There are so many characters to meet in Disney World! From Princesses to Winnie the Pooh and of course the main mouse himself. There are characters in every park, character meals and you can even spot some characters at your resort hotels. One of the best things about meeting characters is to get your kiddo (or yourself) an autograph book so they get a little souvenir from each character they meet! No matter who you are looking for, I bet there is a meet and greet out there! I thought I would write today all about where to find your favorite characters and how you can meet them easily.
Character Meals
There are TONS of places you can find characters and get a great meal too! Every park has at least one character meal and most of the deluxe resorts also have restaurants that include characters. We have enjoyed a lot of these over the years. I think our favorite will always be Tusker House in Animal Kingdom, you can meet the Fab 5 in their safari gear and the food is amazing. But there are tons of other places as well, here’s a list of character meals you can book for your next trip:
Resort Hotels:
- Grand Floridian: 1900 Park Fare, Mary Poppins, Alice & the Mad Hatter and Winnie the Pooh
- Riviera Resort: Toppolino’s Terrace, Mickey & Friends looking artsy!
- Wilderness Lodge: Artist Point, Snow White, the Evil Queen, Dopey & Grumpy
- Boardwalk: Trattoria al Forno, Ariel & Eric and Flynn Rider & Rapunzel
- Contemporary Resort: Chef Mickeys, Mickey & Friends ready to cook!
- Beach Club: Cape May Cafe, Minnie& Friends in their beauty best!
- Polynesian Resort: Ohana, Lilo& Stitch, Mickey & Pluto
- Swan Hotel: Garden Grove, Chip N Dale, Pluto and Goofy
- Four Seasons Orlando: Ravello, Goofy, Minnie & Mickey
Disney Parks
- Magic Kingdom:
- Crystal Palace where you can meet Winnie the Pooh and the Hundred Acre Wood gang!
- Be Our Guest where you can meet Belle and the Beast!
- Cinderella’s Royal Table where you can meet all the princesses!
- EPCOT:
- Akershus Royal Banquet Hall where you can meet the princesses and be the first in line to meet Anna and Elsa if you get an early breakfast!
- Garden Grill where you can meet Mickey, Pluto, Chip and Dale!
- Hollywood Studios:
- Hollywood & Vine where the characters change seasonally! You may meet Minnie and her friends win their Hollywood best or you may meet Disney Junior friends!
- Animal Kingdom:
- Tusker House where you will meet Mickey and his friends in their Safari best!
Character Meet & Greets
There are tons of places you can meet characters without having to pay extra for a dining reservation as well. Each park has unique characters you can only find in that park as well some that travel from park to park visiting with guests. You may have to wait in a line to get to them or sometimes you don’t have to wait at all if you catch them just right. By far, EPCOT has the most characters and the best chance to just happen upon them for a great interaction. This list will not be every single character in every park because I’m sure I will forget some but I will do my best to let you know where you can find the ones you love!
Magic Kingdom
- Town Square Theater: Magician Mickey and Tinkerbell
- Frontierland: Sometimes you can catch the Country Bears wandering around
- Peter Pans Flight: Peter Pan & Wendy
- Princess Fairytale Hall: Cinderella and a rotating visiting Princess
- Belle’s Enchanted Tales: Belle
- Ariels Grotto: Ariel and sometimes Prince Eric will join her
- Petes Silly Sideshow: Daisy, Minnie, Donald and Goofy in their Circus attire
- Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin: Buzz Lightyear
EPCOT
- Entrance: Minnie Mouse, Goofy or Pluto, right next to Spaceship Earth
- Imagination Pavilion: Winnie the Pooh (outside), Figment, Joy and Venellope
- Journey of Water: Moana
- Norway, Royal Summerhus: Anna & Elsa
- World Showcase Friendship Gazebo: Asha
- Mexico Pavilion: Donald Duck in his Sombrero!
