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Hello everyone,
Here at Character Central we always strive to have good, reliable and up-to-date information, which is why I don't tend to use the blog to make these kinds of posts usually. Character locations and information are usually updated via the individual location and character profile pages on this site, as it is easier to control. However, recently we have received a lot more requests for information about how to find characters at the Walt Disney World theme parks. The reason I don't like to make blog posts about this is because things can change frequently, and I don't want to mislead anyone, especially when our location and character pages are updated often.
With that said, and I realise that was quite a detailed reasoning, I thought that it wouldn't hurt to answer some of the questions we get asked. Please remember that these are the most frequently asked questions that we get for Walt Disney World only.
Where can I find Mickey Mouse?
Mickey Mouse appears at set locations at all four of the Walt Disney World theme parks. His appearances are daily, and usually hold long hours (often, though not guaranteed, from around opening to just before closing. Check on the day of your visit). At the Magic Kingdom, you can meet magician Mickey near the park entrance, where talks and interacts with guests at Town Square Theater (on Main Street USA). At Epcot, he wears his classic outfit at the Epcot Character Spot in Future World. At Disney's Hollywood Studios, Mickey dons his Sorcerer's Apprentice robes to greet budding sorcerers. At Disney's Animal Kingdom Theme Park, Mickey wears his safari outfit at the Adventurer's Outpost on Discovery Island. The Magic Kingdom, Epcot and Animal Kingdom locations all offer Disney's Fastpass+ service, which allow you to make your greeting reservation in advance of your visit.
Who else appears besides Mickey Mouse? Can I meet the Disney Princesses, for example?
Across all four Walt Disney World theme parks, you can nearly always meet Minnie Mouse, Goofy, Donald Duck, Chip, Dale and Pluto. All six of those have regular locations at all four parks, but times and availability may change depending on the day of your visit. The Disney Princesses appear at the Magic Kingdom at various locations, such as Princess Fairytale Hall, Ariel's Grotto, around the Fantasyland walls, the Fairytale Garden and, schedule depending, in the garden next to City Hall on Main Street USA. Princess Fairytale Hall is the current home of Cinderella, Rapunzel, Anna and Elsa, although of course Disney could change this at any time. Princess Fairytale Hall accepts Disney's FastPass+ reservations. You can either reserve Cinderella and Rapunzel OR Anna and Elsa. If you want to meet all four, you need to make separate reservations. Other characters, such as Peter Pan, Mary Poppins, Winnie the Pooh, and many more, all appear throughout the theme parks. You should check the schedules for the day of your visit (see further below for more information).
Do the Disney characters appear randomly at the Disney Parks?
Most of the character appearances at the Disney theme parks are on the published schedule, which can be picked up upon entering the theme parks. There are some that are not always listed though, depending on whether there are other events happening, and how much space is dedicated to the characters on that schedule. If a character does appear that is not on that day's schedule, chances are they nearly always out in the parks anyway. Infrequently, characters may appear at other locations around the parks, and these are not scheduled. For example, when we were a recent trip, Peter Pan, Merida and Ariel all appeared at the International Gateway at Epcot's World Showcase. These greetings are not scheduled, and are not repeated regularly.
Do the Disney characters walk freely around the Disney Parks?
The short answer to this, really, is no. The Disney characters at the Walt Disney World theme parks nearly always have set locations that have a queue line in order to meet them, even the randomly appearing ones that I described above. Sometimes, however, you may be walking around and suddenly a character will appear, and they may not form a line. This is fairly unusual, but it can happen. Experiences like this can actually be fun, as sometimes the characters will take the opportunity to roam and explore the park. Like I said though, for Walt Disney World, this is pretty unusual.
Do the Disney characters visit the Disney Resort Hotels?
