question about character meetings...

[Dimazoma]

Hi there. My dh, dd(4) and I will be going to WDW the 1st week of Feb. I haven't been there since before dd was born. I would like her to have as many character meetings as possible (especially princesses). Are there specific times and spots we can go and meet them? Are they just wandering around the parks? Are the princesses in the castle only? Any comments, ideas, information would really be appreciated!!!

 

[3princesses4us]

Both! Many characters are just milling around the front entrance in the mornings especially when they first open. Also, right when you enter a park, go immediately and get a map & times guide for the day. It will tell you where the characters will be and what time they are there from. We used ours everyday and feel like we didn't miss anyone. Some of our best though were when we just happened to be walking down the street and ran smack into Prince John or Tweedle Dum & Tweedle Dee. If you see a line forming outside of a tent or trailer, stop and ask why. 9 times out of 10, there are characters inside getting ready to come out! Specifically, at MK, head straight for Toontown Fair. At AK, it's called Camp Minnie Mickey. Epcot can be trickier although one of our favorite pics was taken outside of Mission:Space (although I personally am not letting my 4 year old ride that ) Look for Mickey & Goofy dressed as astronauts- very cute!
Good luck!

 

[kdtwiss]

we totally scored when we were in the toy store in the part of the park where Minnie's house, and Goofy's Barnstormer are. We were there at closing and all of a sudden - there was Minnie,Goofy, Pluto, Cinderella,Snow White and a few others - it was amazing! Other than that - lines were long for character greets - so we did not do ANY! Instead we opted for character meals - expemnsive - but worth every penny when you have to eat anyway and you get out of waiting in line forever!

 

[tmt martins]

When you look on the Maps there will be a mickey Finger pointing that where the Carc. will be on a consistant basis. They are also roaming but you can always find them there.

 

[Schmeck]

The Princess breakfast at the Norway pavilion at EPCOT has Aurora, Belle, Snow White, Mulan, Jasmine, maybe more. The food is ehhh, but the princesses come to your table.

 

[paigevz]

we totally scored when we were in the toy store in the part of the park where Minnie's house, and Goofy's Barnstormer are. We were there at closing and all of a sudden - there was Minnie,Goofy, Pluto, Cinderella,Snow White and a few others - it was amazing! Other than that - lines were long for character greets - so we did not do ANY! Instead we opted for character meals - expemnsive - but worth every penny when you have to eat anyway and you get out of waiting in line forever!

This happened to us, too, it's something to try for because it was amazing. They all came out of their character greeting rooms and through the back door of the store and started dancing with the kids. They did the conga, the hokey pokey, and lots more. There were all sorts of princesses, mickey friends and pooh friends. My son was able to see Aurora.....the only princess he hadn't found yet on the trip. They were all happy to stop dancing for autographs and pictures, adn then would go right back to dancing. I got a great pic of my little one showing off his potato head creation to Snow White. My older son was just thrilled to death, too.

 

[Em&Bec'sMom]

I, too, would recommend the character meals. At MK, we did the Liberate Your Appetite dinner at Liberty Tree Tavern. That gets you Goofy, Pluto, Chip, Dale, and Minnie, all in Colonial garb and the meal is family-style flank steak, ham, mashed, and veggies,etc. Also at MK, is the buffet at Crystal Palace. That was Pooh, Tigger, Eeyore, and Piglet. I thought the food was pretty good here, but it was Thanksgiving day so I don't know if that made a difference. At Epcot, we did the Princess Breakfast at Norway. That day, it was Belle, Cinderella, Snow White, Aurora, and Mulan. It does differ from day to day I'm told. The food was definitely, as someone else on this thread put it, ehhhh. Kids didn't eat much of it, but it saved us from having to hunt down 5 princesses! At AK, we did the Breakfastosaurus at the Restaurantosauros and got Donald, Mickey, Goofy, and Pluto. The food here was really good. There was a hot and cold buffet with things like choc chip pancakes, quiche, breakfast pizza, etc. Quite good, but still a little pricey for breakfast (I think it was $18 per adult).
One tip - if you do the Disney Dining Plan, you can count a character meal as one of your table service credits.
Outside of the meals, definitely go to Toontown Fair's County Bounty at MK. At Epcot, don't forget to go to the back of Morocco in the gift shop across from the Marrakesh restaurant. We caught the Genie before dinner and Aladdin when we came out! Also at Epcot, the Toy Soldier gift shop in the UK has characters (saw Pooh & Alice in Wonderland there).

 

[mykidzrock]

I, too, would automatically recommend the dinners (or breakfasts as we did.) But also bear in mind the time of year you are going. We went the 1st week of Feb 2 years ago. There were virtually no lines. I want to say that we were so lucky as to have only 6 or 7 people ahead of us at most. Even where the rides were concerned, lines weren't incredibly long. We enjoyed the lack of crowds so much that we are going at the same time this year!

Good luck!

 

[Schmeck]

Cinderella was at Akershus in Norway? I thought she only did her own castle and something at GF!

 

[wils]

A good time to see the characters at MK is during the fireworks as there are no queues. My DD saw them 3 times during 'Wishes' and on the 3rd time Aurora was really chatty (remembered her name and that DH had been riding space mountain on our previous time through). She got her CM to close the door and DD got to talk to and dance with all 3 princesses by herself. What a photo! A really magical moment.

 

[angel's momma]

This site has info about meet & greet times
http://pages.prodigy.net/stevesoares/

This site tells where you are likely to find specific characters
http://home.att.net/~disneysue/characters/wdw/disneycharacters.html

Both sites have been wonderful help in our character hunting.

Epcot's World Showcase is a great place to find characters, usually without lines. Besides the ones Em&Bec'sMom listed, you can usually find Brother Bears in Canada, Pinocchio characters in Italy, Snow White & Dopey in Germany, Mulan & Mushu in China, Aurora in France, Mary Poppins in UK.


Schmeck, Cinderella does make appearances at PSB now.

 

[goalie5hole]

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