- UK Pavilion: Winnie the Pooh, Mary Poppins & Alice
- France Gazebo: Aurora
- France by Chef’s de France: Belle
- Morocco Pavilion: Jasmine
- Germany Pavilion Wishing Well: Snow White
- Great Hall of China: Mulan
- International Gateway: Daisy Duck and sometimes Minnie Mouse too!
- I’ve also run into Mr Schme and a Country Bear or two between the UK and Canada pavilions
***Pro Tip here: The alleyway by the American Pavilion is where rare characters come to do some extra training! When they are out there will be a ton all lined up on either side of this alley way and usually no lines!!***
***Another cool thing in EPCOT is that the characters around World Showcase have new looks or props for different festivals!***
Hollywood Studios
There are lots of roaming characters in this park, just outside interacting with guests. Most of them are pretty close to the main entrance to the park but also in Galaxy’s Edge and Toy Story Land! Keep your eyes peeled in Characters are you jam because this park doesn’t disappoint!
- Main Hub by Chinese Theater: Donald & Daisy, Chip & Dale, Frozone & Max
- Walt Disney Presents: Ariel
- Animation Courtyard: Disney Junior Friends
- Red Carpet Dreams: Sorcerer Mickey and Minnie in her Hollywood best!
- Pixar Place: Edna Mode, Mr & Mrs Incredible
- Celebrity Spotlight: Olaf
- Toy Story Land: Woody, Jessie, Green Army Men & Buzz Lightyear
- Star Wars Launch Bay: Darth Vader, Chewbacca & BB8
- Galaxy’s Edge: Rey, Chewbacca, Mando & Grogu, Storm Troopers, Kylo Ren, Vi Moradi
- Outside the entrance to Galaxy’s Edge, across from Muppets Courtyard: Powerline Max & Goofy
Animal Kingdom
- Adventurers Outpost: Mickey & Minnie in Safari best!
- Discovery Island: Moana & Pocahontas
- Dinoland: Donald & Daisy Duck, Chip & Dale
- Asia: Kevin from UP
- Wilderness Explorers Clubhouse: Russell & Doug
- Exploration Station: Rafiki
Resort Hotels
While the parks are definitely the best place to find characters, you can find some at your resort as well depending on which one you are staying in. Mostly Donald, Goofy and Pluto are who I have seen but I know Moana shows up at the Polynesian sometimes as well. Other than Moana, these characters can usually be found at the entrance where guests are arriving for check in/out. This just makes for a little extra magic for guests as they are coming or going!
Special Event Characters
If you have tickets to any of the special events like Disney After Hours, Mickey’s Not so Scary Halloween Party, Jollywood Nights or Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party you will have the opportunity to meet lots of special characters you won’t meet any other time! Jack & Sally, all 7 Dwarves, Elvis Stitch, Christmas Duffy Bear, Phineas & Ferb and more can be found at these events. Expect longer lines for these but if you arrive early and plan it right you can get in and out!
runDisney Races
If you are registered for a runDisney race you will have the opportunity to meet TONS of characters! From Mickey and Minnie to rare characters like Jiminy Cricket, Robin Hood & Little John. If you’re doing the 5K you have all the time in the world to stop for every character but if you are not fast, you will have to watch your time on the other races so you don’t get swept by the balloon ladies! You can read all about my first runDisney race here!
Conclusion
If you are huge fan of meeting with characters you definitely won’t have a hard time finding one who;e you are in Disney World. There are characters meet for just about everyone! While the character meals make it easy to meet a big chunk of characters without having to wait in lines, they are expensive and not all of us can afford to do a ton of those. My favorite are the roaming characters honestly, I always have the best interactions with them and it’s so natural and not staged. EPCOT is by far my favorite for meeting characters, there are so many and they are literally everywhere! You can book lightning lanes for some of the bigger, indoor character meets on the My Disney Experience if you knew there are certain ones you MUST meet and don’t want to wait a long time.
All the characters are so fun and you can tell they truly love meeting with guests. I hope this helps you find the characters you are looking for on your next Disney trip and that you find some fun ones roaming around. As always, thank you for reading this weeks post and have a Magical Day!