Best times for Character meets?

[tylerandalexsmom]

We are making our first DLR trip (have been to WDW many times) and need advice on best times and tips for character meets. We have some character meals reserved, but there are some we want to see that are not at meals -- Rapunzel & Flynn Rider (looking forward to seeing her "room"), Merida (first time meeting her), Tinkerbell and the new (sister) fairy from Secret of the Wings, and Jack & Salley (NBC) - we will be there for Christmas, so I assume they will still be there since HM will still have the holiday overlay.

When we've gone to WDW, there are some websites that give great tips for strategies to work in characters, but I'm not as familiar with anything for DLR. (I tried to search for a superthread or something, but most of the threads seemed to be not quite related to what I'm looking for) I know it will be crowded because it's Christmas So we plan to take advantage of early entry, and do most of our rides in the early mornings, and then do other things when the parks get more crowded, so any advice on fitting in these character meets? Thanks!!!!

 

[DharmaLou]

Princess, Merida & Fairy M&Gs begin at 9am and the princesses and fairies switch out every 30 minutes. I believe the Rapunzel M&G starts at 11am. Both go to 5 (at least these were the times for last week).

We were there Thanksgiving week and the lines for the princesses moved quickly. We were also only about 10th or so in line for Merida (and the 2nd day we happened to be first in line when she started in the morning) and that moved quickly. The fairy lines were never long either. The CM at the beginning of the line will tell you which fairy/fairies are there then and which will be there when they switch out. We met Periwinkle & Tink. Vidia was there one day also but we never made it back for her.

We never made it to Rapunzel, sadly.

 

[tylerandalexsmom]

Thanks. We will probably be riding rides when they first open though, so any suggestions for best strategies a little later in the day? (at a crowded time - we are going at Christmas)