IMPORTANT UPDATES:
- Learn more about our latest updates here.
- Go to our donation page and DONATE MONEY to the Phelan-McDermid Syndrome Foundation.
- Follow us on Instagram for exclusive challenge day updates.
- Leave any tips that you might have for us in the comments.
- SPREAD THE WORD!
And now, the original article….
We are always up for a challenge, especially when it involves Walt Disney World. People do ride challenges, like the Mountain Challenge. Others do drinking challenges like the infamous Drink Around the World Showcase Challenge. There was one person who last year ran a mile at every WDW resort, visited all four theme parks and got a snack at each park, all in one day…. in the height of summer. That’s dedication!
That got Banshee and I thinking about WDW challenges that we can do with Little Banshee. Given that she is special needs, doing your typical ride challenges or drinking challenges or running challenges is… well… challenging. So we brainstormed on a challenge that would be fun for us to do with Little Banshee. We came up with an idea…
A Four Park Character Meet Challenge!
As the name implies, the challenge is to do as many character meet-and-greets in one day as we can in all four parks!
Challenge For a Purpose
While one of the motivations for this challenge is the challenge itself, we also want to use it as an opportunity to raise awareness for the Phelan-McDermid Syndrome Foundation. As I have mentioned many times on this site, Little Banshee was diagnosed with this at a young age. It is a rare syndrome which is the result of a deletion of some important generic material from one of her chromosomes. While everyone afflicted is different, it is usually characterized by autism, low muscle tone, seizures, lack of verbal speech, and other developmental delays.
Supporting the P-MS Foundation not only helps to support families who are impacted by this syndrome, it also funds key research in this area. Because of the causal link between Phelan-McDermid Syndrome and autism, much of the research potentially can allow us to understand autism in general. In fact, it is possible that many with autism also have P-MS and just don’t realize it due to lack of awareness and genetic testing.
In any case, it is a worthy cause that we are proud to support.
If you want to support our challenge, we ask that you go the Phelan-McDermid Syndrome Foundation website, read about it, and consider donating to the cause! Tell others about it as well, particularly those who are impacted by autism. And keep watching this web site for more details!
UPDATE: OUR DONATION PAGE IS LIVE: https://secure.qgiv.com/event/celebratepmsf/account/1525038
The Rules
The rules of the challenge are quite simple:
Rule #1: Goal is to experience as many character meet and greets in one day as possible, with at least TWO in each park
We’ll get to the details of how many meets there are in each park. Some have a lot more than two, but there are a few for which the opportunities are much more limited.
Rule #2: Only opportunities in My Disney Experience count
While there can be random ad-hoc meet opportunities, we are sticking the ones that are on the My Disney Experience schedule, to keep it simpler.
Rule #3: Character meals also don’t count
Another way to keep it simple, and also save on money!
Rule #4: We can take advantage of the Disability Access Service for those experiences that offer it
This gives us a little bit of an advantage over the average person, but not much since you can get a similar benefit from Genie+.
Rule #5: It only counts if there is video evidence
That means that we need to capture the meet with a picture that includes, at a minimum, the character(s) and Little Banshee.
Rule #6: Little Banshee is in charge. If she gets tired, hungry, thirsty, overheated, etc, then we will pause or end the challenge.
This is the most important rule. While we are a competitive family, we won’t compromise Little Banshee’s comfort. If she needs a break, she gets a break!
The Character Meet and Greets
According to what is currently listed in My Disney Experience, here are the various character meets at the Parks. Obviously, as the day gets closer, we will update the list and adjust our plans.
