Disneyland Characters

[discharacters]

I have been to Disney World multiple times, but never to Disneyland, and I am a character enthusiast. I was wondering if anyone could give me a descriotion of where the characters are and when in Disneyland or if there is a website that could give me that info. Thanks

 

[skiingfast]

The last real good DLR Charater site I knew of has been discontinued.

There is a basic site with a few errors.
http://disneyland.disney.go.com/characters/


This thread has some good advice and covers a lot, but keep in mind many in it are seasonal for Halloween.
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2810380


I'd highly suggest you do the Minnie and Friends Character breakfast in Disneyland Park, it has a lot of characters and some rare ones. Also when you enter the parks get a Times Guide, it will list most, though not all characters in the park that day with a location and approximate time.

ETA, you should also read The DLR Guide for WDW vets.

 

[Poohs100AcreWood]

Just got back and here is who I got autographs/pictures of:

Disneyland -
Main Street: White Rabbit, Queen of Hearts, Cruella, Mickey, Minnie, Goofy
Tomorrowland: Caught Goofy pretty late at night
Princess Fantasy Faire: Tiana, Ariel, Belle, Mulan
Fantasyland: Evil Queen
Pixie Hollow: Fawn, Tinkerbell
Critter Country: Pooh, Tigger, Eeyore, Brer Bear
By the reindeer: Pluto
Tangled meet and greet: Rapunzel, Flynn Rider
New Orleans Square: Jack Skellington
Adventureland: Aladdin, Jasmine
Wandering around: Peter Pan
And seen, but didn't meet: Alice, Mad Hatter, Gepetto, Cinderella, Aurora, Snow White, Santa Claus
At Minnie and Friends Breakfast: Minnie, Chip and Dale, Max, Rafiki, Fairy Godmother, Tigger, Pooh, Captain Hook, Peppermint the Penguin (from Mary Poppins)

California Adventure -
Meet and greet by the Bug's Land show: Donald, Chip and Dale
Backlot: Jake (from the pirate show on Disney Channel), Handy Manny, Sulley, Mr. Incredible
Golden State: Dug
Paradise Pier: Woody, Jessie, Buzz Lightyear, Duffy, Santa

 

[scarlet_ibis]

Wow! At least 14 on that list that we've NEVER met at WDW!

 

[PatMcDuck]

I think DL is a GOLD MINE for meeting characters! Better than WDW, IMHO.

I saw Aviator Minnie last May, and I never saw her at WDW, she was by the plane near Soarin' in California Adventure.

We stood in a short line for Pluto and Goofy (together!) and as we went up for a photo, Cruella came out, and made a big funny scene about how they were the WRONG kind of puppies! We got a photo with all 3, pluto, goofy, and Cruella, and we laughed for a long time about that.

The characters interact differently, and beware, they often have NO "handlers". They sometimes walk around somewhat quickly thru an area, pausing only here and there. Not like at WDW, where they stand in one place and their handler has guests form a line. A Star Wars stormtrooper was walking around Tomorrowland, and he was making angry gestures at the popcorn guy who was selling the R2D2 buckets, just so great.

There is a special Peter Pan, a fan favorite, who plays games with guests, when I saw him on Youtube he was teaching guests how to flip coins into the fountain near the castle. There also is a way to play some game with Alice, but I missed that one. I think I saw that same Peter Pan, but when I did, he was goofing around with Hook.

That said, one of my favorite character meets was at Epcot, we happened to be there during Flower and Garden, and it was all about Bugs weekend, or something. We were leaving the park, and ran into GET THIS! Tuck and Roll, AND Francis the Ladybug from Bugs Life! I have the photos to prove it, lol. I NEVER saw them before or since......

 

[Eeee-va]

Jack and sometimes Sally seem to be out for Halloweentime, I guess through Christmas, because I was lucky enough to meet them both after Thanksgiving! Their line fills up very quick but they were amazing, taking time to make each guest feel special.

 

[Disneyland 1951]

If you are into the Princesses and do not want to wait an hour to see three of them, look for them on the side paths to the Castle.
They will come out for 20-25 minutes several times between 10:00am and 3:00pm.

Today, between 2:00 and 2:30, nine characters were out at the same time. On the left path (Carnation Gardens) were: Belle, Aurora, Arial, and Cinderella with her Fairy Godmother.
At the Wishing Well on the right side were Snow White and her Evil Queen stepmother.
Also at the same time Alice and Wonderland and the Mad Hatter passed by on the way to the Tea Cup ride.

In California Adventure were Christmas Mickey and Minnie with Pluto.

 

[Eeee-va]

Today, between 2:00 and 2:30, nine characters were out at the same time. On the left path (Carnation Gardens) were: Belle, Aurora, Arial, and Cinderella with her Fairy Godmother.
At the Wishing Well on the right side were Snow White and her Evil Queen stepmother.

That's amazing! (And great photo!) When we went I looked at the paths and just once did I see a princess, but she had a pretty long line. (Would've been worth it if it's the one you needed to see though!)

