Someone convince me that the character MnG in DL are not awful, please.

[OhStuffandFluff]

These aren’t meet and greets. They’re roaming characters. At DL, there’s a huge difference.

I’ve expressed on these boards before that I wish Disney would do something on the app to explain/differentiate between the two, but I admit that I’m not sure how they’d do that clearly and succinctly.

I know quite a few characters (I taught high school in the area and have former students who work at DL in a whole bunch of capacities). Some characters only do roaming sets (think Gaston), but certainly the VAST majority of character appearances at the parks are traditional meet and greets. There are only a handful of characters who truly roam, but Merida is one, and Moana varies between roaming and meet and greet sets.

Based on conversations I’ve had, the characters tend to really enjoy the roaming sets and express frustration with people who “just want a photo and autograph and don’t even want to interact,” but obviously lots of guests are trying to collect as many photos and autographs as possible... which is why I think Disney needs to be more transparent about the idea of “roaming” character sets and what they entail.

A character on a roaming set is ABOVE ALL supposed to “continually keep moving,” typically doesn’t pose for pictures or sign autographs (some will sign on a limited basis, usually while walking)... the point is to be part of the ambiance.

There are also sets where the characters “play,” like when Peter Pan leads red light/green light or Alice does musical chairs or a tea party, but I forget what those sets are called.

We have frequented WDW many times and are going to DL for the first time this summer. I think the idea of roaming characters sounds magical! I appreciate your explanation of what that means and entails, however. That will give my family a much better idea of what to expect so that my kiddos won't be disappointed if they don't get a picture or autograph. To me this sounds a lot like what WDW did during Star Wars weekends with some of their roaming characters such as Aurra Sing. She often did not stop for pictures, but would basically freak people out. It was hilarious! Thank you for your great explanation of this type of character experience!

 

[VandVsmama]

I also wanted to add that I do completely understand the frustration of trying to get your child to meet their #1 favorite character and for whatever reason, it doesn't work out. Been there, done that!

When that happens, if you are willing to put yourself in the moment and "play" with the roaming characters (yes, even though you're an adult), you can somewhat try to make up for missing out on the favorite character's meet & greet. You can create a new happy memory for your child(ren). And maybe your child(ren) instead of remembering years down the road, "Hey remember that time that we didn't get to see Moana?" they will instead remember, "Hey, remember that one time when we got to Fantasyland early one day and we got to play hide & seek with Peter Pan? That was really great!"

Or at Chewbacca's meet & greet, talk "Wookie" to him.
Or at Darth Vader's meet & greet, bow down to him, call him Lord Vader, and tell him how the Force is strong in your young apprentice.

And watch your child(ren)'s faces. It's priceless.

 

[SOCALMouseMommy]

I 2nd what @bumbershoot said. DL meet & greets that are in a fixed location do have a definite line. DL characters that are roaming around? No...there's no formal line.

BUT...I would argue that if you change your perspective a bit and get "in the moment," you can turn those random "roaming character" moments into something pretty great! Maybe you won't get a photo op and an autograph out of it, but the memories you'll get from it are equally as valuable.

Here's an example...I couldn't find this one on Fresh Baked's Youtube channel, but this clip gives credit to Fresh Baked.

I came upon the Evil Queen once about a year ago at DL. She was clearly walking with purpose to some sort of destination and didn't have time to stop and say hello. So I bowed down as she approached and said something like, "Good day, my queen." the Evil Queen didn't miss a beat and said, "Now THAT is a proper greeting!" and she continued on her way.

IT WAS AWESOME! AND SO MUCH FUN!

During our last vacation to DL, we were walking through Tomorrowland and, as you might be aware, there are often stormtroopers patrolling there in the afternoon. They don't have a standard Meet & Greet location. They roam and they interact with guests, but it's not like it's a "stop and take a photo and get an autograph" sort of thing. Anyway, I spotted the stormtroopers, and told my kids, "Follow me!" We caught up to them and I told them, "I have some rebel spies here that you should inspect." And the stormtroopers inspected my kids, called them rebel scum and cool stuff like that. It was a highlight of our trip. I snapped some quick pics while the stormtroopers were inspecting the kids, but it was not a staged thing or anything like that where they posed. It was just in the moment. And it didn't last for more than a minute or 2.

But you know what? My 9 yr old loved it. It was one of her favorites of the whole trip. And it was totally spontaneous. We didn't have to reserve a FP+ for it. It just happened.

