Where to find characters

[michellelars]

I just read that characters no longer hang out randomly around the park. Is this true? If so, where can we meet characters, other than Mickey at his house and Fantasy Faire?

 

[dnamertz]

I miss the days when you could randomly have an encounter with a character just walking through the park.

Here are some places we saw character meet-n-greets on our last trip in October:

- The end of Main Street where Great Moments of Mr Lincoln and City Hall are (usually Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Donald, or Pluto, Chip and Dale).

- Pooh and friends can often be found in Critter Country near the exit of Splash Mt.

- Around the fountain on Buena Vista Street in California Adventure (usually Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Donald, or Pluto, Chip and Dale). They are probably here at certain times, but it seemed like everytime we went by there were two characters here.

- Toy Story characters (Woody, Jessie, or Buzz) can sometimes be found on Paradise Pier and I believe on the Big Thunder Trail.

- At Hollywood Land near the Animation Academy we saw Jake (from Jake and the Neverland Pirates) and Sophia (from Sophia the First) and Frozone (from The Incredibles) at various times. Also just around the corner toward the Mad T Party there was a Monsters Inc display where Sulley would sometimes be.

 

[michellelars]

Thank you!!

 

[nikkislaght]

most of the characters have spaces that they will stand around at.. either at the main square- Chip and Dale, Donald, Cruella DeVille, etc, toon town - Mickey , Minnie, Goofy and Pluto , near a ride like Alice.. for the mad hatter and Alice , etc..
you will find the queen near the castle, the different princesses in the princess faire , Merida near Small world..
Over in CA... you will find Woody and Jessy over on the Pier near Mickeys Wheel of Death..
Mater , and Lightening McQueen will do a photo shoot near Flo's, Big Red will be near the cross roads and then one of the jacked up cars will come and do a little show at the cross roads.

You will see Mike from Monsters In near the ride... and Donald on the pier as you pass over the bridge and veer round to the left to go down to Screaming..
Russell and Doug will be near the back of Grizzly River Run..

The only time you will see them "walking" through out the park is when walking to the photo spot and in the parades.

the other place you will see characters walking around are at the character meals..

 

[CassieF]

The previous info from Nikki is a little outdated. Merida is no longer by Small World but meets at the umbrella outside Fantasy Faire. The Evil Queen is no longer out except for extremely rare days, same for Hook (and he'll wander around if he is). Alice and the Mad hatter also wander around FL. Peter, if out, has been along the path toward the wishing well.

Your best bet for the shortest lines and most characters is Town Square. Mickey and friends are out most of the day with a few breaks, plus sometimes you can find Cruella, Mary and Bert or other rare characters, and they are usually out for 30-40 minutes at a time. Lines are usually 5-10 minutes and you can see a lot in a little time!

Is there anyone specific you are looking to see? Which days are you going?

 

[BriannaRuth]

On our trip last week, in addition to seeing the usual meet and greets, we ran into Goofy and Pluto on Buena Vista Street in DCA, and Peter Pan was hanging out near the sword in the stone at Disneyland. Lots of characters hang out just past the entrances to Disneyland, especially right after park opening.

 

[nikkislaght]

The previous info from Nikki is a little outdated. Merida is no longer by Small World but meets at the umbrella outside Fantasy Faire. The Evil Queen is no longer out except for extremely rare days, same for Hook (and he'll wander around if he is). Alice and the Mad hatter also wander around FL. Peter, if out, has been along the path toward the wishing well.

Your best bet for the shortest lines and most characters is Town Square. Mickey and friends are out most of the day with a few breaks, plus sometimes you can find Cruella, Mary and Bert or other rare characters, and they are usually out for 30-40 minutes at a time. Lines are usually 5-10 minutes and you can see a lot in a little time!

Is there anyone specific you are looking to see? Which days are you going?

Thanks for the update.. I feel so old being outdated... as we were only there in April..

 

[CassieF]

They made all those changes in June...very sad! We miss the Queen!

 

[surgefest]

Does anyone know who is currently back at Big Thunder Ranch??

 

[Vintage Mouseketeer]

Does anyone know who is currently back at Big Thunder Ranch??

No one... This summer they did not have any character M&G. The space was used for ABC's music country show and other concert events.

You can still see Woody and Jessie in the petting zoo area, and I imagine they will have the "Halloween carnival" return mid September.