Please help me find some "easy to see" characters?

[allmydisneydreams]

My 5 year old has recently discovered the Disneyland XBox game where you "walk" down the street and there are characters everywhere, just waiting to talk to you and give you their autograph - and he has suddenly become obsessed with autographs! I've explained to him that the characters aren't actually just all over the place like that, but that I will try to find some for him. We will be in MK on April 7th and DHS on April 9th (VERY crowded days) and already have our touring plans and FP+, none of which involve characters. Honestly we've never been a big character family, just more interested in rides. I did get the unlinked FPs for Mickey two years ago when my son was 3 and he really liked that. Also saw Mickey first thing when he was in Toontown four years ago, and we didn't have to wait long because we were there very early.

So - I need to find some characters that are easier to see (aka not wait in line forever). It doesn't really matter which characters they are. We are doing the campfire at Ft Wilderness so we will see Chip n Dale and DS is very excited about that. Any tips on other "easy to see" characters?

 

[Dawn68PA]

They "pop" up all over I've found and usually shorter lines. On our last trip we had 4 different characters on each corner of the hub in HS. We found Pluto right inside the entrance to EPCOT off to the right, Sleeping Beauty under a gazebo (almost out of sight) in France and Daisy by the side of the walkway in AK . Short lines for all. Now, this was February so there's lighter crowds, but hope those locations help you just the same.

 

[lroger01]

If you're doing Epcot the Character Spot in Future World will allow you to see several characters while only waiting in line once. Make it your first stop at opening if you can. Also lines tend to be shorter for characters in World Showcase. Making WS (and Epcot in general) your "character park" for the trip might make touring there more interesting for your son.

 

[GWhitten98]

Epcot has a lot of characters throughout world showcase that are not on a lot of peoples radar. We had good luck at AK finding characters along the paths near the tree of life. There is a character portion on the Disney App, it lists when and where characters are going to pop up. keep an eye on that.

 

[g8torphan]

McQueen and Mater in HS
Green Army Men in HS

Fairy God Mother in MK by the ETwB
Petes Big Top on back Fantasy Land often has shorter lines
Tink at Town Sq Theater in MK

 

[kcpinwdw]

You need to take him to Characterpalooza. Check out Kenny the Pirate's website for information. We saw 8 or 9 characters one right after another with no wait. Best part of our trip, actually, and totally hidden.

 

[BaseballMoM2007]

Read up about characterpalooza (spelling) in dhs you can see a ton of characters in 15 minutes.

 

[>Ash<]

characters in WDW are always crowded or the ones ive seen anyway.
if u really want to do some the usual trick is to go during parades as the lines will be around 10-20 mins stand by
however characters like anna and elsa are busy all the time.

if your son is looking for the disneyland kinect style character experience, i would recommend characterpalooza at hollywood studios - check out kennythepirate.com he has alot of information on the subject and numerous threads on the boards.

 

[uccats97]

Check out Kenny the Pirate's website. If there is a character appearance, he knows where it is.

 

[Hootch]

Could you schedule a character meal? It's an easier way, and more expensive, way of seeing characters.

 

[Itinkso]

If you don't have specific rope drop plans for MK, take him to meet Mickey in Town Square Theater. When everything is in working order, Mickey talks and interacts with each group of guests.

Another good time to visit Talking Mickey with a shorter wait is during the Festival of Fantasy parade. But, if you only have one MK day, you should try to watch the parade.

Characterpalooza is the best way to meet characters with a minimal wait in a short period of time. Kennythepirate's Crowd Calendars have the exact time listed for Paloozas at DHS.

 

[Fratthouse]

Pooh and Tigger meet in the back of the UK Pavilion in Epcot. They are hidden back there, so the line is usually very short.

 

[g8torphan]

The Dance Parties are nice too....no autographs, but a chance to "play" with different characters

 

[lilwhiterabbit]

Epcot seems to be the easiest place to find characters from what I've seen. As others have mentioned there's the Character Spot, which almost always has short lines and several characters in one place, and then there are always characters scattered throughout the World Showcase at different times. Pooh and Tigger are regulars, but I've also stumbled over Alice (almost literally, she was kneeling and I came around a corner), Mushu, and Marie from Aristocats in France.

 

[Amanda999]

I've never figured out why, but there's very rarely a line for sombrero Donald Duck, in Mexico pavilion at Epcot WS. He's awesome, in the shade, and oh so close to CS triple flavor margaritas...

Someone else mentioned Pooh and Tigger - they are back in the toy shop (shoppe?!) in England pavilion. Also short-ish waits.

Tinkerbell right across from the flagpole in MK (Town Theater??) always has a much shorter wait than Mickey (same place). Indoor, air conditioned line.