LOTS of characters at DL "just roam." For example, we've seen Chip & Dale in Town Square. They will hang around and play with you if you engage them in more than a "can I get your autograph" sort of thing. Talk to them. Even if your kid(s) suddenly clam up and won't say a word. Just talk to the character and respond to their gestures as if you totally understand them. yes, you might feel like a fool sometimes doing it, but you're doing this for your and your family's enjoyment and trust me....your kids will LOVE IT!

I love these stories! These are the kinds of interactions I love. I guess when it comes to characters, it's different strokes for different folks. For what it's worth, the stormtroopers will pose for photos even though they are officially roaming. My toddler son is a huge Star Wars fan and he once ran up to a stormtrooper with his arms flung wide to give him a hug as if he was Winnie the Pooh, ha ha. The stormtrooper would not hug him (the handler and people hanging around us were all laughing at this interaction), but he did pose for a photo. Note: Darth Vader will not hug either (I know, my son has tried many times, much to the amusement of anyone in the room).

 

[Skyegirl1999]

For some of the classic characters I totally see the fun of roaming sets. In particular Fur or mask characters where your range of interaction is narrower. But sometimes you want to have a bit of fun with that character. Something with a little back and forth and what I've seen so far at DL makes this near impossible. Some exceptions. I think pixie hollow was set up well. But far fewer scheduled character meets at all and when you do find one you have to dominate a mob through it.

Obviously your experience was your experience, and your other post makes it clear Disneyland is not your cup of tea (which is a-ok, glad you enjoy WDW so much!). But I'm confused by a couple of points here, and for the sake of others reading the thread, I'm going to clarify a few things.

For credibility: I am at Disneyland about once a week. I have a character-OBSESSED four-year-old. Some days, we literally just meet characters all day. I am fairly certain we have met every character that Disneyland has to meet... usually multiple times (we'd met the Frozen crew over 30 times as of last August, which I figured out when making a photo book). But we meet them all: princesses, superheroes, traditional characters, rare characters... As I mentioned before, I also personally know several characters. So with all of that background, I feel I am justified in saying that what you're describing is not typical.

First of all, again, MOST of the character sets at DL are traditional, fixed location meet-and-greets. Some of the interactions people are describing here are with characters coming and going from those meet-and-greets, but true roaming characters are not the norm (although Merida and Moana are indeed two that you can encounter this way).

When we do see roaming characters, I have not witnessed this mob that the OP is discussing. I will say that once in Town Square, Chip and Dale emerged and a horde of people rushed to them, and then trailed around after them, attempting to form a line in about a dozen places as the chipmunks played and looked for acorns with some little kids. Eventually a CM showed up said something like, "Chip and Dale are just enjoying walking around right now; they won't be stopping for pictures," and a number of people grumbled, and a few people did rather pushily send their kids up to grab pictures, and it was a little chaotic. So based on that one time, I can envision something like this happening... but I've only seen it once. (Again, I felt that was kind of Disney's fault since usually the characters in Town Square emerge, wander over to a spot, and then stop and do normal fixed photos... so I understand why people were expecting that!)

You will frequently see a few people trailing around after Thor or Gaston or someone with their autograph books out, and they're often disappointed when it takes awhile to discover that he's not going to stop and sign something... but you also see Thor and Gaston interacting with dozens of people in funny and memorable ways, so I see the trade-off. (Gaston quipping in the rain: "Even the sky is falling for me!" Thor once stopped and sat down on a planter and READ A BOOK to my daughter - she had an Avengers book with her.)

Again, just wanted to clarify for others reading the thread that mobs of people shoving their kids at characters is not actually how DL functions on a regular basis.

 

[Vala]

I just remembered one small mob scene I saw. Captain Jack Sparrow while he was still walking around when the first movie was at the height of its popularity. But the culprits there were not exactly kids.

 

[Vala]

Nobody's telling dirty jokes to Disney Princesses. Not really. But just imagine the reaction if you did. Cinderella, appalled. Belle, disgusted. Snow White, shaken to her very delicate high pitched core. Merida ... Oh come on, she laughs like a Scot at a bearfight. That's the photo collage I've got in my hallway.

Umm... the reason for that may be because Merida is the tomboy princess who grew up in the Scottish Highlands? The reaction she had is totally in character.

