More character reductions at Animal Kingdom

[kennythepirate]

Apologies if this was mentioned above, but when will these changes go into effect?

Already have. It was effective at closing last night.

Oh wow, we just got back yesterday and I'm so glad we saw Thumper and Miss Bunny this trip. My Bambi loving ds will be sad Thumper won't be around much.

Btw, Kenny, thanks for what you do! I have a link to your character skeds on my phone and used it all the time this trip. It was especially handy for SWW! We got to see almost everyone we wanted, which was due in large part to your info. ; )

Glad to help! Love helping people meet characters with shorter lines.

Does anyone know if there is anywhere left where you can meet Jiminy Cricket?

Nope, he's retired. Unless you get lucky and find him in a training meet somewhere.

Being an active "Character Hunter" at WDW/DL/DCL I can tell everybody what I have learned over the past 15+years.

Characters come and characters go, there are times they are everywhere, there are times you hardly see any (Anybody remember the charater bus that went to the resorts?). Sometimes there will be many characters you have never seen and times you will never see anyone new. It all goes in cycles.

Yes Jiminy and Thumper are gone for now, but that does not mean they are gone forever, they will be back sometime.

The best tip I can give anybody is, if you want a picture with a character get while you can, they may not be there the next time you go looking for them.

Dan

Your tip was the first tip I ever gave on my blog

My issue isn't that one character left and another comes along, that's great for character hunters. My issue is that 10 characters have gone and only 2 have come to replace them. This isn't cyclical replacement. Pinocchio retiring at Magic Kingdom and Merida being introduced is, but this is a depletion of characters at Animal Kingdom in general, not merely new vs old.

 

[princess_ariel_85]

Last night the following character changes took effect at Animal Kingdom:
Timon - retired from schedule and entrance character meets removed
Goofy - no longer meets in Camp Minnie Mickey, now only in Dinoland (this one actually makes sense)
Meeko, Thumper, Miss Bunny and Daisy will no longer offer regularly scheduled meets.
Baloo & King Louie moved to Camp Minnie Mickey

That's total loss of 10 characters at Animal Kingdom in recent months with only 2 being replaced with Dug and Russell. Net loss 8.
I'll update the schedule tonight.

Rather sad about Meeko, he was my fave character to meet at AK. Never got to meet Thumper or Timone so they were on my to do list. Not liking the character losses at all....

 

[Magic_Kingdom]

Last night the following character changes took effect at Animal Kingdom:
Timon - retired from schedule and entrance character meets removed
Goofy - no longer meets in Camp Minnie Mickey, now only in Dinoland (this one actually makes sense)
Meeko, Thumper, Miss Bunny and Daisy will no longer offer regularly scheduled meets.
Baloo & King Louie moved to Camp Minnie Mickey

That's total loss of 10 characters at Animal Kingdom in recent months with only 2 being replaced with Dug and Russell. Net loss 8.
I'll update the schedule tonight.

Awww I'm quite sad about this

Timon - one of my favourite Disney characters but to be fair the last time I was at Disney World I couldn't find him on a regular meet and greet, I found him at MNSSHP inside a building where he came out to join Rafiki (although I'm sure it was only to give Rafiki a line of people, Rafiki was standing alone, I assume it's due to him being a regular meet and greet character as everyone else was in line for the genie and abu from Aladdin who in general seem a bit harder to find)

Goofy - Not so bad as he can be found in every Disney park

Meeko - I didn't even know he was still out and about, I haven't found him for a meet and greet since 2004

Thumper and Miss Bunny - Also a shame as it doesn't seem like they have been around for long for a meet and greet, I was luck to get to meet them both (seperately) on my last trip, they are so cute, quite sad that we're losing them

Daisy - I've met her in Epcot and saw her out in the Magic Kingdom, I like her but for some reason I don't rush in line to meet her.

Baloo and king Louis - Met King Louis a good few times, he's lovely, Baloo for me is like Timon, just a character I could never find out and about but got to meet him at MNSSHP, in the same building as Timon.

Thanks for posting this, I hate losing characters as meet & greet is my fave part of a Disney trip, I'm a big kid with the characters!