Magic Kingdom
- Meet Ariel at Her Grotto (DAS available)
- Meet Characters from Aladdin
- Meet Princesses at Prince Fairytale Hall (DAS available)
- Meet Daring/Dashing Disney Pals as Circus Stars at Pete’s Silly Sideshow
- Meet Merida at Fairytale Garden
- Meet Mickey at Town Square Theater (DAS available)
- Meet Peter Pan in Fantasyland
- Meet Winnie the Pool and Tigger at the Thotful Spot
Epcot
- Meet a Favorite Pal at Disney and Pixar Short Film Festival
- Meet Alice in the UK
- Meet Anna and Elsa at Royal Sommerhus
- Meet Belle in France
- Meet Disney Pals Near Epcot Main Entrance
- Meet Donald in Mexico
- Meet Joy Inside ImageWorks
- Meet Mulan in China
- Meet Pluto at the World Showcase Entrance
- Meet Vanellope Inside ImageWorks
- Meet Aurora in France
- Meet Jasmine in Morocco
- Meet Snow White in Germany
Animal Kingdom
- Donald’s Dino Bash
- Meet Favorite Disney Pals at Adventurer’s Outpost (DAS available)
- Meet Moana and Character Landing
Hollywood Studios
- Meet Disney Junior Pals in Animation Courtyard
- Meet Disney Stars at Red Carpet Dreams
- Meet Olaf at Celebrity Spotlight (DAS available)
- Meet the Toys in Toy Story Land
- Meet Chewbacca at Star Wars Launch Bay
Where To Start (Literally)
Now that we have established the ground rules and inventoried the character meets, we have to formulate a plan of attack for this challenge.
Because we cannot Park Hop until 2pm, choosing which park to start with becomes crucial as this is the park where we will likely be spending most of our time.
As you can see, Epcot rules with the most character meet and greets. Seven countries allow you to meet a nationality-specific Disney Princess in their land. However, Magic Kingdom is not far behind. Meanwhile, Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios are much lighter on the meet and greets. That means that it makes the most sense to start with either MK or EP.
Advantages of Starting in the Magic Kingdom
The biggest advantage to starting in the Magic Kingdom is that getting here takes the longest. You have to park at the Ticket and Transportation Center, get through security, and then take a boat or monorail to the actual main entrance. That can easily burn 30-45 minutes. If you can use that time in the morning before the parks open, that allows you save that time during the day for the challenge. On the other hand, you might lose some of that time traveling from MK to the other parks, so this might end up being a wash.
Advantages of Starting in Epcot
Epcot has the most meets. You can easily spend up until 2pm just doing all of the meets here, so you wouldn’t be wasting any time waiting to Park Hop.
In addition, many of the meets in Epcot close early. For example, most of the World Showcase meets close by mid-afternoon. Therefore, if you leave Epcot until later in the day, you might miss out on a lot of opportunities.
While some of the Magic Kingdom’s meets also close in the middle of the day, there are still quite a few that remain upon throughout the evening. In fact Magic Kingdom’s meets generally stay opened the longest.
[You can see the hours of operation here, if you are curious. Obviously they can change between now and the challenge, so we will continue to monitor them and adjust our plans accordingly.]
Therefore, it makes sense to go to Epcot first and Magic Kingdom last!
When To Do the Other Parks
Now that we have established that Epcot is first and Magic Kingdom is last, where do Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom fit in?
Animal Kingdom has the least number of meet and greets. Furthermore, the Moana meet only happens twice after 2pm: 2:10pm and 3:05pm. Also, Donald’s Dino Bash converts to a dance party in the afternoon (although no time is specified). That means if we get there too late, we might be left with only the Adventurer’s Outpost meet and greet!
Meanwhile, Hollywood Studios has several character attractions that stay open until the early evening.
Therefore, it makes sense to go from Epcot -> Animal Kingdom -> Hollywood Studios -> Magic Kingdom!
Next Steps
The next step is to formulate a general plan of attack for each Disney Park. While the goal is to meet as many characters as possible, we also don’t want to burn ourselves out. That means we also need to take into consideration our own stamina and comfort, especially for Little Banshee’s sake. If that means skipping a few in Epcot in order to save us from having to backtrack, so be it. Flexibility is key!
I’ll save our detailed planning for another article (that’s what those of us in the “business” call a teaser!)
Please let us know in the comments what you think of this challenge, and whether you have any tips to maximize our probability of success!
AD: We hope you enjoyed this post. If you are coming to Central Florida and need a place to stay, please consider the Encore Magic Villa. It sleeps up to 12 and features a game room, theater room, themed bedrooms, and private pool… located within a short drive of the Magic!
