Character meets for a newbie

[ClapYourHands]

I'm familiar with all the rides and WDW and FP strategies for them, but this November I'll be solo with DD age 4, so for the first time I'll be looking to do character meets. Probably A LOT of character meets.

If the Character Spot were still open, it would be a no-brainer to make a beeline for that, but with all those characters scattered, it looks like it will take a lot of individual stops to meet everyone. How much time should I expect to spend standing in lines? It seems like many of the characters do not have FP available, especially in Epcot.

The refresh strategy has served me well to snag same-day FP for rides, but I just read a blog that said same-day character meets are unlikely to be available as 4th FP. Has anyone found that to be true?

I just booked my FP+ over the weekend, but they're all for rides. Should I go back and schedule FP for some of the character meets? If so, which ones are the most valuable use of FP?

Thanks in advance for any help you can offer this character-meeting newbie!

 

[NickC]

We typically do one or two character meals each trip. We like Tusker House and Cinderella's Table. This allows us to meet quite a few characters without standing in line. We also have a Disney Visa, which has a cardholder only meet. Other than that, we usually look at the lines when we pass and decide if we have enough time to wait.

 

[Oneanne]

If you have a high interest in meeting characters, consider doing one of the character meals. For EPCOT, at Garden Grill you can meet Mickey, Pluto, Chip and Dale. The meal is served family style, so no need juggle plates at the buffet. The food is consistently good, as are the character interactions and the restaurant rotates over the farm house scene of Living with the Land.

 

[DuskKodesh]

In MK Mickey fastpasses seem to go first, the princesses afterwards. You run the chance of bumbling into one for a fourth fastpass if you play the refresh game well, I was able to see Mickey that way, then Ariel. The characters I didn't FP took a bit. Probably 35 minutes for Gaston, I spent 30 meeting Stitch but it wasn't unreasonable. Then again I didn't have a four year old with me so if they get impatient it could be an issue. In Epcot most of the lines were so long I opted out of meeting the characters. Anna and Elsa had an hour wait on my Epcot day.

 

[chris benton]

Check if the chars you'd like to meet are at any of the character meals. They are pricey, but you are pretty much guaranteed an interaction with each character and a photo op (if you'd like.) Include the character interactions + meal, + break vs the time you'd spend in the parks

 

[solfan68]

Character meals, for sure - the characters come to you. And if you have a Disney Visa, don't pass up the opportunities in Epcot and DHS.

 

[Mango7100]

I have always had luck finding Ariel, Cinderella/Elena, Tinkerbell, Rapunzel/Tiana, and Ariel as 4th FP. Meeting Minnie and Mickey in safari clothes at AK also tends to be a shorter wait or an easy FP pick up. If we are doing a character with no FP, we try to be in line 15 min before they come out for a set...that has worked well for Merida and Gaston in MK as well as Aurora in Epcot. Don’t forget meeting Belle in Enchanted Tales—she doesn’t sign anything but that is another FP pick up

 

[mshanson3121]

As everyone else has said - character meals are your friends! You have to eat anyways, might as well meet some characters while you're at it. We have done CRT (met Cinderella, Jasmine, Ariel, Snow White and Aurora), 1900 Park Fare (Pooh, Tigger, Mary Poppins, Alice and Mad Hatter), and O'Hana's (Mickey, Pluto, Lilo, Stitch). Of those, CRT and 1900 PF were our favorites.

But we have also met many other characters by using Kenny the Pirate's character tips, rope drop and Fast Pass. I definitely recommend spending the money for KP's Character Locator, we had a lot of luck using his strategies. Also, for us, knowing characters are really the main thing for our kids, more than the rides, we would rope drop the characters instead of rides.

Example, on our Epcot day (granted it was a pretty low crowd day), we rope dropped their Character place, and met Ralph, Vaneloppe, Baymax, Joy and Sadness, all within I think 35-40 minutes. We were the first or second in line for all of them. At Animal Kingdom, we rope dropped Mickey & Minnie, and had met them within 20 minutes (we were probably 10-12 back).

 

[Unvoiced_Apollo]

If your daughter is into princesses and you can swing the character meals, definitely try for Cinderella's Royal Table. Though keep in mind this is more expensive than other character meals because you're paying a premium on eating in the castle. If you can't swing CRT, then Akershus is a good alternative if she (or you) only care about princesses. But Trattoria Al Forno has a good breakfast with Rapunzel & Ariel and their respective princes (or dashing rogue in Flynn's case). 1900 Park Fare Dinner is good if she's a Cinderella Fan and wants to meet Charming and the Step-family (sometimes it's Jacques & Gus instead). There's also Storybook Dining at Artist Point with Snow, Dopey, Grumpy, and the Evil Queen.

My favorite fur character meal so far is Tusker House in Animal Kingdom (but I'm being biased as that's the only one I've been to). You meet Mickey, Donald, Daisy, and Goofy. I'm going to Garden Grill (Mickey, Pluto, on my next trip which I've heard is good or at least getting better.

Oh, and always be on the lookout because sometimes the characters are a bit hidden. I've met Pluto and Pocahontas tucked away in their respective locations. Neither had official photopass photographers but they did have people lining up and taking pics on their phones.

Always check the My Disney Experience app for characters. You can actually filter by character experience and find their respective locations. It can also tell you day of if they're available, times they'll be there, etc. If they don't show up then likely they won't be available that day.