There are so many things to do in Disney World besides just riding rides!
Spaceship Earth
From incredible shows and fireworks to interactive exhibits, Disney really has it all! And one of the most popular things to do in the parks is to meet your favorite Disney characters. Recently, Disney asked us a rather interesting question about character meet and greets.
After a recent visit to EPCOT, one member of our team received a survey about her trip from Disney Parks. Among the questions was one asking about meeting characters. It asked us to rate our interest in meeting characters in the park, and whether or not we’d want to wait in line to meet them.
Interesting survey question!
The options included meeting characters and waiting in a queue, seeing characters in cavalcades/shows/spontaneous sightings, or not meeting characters at all. There are a few different ways you can encounter characters currently in EPCOT — many are available through traditional queued meet-and-greets, but you can also encounter some through entertainment, like Mirabel and Bruno during the “¡Celebración Encanto!” show.
¡Celebración Encanto!
This question may just seem like a pretty routine way to gauge character interest, but it comes at an important time for Disney attractions. Just recently, Disney World changed its skip-the-line system from Genie+ to Lightning Lane Multi Pass, and with the new offering, character meet and greets are no longer available to access by Lightning Lane, even if the meet and greet building has a Lightning Lane entrance.
Mickey & Friends
So could Disney World be changing its character meet process? Back when the parks reopened during the pandemic, character sightings and cavalcades were the primary way that we interacted with characters, so would they bring those back again? The current Adventure Friends Cavalcade at Magic Kingdom seems to be pretty popular.
Adventure Friends Cavalcade
No matter what happens, we’ll make sure to keep a close eye on the news and update you with any changes! Stay tuned to DFB for the latest!
Click Here to Learn More About the Lightning Lane Character Changes!
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To not questions makes me pause as it slants to having less meet and greets individually in the parks. having more group options would be easier to organize and schedule maybe requiring less employees? the magic is in options more options for meeting not less.
I got this survey at the end of my trip in July. We also went to Be Our Guest so had questions about meeting Beast there. I marked we are willing to wait in line to meet characters – we didn’t do that as much this trip as on some others, but we certainly did stand in line some for the ones we did gladly.
Our first trip back after COVID was in June 2021 and there weren’t any character meets at all at that time. We certainly missed them then, more than I expected even. Interacting with them personally is most definitely part of the fun of it.
My most emotional day (I’m almost 70 years old)ever at Disney was when I got to meet and hug Figment. I started crying. I shocked myself. I love getting to see my grandchildren and great grandchildren get to meet and hug their favorite character. Certainly hope Disney isn’t even considering taking this away from us also!
I cried when I met Figment too, Joy! My hug was extra long. He knew I needed it. Tears and welling up just typing that. I understand!
My kids and I made a specific trip back to EPCOT so I could meet Figment – he had gone to lunch by the time we got off the ride the first time we were in the park. I have photos with him and Dreamfinder from a trip way back in 1992, so I got to tell him how much he had grown since then. I too found it more emotional than I expected to get to hug him. Pooh Bear also gives really great hugs – he is another must do for me, and I am definitely in the Disney adult/grandparent category.
We also saw the “¡Celebración Encanto!” show that afternoon, and while we very much enjoyed it I would not say that it is a replacement for the traditional meet and greet. Mirabel and Bruno showed up at the end, danced a bit with the crowd and did the conga line and then promptly disappeared without hanging out at all to take photos with people. There was very little personal interaction time with them if that is what you were hoping for. They definitely focused on interacting with the kids from the audience that were up and participating with the dancing part of the show.