Character Location Help!!

[JLindley2003]

Hi everyone! I've been visiting WDW my whole life (at least 30 times), and am finally making my first trip to DL in 2 weeks!! Characters are really important to us, so I'm trying to learn where the meet-and-greet locations are. Any help you all have would be greatly appreciated. I'll take any and all locations you can provide, but I'm also interested in things I'd consider rare. That would be things like, characters in different outfits (I've heard Mickey can possibly be found as Steamboat Willie, Band Concert, etc..?), characters not at WDW, or rare characters in general. Thanks so much for even the smallest bit of help! I'm very excited!!

 

[DizNee Luver]

Here's a link with some tips for finding characters:
http://disneymouselinks.com/disneyland-characters-tt.aspx

http://gocalifornia.about.com/od/cadisneyland/a/characters.htm

Both links might be a bit dated, but it's a start......

The other thing you can do, when you arrive go to city hall & ask for a daily schedule for characters (I think they do that?)

Hope you have a magical Disneyland experience!!

 

[mystic_path]

Yeah you can go into city hall on Main Street and they will let you know. But at the same time, as you walk to the gates to get swiped in for the day they have brochures which tell you the entertainment scheduals and meet and greets.

 

[JLindley2003]

Great, thanks a bunch!

 

[disneyfan4ever54]

We've only seen Mickey in his "regular" outfit at his house in Toontown, but I heard that on really busy days they have different rooms open (rather than just one) to meet him and he appears as Steamboat Willie, etc. That's the only place that I know of where you can meet the different Mickeys. I'd check at City Hall, as the above posters have mentioned, to see if those characters might be available when you're there. I'm not sure how you can make sure that you get a particular one once you are at Mickey's House. Someone else may be able to help on that.

 

[NorCalDisney]

At DCA Mickey will come out in a beach outfit. Also at DCA there's always lots of characters in the Backlot area. We've seen Goofy, Handy Manny, JoJo, Sully, The Incredibles, Lilo, Hercules, and more I can't think of.

 

[mystic_path]

Yeah you will normally see Mickey in Toon Town in his usual clothing, but Mickey is also often out on Main Street. Specially first thing in the morning. He is normally one of those Main Characters that will greet you as you walk through the gates. Mickey is often seen in the Hollywood Backlot in DCA as well. Usually wearing a hawaiian printed shirt though.

 

[JLindley2003]

Oh cool, thanks. It sounds like there really aren't a lot of set times that specific characters come out, but I guess that could be fun just seeing who pops up.

Does anyone know what characters are at the DCA Visa card meet and greet?

 

[Kayla's Mom]

Oh cool, thanks. It sounds like there really aren't a lot of set times that specific characters come out, but I guess that could be fun just seeing who pops up.

Does anyone know what characters are at the DCA Visa card meet and greet?

Chip and Dale were the characters earlier this month when we were there. Last year we also saw Mickey and Goofy.

We have also seen Sorcerer Mickey at the Animation Academy at DCA.

 

[Sherry E]

Just so you know - Mickey used to appear in his Bandleader costume in Mickey's House in ToonTown. In fact, he would rotate outfits, because every time you went back to visit him, the idea was that he was supposed to be working 'on the set' of a different movie and was stopping filming to take pictures!!

(< See my picture with Mickey in my avatar on the left? That's Band Mickey.)

There was another outfit I saw him in at his house too, but can't recall which one. And then he started wearing a tuxedo jacket at his house.

(See the picture with Mickey in my signature below, second picture from the left? That's the tuxedo jacket).

I have not been all the way back into Mickey's house recently to be able to see what his current wardrobe is, but it used to switch around. And when he comes out in the park, depending on what area he is hanging around in, his outfits can change. During the holidays, he is wearing Christmas sweaters and other gear, as are the other main characters. THere is even a Halloween version of Mickey, where he is wearing a costume.

I assume you have considered doing character meals? Some folks choose to do those rather than wait in long lines in the parks to meet characters. You will not see Mickey at any of the character meals (legal reasons), but you will see Minnie and other characters, depending on which meals you choose. There are 5 character meals to choose from at DLR, and if the same characters appear at more than one character meal, they are usually wearing different themed outfits to coordinate with that meal.

 

[JLindley2003]

Great tips everyone, thanks! Keep em coming if you have them.

Sherry, yes, we are having dinner at Goofy's Kitchen, dinner at Ariel's Grotto, and breakfast at Storyteller's. Decided against breakfast at the Plaza Inn, but I think we'll get a good character array at the others.

 

[momto2nenas]

Alice, White Rabbit, and Mary Poppins frequent the Refreshment Corner area in the early afternoons. We LOVE Mary Poppins, so pretty!

 

[Sherry E]

Great tips everyone, thanks! Keep em coming if you have them.

Sherry, yes, we are having dinner at Goofy's Kitchen, dinner at Ariel's Grotto, and breakfast at Storyteller's. Decided against breakfast at the Plaza Inn, but I think we'll get a good character array at the others.