The Disney characters do not regularly make appearances at the Disney Hotels. In the past, Easter Sunday has seen the Easter Bunnies and some other characters appear at the deluxe resorts (such as Mr Easter Bunny and Chip 'n' Dale at the Contemporary). Around the week of Halloween and the week of Christmas you may also find characters in themed outfits at any number of the resort hotels, deluxe or otherwise. None of these appearances are ever guaranteed and you should not expect to find them during your stay.
Do rare characters appear at the Disney theme parks?
This one is a tricky one to answer, but overall the answer is, "no, not nearly as often as we'd like!" Of course, the definition of "rare" can change considerably from one year to the next, but generally speaking, if a character has not appeared in over a year, and show no signs of returning, then they are pretty "rare". Characters at the Christmas and Halloween parties, although not appearing daily, aren't so much rare as they are seasonal or event specific. We would not consider Scrooge McDuck to be rare, since he appears almost nightly for two months at the Christmas parties, but he definitely is not a regular. Mr Walrus from Alice in Wonderland however, who hasn't appeared in around seven years, is considered rare.
Do you have any tips for a better experience when meeting the characters? Do the characters sign autographs, for example?
This one is pretty open ended, but I would say that if you're going to meet a character, be sure to know who they are! Before your trip, if you think there is a chance you may meet one particular character, watch their movie before you visit. When you visit them, you can ask them about their adventures, their friends and families, etc. For example, if you are going to meet Aladdin, ask him how Abu is and if he has gotten into any more trouble lately. You could ask Mickey - when he's feeling talkative at the Magic Kingdom's Town Square Theater - to perhaps send a special message to your friends back home; be sure to have your camera recording, because you never know what he might say! Characters also love seeing themselves on clothing and accessories, bags, pins and lanyards, etc. Be sure to have your cameras ready to capture any cute moments, and buy an autograph book and a pen that works, so they characters can sign their names. Something which we have taken to doing recently, which both us and the characters really enjoy, is taking along our Disney Tsum Tsums to meet the characters. If we know we are going to meet a specific character on any given day, we try to take with us the Tsum Tsum of them, or someone related to them. They’ll often (though not always) pose with the Tsum Tsums, making for super-cute photos!
Do the characters appear in shows and parades?
The Disney characters appear in many shows and parades across the Walt Disney World theme parks. Currently, and always subject to change, the most popular ones include: Disney Fantasy of Festival Parade, the Main Street Electrical Parade, and Dream Along with Mickey at the Magic Kingdom, Festival of the Lion King and Finding Nemo - The Musical at Disney's Animal Kingdom Theme Park, and Beauty and the Beast Live on Stage, Voyage of the Little Mermaid and For the First Time in Forever - A Frozen Sing-Along Celebration at Disney's Hollywood Studios.
Can I dine with the Disney characters?
Yes! You most certainly can! Character dining is a fun way to meet the Disney characters while enjoying a great meal at one of Disney's fabulous themed restaurants. Currently, and again, always subject to change, the most popular ones include: Chef Mickey's at the Contemporary (Mickey and friends), Ohana at the Polynesian Village (Stitch, Mickey and friends), 1900 Park Fare at the Grand Floridian (time of day depending, Cinderella and friends or Pooh, Alice and friends), Cape May Cafe at the Beach Club Resort (Minnie and friends), Cinderella's Royal Table at the Magic Kingdom (princesses), Garden Grill (Mickey and friends) and Akershus Royal Banquet Hall (princesses) at Epcot, Hollywood and Vine at Disney's Hollywood Studios (Disney Jr) and Donald’s Dining Safari at Breakfast and Lunch (Donald and friends) at Disney's Animal Kingdom Theme Park. What's fun about these meals is that at many of them, the characters wear special themed outfits for the occasion, for example Hawaiian shirts at Ohana, chef outfits at Chef Mickey's and safari gear at the Tusker House. Reservations are essential, and should be made well in advance of your visit (nearly all Walt Disney World Resort dining locations open their availability 180 days in advance).
Where can I find more information?
Here are some of my suggestions for finding out more about how and where to meet the Disney characters. Words highlighted in blue take you to that specific link.
