Non-FP Character M&G...

[atilley01]

I'm interested in hearing about people's experiences with the non-FP character meet & greets throughout the different parks. I've gotten some great info on the different character schedules and locations but most sites recommend getting in line before the first meet to cut down on wait time. Obviously that will only work with one character meeting and we have a few on our list. So I'm curious what kind of wait times other people had if they didn't make it first thing.

 

[PurpleKomodo]

Following. I have been wondering about people's experience with this as well.

 

[Mikie]

At a Epcot for sure, but I think at some other parks' M&Gs the characters have scheduled breaks. The times guide will say they meet at 2, 4:30, 6, etc. if you get in line shortly before the next scheduled meet, the line is often short - people just see an empty area and walk on by. Once the character is standing there, that's when people see them and a longer line forms.

ETA: I go in the fall when crowd levels are 5-7 out of 10. I found that meets that don't offer FP didn't get overly long. Generally even if I saw a line that looked long, we'd wait maybe 20 min, have a nice long interaction when our turn came up, and be on our way.

 

[wintotty]

Merida can get pretty long since she only meets in MK. We usually go 1st thing in the morning (RD) to meet her.

 

[atilley01]

Thanks for the great answers. We're planning to line up for Merida and Pocahontas before their first meeting. On our Epcot day we'd like to meet Mulan and Belle (blue dress) but we'll be getting there later in the afternoon. When the characters are on their break, is there any sign indicating their meeting spot or do I just follow Kenny The Pirate's character map and look for a line of people?

 

[tink9702]

At Epcot we waited around 15 minutes for Aurora and about the same for Mulan. We were the 4th and 5th families in line for them respectively. We showed up too late to see Snow White (about 5 minutes before she came out) because the CM's were saying the line was closed. For Pooh/Tigger we didn't wait at all but the entrance is way back in the UK.

 

[MagentaMulan]

Thanks for the great answers. We're planning to line up for Merida and Pocahontas before their first meeting. On our Epcot day we'd like to meet Mulan and Belle (blue dress) but we'll be getting there later in the afternoon. When the characters are on their break, is there any sign indicating their meeting spot or do I just follow Kenny The Pirate's character map and look for a line of people?

Yes, there are signs at their meeting spot and includes the time periods. In EPCOT: Belle, Aurora, and Snow Whites's signs were a lot more noticeable than Mulan. So i would check Kenny's characters map just in case. When i went, i was usually in the middle of the line (4-7 families before me). I didn't think there would me a long for Merida in the morning, but it was about a 20 minute wait including waiting for her to get back from her break.

The only time I was last and the CM cut-off the line after me,was in MK meeting Aladdin and Jasmine. That was around 12pm-ish.

 

[Sarahbelle341]

We waited about 20 minutes for Mulan in Epcot last year. The line for Aurora was shorter maybe 10 minutes. Belle's line was too long for me 45 minutes so we skipped it and saw her an Enchanted Tales instead. Her line is out in the open though and a lot of people hop in line once they see her. Duffy's line was short and so was Donald's maybe 5 minutes each. Haven't tried to meet Snow White in Epcot yet.

 

[KathyNY76]

Gaston's line fills up quickly. He meets for about half an hour at a time. After being turned away once, we came back about 10 mins before his next scheduled time, made the line, but they cut it off two groups after us.