One of the most magical parts of a Disneyland vacation is getting to see all of your favorite Disney characters come to life at the parks. There are so many great opportunities to interact with your favorite characters, from classic characters like Mickey and Minnie to Princesses, Star Wars heroes, and more.
There are a few different types of character experiences at Disneyland, including meet-and-greets with traditional character lines, roaming characters, and Character Dining experiences. We will cover our top tips for meeting characters at Disneyland to make the most of your experience!
1) Schedule Character Dining as a late breakfast/lunch or on the day you arrive/leave. You want to make sure you keep the valuable morning hours at Disneyland open so that you can rope drop popular attractions with a shorter wait. Booking a Character Dining meal during lunch will also allow you to escape the crowds and hotter temperatures.
Another option is to schedule a Character Dining meal at one of the Disneyland Resort Hotels for the last day of your trip or the day you arrive so that the experience doesn’t cut into your park time. This is a great way to start or end your trip on a high note!
2) Think of something to say ahead of time if you are worried about freezing up during interactions with speaking characters. A good go-to is having highlights of park day ready, as face characters will often ask about this, and it can give you a starting point for your conversation. Try to think of anything especially interesting or funny that has happened during your trip, or your favorite part of the Character Dining experience so far.
You can also think of any specific comments or burning questions you have that are related to their character or story, like how a Princess’s animal sidekick is doing, for example. This will help so you don’t have to think as quickly on your feet! This is one of our top tips for introverts at Character Dining meals.
3) Kids can wear something fun for character interactions. Children under age 14 are allowed to wear full costumes to Disneyland if they want to, and this can be a great way to make character meetings extra special!
You can get some really great photos and conversations out of this, whether your child is encountering characters in a traditional meet-and-greet format or during a Character Dining meal. For example, a princess dress would be a great way to make encounters at the Royal Hall or Disney Princess Breakfast Adventure extra special. For adults, DisneyBounding, which is styling an everyday outfit by taking inspiration from a Disney character, is a great way to lean into the fun of character interactions.
4) Find character meeting times on the app. Many Disneyland characters will have scheduled times when they will be appearing, like Mickey and other classic characters on Main Street U.S.A., for example, which you can access on the Disneyland app.
Tap on the maps icon, then tap the dropdown at the top next to “attractions” and you’ll see the opportunity to select “characters” instead. You’ll be able to see character locations and times on the app this way showing the character’s scheduled appearances for the day.
5) Ask the characters what their signature pose is and match them for the best photos. Instead of the regular stand-and-smile photo, ask the character what their signature pose is and do it alongside them. There will be some fun variety in your photos as each character will have a different pose! This is one of our top tips for taking the best PhotoPass photos at Disneyland
Make sure to take advantage of these top tips for the best experience meeting characters at Disneyland! You can see our guide to Character Dining at Disneyland for more tips on interacting with characters at the different Character Dining experiences offered across the resort.
At Mickey Visit, we share the most important tips for planning your trips to Disneyland, Walt Disney World, Disney Cruise Line, Universal, and beyond. Each week, we’ll share some of our top tips here on Laughing Place.