- The official Walt Disney World Resort website has some limited character greeting information, however, I personally have found this to sometimes not have all the information I want.
- Here at Character Central we have a vast guidebook for all the Disney parks, locations and characters. A good start for a good general overview would be what we call our "cheat sheet" for finding characters at the parks. On this cheat sheet we list the characters we have seen at Walt Disney World, rate the chances of you finding them, and the general location you might spot them.
- I cannot endorse the accuracy of this next one, but it has not failed me yet, but take note I have no control over it. WDWEnt is a good source for all current Walt Disney World theme park schedules, and at the time of writing the person who runs it seems to update it frequently.
Those last two links are of course only my recommendations, and should be used as a guide for planning only. Anything can change at any time, without notice from Disney.
If you have any further questions, you can join our friendly forum, and us or our members will happily help you out!
Have a great day everyone,
Dan. |
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Hello everyone,
Yesterday the Disney Parks Blog made two announcements regarding upcoming events at the Walt Disney World Resort and the Disneyland Resort.
At Walt Disney World Resort in Florida, summer is being dubbed the "Coolest Summer Ever", and will feature events based upon the wildly popular movie, Frozen. Kicking off the "Coolest Summer Ever" is the now-traditional 24 hour event over Memorial Day weekend in late May. Although few details have been given about it, the Parks Blog did say the event would launch the summer summer season, and given the name, and the fact they claim Olaf is the "host" of the summer events, it wouldn't be too surprising if the 24 hour event ended up being Frozen themed, at least to a degree. As with previous 24 hour events, you can expect characters, entertainment, food and merchandise offerings. After that event ends, you then have to wait until June 17th for the start of the next summer happening, "Frozen Summer Fun LIVE", which will run until September 7th. Anna, Elsa and Kristoff are returning to the parade route at Disney's Hollywood Studios, and this year will be joined by Olaf (as per the description on this new page on the WDW website). Nighttime at Hollywood Studios will be topped off with the special Frozen fireworks.
In addition to all these "cool" offerings, Hollywood Studios' awesome Star Wars Weekends are of course retuning from May 15th through June 14th.
At the Disneyland Resort in California, the Diamond Anniversary celebrations, which were previously announced to begin on May 22nd, will also begin with a 24 hour event. As with Walt Disney World, very few details have been released, except we can expect to see special characters and entertainment.
Disneyland Paris today officially sent out their press release for information regarding their summer events, and unsurprisingly, they are also Frozen over. They actually provided quite a lot of detail, so I will copy the information below.
"Let it go" this summer with Frozen at Disneyland® Paris
It's official: Disneyland® Paris will celebrate the 5th highest-grossing film ever this summer. Frozen, which has racked up more than 5 million ticket sales in France, will take centre stage from 1 June to 13 September 2015. The famous sisters, Anna and Elsa, will appear on stage with Olaf, their adorable snowman, in a spectacular event that will give guests chills!
New show: "Frozen Sing-along"
After catching a sneak peak of them in the famous Disneyland® Park Parade and meeting them to pose for pictures last Christmas, Disneyland Paris guests will be able to sing along with the stars of Frozen this summer! Enjoy this unique live experience with the heroes of the greatest Disney hit of all time.
Starting June 1st, the world of Frozen will appear in Frontierland in Disneyland Park, with a brand new show. An ice-themed musical production combining singing and dancing with guest participation. The famous sisters, Anna and Elsa, along with their faithful companions, Kristoff and Olaf the funny snowman, will take to the stage to bring the show to life and expand the unique experience of Frozen live. They'll be surrounded by dancers straight out of the Kingdom of Arendelle.
As the show begins, the villagers are preparing to celebrate the Arendelle winter festival. The intrepid Princess Anna appears and welcomes guests to the snowy universe of the Kingdom of Arendelle. She invites them to help her create a surprise for her sister, Elsa, asking them to join together as a choir. The show is a wonderful occasion to experience, relive and participate in the most beautiful musical moments of the greatest Disney success story of all time.
