Who can tell me about the Character Caravan in EPCOT?

[DISFANSHAN]

Like where does it stop, how many times a day, is it chaotic with all the characters coming off the bus, and kids running up to them?

 

[meeko_33785]

Here's the current schedule from http://pages.prodigy.net/stevesoares/:

Future World Pin Central: Sunday & Tuesday-Saturday at 9:05am
Spaceship Earth: Sunday & Tuesday-Saturday at 10:10am; Monday at 9:05 & 10:10am
Future World To World Showcase Bridge: Daily at 11:15am
Japan: Daily at 12:20pm
Showcase Plaza: Daily at 2:05, 3:10 & 4:15pm
Length of show: 15 minutes

Times and locations do change occasionally throughout the year. For instance, around Christmastime, they don't stop in Japan and do an extra meet-and-greet at Showcase Plaza.

As for the chaos, it's pretty organized. All the characters have formal lines and CMs to help keep it orderly.

 

[DISFANSHAN]

when it says "show time 15 minutes", does that mean the characters put on a show, or that they stay and sign autographs and take photos for 15 minutes?

 

[JoyG]

I caught the one at 11:15 the last week of august. We had just entered the world showcase from futureworld and saw the bus. It was not crowed at all. there were hardly any people around. My kids got plenty of interaction with the characters. It's like no one knew the characters were going to be there (including us, we were just in the right place at the right time),

 

[chach]

The show is numerous characters spreading out
to greet people.

 

[ufgator]

We've been to the one that's first thing in the morning and there weren't that many people. It's a good time to get your picture with the characters.

 

[TDC Nala]

They have kind of a little "show" since the bus blares music and the characters make a big deal about getting off the bus, dancing around while they're being escorted to the places they'll stand for pictures and autographs, etc. The bus blares music the entire time. Then they'll make another deal about getting back onto the bus. It's cute, actually. The CMs with the characters make sure orderly lines get formed and nobody rushes them. The fewer people around, the more interaction you're likely to get - some of the less popular characters are sometimes hanging out by themselves and like having someone to play with. These are generally "big head" characters - I don't remember seeing any face characters on the bus.

 

[disneyfav4ever]

Does anyone remember whatr specific characters they saw?

 

[meeko_33785]

Does anyone remember whatr specific characters they saw?

Characters can varry, but Mickey and Minnie are almost always there. Last time I was there, Goofy, Pluto, Chip, Dale, Pinocchio, Geppetto, Rafiki, Baloo, Friar Tuck, Prince John, Mr. Smee, Terk, and Mary Poppins (only in the morning before World Showcase opened). I've also seen Donald, Timon, Foulfellow, Hook, Max, Meeko, Kenai, Koda, Robin Hood, and others on the bus in the past year or so. For a more complete list, you can check http://www.wdisneyw.co.uk/greet.html. It'll tell you who can be found there and how often they're out.