Charcters Meets WITHOUT lining up!

[BFIrrera]

If you don't care about parades or fireworks, try to go to Toontown just before the evening parade starts...you can still have access to Tomorrowland and Fantasyland afterwards even though you'll likely be blocked by traffic in Main Street U.S.A.

in May, we got to Toontown as it started to get dark and it was practically deserted by that point. No crowds in Minnie or Mickey's house and only one other family in line ahead of us to meet Mickey!

 

[GoN2WDW]

sorry, the title of this thread just made me giggle! It reminds me of a little boy my DH and I overheard telling his parents that he "doesn't have to wait in line for anything"! All we could think was, boy, they're in for a looonnnggg trip!

You can avoid lines by going to a character meal, but you spend more down time at a table service restaurant. You just need to select the lesser of your two evils.

 

[Vallie]

Thanks for everyone's help/tips so far! they are great! I understand we're gunna have to wait in line to meet charcters which is not a problem I was just a bit worried bc I read on a post on here that there was a ONE HOUR wait to meet a character (forgot which one) And bc we only have one day waiting an hour is a longg time and I was just worried but it doesnt sound like we'll be having to wait that long!!

 

[hezreck]

Everytime we have been there, the Princess Room in Toontwon has quite a long wait. Also Ariel at her Grotto can get crowded.

If you want to see princesses, I suggest going to Epcot. There you can see Jasmine, Belle and Beast, Snow White, Aurora and Mary Poppins (I know, not a princess ) Usually the lines there are very short.

 

[GoN2WDW]

Yes hesreck, now that I think of it, we've seen a lot of characters while we were walking through EPCOT and the lines were always pretty short compared to those at the MK. We ended up getting a lot of good character pics there!

 

[NJDad18]

Go to the Character Connection is EPCOT. You can see Mickey and Minnie, with a minimal wait, especially if you go early in the day. The Character Connection is in one of the Innovations buildings. It's towards the Land. There are always Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Pluto, Chip and Dale there on the inside. But on the outside ring there are rotating characters. In August we saw Cinderella, Alice, Belle, Goofy and Max. They had almost no wait to see them.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

I second Character Connection in Epcot. Also, sometimes in the WS of Epcot there are characters tucked away in the back areas. If you are lucky, then you might find some with minimal wait. No wait is almost out of the question. Sometimes at the entrance of AK mid-day you'll find characters with minimal waits - but not Mickey.
MK is probably the park with the longest lines. Late at night, just before park close, a number of characters come out in the area in front of the castle, and then a few more on the other end of Main St. The lines are NOT exceptionally short, but at least at that point, you'll have done everything else, so you can more comfortably devote the rest of your time to seeing characters. (the timing borders on park closing anyhow)
Sometimes you can find oddballl characters with minimal waits - like the Mad Hatter near the teacups. Last year, he had no line and he was actually going up to people and being silly to get their smile. It was one of the best characters that I've actually seen ACTING like the character in a LONG time.
It reminded me of a picture my parents took of me with Minnie when I was very little. She walked up right behind me, and they took a picture just as I turned around and caught site of her. She hugged me.

Nowadays, most of the characters just stand, sign, and pose - without actually getting to express any of their character's personality any more. Even at the character meals. At 1900 Park Fare, the characters were so eager to move on to the next table it was almost pathetic.

 

[sparmeland]

We also have luck in the shop in UK at Epcot WS. We were able to get a picture with Mary Poppins with no wait during our first trip. This trip we were able to get a picture with Pooh, Tigger and Eyeore only waiting after one family

Also we ate at Liberty Tree tavern and the character really interacted with you. (Micket wasn't there though) Chip and Dale were being mischievous with the kids from the table next to us.

Certain characters like Mickey I don't expect a picture with unless I go to a character meal with him or wait an eternity

 

[MickiMouth]

Sometimes you can find oddballl characters with minimal waits - like the Mad Hatter near the teacups. Last year, he had no line and he was actually going up to people and being silly to get their smile. It was one of the best characters that I've actually seen ACTING like the character in a LONG time.

We met Alice and Mad Hatter near the tea cups and they were great, especially him. It was as if they just walked out of Wonderland into WDW. The pictures we got are great. Poor DD6 looked so confused in a few. They were so in character. The best.

 

[AStamm]

Back in 1978, you could have walked right up to the characters and they wandered around, which caused many problems for the characters and guests. Also, horrible photos because other people and kids were always in your photos.

We went to DL for the first time this summer, and this is the case there. There were very few CMs around for crowd control and parents were just shoving their kids in wherever they could. It was much too chaotic to enjoy.

Be thankful for the lines and the fact that they are controlled so well. No one gets injured, everyone gets a turn (except for those unlucky people the CM tells "sorry...this is the last family" ), and you can get really nice pictures without strangers in them.