 

[Vala]

I did ramble a bit so it may not have been clear. From the time we realized how cool Moana is, I have had one shot at seeing her in Orlando and one shot last weekend at DL. During MNSSHP in Orlando, we went to the line almost as soon as they let us into the park. And in fairness, we could have waited it out. I'm not grudging on there being a line longer than I cared to wait in. I was just trying to illustrate a saga of near misses leading up to my somewhat phyrric victory.

It struck me as odd though, regardless of which character, the pattern was so similar. Character shows up, people line up, CMs deorganize the line into a mob. Now, every person who is at the character is surrounded by people clamoring to take their place. The interactions are rushed. It may be that the character may randomly decide to grab that kid and go do something fun, but I watched a lot of these mobs and never saw it. But even so, this occasional bit of magic is not a feature of the disorganized character meet format. they happen at WDW.

What I haven't seen at WDW is a shy kid get to the front of the crowd and then walked past buy other kids and parents until the character's set was over. Or get up to the Princess and after 20 seconds or so have comments fielded at her from other kids or parents that she needs to hurry up, I saw some version of this more than once in each of the 5 character meets I watched.


She's on the schedule it shows on the app, what looks like a string of 10 minute sets over by Tarzan Treehouse. But every time I checked in to see if there was going to be a real MnG she was walking over to the Aladdin's Oasis where she remained.

First, sorry for the multiple posts. My multi quote is not working.

"Almost as soon" was the issue here for the WDW Halloween Party I bet.

Aladdin's Oasis is the location of Moana's Meet and Greet. The line up area is in Aladdin's Oasis. The description of her location has varied, currently it is "near Wildlife Wonders." The 10 minute sets are the time almost always given for face character sets in the app. Besides that, these 10 minutes are pretty much the time the line for her takes to completely fill.

All you would have had to do is check the area and you would have found a set up meet, exactly like the one you were looking for. Again, a little research or even just walking over there would have solved what you are trying to turn into a major flaw with Disneyland character organisation.

I've been coming to Disneyland for 12 years now. There is no pattern of visitors mobbing characters constantly. I did not experience that, with one exception I mentioned two posts earler. Even when the Villains were still roaming in DCA that did not happen. Everyone who's seen me posting around here knows I pretty much spend all trip chasing after characters. If there was a pattern I would have noticed it too.

I am really not sure anymore if you were that unlucky, or if you are just looking for more reasons to hate Disneyland.

 

[cobright]

All you would have had to do is check the area and you would have found a set up meet, exactly like the one you were looking for. Again, a little research or even just walking over there would have solved what you are trying to turn into a major flaw with Disneyland character organisation.

I think you may be reading more in my post than I wrote. I never had any trouble finding the characters. But in contrast to some earlier advice, just because a character meet is scheduled does not indicate that it is a proper MnG with a line. I'm not sure I would call anything Ive described as a "major flaw" but it has some serious drawbacks and wish more options were available.

I've been coming to Disneyland for 12 years now. There is no pattern of visitors mobbing characters constantly.

Here's a CM quote (lightly paraphrased) I heard at every character meet that I stayed through (5) and every character meet I saw the beginnings of (another 4 or 5), "There's no line. Form up around ______. If you want a picture or autograph just go up and ask."

Now if you're saying that in 12 years you've never seen or heard the crowd behaviors I've described then perhaps it doesn't exist and I'm mistaken or delusional or both; or you maybe have a wonderfully bumptious and assertive personality and get yourself directly to those characters you spend all trip chasing.

I am really not sure anymore if you were that unlucky, or if you are just looking for more reasons to hate Disneyland.

I wouldn't call myself unlucky. I enjoyed my trips to DL even when disappointed by some aspect of them. I'm certainly not looking for reasons to hate it, considering the time and expense involved in visiting it I was rather looking for reasons to love it. If I did want to hate it it wouldn't be over my disagreeing with this character interaction format. It would be about the snack carts selling chimichangas.

 

[cmwade77]

Really, there are three different types of meet and greets, so here is the reality of how meeting characters work at Disneyland:

• Permanent Location Meet & Greets - These are locations that have a permanent building and queue, such as Mickey's House, Pixie Hollow, Frozen at the Animation Academy, Princess Fantasy Faire, etc.
  • You show up to these locations and stand in a standard queue, usually very well themed and entertaining.
• Semi-Permanent Location Meet & Greets - These are locations where the characters always go and they have a line that forms to meet them, such as Mickey on Main Street and Buena Vista Street, etc.
  • These are usually scheduled at specific times (although the listed times can be off) and will have a structured line, but not a themed queue
• Roaming Characters
  • These are not scheduled and you happen to come across them throughout the parks, there are no lines for them, as they are intended to be more of group interaction than an individual interaction, but if crowds permit they will usually take time to take pictures and such. These can and often do happen anywhere in the resorts, characters have even been know to show up and join your group on some of the rides.

