....possibly 6:15pm, but no guarantee that it actually will take place.
CM's must not be allowed to tell you if it is or isn't going to happen. Which is difficult if you have kids. Thankful we had shade and could sit on the stone wall.

A big "Thank You" to @kennythepirate

 

[JaxDad]

That's really unfortunate. That should give them confirmation that there is a lot of demand to meet these characters and they should find a way to make it easier, not harder for their guests to find them.

I agree!

I can see the advantage for Disney to control the M&Gs as well as limit the availability somewhat to make character interaction more "special," but they seem to have gone too far. I remember many more "random" character interactions back in the day, and it was always cool. It didn't matter if it wasn't a popular character--it was just fun to come across them walking around the parks! We could snap a quick picture, and my daughter could get hug. It was a magical little occurrence, not an attraction in itself.

Of course, my family is probably in the minority here. We wouldn't consider waiting in line for more than just a few minutes for a character M&G, and we don't have character autograph books. We have done character meals, but more for the general atmosphere. It did not matter which characters were actually there. (Can you tell my daughter by-passed the whole princess stage??!!)

 

[hiroMYhero]

A big "Thank You" to @kennythepirate

And, also a huge thanks to @yulilin3 for reporting Character Palooza would indeed be happening during SWW!! Such great info for everything related to SWW, she has!

 

[PurpleKomodo]

I miss the old days too where not every character had their own spot and que for the whole day. It seems like lines for characters were not as bad before and now people are reporting that you have to rope drop almost all the characters or be there 15 minutes before their first set. We are big character people but it gives us quite a dilemma. RD time is precious and we only get so many a trip. I can't use them all for characters but we still want to do the M&Gs. I was hoping CP would give us another opportunity to meet some.

 

[Zippa D Doodah]

Raise your hand if you scheduled an ADR around being able to experience CharacterPalooza. Yeah, we are the goobers who will be eating lupper at 50's PTC next Tuesday in hopes of maybe catching CP afterwards. Oh well, such is life... I am NOT going to go chasing that wild goose all over DHS. We will likely enjoy our meal, count our blessings for having been sated, and then head on back to the resort early that evening since Characterpalooza promises to be such a mess -even if it does happen.

I am glad my kids were young in the early 2000's when Disney had so many more characters around the parks than they do now. It used to be so common to meet scores of characters all over Main Street and other areas of MK, in front of the hat at (then) MGM, and at Epcot with the old Characters on Tour bus. My kids used to love it when some characters would come to your resort on a bus on certain mornings too.

The characters we met back then who no longer appear much of anywhere are too numerous to list. Today the roster of characters is much more limited. It's not really that big of a deal for us as grizzled WDW vets, but it obvious to everyone that guests crave meeting characters. It seems plain dumb for Disney not to offer more opportunities. Just think of the merch they could sell!

Disney really should not be surprised that guests have caught on to CharacterPalooza given: 1) the paucity of characters in the parks, and 2) the way they have trained us to schedule every little bit of our vacations these days.

 

[Cap'nJack'sMum]

Last time we were at WDW (in August) my daughter and I happened upon Characterpalooza. It was really fun, there were very few people there (like 50, maybe) and although we weren't getting autographs, the characters were interacting with my daughter (14 at the time) and the other kids. Then after a bit of fun and frolic lines started to form for autographs and photos. That's when we split. But for about 10 minutes it was really fun and magical. We were totally not expecting it. I'm sad that it's become a zoo like everything else spontaneous at WDW.

 

[BuzzinDownToDisney]

It's a bummer that this is the only opportunity anywhere in WDW to meet certain characters. My son is currently Pinocchio obsessed and I planned on trying to hit multiple CPs trying to meet him, but there was enough uncertainty there, now I'm not making it a point to be there when it may not happen.

 

[buttercup14]

I have mixed feelings about this, on one hand I really enjoyed characterpalooza last trip and it's sad to think that it'll be harder to experience for my next trip, and I understand that people plan so much in advance they want to know when/where these things will happen. On the other hand I genuinely love the idea of things been unpredictable and stumbling upon them by luck, be it for myself or some other guest, it brings some spontaneous moments back to the trip, I love the idea that there are still things in the park that you can't just google to find out about

 

[DisneyFive]

Never got the concept of characterpalooza anyway. I mean, they did away with characters randomly wandering the parks many years ago (a good decision IMO). You now have set meet and greet locations and characters, and you can plan accordingly, even FP+ them now. (not saying I'm a fan of FP+ )

I'm not against characterpalooza, but to me it seems out of place with how the rest of WDW is setup. There is still plenty chance for spontaneity at WDW without it.

Dan

 

[baler31]

It became crowded because there is nothing else to do in HS to fill your day. KTP reporting the location is not the only factor driving crowds here. Disney really needs to be adding to HS not subtracting anything at this point.

 

[Love Tink]

Never got the concept of characterpalooza anyway. I mean, they did away with characters randomly wandering the parks many years ago (a good decision IMO). You now have set meet and greet locations and characters, and you can plan accordingly, even FP+ them now. (not saying I'm a fan of FP+ )

I'm not against characterpalooza, but to me it seems out of place with how the rest of WDW is setup. There is still plenty chance for spontaneity at WDW without it.

Dan

You can FP+ a small handful - about 10% - of the characters that are available to meet at WDW. Meeting the rest generally involves long lines.

The two great things about Characterpalooza were being able to meet several characters quickly, without long lines, and being able to meet characters that do not have "set meet and greet locations" at all.

We had the bad luck of having this change hit during our trip last week. We went to Characterpalooza on Friday, May 8 and it was business as usual, although it was a bit busier than I had experienced in the past, so we met only two characters before the lines were closed. On Tuesday, May 12 we waited about 25 minutes (in the broiling sun) before we gave up. Apparently it had moved to Streets of America that day. Bummer.