Do princesses/characters still roam?

[staceychev]

I noticed when making our FP+ reservations that there are options for many of the princesses. Do the characters still roam the parks for those impromptu sightings? Last time we were there was 2010, and running into Tiana, Mary Poppins, and Snow White was so much more magical than waiting in line for the fairies, regardless of favorites. (Not that we won't be waiting in line for A&E--some things are non-negotiable!)

 

[Dan Murphy]

Not really. They all have specific locations for the meet and greets. You certainly may see them walking to/from their locations, but the most they will generally do is give a wave and hello as they keep walking to or from their locations.

 

[JenB1104]

The only character we randomly saw walking in Fantasyland was Peter Pan and it seemed he was on his way somewhere.

 

[JennyDrake]

Not really--not like years past. I see the OCCASIONAL character now, but never ever a random princess.

 

[Alesia]

Characters didn't roam the parks in 2010, either. Most of them didn't have fastpasses available, but they definitely had scheduled meet & greets.

 

[epcotty]

I saw 2 or 3 characters walking around two weeks ago but it isn't a usual thing like before

 

[britterbell]

They do, however, have unscheduled M&Gs at the International Gateway (mostly training) and the Character Palooza (except you can find a pretty reliable schedule for that on Kenny the Pirate)

 

[ktlm]

They haven't roamed at WDW in years. If you saw them roaming in 2010, then they had to have been either coming from or going to their location, or if you saw them "roaming" in EPCOT, then what you actually saw might have been Mary Poppins (UK) and Snow White (Germany) at their designated spots in EPCOT, and probably a training session for Tiana, as she does not regularly appear in EPCOT, but rather only has her location in Liberty Square in MK, but you do occasionally find some characters who are training back by the International Gateway area or one other spot in WS. They do still roam at DL, which can be a lot of fun! We were there a couple of weeks ago, and DD took a nice stroll with Mary Poppins and Bert near Fantasyland!

Kennythepirate.com has a fantastic listing of who you can meet in each park and their meet times.

 

[Bricket]

The only characters I've ever seen "roam...ish" were Princess Tiana and Prince Naveen. They danced the whole way to their meet & greet location and I seriously teared up watching them. Was a magical moment for me.

 

[austinwildflower]

No, they don't. You might pass one that is going from one place to another, but you won't get an autograph or photo (or even a word) with them. There are a lot more minor characters whose meet&greets don't have fastpasses, & who you might randomly see a line for (my favorite for this was Cinderella's wicked stepmother&stepsisters).

 

[CinderElsa]

I once overheard a woman say, "I can't believe I've been here for six hours and I haven't seen one character yet!" I wonder if she's still waiting.

 

[epcotty]

I know I saw at least 2 when I was there 3 weeks ago, I think it was Brer Bear, one older character we couldn't identify, and seem to recall seeing Winnie walking around too

 

[wmson2000]

I agree with everyone that 99% of all character meet and greets are only at scheduled times and locations. But every so often there will be an impromptu meet and greet. For example we saw Mary Poppins was a dozen feet from Tony's Town Square's door and she was signing in March. I don't thisnk that's a scheduled spot.

As other's have said: Kennythepirate.com

 

[PghPixie]

We got really lucky in October 2013 and saw Mickey and Minnie (together!) walking to their meet and greet location in Epcot. It was in one of the "side walkways" in the World Showcase and there was only one other family around so they did stop and take pictures with everyone. That was one of my favorite moments of the trip!

 

[famy27]

In June 2014, we met Princess Aurora and Prince Phillip roaming in EPCOT. They were by the Imagination Pavilion, so they weren't on the way to France. There was nobody around, so my girls got to spend a lot of time with them.

That being said, this was more like a "win the lottery" M&G. I've never had an experience like that before or since.

 

[brb1006]

I wish character we're allowed to view fireworks shows with a special guest at a certain location where it's not crowded. I can already see a picture of a child smiling while watching wishes with their favorite character.

 

[MermaidMommy]

In June 2014, we met Princess Aurora and Prince Phillip roaming in EPCOT. They were by the Imagination Pavilion, so they weren't on the way to France. There was nobody around, so my girls got to spend a lot of time with them.

That being said, this was more like a "win the lottery" M&G. I've never had an experience like that before or since.

That was most likely a training meet at Epcot. Sometimes you can get lucky there and meet some rare characters or characters that don't typically meet at Epcot -- especially at times of year when they're training for parties and special events.

 

[bbjunkie]

A couple of weeks ago they were running a "test" with Flynn Rider out in the MK searching for Rapunzel. I don't know how it went, or if it ended, or if they have decided to continue it. Anyone know?

 

[DisneyGirl4Ever!]

No, they don't. Most have specific meet and greet places. Ask a cast member where they are located.

 

[brb1006]

Apparently it's still common in Disneyland and Tokyo Disney Resort.