This is the third part of our recap of the WDW Four Park Character Meet Challenge where we met THIRTY-ONE (31) characters in one day across all four WDW theme parks.
You can find the first two parts of this recap here:
Quick Recap
In our last episode, we had wrapped up our meets at Hollywood Studios. At this point, it was around 5:15pm, and we were getting ready to make our way over to the Magic Kingdom. We had met a grand total of 23 characters (11 in Epcot, 3 in Animal Kingdom, and 9 in Hollywood Studios). Although we were tired from a long day of being in the parks, we were looking forward to adding to our total at the Most Magical Place on Earth!
Leg Four: Magic Kingdom
We arrived at Main Street USA at around 6pm. Honestly, given the additional logistics of getting from the TTC to the front gate, I was pleasantly surprised at how quickly we got there.
Our original plan was to head immediately to Storybook Circus to get to both the “Meet Daring Disney Pals” and “Meet Dashing Disney Pals”, both of which close at 7pm. However, we had obtained Advanced Planning DAS Reservations to meet Tiana from 6pm to 7pm, so we decided to head there first on the way to Storybook Circus. We also had a 5pm to 6pm advanced reservation for meeting Cinderella, but we didn’t intend on using it, since we didn’t think it would still be valid by the time we got there.
After Storybook Circus, the plan was to backtrack to Ariel, then to the Cinderella meet, and then finally to Mickey at the Town Square Theater.
Characters #24 and #25: Tiana and Rapunzel
We used our 6pm to 7pm DAS Advanced Planning Reservation to meet Tiana and Rapunzel at Princess Fairytale Hall.
Princess Fairytale Hall actually has separate meets, each with their own line. The first (which is this one) is Tiana and a visiting princess (in this case, Rapunzel). The second is Cinderella and another visiting princess. We first did the Tiana side of the meet.
I don’t remember if I mentioned this previously, but many meets have replaced human photographers with an automated picture machine (not sure what else to call it). Basically, the machine takes pictures every 10 to 20 seconds with a flash of light indicating when the picture is snapped. When you are done with your meet, you scan your card or Magicband to link the latest batch of pictures to your account. I assume Disney did this to cut labor costs.
Characters #26 and #27: Cinderella and Elena of Avalor
By this time it was 6:25pm. We had intended to get a DAS return time for Cinderella and just move on to Storybook Circus. However, Banshee suggested that we try using our Advanced Planning DAS Reservation first even though it technically expired at 6pm. Worst case, they would say “no”, and we’d have to come back later.
By some stroke of luck (or pixie dust), it still worked! We headed through the Lightning Lane and onto Cinderella and her visiting princess: Elena of Avalor.
I’ll be the first to admit that I had no clue who this Elena person was. Apparently, she is the star of her own Disney Channel series and is the first Latin Disney princess. Go Elena!
Of course, Cinderella requires no introduction. Every visitor to the Magic Kingdom passes by her castle, so technically we are all her guests!
After meeting with Cinderella, we decided to get a DAS return time for the Ariel meet and greet. Our return time was for 6:45pm. We’d be cutting it close for the Storybook Circus meets, but we decided to roll the dice anyway.
Character #28: Ariel
The Ariel meet and greet is located in Fantasyland, right near the entrance to Storybook Circus. Even though we got a DAS return time, we probably didn’t need it, since there was zero line. Honestly, I was surprised by this, since the live action Little Mermaid movie just came out, so I thought that this might drive renewed interest in the character.
This version of Ariel is the “classic” version from the original cartoon movie. You can also meet the “new” version consistent with the recent movie at Hollywood Studios at the Walt Disney Presents exhibit.
Characters #29 and #30: Goofy and Donald at Pete’s Silly Sideshow
Tucked inside Storybook Circus is a Big Top tent that contains two separate meet and greets: Meet Daring Disney Pals (i.e. Goofy and Donald) and Meet Dashing Disney Pals (i.e. Minnie and Daisy). Similar to Princess Fairytale Hall, each has its own line. We rushed over from the Ariel meet and were able to get in line for Goofy and Donald just as the clock struck 7pm. As with most attractions at Disney, if you are in line when it closes, they still let you proceed through the attraction. This meant that we would be allowed to meet Goofy and Donald. However, since Minnie and Daisy were a separate line, we wouldn’t be able to meet them.
We chose the Goofy and Donald side mainly because we hadn’t met Goofy previously today, and this would allow us to say that we met all of the “Big 6”.
The costuming was very unique for this meet. In keeping with the general circus theme, Goofy was dressed in a stunt person’s fire suit, as if he was ready to be shot out of a cannon. Meanwhile, Donald was dressed in some sort of exotic snake charmer’s outfit. I guess that’s why they call this “Meet Daring Disney Pals”!
The line itself wasn’t too bad… maybe about 15 minutes or so. We were probably out by around 7:20pm or so.
Character #31: Mickey at the Town Square Theater
This was another meet that supports the use of DAS. After leaving Ariel, we were able to get a return time of 7:30pm. We backtracked our way through the park, back to Main Street USA, and to the Town Square Theater near the main entrance. We knew we wanted to make this our last stop for several reasons:
- It closes at 9:30pm so there was no time pressure
- It is right near the exit
- It seemed appropriate to end the challenge with the Mouse who started it all!
Honestly, at this point, I don’t remember too much about this meet. I noted down that we arrived at 7:40pm and were done by 7:45pm, but other than that, I am drawing a blank! We have pictures so I know it happened; it wasn’t a dream. So there’s that!
Magic Kingdom Wrap Up
Time in the park: 1 hour, 45 minutes
Characters met: 8
Number of face characters: 5
Number of fur characters: 3
Number of “Big Six” characters: 3 (Goofy, Donald, Mickey)
We could have gone to Storybook Circus first, which was the original plan. If we had, we may have been able to do both sides of the meet and greet there. Instead, we used the Advanced Planning DAS reservations at Princess Fairytale Hall to shorten our wait there.
Overall Wrap Up
Honestly, I was super proud of us for making it to 31 character meets in one day. If you have been following along, you can probably tell that there may have been another 4-5 characters that we could have gotten. However, we’ll leave that as an exercise for someone else to break our “record”.
I was especially proud of Little Banshee. Given her special needs, we didn’t know how she would hold up. Staying in the parks all day is generally not something that we do. However, she handled it well! In fact, I think she enjoyed all the attention that the characters gave her.
That brings me to my final thought.
I am not a big “character guy”. It is not something that I personally need to do. Sure, I’ll go along with the family if there is someone they want to meet, but it is not something I would seek out on my own. However, after meeting and interacting with so many characters, I got a real appreciation for the joy and excitement that they bring to everyone: both young and young at heart. They truly are the “pixie dust” that helps make Walt Disney World special! Each and every interaction was so beautiful and wonderful in its own way. They really took the time to make each person feel special. Hats off (ears off) to them!
That said, while it was a unique and memorable experience, I don’t think we will be doing it again anytime soon. Visiting four parks in one day in the heat of summer isn’t for the faint of heart!
If you have any questions about meeting characters in general, please leave them in the comments. Now that we are “experts”, we are happy to spread our knowledge!
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