There are many characters at Epcot, if you know when and where to look! Alot of it is being at the right time in the right place, too.
The Characters on Holiday Bus is great! Usually about 12 characters on it including classics like Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Chip and Dale, plus many others! The bus makes it's last stop around 4:00ish, usually. Check the Times Guide (that you get with the park map) for the exact times and locations. The last stop is usually quick and crowded, though!
Through the countries, there are plenty of characters to find. They meet on and off throughout day, from early afternoon until around 6:00ish, maybe at the latest 7:00. In England, definately look inside the Toy Shop and look in the back. Pooh characters meet there often, or Mary Poppins or Alice in Wonderland, too! These characters can also be outside in that courtyard off the main sidewalk.
France is fun - look inside the "library" room, which is connected to a gift shop. Belle and Beast are sometimes there, possible other characters. Also behind the stores near the water is a little garden area, and Beast and Belle and Aurora could be there. Also Hunchback characters like Clopin could be around, though they seem far less common than Belle/Beast/Aurora.
Morocco is cool - look inside the gift shop building directly across from the entrance into Marakkesh restaurant. This location is easy to miss as it is no where near the main sidewalk! Aladdin and Jasmine could be there, also Genie. Once we even saw Jafar on the main sidewalk.
Germany may have Snow White and Dopey, and VERY rarely the other dwarves! I think they are usually near the main sidewalk. I don't usually see any characters in Germany, so I think it is a "less" used country.
Italy could have Pinocchio characters like Geppetto and Pinocchio and VERY rarely Jiminy Cricket. I never seen a character there so not sure where exactly to look!
Mulan and maybe Mushu could be in China. I seen them on the main sidewalk and also against one of the buildings.
The Internation Gateway entrance to Epcot occassionally has characters meeting by the water there. I seen Snow White and Aurora there.
Back in Future World, A "robotic" Nemo character sometimes can be found in front of Living Seas. Also Figment the purple dragon can sometimes be found near Journey into the Imagination ride, or near the jumping fountains by Honey I Shrunk the Audience.
I think Epcot is one of the best places to meet characters, as they seem to hide in out of the way places that reward you for finding them! And the lines seem quite short usually when we stumble upon a character there. Only really long lines I seen were for the well-known characters on the character bus.
Ok, probably way too much info here! Meeting characters can be so much fun for the kids - Enjoy your time at Epcot!!
We just returned 2 weeks ago. Although we spent quite a bit of our vacation at EPCOT, the only character we saw was Pluto.
