Best strategies for character meet & greets

[djk]

My DH and I will be taking our DD (6) and DD (3) to DLR the last week of April (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday). The girls will want to meet Mickey, Minnie, as many princesses as possible and as many Pixie Hollow fairies as possible.

I would welcome any words of wisdom about character meet & greets.

What is the typical wait time for these characters?
Is there a time of day that the lines are shortest?
Should that be one of the first things we do, or will everyone else be lining up at that time of day, too?
Would one day be better than another?
Are there certain princesses / fairies out on certain days or times of day, or is it just the luck of the draw?

Thank you!

 

[Briarrose1306]

I'm thinking that possibly the best way to meet Mickey and Minnie may be to do the MTTMM if you can. I believe the lines are pretty short to see them during this time and it may be the easiest way to A) find them and B) wait for them. As far as the princesses go, you really only have two options; the Princess Fantasy Faire and Ariel's Grotto. The PFF line can get extremely long, so I would recommend getting in line for this as early as possible. Unfortunately though, you only get to meet 3 princesses and you never know who they'll be. (I have DH stand where he can see inside though and make sure that Aurora is in there otherwise I'll let people go in front of me until she gets there). Ariel's Grotto is your other option and it is a character meal, so it can get a little expensive, but on the bright side, you are guaranteed 5 princesses and from what I've heard, it's usually Ariel, Cinderella, Belle, Snow White and Aurora, though I've heard Jasmine is known to pop in from time to time.
On a side note though, I was lucky enough to meet Cinderella and Aurora at the park entrance two visits back, but this is not the norm.
As far as the fairies go, I believe Pixie Hollow is the only way to meet them and I think you're guaranteed Tink, but the others are at random. Hope that helps!

 

[jerbar]

We watched the Royal Coronation ceremony last summerr at Princess Fantasy Faire and had read on here to stick around after the show, because the princesses would come back out take pictures/sign autographs for a bit. We stuck around, and this did happen the day we were there. There are people there that watch the lines. I'm not sure how long they stay, but we were able to see all three. We went to Cinderella first, because her line grew the fastest. Also, we noticed on two different days that Cinderella, Snow White, and Aurora were all walking towards the castle and went to their spots to take pics/sign autographs. We did not ever see this the year before.
As for Pixie Hollow, we've gone two years, and the cast members who were working there were always VERY helpful and nice. You are not guaranteed Tinkerbell. They do work in shifts. The person working where you first get in line will sometimes tell you who's in there at that moment. But by the time you get up top, they may have rotated. We've had them tell us exactly what time to get in line to see a particular fairy when we asked. Also last year my daughter wanted to see Terance so bad. We went through, but he wasn't there yet. The cast member told us to just get right back in line...which we did, but then were told by the cast member as you enter Pixie Hollow that his flight had been delayed. So she told us what time to come back and let us use the handicap entrance, so that we were the first to see him when he got there.

 

[Halloweenqueen]

It's always best to go early. Go right when Toontown opens and you will get to see Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Goofy, and assorted others fairly quickly.

Same goes for the Princess Faire and Pixie Hollow. Early is best.

Have you considered a character meal? It's a much more relaxed way to visit with characters.

 

[TheColtonsMom]

Beyond the answers already posted, I know you can occasionally see the princesses at Snow White's grotto by the castle but this is a hit & miss thing...Also there is usually at least one princess at Goofy's Kitchen Cinderella was there when we went and I have seen other peoples pictures with snow white, mulan and I think a few others.

I agree with the TTMM option for the mice! As soon as the show ends high tail it to their houses because when we were there most people did the rides first and then the M&G lines so next time we plan to do the opposite. Also if you get to toontown before the show starts there are several characters doing m&gs before the show starts while they are waiting for people to get from rope drop to toontown.

If MTTMM is not in your package get your names on the thread "Does anyone have tickets for MTTMM" ASAP and hopefully someone that didn't use theirs can get you some.

I also am a firm lover of Mickey's Surf's up breakfast at PPH. Mickey is guaranteed and does interact with the kids when he isn't posing for pics at the entrance. Minnie also appeared there on our visit at Christmas. If you want to read reviews of the character breakfasts We did 4 on our last trip and there are reviews & pics on my TR linked below.

Have a great trip!