Traditional Character Meet and Greets Are Back at Walt Disney World!

Traditional character meet and greets have begun to return to the Walt Disney World Resort allowing Guests to once again interact with favorite characters up close and sign autographs. Meet and greets are returning to Walt Disney World in phases, so while many locations have returned there are a couple of character spots that are still distanced, including character dining locations. As meet and greets return to Walt Disney World, here are characters that can be spotted around each of the four Walt Disney World theme parks.

Magic Kingdom

Many fan-favorite character meet and greets have already returned to the Magic Kingdom, with only a couple of experiences still distanced or missing.

In Fantasyland, Guests can find Anatasia and Drizella by the Cinderella Fountain in Fantasyland at multiple times throughout the day. The two stepsisters from the classic 1950 film have always been popular characters to meet in the Magic Kingdom, so it is exciting to see them back behind Cinderella Castle.

Nearby, Princess Fairytale Hall’s meet and greets have returned to normal with Guests now able to meet Cinderella, Elena, Tiana, and Rapunzel.

Deeper into Fantasyland, Guests can now spot Belle greeting Guests outside of Maurice’s Cottage. In the past, Gaston often met Guests nearby this area, however, Disney has not commented on whether or not this meet and greet will return.

And at Storybook Circus, traditional meet and greets are back with Chip and Dale. Previously this location hosted Daisy, Donald, Minnie, and Goofy, so it is possible that these characters will return during a later phase of character meet and greets in this Disney Park.

With most of the Magic Kingdom’s current meet and greet experiences are located in Fantasyland, a couple of other characters have also returned around the park, including Captain Jack Sparrow in Adventureland, Stitch in Tomorrowland, and of course Mickey Mouse at Town Square Theater on Main Street U.S.A.

EPCOT

Fan-favorite character meet and greets with Goofy and Pluto have returned to the entrance of EPCOT on the side of Spaceship Earth as Guests enter the park.

In World Celebration, the Winnie the Pooh character sighting, which became popular when meet and greets were distanced can still be experienced as a sighting with Pooh off in the distance working on catching butterflies and greeting Guests for afar.

Also in World Celebration, Guests can meet Vanellope von Schweetz from Wreck-It Ralph in Imageworks at the Imagination Pavilion. In the past, this location also hosted Ralph, however only Vanellope is meeting at this time. Imageworks is also home to Joy from Inside Out, who previously met alongside Sadness.

And, next to Imageworks, Guests can once again hug Mickey Mouse in EPCOT at his meet and greet location inside the Pixar Short Film Festival.

World Showcase is home to a variety of traditional character meet and greets including Alice and Mary Poppins in the UK pavilion, Anna and Elsa in Norway, Belle and Aurora in France, Donald in Mexico, Mulan in China, Jasmine in Morocco, Snow White in Germany, and Minnie Mouse by World Showcase Promenade.

Disney’s Hollywood Studios

Lots of character experiences have already returned to Disney’s Hollywood Studios, however, many are still distanced character sightings.

Chip and Dale can be seen from a distance on the Brown Derby Lawn, while Donald and Daisy can be spotted on the balconies by the entrance to Hollywood Boulevard. Goofy is still greeting Guests from a distance on the Tower of Terror balcony, as well.

Character experiences in Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge have returned, and these events have always been more comparable to sightings than traditional meet and greets with characters like Chewbacca, Rey, Kylo Ren, Stormtroopers, and Vi Moradi. Character meet and greets have not yet returned to Star Wars: Launch Bay.

Elsewhere in the park, traditional meet and greets are now available for Guests looking for Pluto, Doc McStuffins and Vampirina by Animation Courtyard. Sulley from Monsters Inc. is the newest meet and greet to return to the park, with the character now meeting Guests in Animation Courtyard. Olaf has returned to Celebrity Spotlight, and Mickey and Minnie are back at Red Carpet Dreams.

Disney’s Animal Kingdom

While traditional meet and greets have now begun their return to Walt Disney World, there have been no changes so far at Disney’s Animal Kingdom.

Guests dining at Tusker House can see characters from a distance, including Mickey, Donald, Goofy, and Pluto, and the character flotillas that were introduced during the park’s initial reopening are still running, but no additional meet and greet locations have been introduced thus far.

Grab your autograph books and your cameras for your next trip to Walt Disney World and enjoy the return of ‘normal’ character meet and greets! And check back here on Disney Fanatic for the latest updates on character experiences at Walt Disney World.