I did try the side path tip but I had no idea how few times I actually go through/near the castle during the day. I'm sure if you're in the area a lot you'll have better luck!

If the park opens the same time as Pixie Hollow and Princess Fantasy Faire (as it does sometimes) you can do them first thing and the lines should be short. But when I did that I only met Tinkerbell and 2 princesses (usually you get 3).

 

[cmwade77]

Just got back and here is who I got autographs/pictures of:

Disneyland -
Main Street: White Rabbit, Queen of Hearts, Cruella, Mickey, Minnie, Goofy
Tomorrowland: Caught Goofy pretty late at night
Princess Fantasy Faire: Tiana, Ariel, Belle, Mulan
Fantasyland: Evil Queen
Pixie Hollow: Fawn, Tinkerbell
Critter Country: Pooh, Tigger, Eeyore, Brer Bear
By the reindeer: Pluto
Tangled meet and greet: Rapunzel, Flynn Rider
New Orleans Square: Jack Skellington
Adventureland: Aladdin, Jasmine
Wandering around: Peter Pan
And seen, but didn't meet: Alice, Mad Hatter, Gepetto, Cinderella, Aurora, Snow White, Santa Claus
At Minnie and Friends Breakfast: Minnie, Chip and Dale, Max, Rafiki, Fairy Godmother, Tigger, Pooh, Captain Hook, Peppermint the Penguin (from Mary Poppins)

California Adventure -
Meet and greet by the Bug's Land show: Donald, Chip and Dale
Backlot: Jake (from the pirate show on Disney Channel), Handy Manny, Sulley, Mr. Incredible
Golden State: Dug
Paradise Pier: Woody, Jessie, Buzz Lightyear, Duffy, Santa

DW and I have annual passes seen the following around as well:
Disneyland -
Wandering around Main Street - Marry Poppins and Bert (almost always together).
Adventureland - Terk
Fantasyland - Evil Queen from Snow White
Critter Country - Brier Bear, Brier Rabbit. Very recently saw several of the bears from Country Bear Jamboree (no idea why they were there and it is not common to see them there now that the attraction is gone)
New Orleans Square - Sally
Frontierland - Jeesie, Woodie and Bullseye
First Aid - Cruella Deville, Goofy, Donald, Daisy (I think that is all that I have ever seen there and it is not unusual for them to stop in when there is someone that has to stay in first aid for a while to cheer them up from what I have been told).

During the week in the off season, it is not uncommon to see various characters on Main Street, many playing games with guests. Some of the characters that I have seen in the off season are the mice from Cinderella, Fariy Godmother from Cinderella, Clarabell, Goofy, Donald, Pluto, Mickey, Minnie, Daisy, the list goes on and on. It is common to see them later in the day, after the last parade.

DCA-
Max, characters from the Incredibles, Toy Story, the list goes on and on.

If you want to meet a lot of characters, I highly recommend Goofy's Kitchen, usually the characters that they have there are not out in the parks much that day (especially the face characters).

This is in no way an exhaustive list of who all is out and about, there are quite often more than this and they will be random throughout the park. Off season tends to have more characters out, especially during the week, when the park closes earlier. I am not sure what the reasoning is for this, but it is what I have seen happen.

 

[goofiNess]

I always see a character by main street, and sometimes by fantasyland

 

[discharacters]

Just wanted to bump this up since I am going in less than a week.

 

[scarlet_ibis]

We got back last Sunday. Let me see what I can remember:

Right inside the gates: Queen of Hearts, Mad Hatter, White Rabbit (playing around, no real lines, but signing and posing as it suited them)
Main Street: Gepetto, Goofy, Pluto, Minnie... classic characters
Pixie Hollow: didn't go but assume it had fairies
Critter Corner: Tigger, Pooh, Eeyore, Rabbit (sometimes in shifts)
Princess Faire: Belle, Ariel, Tiana
In the garden to the left of the castle: Cinderella, Aurora
Near Tiki Room in their own spot: Jasmine, Aladdin
Near Haunted Mansion line: Jack Skellington
Toontown: Mickey and Minnie (at their houses), Goofy and Pluto (mobile)
Tangled in Fantasyland: Rapunzel and Flynn Rider

CA:
Outside of TSM: Jessie
Part of Dance Party (not signing): Phineas and Ferb
Green Army Man Drum Corps (not signing)
near Bug Land: Donald, Pluto, Chipmunks
outside Animation building: Handy Manny
near Wine Country (own space, not signing obviously): McQueen and Mater

Goofy's Kitchen:
Goofy, Pluto, Snow White, Jasmine, Genie, Chip and Dale

Storytellers (didn't eat there but saw Terk through the window)

REALLY enjoyed our first trip to DL. Characters weren't as abundant as WDW, I felt (maybe because of fewer places to stash them) but the lines were shorter and there were characters that you just don't see at WDW. We had never met Gepetto, Rabbit, Genie, or Jack Skellington. And even though Rapunzel has been at WDW for almost a year now, the last time we were there, her line was over 3 hours long (they were lining up at 9am for the noon greeting.) so under an hour was a breeze.