When it comes to the rides at Disney World I am an A-class chicken! I do not care for the big rides…some of the small rides…rides just aren’t really float my boat. So my Disney Days are filled with…you guessed it CHARACTER STALKING! I love love LOVE meeting the characters when I’m in the parks. When I was younger I was terrified of all of them, but as I’ve grown up I’ve gotten a little less scared and a little less shy (with some help from my friends); and I’ve gone on many a character stalking adventure with great success! So today I’m writing and sharing a few tips for an amazing character stalking adventure!!
Tip #1- Make a List: There a million characters to meet at Disney parks, and while you can meet a ton, aiming to meet every single one in one day might not be the best idea. So make a plan on who you want to meet based on what park or parks you are in that day. This will help you make sure you don’t miss anybody you are really excited to see. If you are using the My Disney Experience App- often times they will list what characters are in the parks and what time they are supposed to meet, I also like to use kennythepirate.com for lists and times as well as the parks times guides.
Tip #2- Make a Plan: I don’t mean a down to the minute plan of your character day, but try to map out where each character is meeting and head to the nearest in the area. For example, Epcot has many characters meeting in the pavilions. When I’m character meeting there, I go to see the character nearest to me one after the other after the other. It helps a great deal with time and keeping you somewhat energized since you’re not constantly running back and forth across the parks
Tip #3- Mind the time: The characters tend to meet in about 40 minute blocks. This is awesome! Getting to the character spot right as the character is leaving is at an advantage to you. You’ll be first in line for when they come back and that allows you to run over to the next character with time to spare. On my last trip to Epcot, I managed to be first in line for Aladdin and Jasmine because I arrived when they were leaving. When I left them and ran over to meet with Belle, she was just about to come out and I was 3rd in line. Minding my time helped me out LOADS that day!
Tip #4- Don’t be scared to use something other than an autograph book: This is a fun little trick I’ve recently learned. Be creative in what you have the characters sign! The books of course are awesome, but sometimes characters get excited about something different! A popular option is the create your own vinyalmation figureines. I’ve seen some pretty spectacular poses with those. I personally have a parasol I’m having signed. I got a white one from the shop in liberty square and had them sign with a sharpie. Watching Woody skip around with it while the character attendant sang Chim-Chim-Cheeree was priceless hehe.
Tip #5- TALK TO THEM!!: I know I know another simple sounding tip, but so often do people go up to a characters with their books already stretched out without even saying hello! Make conversation, ask them questions! Characters love to interact with you and if you don’t give them anything to go off of they can’t. I’ll give you an example. The first time I met Prince Naveen I was so excited I could hardly speak. I managed to tell him I’d been waiting a whole year to meet him and was so happy it finally happened! As a result…he fake proposed to me with Tiana standing right next to him! It was AMAZING!
These are just a few of my secrets to a fun day of character stalking! Don’t believe they work check out themainstreetfairy on instagram and see how my photos turned out hehe .