 

[Skyegirl1999]

Here's a CM quote (lightly paraphrased) I heard at every character meet that I stayed through (5) and every character meet I saw the beginnings of (another 4 or 5), "There's no line. Form up around ______. If you want a picture or autograph just go up and ask."

I have honestly never heard that. Seriously never. There’s either a line (95% of the time) or they’re roaming, in which case any CMs around are usually telling people NOT to ask for autographs or stop to pose for photos. Sometimes if a parent approaches the CM near a roamer, they’ll say something like, “you can ask him politely for an autograph, but he’ll probably say no.”

All of these pictures are from within the last month. The top six are all from last Tuesday. None of these had anything like a mob - they all had a clear, orderly line with the exception of Spider-Man (was walking to his set), Doc (same, this was taken by the Photopass person at her “station” as we walked up), Mr. Incredible (he was just standing around!), and Pocahontas (felt awkward for her as three different “lines” started up in the area; she combined them in-character, pro status right there).

I’m seriously not trying to be argumentative; like I said, your experience is your experience! I am at DL a lot, and I absolutely understand that things can vary a ton from person to person... but again, I have very seriously never seen or heard anything like you’re describing.

 

[carrierael77]

Sounds like you were unhappy with how WDW handled it as there was an extreme line, but you are also unhappy with how DL handles things as well. Ummm, I'm not sure what the point of this post was other than complaining, but it seemed like you wanted to ask a question?

Either way, you don't like either approach, so maybe character meets just aren't up to your standards and there are other things at parks that will satisfy you and leave you less stressed.

 

[Mousequake]

I have honestly never heard that. Seriously never. ...
I’m seriously not trying to be argumentative; like I said, your experience is your experience! I am at DL a lot, and I absolutely understand that things can vary a ton from person to person... but again, I have very seriously never seen or heard anything like you’re describing.

I'm going to echo you here. While I don't spend nearly as much in the time in the parks as you do, I'm there at least a good ten days a year for the past six years. I have never once seen a cast member disassemble a line and turn it into a free-for-all.

 

[10SE]

I agree. I’ve never experienced anything like that either.

 

[theluckyrabbit]

...There's no cameraman or CM willing to use my camera...

When this happens, the easiest thing to do is to turn to your nearest friendly looking fellow guest who isn't juggling food or an infant and ask them politely if they wouldn't mind taking a photo of your family with the character. We've done this many times (and immediately returned the favor many times, too). It always results in fun photos and smiles all around. And frequently in waves and more smiles as you bump into your new friends in various ride lines throughout the park for the rest of the day.

We've never seen the CM instructed free-for-all either. Quite the opposite.

 

[Vala]

I think you may be reading more in my post than I wrote. I never had any trouble finding the characters. But in contrast to some earlier advice, just because a character meet is scheduled does not indicate that it is a proper MnG with a line. I'm not sure I would call anything Ive described as a "major flaw" but it has some serious drawbacks and wish more options were available.

Here's a CM quote (lightly paraphrased) I heard at every character meet that I stayed through (5) and every character meet I saw the beginnings of (another 4 or 5), "There's no line. Form up around ______. If you want a picture or autograph just go up and ask."

Now if you're saying that in 12 years you've never seen or heard the crowd behaviors I've described then perhaps it doesn't exist and I'm mistaken or delusional or both; or you maybe have a wonderfully bumptious and assertive personality and get yourself directly to those characters you spend all trip chasing.


I wouldn't call myself unlucky. I enjoyed my trips to DL even when disappointed by some aspect of them. I'm certainly not looking for reasons to hate it, considering the time and expense involved in visiting it I was rather looking for reasons to love it. If I did want to hate it it wouldn't be over my disagreeing with this character interaction format. It would be about the snack carts selling chimichangas.

I've walked by over a dozen times when Moana was at the Oasis. Not once was there a crowd around her or "a mob". There were even barriers set up for the line. Sometimes there were people gathered before the line area was opened. That wasn't always an orderly line because no one was sure what to do. But the rope set up was visible clear as day.