 

[lovelybelle]

I met Meeko with Pocahontas last summer, and I had more fun with Meeko than her! He was probably my favorite character interaction from the whole trip. I'm sad to see him go

 

[matheke]

My issue isn't that one character left and another comes along, that's great for character hunters. My issue is that 10 characters have gone and only 2 have come to replace them. This isn't cyclical replacement. Pinocchio retiring at Magic Kingdom and Merida being introduced is, but this is a depletion of characters at Animal Kingdom in general, not merely new vs old.

I understand that characters are leaving and not being replaced, right now. We have seen it before. The number of characters is as cyclical as the characters themselves. It seems to me when AK first opened that outside of Camp Minnie Mickey there were very few choices. I remember EPCOT doing the character bus that had about 10 characters that came out 5-6 times a day and that was pretty much it. I remember years at the Magic Kingdom that it seemed that each time you turned a corner there was a meet and greet. Then other times when Toontown and Town Square were the only options.

I just think that eventually they will put more characters back into the parks and AK as a whole. At least I can hope they will.

 

[matheke]

I understand that characters are leaving and not being replaced, right now. We have seen it before. The number of characters is as cyclical as the characters themselves. It seems to me when AK first opened that outside of Camp Minnie Mickey there were very few choices. I remember EPCOT doing the character bus that had about 10 characters that came out 5-6 times a day and that was pretty much it. I remember years at the Magic Kingdom that it seemed that each time you turned a corner there was a meet and greet. Then other times when Toontown and Town Square were the only options.

I just think that eventually they will put more characters back into the parks and AK as a whole. At least I can hope they will.

PS. We enjoy your site and I always ceck it before we leave for current info.

 

[kennythepirate]

Just completed updating all four park character schedules: http://kennythepirate.com/character-schedules/

 

[kennythepirate]

PS. We enjoy your site and I always ceck it before we leave for current info.

Thanks!

 

[reiella]

Fix the attractions that currently exist and add additional attractions that will bring in more guests or sell more Mickey Premium Bars, but 33% reduction in character meets in a few months is pretty ridiculous.

They are adding at least one additional attraction with a new themed area in the future. Although there are a lot of people who don't like the theming for the planned area already :/.

The issue with fixing the Yeti is that they have limited options in fixing it. From what I've heard [on da Internet Rumorz Tube, so pretty worthless], is that the intended operation mode for the Yeti turned out not to be to stable in the long term for the ride, so to fix it 'properly' would require they rebuild/reimagine the ride.

I do agree that the reduction sucks, I just wanted to remark on the attractions . It is especially odd as I imagine character meet + greets are some of the cheapest attractions they have.

 

[Dizzytime]

Seems like strange timing. Given the recent price increases, you would hope they wouldn't make cut-backs at the same time. Know what I mean?

Maybe part of a larger, better plan? Sure hope so!

 

[Glenn]

Considering that Disney doesnt pay the folks acting as character very much, the parks are pretty full and tickets just went up again the only thing I can say about less characters is "Can Disney get any cheaper?". Switching characters from time to time keeps it fresh but not charging more & giving you less. My cousin (DVE owner) got back in early May. He certainly said more about prices, & quality. They did 1 character breakfast for the grandkids, most other eating was at the resort, packing snacks, counter service & offsite. Offsite eating was done when they went for breaks or early evening to get the kids to bed.

 

[mlittig]

Thanks for the updates I hate when they take away characters I still miss the characters that used to be out during EMH at Magic Kingdom

 

[Mom2Stitch]

Swapping characters is cool, depleting the supply is not-boo on you Disney!

As for me and my family-we'd love to see the villains return-they were almost always the most fun to interact with.

 

[PJesse25]

I'm thinking this reduction may be the "trade off" for the extra (non-character) entertainment they will be offering in the post-parade hours at AK. Perhaps after that is done, the characters will return.

 

[Kathy Z]

When DH & I went in Dec. 2009 I noticed a character I had no clue about. Hey, look at my avatar, it explains my age Anyway, when I noticed this bug again during our Dec. 2010 trip I got in line and met Flik! I'm still a kid at heart. Sorry to learn that he is no longer appearing but glad that I had my encounter. His greeting spot was rather tucked away but I suppose that fits with the character being a bug. My apologies for the sideways photo, I was not successful either last night or this morning in rotating it in Photobucket.

