needing Tips on how to make the most of a quickly upcoming trip

[disneydude365]

Ok, so in december my family, and I are happily returning to our favorite place for a special conference celebrating at the contemporary hotel DAYS BEFORE CHRISTMAS, it will be first time with magic bands. we've looked into fasts + but seeing how we won't receive some of our tickets until arrival we don't see much use in it.
Im getting to bring a friend (a best friend) which i think will make it even better trip, but I've been going crazy trying to get details sorted out. i want to make this one of the best trips ever!
while we haven't been able to make reservations for dinner even though we started trying 3 months ago lol, we have finally got our schedule narrowed down. seeing how i never can find Peter in the magic kingdom despite my best efforts lol
I've decided to book the pirates and palls firework cruise i figure a great way to fill a small time slot than have to waste a park ticket for only just a few hours plus ill get to hopefully meet my favorite character. I've done this once before and i loved it.
(now i hope I'm not embarrassing when i say I'm 22, and my friend is 18 lol)
we will also get one day 1pm-3am in the park MK thanks to magic hours any tips on meeting characters at our age? or just extra tips in general?

i love everything about disney work and have been well over 10 times but lwould love getting other peoples experiences and tips!

thanks for any info you have to offer!

 

[jezebel73]

Now we all know it doesn't matter how old you are!!!

As an adult, I definitely prefer the face characters because you can really interact. If that's your style, I would focus on that.

Another thing my family is doing is a photo mat for autographs this year. The kids have a lot of the signatures in books already but still love to meet them. I though this was a cool way to go. You could have them just sign in different colors or write some sort of greeting like Happy Holidays. (We are getting something written in each country in Epcot.) Then use that mat to frame a great photo of you and your bestie!

 

[katiea86]

If you love the characters, you have to check out Kenny the Pirate's website. Its a general WDW info website, but there seems to be a focus on meeting characters. There's even a page of things to say to different characters...ex: call Aladdin a "street-rat" and see his reaction, tell Donald that Mickey is your favorite (or, conversely, that you love him more than Mickey). Now I can't wait to talk to the characters!

 

[nhmommy]

We just got back and had great luck getting fast pass+ s the night before right around 10:00 keep checking every few min between 9:30 and 11:00 after 11:00 there isn't much point checking that ofter. Look one person at a time and then work the times until they overlap I was able to get passes for seven dwarfs mine train and both parades at magic kingdom for 5 people this way. People make the pass reservations so far ahead and when they get there change their mind what park they are going to or what time and they drop them.

 

[feltmannj]

My brother and I frequented WDW quite often in our 20s. We decided 1 year while in our late 20s that we would take a day and get our pictures with as many characters as possible. We loved it! We did a lot of park hopping to see the characters we wanted. Also, if you can do the after hours Christmas party there are lots of photo ops there and photo ops that you don't normally get such as the entire Cinderella cast or Snow White and all 7 dwarfs at the same time.