DL-related question

[Philmallard]

I was recently visiting DL with my family this past Friday (we were going to go Thursday evening as well however found out at the hotel that they closed at 6 PM). My question is does DL only put out a certain amount of costumed characters a certain month or so? I could literally count on two hands just how many costumed characters I met/saw walking out and about. Alice, White Rabbit, Hatter, and the Queen were at the gates (i think), then Mickey (very briefly), Pluto (briefly), Cruella, and Gepetto were at the Main Street, and Rosetta and Tink were at the Pixie Hollow, the Bert, Mary and the band performed somewhere (I can't remember where atm). Lastly Minnie and Goofy came out at the end of Fantasmic to take pictures and autographs (Minnie stuck around long enough to pose with me, but Goofy disappeared). I didn't visit California Adventure, or go near Critter Country/Splash Mountain area or Toon Town so I am assuming there would have been some more that I did not see at those locations, however we trekked through Port Royal/New Orleans area, Frontier Land, Adventure Land, Fantasy Land, Tomorrow Land, and in/around the castle and saw now sign of any princes or princesses or any other usual costumed character. We're due to go back in November to meet a friend and her young daughter there for her first trip and I'm hoping that there will be more meetable characters as this last trip there seemed to far and few in-between. So is it just a seasonal/monthly thing with the characters being so scarce in September or a heat thing? Because as I recall visiting many years ago in the hottest of summer months I managed to see most every common and some rare characters you can think of (BBWolf, 3 little pigs, and Launchpad to name a few) and it didn't seem to be a problem.

 

[skiingfast]

This is the right place to post questions regarding DL.

Characters come and go as poulatrity rises and falls.


I don't think you saw a real small amount. Considering it's offseason and the hours are shorts. Of course you can't be everywhere at the same time either.

If you want to see more go to the meet and greet areas like Pixie Hollow and the Princess Fantasy Fair. And of course Character Meals helps a lot.

In DCA you usually meet Pixar characters and some of the big five.

 

[Philmallard]

This is the right place to post questions regarding DL.

Characters come and go as poulatrity rises and falls.


I don't think you saw a real small amount. Considering it's offseason and the hours are shorts. Of course you can't be everywhere at the same time either.

If you want to see more go to the meet and greet areas like Pixie Hollow and the Princess Fantasy Fair. And of course Character Meals helps a lot.

In DCA you usually meet Pixar characters and some of the big five.

Thanks I will keep that in mind, but it just seemed like a lot lot less than they could have put out - like no Chip or Dale, or villains greeting by MSUSA and such. I will be sure to visit the places I didn't get to last time.

 

[Kayla's Mom]

We were there last week and saw a lot of different characters. Off the top of my head we saw:

Chip and Dale
Gepetto
Bert
Aladdin
Mickey
Minnie
Donald Duck
Alice
Mad Hatter
the bear and fox from splash mountain
Eeyore
Pooh
Tigger
Daisy
Tweedle Dee
Tweedle Dum
Pluto
Goofy
Princess Aurora
Rapunzel and Flynn
Vidia, Tink, Rosetta
Woody

This was over 5 days though.

At DCA we saw:

Stitch
Handy Manny
Sully
Dug and Russell
Jessie
Buzz

 

[Philmallard]

We were there last week and saw a lot of different characters. Off the top of my head we saw:

Chip and Dale
Gepetto
Bert
Aladdin
Mickey
Minnie
Donald Duck
Alice
Mad Hatter
the bear and fox from splash mountain
Eeyore
Pooh
Tigger
Daisy
Tweedle Dee
Tweedle Dum
Pluto
Goofy
Princess Aurora
Rapunzel and Flynn
Vidia, Tink, Rosetta
Woody

This was over 5 days though.

At DCA we saw:

Stitch
Handy Manny
Sully
Dug and Russell
Jessie
Buzz

Thanks for the information Kayla's mom Was there any particular spot you need to go to meet Flynn and Rapunzel, and a particular time of day to see Aladdin and Jasmine (it was during the day on Friday when I went and Al's Oasis was closed)?

 

[Kayla's Mom]

Thanks for the information Kayla's mom Was there any particular spot you need to go to meet Flynn and Rapunzel, and a particular time of day to see Aladdin and Jasmine (it was during the day on Friday when I went and Al's Oasis was closed)?

The Tangled meet and greet with Rapunzel and Flynn is in Fantasyland right next to the Pinocchio ride. I don't know if there are specific times to see Aladdin, there were times when he was out, and others when it was roped off. You might ask one of the CMs if they know the times.