Olaf, renowned as the only snowman in the world capable of dreaming of heat and sunshine, will also join the party live on stage. To celebrate his longed-for summer, guests are encouraged to sing along, while he dreams innocently of sun tans and beaches!
Among the highlights is an emotionally charged performance of the unforgettable song "Let it go" by Elsa. [The French version of "Let it go" ("Libérée, Délivrée", sung by Anaïs Delva) has over 45 million hits on YouTube].
Playlist:
- Do you wanna build a snowman?
- In Summer
- Love is an open door
- Let it go
The show will take place several times a day, with live performances in French and English, with French and English subtitles on screen.
Venue: Chaparral Theater, Frontierland, Disneyland Park.
June and September: 7 days a week (6 shows a day from Monday until Friday – 12 shows a day at weekends)
July and August: 7 days a week - 12 shows a day
Limited number of seats
A Market Place decked in the colours of Frozen
At Cottonwood Creek Ranch, guests are invited to visit the Market Place, inspired by the universe of the kingdom of Arendelle, and enjoy all the delights that recall one of the greatest Disney hits of all time.
Venue: Cottonwood Creek Ranch, Frontierland, Disneyland Park
Two other magical appearances showcasing Frozen at Disneyland Park
The two heroines of Frozen will appear at Disneyland Park every day, for two special events. On their frosty float, Princess Anna and Queen Elsa will star in "Disney Magic on Parade!" with Olaf. They will also cross the Park several times a day for a special carriage ride, "Frozen: A Royal Welcome", waving to the crowd from their royal carriage.
"Disney Magic on Parade!" Once a day, 7 days a week, Disneyland Park
Frozen: A Royal Welcome, 3 times a day, 7 days a week, Disneyland Park
A special Frozen feature in Disney Dreams®!
Frozen is now part of the traditional version of Disney Dreams®!. A breath-taking night-time show with fountains and pyrotechnics, where famous Characters from the world of Disney come to life through projections onto Sleeping Beauty Castle.
"Disney Dreams®!" tells a magical and moving story. Guided by Peter Pan, guests discover, or re-discover, the greatest Disney stories, from Beauty and the Beast to Aladdin, not forgetting Rapunzel and many others.
Frozen is now part of this amazing night-time show, taking its place among Disney classics such as The Lion King and Peter Pan, as well as the unforgettable Parisian hits Ratatouille and The Hunchback of Notre Dame. This feature is vibrant and full of emotion, thanks to a specially re-orchestrated version of Let it go and the special effects expertise of Disneyland Paris.
Venue: Sleeping Beauty Castle, 7 days a week, Disneyland Park
Come to Disneyland Paris between 1 June and 13 September 2015 and celebrate a superbly snowy summer with Frozen at Disneyland Paris.
What is interesting is that their sing-along sounds completely different from either of the US versions. Although Florida and California both have slight variations from one another, the Parisian one sounds like a whole new concept, with villagers, dancers and even Olaf live on stage! We will be there in August, and look forward to seeing it.
Anna and Elsa featuring in Disney Dreams! is a new addition, and the cavalcade through the park I anticipate will be very similar to what they had at Christmas (perhaps with the addition of Kristoff and Olaf since they will be in the sing-along?). Anna and Elsa featuring in the main day parade however, is not new (just like how the Disney Parks Blog uses existing attractions such as Splash Mountain to advertise the "Coolest Summer Ever").
That's all for new items for today, but I just wanted to point you all towards some other highlights from the past couple of weeks that you may have missed, that are definitely worth reading.
Disney recently announced the dates for their popular Halloween and Christmas parties at the Magic Kingdom. Click here to find out the dates. Tickets will be available April.
The next part of my in-depth Grand Circle Tour of the World's Magic Kingdom's was posted, and covers Fantasyland. You can catch that here.
This past weekend we were in Walt Disney World for Flower and Garden, and of course other Disney fun. I wrote a trip report yesterday, which can be found here.
