Characters?

[LaVon]

First time going to Disneyland (Woot Woot 15 days and counting ) WE will have our 3 boys (oldest is 6 and the twins 3 3/4) WE really want to get a ton of Autographs but not wanting to waste a ton of time getting them.. WE are chase card holders so I know that gives us a few meet and greats but other than that whats the best plan? Can you get Autographs and pictures from random characters walking around the park or is everything on schedules? One of my twins is a HUGE Olaf fan so he is a must!! I cant ask them who they would want to see at this moment because the trip is a surprise.. Any help would be greatly appreciated

 

[mom2rtk]

If the character is "wandering" they are probably on their way to a meeting place and won't stop. But you can follow and see if they stop.

Try using the DL app. It gives a fairly accurate indication of who is out and what time they will be back. Not perfect, but a nice starting point.

 

[avalon451]

A character breakfast is a lot of fun for these ages. Minnie' breakfast at the Plaza Inn regularly has 8-10 characters. We were there last week and saw Minnie, Winnie, Chip, Pinocchio, Gepetto, Fairy Godmother, Rafiki, Capt. Hook, and Max (Goofy's son).

We went to Mickey's House in Toon Town and waited to meet Mickey; it took about 25 minutes to walk through his house and wait in the "studio barn" where they play old cartoons, to meet him for pictures. We also waited to meet Anna and Elsa in California Adventure "Royal Welcome", about 30 minutes.

There are ALWAYS characters around the Town Square area right at the entrance, you will often see Mickey, Minnie, Donald and Goofy there; but the lines can be long. We caught Goofy in his halloween costume there with a fairly short wait:




Sometimes we lucked out by happening on a character meet in an out-of-the-way place with a short line. Case in point, I think our favorite meet was Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde, who were over in a corner by Monster's INC Mike and Sulley to the Rescue in CA:



Oh, and Olaf does meet and greets over in Studio 17 in California adventure, I believe. Anna and Elsa told us about it when we met them, but we didn't get the chance to go over there.

 

[javeyloveschelsi]

You will see characters walking all around. Often, they are headed to a spot to take pictures, but sometimes they are sweet and will stop if they are on their own, like this morning, Gaston stopped for me to take pictures of him posing to teach my 2 year old how it "should be done". It was great and very funny. I second Minnie's breakfast for character meets--we went at this morning for the first seating and had GREAT character interaction (Dale was the BEST--so funny with my kids) but we saw Eeyore, Tigger, Pinocchio, Max, Chip and Dale, Rafiki (also awesome), the lovely Minnie who was so sweet, and they returned to our table several times

 

[heffalumpz]

A fun place to check for characters is the wishing well! Also, I definitely recommend Goofy's Kitchen for a character meal - it gets all the main guys (minus Mickey) at once and the interactions there are so great!

 

[LaVon]

A character breakfast is a lot of fun for these ages. Minnie' breakfast at the Plaza Inn regularly has 8-10 characters. We were there last week and saw Minnie, Winnie, Chip, Pinocchio, Gepetto, Fairy Godmother, Rafiki, Capt. Hook, and Max (Goofy's son).

We went to Mickey's House in Toon Town and waited to meet Mickey; it took about 25 minutes to walk through his house and wait in the "studio barn" where they play old cartoons, to meet him for pictures. We also waited to meet Anna and Elsa in California Adventure "Royal Welcome", about 30 minutes.

There are ALWAYS characters around the Town Square area right at the entrance, you will often see Mickey, Minnie, Donald and Goofy there; but the lines can be long. We caught Goofy in his halloween costume there with a fairly short wait:

View attachment 196720


Sometimes we lucked out by happening on a character meet in an out-of-the-way place with a short line. Case in point, I think our favorite meet was Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde, who were over in a corner by Monster's INC Mike and Sulley to the Rescue in CA:

View attachment 196723

Oh, and Olaf does meet and greets over in Studio 17 in California adventure, I believe. Anna and Elsa told us about it when we met them, but we didn't get the chance to go over there.

We do have dinner reservations at goofys kitchen

 

[LaVon]

A fun place to check for characters is the wishing well! Also, I definitely recommend Goofy's Kitchen for a character meal - it gets all the main guys (minus Mickey) at once and the interactions there are so great!

We do have dinner reservations with Goofys kitchen on our anniversary

 

[Goose&mavie]

I second the suggestion for breakfast with minie at Plaza inn, we met Pinocchio, chip and dale, eeyore, max, fairy godmother, Minnie, rafiki. There were others that didn't make their way to our table (Captain Hook, tigger) but overall, my LO loved it!

Also, she got lots of character interactions and photos at DCA. Nick Wilde and Judy hops, Oswald, mr and mrs incredible, Sofia the first, Minnie in dapper dress, Anna and Elsa.

