A few thoughts from our recent DL trip

[Bluewild79]

Yes! To me, the roaming characters are about "Magic in the Moment," not about trying to document every minute of your trip. (For that, we do the fixed M&Gs and the character meals.) The roaming characters are great reminders to "be in the moment" and let the magic happen!

Yes! I love those magic moments. A favorite from last summer was my girls walking with Peter Pan and discussing how my younger daughter's arm got broken. His facial expression was priceless as my oldest told him that she accidentally stepped on her sister's arm and broke it. It may not be a smiling, posed picture but that quick casual photo will always remind me of that trip. Love it!

 

[Version 6]

During our visit in April 2018, my kids (DS then 3 and DD then 5) were playing in the Redwood Creek Challenge trail. It's one of their favourite parts of the park, because for whatever reason they both just love to climb stuff.

Anyway, out of nowhere - Chip and Dale race up to them grab them by the hand and whisk them away on an adventure through the trail. Just the two of them, with Chip and Dale for about 10 minutes. For my kids at that moment (and even me, for that matter - following along and trying my best to record it all), it was like the rest of the world didn't exist. Such a magical moment - and my favourite ever moment in the parks.

That kind of spontaneous magic just wouldn't be possible without the roaming characters.

 

[Aurora0427]

Agree with previous posters totally in that I don't think roaming characters are for autographs and photos, and it's certain to cause you frustration if you try. We were at DL last week and the Beast rode the carousel with us - it was magic - no photo, no meet, but a great memory.

No way! Omg that is SO cool! I would’ve love to see the Beast!

 

[mydisneyanytime]

OP here. We have had some special moments with characters roaming at WDW too. Peter Pan walking with my son, Mulan taking their hands and walking with them. The issue for us was, my son is a slight bit OCD. He HAD to meet every character listed on the app. Oh my goodness but we did accomplish as much as we could!!

 

[theluckyrabbit]

... He HAD to meet every character listed on the app. Oh my goodness but we did accomplish as much as we could!!

Any characters left on the list are just a good reason to come back again for another visit! There's always something left on the "to do" list at Disney, isn't there?

 

[Malcon10t]

Does Peter Pan ever have a Meet and Greet? As far as I know he is always a roaming character.

 

[theluckyrabbit]

Does Peter Pan ever have a Meet and Greet? As far as I know he is always a roaming character.

We've only seen him have a M&G, usually with Wendy, at the Halloween Party on the Mark Twain. The last two years, the interaction has be great. Don't know if he'll be in DCA this year.

 

[kikismom]

I've walked out of the Alice in Wonderland area bathroom only to have a white rabbit cross my path with Alice. I've also been near a wishing well and ran into an evil queen.

They felt spontaneous, both times hardly anyone else was around. Did I get a picture? Nope, but I have a magical memory that lives in my head. It is fun to get a picture but standing in line for an hour is a totally different feel to running into these characters in their "natural habitat".

I completely agree with this. My 6 year old tells everyone the story of Merida walking us to our next ride. No video or pictures but the fact that she drew my daughter out of her shell makes me tear up every time. Another time she was on the carousel and Bell and Gaston got on and sat behind her.

We get to have our first WDW visit next year and I'm so excited to see what is different!

 

[disneycat321]

Great report! We just got back from WDW a week ago and are DLR vets, so it's interesting to read the opposite perspective!

I totally agree with you about cards vs. magic bands - the trip last week was our first experience with magic bands and wow! So convenient! I've read several threads on here about why that'll never happen in CA, but it's sure nice in FL!

I for one adore the Matterhorn. I don't know what it is. I just absolutely love it and always have. It's quintessential Disneyland to me. I actually thought WDW's Space Mountain was worse because it's dark and unfamiliar to me, so I couldn't anticipate to curves and brace myself like I can and do on the Matterhorn.

I'm glad you had a great trip!