Magical Moments: Disney Character Meet and Greet Tips

The first time I ever went to Walt Disney World I got an autograph book. It was blue and had Mickey and friends on the front of it. All of the pages were blank and ready to be signed by all of my favorite characters. Throughout the next years, every time we went to Disney I got a book to be signed and got my pictures taken with princesses and animated characters. Character meet and greets have always been my favorite part of Disney. Yeah, the rides are fun, the atmosphere is stunning, but being able to meet my favorite characters straight out of movies is so magical!

At the beginning of the semester I bought myself a new autograph book (that also just so happens to be the same design as my first one!) Now every time I go to a park I take my book and my Fuji Film Instax Mini 8 Polaroid camera, and when I get a characters autograph, I take a photo with them to put next to their signature. My goal is to meet every character that has advertised meet and greets and also as many rare and unadvertised characters as I can! That being said, I’ve met a lot of characters and learned a lot of tips and tricks to meeting them, read on for my top six character meet and greet tips!

Tip #1: Know the times the characters are meeting! If you use the My Disney Experience app then you can find character meet and greet times on there, if not there is a weekly times guide you can get as you come into the park. It will have all of the information you need to know when the characters are meeting as well as the times for shows and parades!

Tip #2: Prioritize which characters you want to meet at each park, and figure out the best times to go meet those characters. There are some characters who meet all day long from park open to park close, and some who only meet a few times a day. Mickey and friends, the princesses in Princess Fairytale Hall, and Tinkerbell are some who meet all day long in Magic Kingdom. Park close is the best time to meet the Princesses, as at this time most of the families with small children have gone back to the hotel to sleep. Your times guide will help you know when to meet characters such as Peter Pan, Gaston, and Alice as they only meet a few times a day.

Tip #3: If you can, get a Fastpass for Mickey. His line stays long throughout the entire day.

Tip #4: If you are doing a character dining experience don’t waste time meeting those characters in the parks, at the dining experience they will come to your table, take a picture with you and sign your autograph book if they are able to sign.

Tip #5: When meeting the characters who don’t meet all day such as Peter Pan and Gaston get to their meet and greet location about 10-15 minutes in advance. The character attendant will cut off the line at a certain number of guests so that Peter knows when he needs to go check on the Lost Boys, or Gaston needs to go fix his hair!

Tip #6: Take lots and lots of pictures! Give your phone or camera to the character attendant (the one in blue), and they will take pictures on it for you while the PhotoPass Photographer is taking photos as well. You won’t regret having to many pictures with your favorite characters!

I hope these help you make the most of your vacation! Comment to tell me your favorite character meet and greets and take a look at some of the characters I’ve met here at Walt Disney World so far!