How does the "Meet Characters" on the Entertainment Page work?

[p8ntldy]

After years of talking about it, we're taking our kids, their spouses, and our grandkids to DW in August. My DH and I have gone regularly for the past 15 years, but have never taken the whole gang with us since they've gotten married and had kids. We just have loved going by ourselves.. So, I'm familiar with the FP+ system and Magic Bands, etc.

Now that we'll be taking the children with us, meeting the characters will be super important.

Just saw on the Disney website the Entertainment Page showing all kinds of "Meets". Curious how this works...

You click on "Show in My Plans" and it takes you to dates and times, which are greyed out yet for me because our trip is too far in the future. I also see there's a "Reminder - this is not a reservation" statement on the page...

I thought that for certain Meet & Greets (like Anna & Elsa) you need to schedule FP+ or wait in really long lines. I don't need the princesses, as our grandkids are all boys - but they would love to see some of the Cars characters/Toy Story, etc. Just curious about how the FP system works with Meet & Greets...or maybe it isn't necessary - according to this page on the website.

Just want to be prepared to schedule some plans when our dates open up. BTW, when is that? Some of these experiences only show availability for the next 3 weeks.

Just a bit confused.

 

[Itinkso]

Only a few meet and greets utilize FP. The rest are first-come first-served lines and they do get cut-off/stopped because the Attendants count guests and estimate when the line needs to be stopped.

Meet and greets with FPs are:
MK
Mickey
Tink
Anna/Elsa
Princesses

Epcot
Character Spot

AK
Mickey & Minnie @ Adventurers Outpost

Check Kennythepirate.com's character info: http://www.kennythepirate.com/disney-world-character-schedules/

 

[Good Morning Dewdrop]

Some characters for example Anna/ Elsa, Cinderella/ Rapunzel, Tinker Bell, Mickey (in MK, Epcot and Animal Kingdom) have FP+. Other characters - Woody/ Buzz in DHS, Woody/ Jesse in MK, Tiana in MK, Mickey and Minnie in DHS etc do not have FP they have either posted or general times when they are out.

The cars characters are only in DHS no FP.

I hope that helps.

 

[FFMickey]

Yes, those are the walk up meet and greets. Usually, sometimes you can find some characters through the app that you wouldn't run into just walking around. i.e. Pooh and Tigger in the UK pavilion.

 

[tink9702]

Not all characters have FP+ availability. The ones I'm aware of are:

Anna & Elsa - MK
Cinderella & Rapunzel - MK
Ariel's Grotto - MK
Enchanted Tales with Belle (it's more of an interactive show than a M&G) - MK
Town Square Mickey - MK

Epcot Character spot (Mickey & Minnie) - Epcot
Adventures Outpost (Mickey & Minnie in safari garb) - AK

The other characters, such as Cars, Toy Story etc. you will have to wait in a standard line at their meet&greet spot. Basically I just noted who we wanted to see on MDE. Then on the day you get to the park make sure you grab a character meet&greet slip with the locations and times that are happening for that week. You can find these with the park maps. The times you see are only showing for the next couple weeks because they only schedule a month or so out at a time.
Also, we found it very difficult to see the characters in Epcot in the world showcase as their times are NOT the entire day. Cars, Toy Story at HS are both most of the day. Toy Story meets directly across from Toy Story Midway Mania and is an inside meet&greet. I don't know how old the boys are but my 5 year old enjoyed meeting Jake over by the Disney Jr. Show building. The one surprise character he liked was Mulan (epcot, China). She asked him to show his warrior moves off! He also liked meeting Pooh & Tigger at Epcot in the UK. Their meet&greet is way in the back of the pavilion with a backdoor entrance, just ask a CM in the store and they can help if you can't find it.

 

[p8ntldy]

Thanks for the link to KennythePirate's site. I hadn't known about that. Lots of GREAT info there!