Meeting Disney characters has always been a highlight of my family’s trips. The excitement in my sons’ eyes when they first met Buzz Lightyear & Woody was priceless, and antics with characters such as Chip & Dale and Stitch have inspired many laughs and wonderful memories. A few years ago, many of these meetings seemed fairly spontaneous with only maybe a few families ahead of us. Indeed, there often was more of a gathering of people around the characters than an actual line to meet them.
These marvelous memories have got me thinking about character interactions in the park today. In particular, the current fervor for obtaining a FastPass+ reservation to meet Frozen’s Anna and Elsa has me wondering—can scheduling a character meeting well in advance bring the same level of joy as in the days of characters roaming the parks and guests delighting in impromptu character interactions?
Let’s face it—the days of roaming characters being a regular feature of the parks are long gone, and advanced planning is now needed to meet some characters. Nonetheless, there is evidence that under these circumstances the joy of character interactions is alive and well.
Case in point is the FastPass+ opportunity to meet Frozen’s Anna and Elsa. With FastPass+ for Anna and Elsa, Disney has hit upon a way to guarantee guests that they will meet these wildly popular characters. Not only that, but it seems that the joy of obtaining a FastPass+ for these characters can be almost as powerful as actually meeting them. And so guests get the double reward of first snagging that FastPass+ and later experiencing the thrill of meeting the characters.
Indeed, the ability to reserve character meet & greets using FastPass+ perfectly illustrates what I have found to be one of the main benefits of all of the changes at Disney World in the past several years—namely, the Joy of Anticipation! After I have reserved my hotel, dining, and FastPass+ reservations, I have an absolute blast adjusting plans, adding plans, and just plain anticipating all the fun!
Currently, FastPass+ is available in the Magic Kingdom to Meet Anna & Elsa with a Visiting Princess at Princess Fairytale Hall, to Meet Ariel at Her Grotto, to Meet Cinderella and Rapunzel at Princess Fairytale Hall, and to Meet Mickey Mouse at Townsquare Theater. You can also get a FastPass+ to Meet Disney Pals at the Epcot Character Spot, and you can Meet Favorite Disney Pals at Adventurers Outpost in Animal Kingdom.
My family has enjoyed several of meet & greets. In particular, meeting with Mickey the Magician at Townsquare Theater was fun and entertaining! At the same time, though, I think meeting characters more spontaneously (at least not by planning days in advance) is a different kind of special experience.
In fact, Disney recently announced and then quickly pulled FastPass+ only character meet & greets in Epcot, Disney Hollywood Studios, and Animal Kingdom. So, maybe Disney realizes that while guests do like to anticipate and plan character meetings, they also value an opportunity for a same-day experience.