Like others have posted I have not once heard that sentence you "quote" there. In fact any time I have seen guests try crowding a character the character told them to form a line, or to get in line. (And seeing someone scolded by Mary Poppins is quite entertaining.) I have certainly never seen a CM disassemble a line either.

I am not saying a character won't potentially get crowded, now you are the one who is reading something into my words. But you are acting like a character can't step out in Disneyland without the risk of getting trampled and you can't get near them without the risk of potentially getting injured or worse, and that is 100 percent not true.

And yes, if no Photopass person or CM is around you just ask another guest. If there's always that big crowds around characters it shouldn't be that hard, right? I am sure there'll be other people happy to return the favor if they get a family photo too.

I'm basing my "looking for a reason to hate Disneyland" on the fact that I have yet to find a single positive word in your posts in this section.

Skyegirl1999 has already phrased it well. Not trying to be argumentative; your experience is your experience. But everyone but you so far has said that we have never seen or heard anything like you’re describing. Yet you insist your experience is the standard and we are wrong?

carrierael is quite right. The WDW long line is something you hate, the DLR way is wrong too. Maybe you just are not a character person. I don't really know what this post is supposed to achieve.

 

[cobright]

When this happens, the easiest thing to do is to turn to your nearest friendly looking fellow guest who isn't juggling food or an infant and ask them politely if they wouldn't mind taking a photo of your family with the character. We've done this many times (and immediately returned the favor many times, too).

This is exactly what I was expecting. Well, ok I was expecting that with 4 CMs present one of them would be down with clicking a photo. It's a point and shoot camera. But leaving that by the way... perhaps I really was just exceptionally unlucky in the crowds around me at these characters. The first person I asked literally turned her back on me and the second gave a rather weak, "I don't take pictures." Which is fine. I'm happy to take a pic for somebody but I can se someone not wanting to as well. At this point, as I'm snapping a charming pic of my wife and Moana, I'm hearing a mother urging her kid to, "Just go up there. Go up there right now and ask her to sign." Literally pushing her child up to Moana while my wife was still standing there. And it's not like we were dawdling either, from hello to thank-you goodbye was seconds.

Most telling was that one of the very first families to gather up had a little girl who looked like Moana was her favorite thing in the world. My wife and I were a little taken aback by how this was being run, and I point this kiddo out to my wife. We watch this kid build up her nerve to approach the pseudo-princess, get right up to the front of the gathering, only to have another kid push past her. After watching this happen a few times my wife steps forward and is immediately greeted like everyone who had come up before but my wife says, "I really look forward to meeting you (or something to that effect) but that little girl over there has been waiting to see you from the beginning and is just a little too shy to jump in front of people." Moana was great, the little girl came forward (a little slowly at first) and had a nice 20 or 30 seconds together. After that, we took our picture and stepped back to watch for a bit. Before that character set was over we spotted another 2 kids there to meet Moana who ended up missing out because they were just a little too timid. We saw the same thing a little later when gathered up around Merida. And again at one of the following Moana meets.

I'm coming around to the idea that there is simply a cultural divide at work. That this behavior stands out and seems so severe to me because it is not common to me, while at the same time passes unnoticed or taken with less significance by people for whom this is the normal way. Indeed, when I mentioned this to my dad his first reaction was approvingly, that this is how the shy kids learn. They either become bolder or they go without. I get that. But I don't think visiting a beloved movie character in the happiest place on earth is the right time and place to exemplify the Melian dialogue wherein, "the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must."

But you are acting like a character can't step out in Disneyland without the risk of getting trampled and you can't get near them without the risk of potentially getting injured or worse, and that is 100 percent not true.

If that's how I'm acting then I have comported myself poorly. I certainly did not write any concern about dangerous behavior. I would describe the worst of what we saw last weekend as ... uncouth maybe, boorish at worst, and often indecorous.

I'm basing my "looking for a reason to hate Disneyland" on the fact that I have yet to find a single positive word in your posts in this section.

Ya got me there. In my own defense though, the topic of this thread is a single specific aspect of DL that I find awful. How weird would it be to start such a thread and then lace it with all the things I liked about the park? You want one? Okay, the macaron cart in Downtown Disney is awesome. Asking the macaron vendor how she handles it when every third or fourth customer asks for a macaroon might be one of the top 5 highlights of my trip. Does it make up for having no clue whether or not Pocahontas will be in the park or if the Columbia will sail until the actual day of the trip? No, but maybe the HM pet graveyard does; that's pretty awesome.