 

[Disney Dreams]

...I could literally count on two hands just how many costumed characters I met/saw walking out and about. Alice, White Rabbit, Hatter, and the Queen were at the gates (i think), then Mickey (very briefly), Pluto (briefly), Cruella, and Gepetto were at the Main Street, and Rosetta and Tink were at the Pixie Hollow, the Bert, Mary and the band performed somewhere (I can't remember where atm). Lastly Minnie and Goofy came out at the end of Fantasmic to take pictures and autographs (Minnie stuck around long enough to pose with me, but Goofy disappeared)....

You saw 12 just walking about? That's pretty good, especially for off-season!

As for others, if you post who you were hoping to see, we might be able to help you with when/where, but generally speaking:
Winnie the Pooh and Friends - at the meet and greet area in Critter Country
Mickey - can (almost) always be found at his house during the day
Tink & friends - Pixie Hollow
Alice and friends - On Main Street during Musical Chairs
Princesses - Princess Fantasy Faire
Flynn & Rapunzel - newly built "Tangled" meet and greet area
Toy Story characters - Paradise Pier
Buzz Lightyear - Tomorrowland (or the Pier)
The Queen - Fantasyland
Villains are out very heavily during Halloween time. They can vary during other times of year.

If you are ever wanting to see a specific character, you can have a Cast Member call the Toon Finder line and they can find out exactly when and where they will be. They can also let you know at City Hall or the Guest Relations kiosk at the top of Main Street.

Because as I recall visiting many years ago in the hottest of summer months I managed to see most every common and some rare characters you can think of (BBWolf, 3 little pigs, and Launchpad to name a few) and it didn't seem to be a problem.

Your mention of the rare characters makes me wonder if this was during the Character Fun Days when they had all sorts of characters out and about, particularly the lesser-seen ones that you mentioned.

HTH,
Dreams

 

[Philmallard]

You saw 12 just walking about? That's pretty good, especially for off-season!

As for others, if you post who you were hoping to see, we might be able to help you with when/where, but generally speaking:
Winnie the Pooh and Friends - at the meet and greet area in Critter Country
Mickey - can (almost) always be found at his house during the day
Tink & friends - Pixie Hollow
Alice and friends - On Main Street during Musical Chairs
Princesses - Princess Fantasy Faire
Flynn & Rapunzel - newly built "Tangled" meet and greet area
Toy Story characters - Paradise Pier
Buzz Lightyear - Tomorrowland (or the Pier)
The Queen - Fantasyland
Villains are out very heavily during Halloween time. They can vary during other times of year.

If you are ever wanting to see a specific character, you can have a Cast Member call the Toon Finder line and they can find out exactly when and where they will be. They can also let you know at City Hall or the Guest Relations kiosk at the top of Main Street.


Your mention of the rare characters makes me wonder if this was during the Character Fun Days when they had all sorts of characters out and about, particularly the lesser-seen ones that you mentioned.

HTH,
Dreams

It could have been the Fun Days that you mentioned, but I was 11 or 12 at the time (1996 or 1997) and don't recall specifics other than furry critters Probably a dumb question but in your experience what are the best months to visit DL? It seems like I saw the most/interacted with the most characters was during the summer months, but I would like to know specific months/dates if possible

 

[Disney Dreams]

It could have been the Fun Days that you mentioned, but I was 11 or 12 at the time (1996 or 1997) and don't recall specifics other than furry critters Probably a dumb question but in your experience what are the best months to visit DL? It seems like I saw the most/interacted with the most characters was during the summer months, but I would like to know specific months/dates if possible

Oh, Fun Days was just in the last year or so, so that was not it. But it could have been something special with the rarely seen characters, er, furry critters.

As for your question about the "best months to visit DL":

That is an almost impossible question to answer. It depends on what you are looking for in your visit. During the summer, everything is in full swing, but... it's one of the busiest time of the year and crowd levels are high.

December is a great time to go if you want to see Christmas entertainment, special costumed characters, unique holiday offerings and merchandise, but, again, arguably, the busiest time of the year.

February is a great time to go if you want low crowds. However, you are more likely to get rain and ride closures, as well as less entertainment offerings and shorter hours. Some people will say you can actually do more during shorter hours since the crowds are so much lower.

A lot of people love going during the Fall because it combines not-too-bad crowds, Halloween decorations, entertainment, characters dressed for Halloween, longer hours, cooler weather, but... can also have some closures and the Park closes early on some nights for the Halloween parties.

So, the answer to your question is: It depends.

Does that help at all?

- Dreams

 

[cmwade77]

I find if the Off Season that there tends to be more characters out, especially on shorter days. That being said, it sounds like you saw an average amount of characters for the time, there would have been about 1/2 of that during the busier seasons (not counting meet and greet locations).