Ok, that's everything for today. Have a great day everyone,
Dan. |
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Hello everyone,
This past weekend Jon and I were in Walt Disney World for a brief trip to see Epcot's Flower and Garden Festival and a few other things.
I thought I would share with you all some of the things we saw whilst there, including a full round-up of all the Flower and Garden topiaries, gardens and exhibits. This report is photo heavy, so be warned in case you have a slow connection.
[ Read More... ] |
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 | 2014 - A Character Filled Year in Review | |
| DisneyDan
Wednesday, December 31, 2014 11:05:51 AM |
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Hello everyone,
Well, 2014 is nearly said and done, and 2015 draws ever nearer! It’s been a fantastic year here at Character Central, and I would like to take this opportunity to thank each one of our fans for supporting us for another year of laughter and magic.
In 2014 we had so many adventures, it would be impossible to claim any one of them was our favourite. From starting the year with the Einsteins at Disneyland Paris, Easter with the Aristocats, meeting Oswald for the first time in Tokyo DisneySea, to Christmas at Walt Disney World, it has been simply incredible. If I tried to share every magical moment we had in 2014 I’d not only be here for a week embedding the photos, but you would also get bored! So, this year, instead of my epic "post ever single character we saw" review, I thought I would share with everyone a selection of our favourite character moments from the year (just characters, because if I shared other photos and moments too, again, I’d be here forever!). Having said that, a "selection" from the incredible amount of things we've done means that this post is still really long, so just be warned if you have a slow internet connection!
[ Read More... ] |
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 | Happy 43rd Birthday Walt Disney World Resort! | |
| DisneyDan
Wednesday, October 1, 2014 8:53:28 AM |
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Today is the 43rd anniversary of the grand opening of the Magic Kingdom at the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida, and the 32nd anniversary of EPCOT!
For 43 years Walt Disney World has enchanted millions of guests from all over the world with its incredible attractions, amazing entertainment and excellent service and facilities.
In our usual style, here's a cavalcade of photos of our magical experiences at Walt Disney World over the years. I have deliberately left out character images for today, since I really wanted to celebrate the beauty of the parks, and the work of the dreamers who believed they could build this magical place.
Happy 43rd birthday Walt Disney World, here's to many, many more!
Dan. |
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| Happy 42nd Birthday Walt Disney World Resort! | |
| DisneyDan
Tuesday, October 1, 2013 11:27:53 AM |
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Today is the 42nd anniversary of the grand opening of the Magic Kingdom at the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida.
Since the opening of Disneyland, in Anaheim, CA, Walt Disney's dreams had grown even bigger. The limit of space in the Southern California park had meant that Walt's ultimate dreams had to be confined to a relatively small area.
In the early 1960's Walt Disney set about bringing to life his beloved Disneyland on a much larger scale, this time somewhere where there was all the land he could ever imagine - Florida.
Sadly, Walt passed away before his dream had became a reality, but his brother, Roy, ensured that the park kept on track, and finally on the 1st October 1971, the Magic Kingdom opened, at Walt Disney World - renamed by Roy from just Disney World in honour of his brother.
Since then, more and more of Walt's dreams have come true, including the opening of EPCOT, also on October 1st, in 1982.
EPCOT was Walt's vision of the future, where people worked and played together in a utopian community.
Although some may say this dream has never fully been realised, since EPCOT isn't quite how Walt envisaged it, I think that actually, it has, and more.
The Walt Disney World Resort brings together people from all over the world, not just to visit, but to live and work, too. With its hugely diverse Cast Members, international cuisines, celebrations of different cultures, and world class entertainment, shopping, dining and indeed living (Celebration, Golden Oaks, Cast Member housing etc), Walt's ultimate dream truly has become a reality.
Since 1971, millions upon millions of dreams have come true, simply because one man believed that if you could dream it, you could do it.
Happy 42nd birthday Walt Disney World, here's to many, many more!