We went to have breakfast at goofy's kitchen last year and it was really underwhelming in terms of character meeting.

 

[22Tink]

Goofy's Kitchen is great but if you're after characters you'll definitely get more bang for your buck at Minnie's Breakfast at the Plaza. We were just there in August and at goofy's we only saw Goofy, Chip & Dale, Pluto and Minnie. At the Plaza breakfast we saw Minnie, Max, Chip & Dale, Hook, Fairy Godmother, Eeyore, Tigger, Pooh, Rafiki and Geppetto! Definitely a great meal for characters!! Have a great trip!

 

[LaVon]

Goofy's Kitchen is great but if you're after characters you'll definitely get more bang for your buck at Minnie's Breakfast at the Plaza. We were just there in August and at goofy's we only saw Goofy, Chip & Dale, Pluto and Minnie. At the Plaza breakfast we saw Minnie, Max, Chip & Dale, Hook, Fairy Godmother, Eeyore, Tigger, Pooh, Rafiki and Geppetto! Definitely a great meal for characters!! Have a great trip!

That kinda sucks my husband wants to do dinner only and goofys was the only dinner option

 

[22Tink]

That kinda sucks my husband wants to do dinner only and goofys was the only dinner option

Maybe he'll reconsider when you tell him about the time you'll be saving by not having to stand in line for as many characters? That Winnie the Pooh line is brutal!! For my daughter, she was pretty satisfied with the characters she got at the breakfast and we only stood in a few lines for ones she really wanted. Either way, you'll have a great trip. It's Disneyland!!

 

[LaVon]

Id doubt he would changehis mind.. The dinner was the only thing he asked for :/ Maybe i can sneek a breakfast in

 

[LaVon]

I second the suggestion for breakfast with minie at Plaza inn, we met Pinocchio, chip and dale, eeyore, max, fairy godmother, Minnie, rafiki. There were others that didn't make their way to our table (Captain Hook, tigger) but overall, my LO loved it!

Also, she got lots of character interactions and photos at DCA. Nick Wilde and Judy hops, Oswald, mr and mrs incredible, Sofia the first, Minnie in dapper dress, Anna and Elsa.

We went to have breakfast at goofy's kitchen last year and it was really underwhelming in terms of character meeting.

Man that sucks because its more expensive (we already paid for it)

 

[Skyegirl1999]

Goofy's Kitchen is fine, but you're only going to see four characters besides Goofy (you see him when you go in, he doesn't come around to the tables). It's a regular list as PP stated. Minnie's Plaza breakfast has far more characters (7-10 seems to be the norm), and they vary. We saw Eeyore, Tigger, Pooh, Captain Hook, Max, Rafiki, Chip and Dale, and maybe a couple of others? I will say that Minnie's was very chaotic compared to Goofy's and Ariel's because it IS more random... But anyway. Goofy's will be fine; it's just not a very character-heavy meal in comparison.

 

[KeKy4]

Here's a long list of the characters and where they usually are.
http://www.kennythepirate.com/disney-world-character-schedules/disneyland-characters/

There are always characters hanging out at the entrance and just inside the entrance.
I have never seen Olaf but would expect him to be in DCA if there is a meet and greet.

ETA: https://disneyland.disney.go.com/entertainment/disney-california-adventure/character-meet-olaf/

 

[allsaintsatx]

Sorry to throw yet another option in, but the Surf's Up Breakfast with Mickey & Friends at the Paradise Pier Hotel is another good place to meet characters. I mention it only because of your avatar! You can meet Stitch, Minnie Mouse, Daisy Duck, Pluto and of course Mickey Mouse. You get a picture with Mickey before you are seated and he's wearing a special beach themed outfit, as are some of the other walk around characters.

Goofy's is the only character dinner you can get regularly, everything else character-wise is breakfast or brunch.

Also, Goofy's has the best food, but from my experience the least amount of substantial character interaction. It used to be the best, not sure what happened? It's still good, don't get me wrong, but just not as good as the Plaza or Surf's Up. We almost couldn't get Stitch to leave our table at Surf's Up!! He was dancing, trying to grab our food, it was great! And at the Plaza - just wow! So many characters!! But the food is,ummm, challenging? Goofy's is great, but it's got really stiff competition is all!!

We love meeting characters but hate waiting in lines, so we made the switch to character breakfasts a few years ago and never looked back!

 

[LaVon]

Here's a long list of the characters and we're they usually are.
http://www.kennythepirate.com/disney-world-character-schedules/disneyland-characters/

There are always characters hanging out at the entrance and just inside the entrance.
I have never seen Olaf but would expect him to be in DCA if there is a meet and greet.

ETA: https://disneyland.disney.go.com/entertainment/disney-california-adventure/character-meet-olaf/

thanks for this link!