I never intended this particular criticism to be a reflection on whether I hated or loved Disneyland. I can't think of a single thing on this Earth that I do love that is without flaw, can you?

Sounds like you were unhappy with how WDW handled it as there was an extreme line, but you are also unhappy with how DL handles things as well. Ummm, I'm not sure what the point of this post was other than complaining, ...

Either way, you don't like either approach, so maybe character meets just aren't up to your standards and there are other things at parks that will satisfy you and leave you less stressed.

Actually I like a line just fine. As I've said before, I have no grudge that the Halloween party line was over 3 hours. I was personally disappointed that the weather and some other elements of that trip made waiting in it impossible for us; and I included the anecdote to illustrate how that trip had culminated a series of near misses with regard to meeting this particular character. But a proper queue, long or short, is really the fairest way bring people up to meet such a popular character.

 

[Skyegirl1999]

But a proper queue, long or short, is really the fairest way bring people up to meet such a popular character.

Right. Which is why there are a whole bunch of people on this thread telling you that lines for characters IS how Disneyland operates almost all of the time. What you are describing is not only “not the norm,” but it is something that goes against the ludicrous number of character interactions I’ve witnessed. You say you met five characters. The collective sample size of the other people talking here are hundreds and hundreds (maybe thousands) of character interactions.

So I’m sorry that you had the experience you did - I’m honestly thinking Moana was on her way to or from her set, as sometimes they try to squeeze in a few extra people at that point - but you’re not dealing with a “cultural divide.” You’re dealing with an experience so rare that most of us have never witnessed it in spite of a huge sample size compared to yours.

Anyway, I hope the point has been made for other people who may read this thread... the experience described here is highly atypical.

 

[Canadian Harmony]

I use the DL App constantly and find that this helps me A LOT when I want to meet someone. I have been waiting 3 years for Flynn and he was out at Christmas. I wasn't even the first in the 'pre' line which formed while the previous two characters finished up, but second worked.

And I had just missed Merida two years ago, but her CM handler asked me to stand to the side and when she was done, she came over to see me and sign my book. It was a highlight of my birthday.

I get the frustration as I felt that way the first time we went three years ago - I had no idea the App was so helpful until our last day. Now if there's a character I really want to meet, I check the App and get my plans set for that MnG.

Roaming characters are like a happy accident when I see them, and I'm still hunting for Gaston...

 

[starshine514]

There are some characters that roam. Normally Alice, Peter Pan, Captain Hook, and the Queen (in Fantasyland) roam a lot. But, they are generally willing to interact and pose for pictures. Others, such as Chip and Dale and Donald Duck in Town Square seem to just ignore and run away from your kids. My kids aren't bold; so, we learned our lesson pretty quickly with those characters. We don't waste our time.

I must say, however, that my favorite photo of my youngest with a character was not from a standard MnG location. It was when Goofy was coming out to perform with Five & Dime. He took my daughter's hand and escorted her over to the performance location. No formal photo or anything, but it was adorable.

With Goofy https://www.flickr.com/photos/goodlittlemonkey/ on Flickr

 

[Skyegirl1999]

I use the DL App constantly and find that this helps me A LOT when I want to meet someone. I have been waiting 3 years for Flynn and he was out at Christmas. I wasn't even the first in the 'pre' line which formed while the previous two characters finished up, but second worked.

And I had just missed Merida two years ago, but her CM handler asked me to stand to the side and when she was done, she came over to see me and sign my book. It was a highlight of my birthday.

I get the frustration as I felt that way the first time we went three years ago - I had no idea the App was so helpful until our last day. Now if there's a character I really want to meet, I check the App and get my plans set for that MnG.

Roaming characters are like a happy accident when I see them, and I'm still hunting for Gaston...

Gaston is worth hunting for! My favorite is when he gets into it with other characters. Ask the CMs over at Fantasy Faire when and where you might bump into Gaston; they’ve always been helpful with that sort of thing! I find the Fantasy Faire CMs to be the best-informed and most helpful about tracking down characters when you approach them with a good attitude. They’ll even clue you in about when to get in line to meet a particular princess if she’s in the day’s lineup.

I did have one CM over there who was a total dud once (not sure if new or just having a bad day or what), but then a different one in the area was able to help.