Yes, you are on the right track! Between Goofy's (my favorite), Storytellers and Ariel's, you will definitely get a good array of different characters to meet and take pictures with, as well as some great food! (And there are always characters in ToonTown - just outside, strolling around, even if they are not in their 'houses.') I have not done Minnie and Friends' meal yet but I hear that they often have Chip and Dale (who are all over the place, at almost every meal!!), Gepetto, Pooh, Tigger and Eeyore, Max, Fairy Godmother, Captain Hook and some other good ones. Lilo and Stitch has Goofy and others in their surf/beah wear. I think I have heard that Donald and Daisy are sometimes at Lilo and Stitch, as are the ever-present Chip and Dale.

 

[cheshiregirl]

Oh cool, thanks. It sounds like there really aren't a lot of set times that specific characters come out, but I guess that could be fun just seeing who pops up.

Does anyone know what characters are at the DCA Visa card meet and greet?

My son is a character junkie, so I have become something of an expert on character greetings over the past 18 months, and the Visa meet and greet is one of our favorite spots due to the low crowds and the fabulous (and often extended) time and interactions he gets with the characters there.

Chip and Dale split the Visa card meet and greet with Pluto most days. For optimum character greeting go exactly half way through the allotted time and you may be able to catch all 3 characters together (we have done this more than once). Also, while you only receive one coupon for a free photo each day, there is nothing that prevents you from visiting withboth C&D and Pluto on any given day. And, be sure to go each day of your trip so that you receive multiple free photo coupons.

Another tip that I would give you is to be sure to tell the photopass photographers if you are planning to buy the CD (only $59.99 at DL and there are also many photoshares that you can sign up for to bring that cost down even farther). We always tell them that we are buying the CD and that we would like them to just start shooting photos rather than focusing on getting just one or two formal pics. Many of my very favorite DLR photos are the candid/informal shots of the characters interacting with my family.

 

[JLindley2003]

Thanks so much! This has been very helpful!

 

[goldengourd]

Just got back from our trip, and although we weren't hunting characters, here is some I noticed:

California Adventures:
Characters would stay after a street show "Drawn to the Magic" near the Animation attraction. They would move into the Animation lobby to sign autographs. Usually 3 - Sorcerer Mickey, a princess (Snowwhite,Cinderella), and Woody.
Goofy (hawaiian shirt), BuzzLightyear, the Incredibles were often in Hollywood Backlot.
From Cars: Speed and/or Mater were set up for photo op near California Soaring. It wasn't an interactive/animated car, just a still prop.

Disneyland:
I noticed noone mentioned the Princess Faire and Pixie Hollow. Those are set meet&greet places. The lines were usually posted 30-40 minutes.
Aladdin & Princess Jasmine near the Aladdin Oasis. Just around the corner from the Tiki Room, where you come out from the Jungle Cruise.
If you have a Magic Morning entrance, the characters are along Main Street, near the entrance. If the construction walls are still up when you go, don't forget to check both sides. Most were on the far right side as you come in on the day were were there, near the Magical years theater.

The Steamboat Willie Mickey is in the Fantasmic show, but I never did see him at a character greet.

 

[mechurchlady]

This month it was raining hard and I ducked into that show in the opera house on main street where Lincoln used to be. I saw a fox and think it was the fox from Pinocchio. There were several characters in there but I was to busy trying to find my friend.

 

[disneyfan4ever54]

Just got back from our trip, and although we weren't hunting characters, here is some I noticed:

California Adventures:
Characters would stay after a street show "Drawn to the Magic" near the Animation attraction. They would move into the Animation lobby to sign autographs. Usually 3 - Sorcerer Mickey, a princess (Snowwhite,Cinderella), and Woody.
Goofy (hawaiian shirt), BuzzLightyear, the Incredibles were often in Hollywood Backlot.
From Cars: Speed and/or Mater were set up for photo op near California Soaring. It wasn't an interactive/animated car, just a still prop.

Disneyland:
I noticed noone mentioned the Princess Faire and Pixie Hollow. Those are set meet&greet places. The lines were usually posted 30-40 minutes.
Aladdin & Princess Jasmine near the Aladdin Oasis. Just around the corner from the Tiki Room, where you come out from the Jungle Cruise.
If you have a Magic Morning entrance, the characters are along Main Street, near the entrance. If the construction walls are still up when you go, don't forget to check both sides. Most were on the far right side as you come in on the day were were there, near the Magical years theater.

The Steamboat Willie Mickey is in the Fantasmic show, but I never did see him at a character greet.

Steamboat Willie has been at Mickey's House in the past, but I'm not sure how recently. During really busy times, they had more than one room open to meet Mickey and there were some of the different ones such as Steamboat Willie, bandleader Mickey, etc. from the various movie roles.

 

[JLindley2003]

Very cool, thanks once again for all the help. I will try to hang around the backlot to see who I can see. And I'm under the impression the Main St. walls are coming down the day before we arrive, so it should be clear and character-filled!

 

[tripletlyblessed]

Last time we were at Mickey's house he was in wizard clothing. That trip we didn't see many characters other than Mickey and Minnie at their houses and Goofy wandering around toon Town. The following trip we got there as the gates opened and Mickey (tux), Pluto and Goofy were there. We stopped for cocoa and Captain Hook was walking down Main Street. Around the corner from Alice in Wonderland was The Mad Hatter. In front of Sleeping Beauty's Castle was The Fairy Godmother. Aladdin and Jasmine were outside of the Aladdin Oasis.