 

[mom2rtk]

Character Palooza or random meet are your only opportunities for a meet and greet.

Unless you go in December when Fantasmic is EVERY night at 6:30 so no Characterpalooza..... and tyically no random meets either.

 

[laura_<3]

Such a shame

 

[MinnieTeacher]

Losing the Daisy meet and greet will push all the Daisy-lovers to TH for character meals. Is that now the only place to see her?

I know you can still see Daisy at the Epcot entrance.

 

[dzaharchuk]

I agree that reduction in characters is disheartening. My kids love finding never-before seen characters (future character hunters?) and it gets harder and harder to find them...

SEnd in your opinions, I always think it helps to voice your opinion to those in position to listen and make the changes necessary. Thanks to poster who added the link!!

ps- kids and I love Kennythepirate, one day we will attempt the Ultimate Touring plan...my little ones are 4 and 7, but my dd12 is ready to give it a shot...yay Kenny thanks for the inspiration and info!!

 

[tputorti]

We can complain here (which can be fun), but I also encourage everyone to write to Disney to express their feelings there. You can write as I did to the following e-mail addresses:
wdw.guest.communications@disneyworld.com
Robert.A.Iger@email.disney.com
Tom.staggs@disney.com
meg.crofton@disney.com


Here is what I sent yesterday and it sums up my family's feelings on the matter:

My family is sad to learn that you have reduced the characters available for meet and greets at Animal Kingdom again. For my kids, visiting the characters is one of their favorite things to do. Over the last few years I feel that Disney World has reduced the number of characters to meet and the variety of characters so much. Not everyone can go during times of the year when special events occur to see different characters. All Disney fans love the broad scope of characters in the Disney vault. In fact, while the Fab 5 are the heart of what people think of when they think Disney, most kids are very familiar and sometimes more so with the vast library of Disney films. Their Disney experiences and knowledge is actually very much more PIXAR centered and involve the full length classics. While younger children are exposed now to the Fab 5 through Disney Junior, there is not much other knowledge of the Fab 5 for many besides the amazing branding Disney has done and the stories we as parents share with our children of our Disney memories. That is why they want to "meet Mickey." But they also want to meet Captain Hook & Smee, the Dwarfs, etc.

Even where there is opporunity for variety in set locations, the variety has been limited or taken away. As an example, a few years ago my daughter was able to meet six different fairies in Pixie Hallow. Now they rarely rotate, if at all, and most of the fairies have been retired. There is nowhere to meet villains any more either. I know everyone loves to meet the Fab 5, including my kids, and they love meeting them in different outfits. However they also love to meet different characters.

They loved the one day we were in the Animation Building at Hollywood Studios and they got to meet a bunch of different characters, including ones they have never meet before.

I encourage you to stop eliminating the number of characters available for meet and greets and also to increase the variety available. I hope that with the expansion of Fantasyland in the Magic Kingdom that you are pulling some meet and greet opportunities from other parks to use the Entertainment budget from those parks to expand the meet and greets in the Magic Kingdom. I would like to think there is a grand plan to enhance guest experience rather than to reduce it. I hope Pete’s Silly Sideshow will provide an opportunity to meet different characters (maybe even “mystery “ characters) and that at some point when the princesses move out of Town Hall to the new Princesss Fairytale Hall that that space too will be used for a variety of characters.

I would be in favor of expanding the Magic Kingdom meet and greets as it is the “Magic” Kingdom after all, if that mean lessening the opportunity in the other parks to essentially mainly the Fab 5 in appropriately themed attire (for their location) then so be it. That might even be fitting, but the “Magic” Kingdom should be just that, “magical.” Please increase the opportunities and varieties available.

My family loves meeting the characters and spends lots of time leading up to our trips to create homemade photo autograph books. This is a great tradition we have and I hope that it will continue. I have hopes it will actually grow and will be reinvigorated with new opportunities during our next trip in 2013.

Thank you so much for your time and consideration of my e-mail.