I just returned from Disney last week, and I saw plenty of princesses, and never did any character meals!
I think one of the best places to meet princesses is the Big Hat at Disney-MGM Studios. On our recent trips, usually there has been two rotations of characters out greeting every day. Usually "fur" characters like Pooh, Donald, and Goofy come out at, let's say 11:30, 12:30, and 1:30. Then on the next half-hour (like 12:00, 1:00, 2:00), a different set of characters come out, and princesses can be found in this set. Over our trip, we saw Belle, Mulan (almost every day), Pocahontas, Meg, Snow White (almost every day), Jasmine (almost every day), and Cinderella. And Mary Poppins was here too, since some consider her a princess. Usually there were two or three princesses each day!

These characters usually make at least three/four appearances during the day (like at noon, 1:00, 2:00, maybe 3:00). It seemed that every day we were there, we saw a different lineup of princess characters. So - if you are at MGM, check by the The Big Hat often in the middle of the day - you should see some princesses!
We also saw Aurora in her pink dress in front of Magic Kingdom, in front of Exposition Hall on two different days. But she is very hit-or-miss!
So, the princesses are out and about, if you know where to look!!!
<img src="http://home.att.net/~disneysue/hugsmall3.gif">