In our usual style, here's a cavalcade of photos of our magical experiences at Walt Disney World over the years. I have deliberately left out character images for today, since I really wanted to celebrate the beauty of the parks, and the work of the dreamers who believed they could build this magical place.
Dan. |
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Just a few minutes ago the Disney Parks Blog announced its list for the vote for the next Long Lost Friends Week at Walt Disney World.
The list consists of:
- Clarabelle Cow and Horace Horse Collar
- Robin Hood, Friar Tuck, Sheriff of Nottingham and Prince John
- Fifer Pig, Fiddler Pig, Practical Pig and Big Bad Wolf
- Clarice, Chip and Dale
- Wendell, Liver Lips, Shaker and Big Al
- Chicken Little and Abby Mallard
- Brer Bear, Brer Fox and Brer Rabbit
- Flik and Princess Atta
- June and Leo from Little Einsteins
- Tweedle Dum, Tweedle Dee and Queen of Hearts
- Louis the Alligator and Dr. Facilier (Face)
- Penguins from Mary Poppins
- Suzy and Perla
I have to say, overall, the list is somewhat disappointing. The first three sets were out last time!Chip and Dale are regulars, and although Clarice is "rare" for WDW, she can be met all the time in Paris, Tokyo, and sometimes in California.
The Country Bears are out regularly in California, Tokyo, and actually at the Christmas Parties in the Magic Kingdom, too!
I give them credit where it is due for Chicken Little and Abby Mallard - they are definitely rare these days.
The Brers, well, all three can be met in Tokyo, and Brer Fox and Brer Bear are out in California often.
Flik used to be out daily in WDW, and still is at DCA in California. Atta is definitely more unusual, but was at the dance party for the Party for the Planet LTM recently at Animal Kingdom. Why not also have Francis and Gypsy, or some other bug friends?
June can be met everyday at the Play 'n' Dine at DHS, if you eat there. Leo is definitely more rare, but was out regularly until just about two years ago. But why not have Quincy and Annie too?
The Tweedles and the Queen of Hearts are out daily in California, Paris and Tokyo, and the Queen of Hearts can be found at the Halloween Parties in the Magic Kingdom too.
Louis is definitely a rare one. Dr Facilier can be met during Halloween in Paris and California, and at the Halloween Parties in the Magic Kingdom.
The Penguins from Mary Poppins are OUT in WDW sometimes - we saw them when we were there last month! Ok, they aren't regular, but they DO appear! There is also a good chance of finding them in the afternoon pop-up surprise sets on the Streets of America at DHS! Definitely not a good option.
Suzy and Perla are out fairly often in California and Paris, though not all the time. For WDW they are definitely uncommon.
I realise my comparisons are between the other parks, but as you can see, these characters are not truly "Long Lost" - and some of them CAN be found at WDW! It just depends on the time of year (Christmas, Halloween etc).
Overall I think they really needed to up their game with this one, especially after Disneyland held such an AWESOME one that totally blew everyone away! For those who don't recall, DL had REAL rare characters such as the Three Good Fairies, John Smith and Ping (Mulan's alter ego).
Let us know what you think by hitting the 'Discuss' button below, and commenting on the Forum!
Dan. |
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| After many random fairy sightings in Epcot the last few weeks it doesn't come as a surprise but the official Limited Time Magic page has been updated with "Disney Fairies Week" April 15th to April 21st, 2013!
This will be coming to both Walt Disney World and Disneyland; however, it sounds like Walt Disney World is getting the better version of the week as it mentions Iridessa, Rosetta, Silvermist, Fawn, Vidia, and Terence in addition to Tinker Bell while at Disneyland it only mentions Tink, Rosetta, and Terence (which isn't much better than normal).
In both resorts the fairies will be found at their normal locations ( Tinker Bell's Magical Nook in Magic Kingdom and Pixie Hollow at Disneyland). If you are a big Disney Fairies fan, it sounds like Walt Disney World will be the place to be next week! |
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