Skip to main content

Disneyland Character Hunting

There are certainly many things to enjoy while visiting Disneyland, and especially for the kiddos (and those of us young at heart) get excited to see our favorite characters! When I was younger, I held my autograph book close during the whole day just in case we ran into characters that had not signed my book, but some visits it seemed that we never saw new characters (we did go a lot though….). So this got me thinking of where certain characters can be found!

This website: http://www.wdwinsiders.com/character_finder.php doesn’t show the characters location, but what I enjoy about the work they have done is the likelihood of seeing Mickey Mouse versus Thumper from Bambi. (also a great website for other useful Disney information)

So a few tricks or hints to tracking down a specific princess or villain!

If you are just wanting to see the character without an up close picture or autograph, watch the parade! Really, you are able to see about a hundred (maybe more) of the fan favorite characters! Plus the parade is always a great show and worth watching in general!

Next think of what land the character you want to see might live in. For example, Winnie the Pooh (who typically lives in The Hundred Acre Woods) feels comfortable in the woods, and can often be found near his ride in Critter Country. Same concept goes for Snow White who has picture perfect hang out spot to the right of the castle by her wishing well!

Toontown. In a previous post I went into a little more depth about Toontown, but in case you don’t know, this land has character houses for Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofey and Daisy. So if you want to not only see where these characters live, but also meet them, look up the schedule of when they’ll be in their house!

Looking for princesses? Again the parade is a good place to see almost all the main princesses, but with the opening of Fantasy Fair this last year, that’s a great place to take pictures with Disney royalty.

Character dining. Most of the Disney hotels offer character dining as well as Ariel’s Grotto in California Adventure. A month ago I ate at the Paradise Pier Hotel’s character brunch and it is a very fun experience since the characters come to YOU! If you are willing to spend some extra money on taking advantage of these opportunities because they could absolutely be worth doing, especially when taking kids who want to see their favorite princess or Buzz Lightyear!

Lastly, look into special events. Disneyland puts on various special events throughout the year, like their big Halloween party in October. This last year the villains took over the park, so I got pictures with many characters even I had not met! Super fun! Likewise, there are other similar events you can check out on the Disneyland website.

My family with ALL seven dwarfs!

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Mickey's Soundsational Parade!

Experience one of the biggest highlights at Disneyland is when the streets are filled with music and dancing as characters from your favorite movies ride on astonishing floats! Mickey leads the parade at the head of the drum line! If you have not seen this “soundsational”, unforgettable parade, it is best to plan to watch and enjoy the whole show.        Find a spot where people will not stand in front of you, there are several benches and curbs along Main Street for optimal viewing.  If your trip is in the summer or on a busy day, plan to stake out your spot about 30 minutes before the parade, trust me, it is worth it! The parade itself from starting float to end is about 23 minutes.       As a Disneyland veteran, growing up seeing the parade, even now as a college student, I always stop when the parade is going on and end up having the catchy tunes stuck in my head the rest of the day.        The parade is absolutely like nothing else, which I believe gives the

Ride Profile: Mad Hatter Tea Cups

Celebrate your “un-birthday” in Wonderland by spinning and twirling in your very own teacup! There are a total of 18 cups that spin individually, on top of 3 separate turntables, on top of one large turntable! It a crazy contraption indeed, but it is Wonderland after all! (After a recent physics experiment, without spinning the actual cup, you will spin about 8 times during the ride, but with spinning you can get up to 23 spins. For those looking to spin as much as possible, try sitting in the purple cup or pink trim cup with hearts as they spin the most times!) The ride was created after the animated classic Alice in Wonderland , particularly the Mad Hatter’s party scene. So naturally the color scheme and unreal size of tea cups are not a surprise! This attraction was apart of one of the original rides in the park, located in Fantasyland today where it still has the timeless whimsical feel as on opening day. As for the hidden Mickey, this one is tricky to se

World of Color

One of my absolute favorite things to view is World of Color. A combination of water, pyrotechnics and a lot of magic brings the Paradise Lagoon in California Adventure to life every evening! More than 1,000 water jets form screens and shapes that animations are projected onto. Although I have seen the show dozens of times, it never gets old, especially because as new Disney movies come out, they are incorporated into the show. If visiting both parks (or just DCA), be sure to get a fatspass for World of Color. The machines are right outside Grizzly Rapids and will have one of four colors (red, yellow, green, and blue), which is your viewing area during the show. Be sure to line up in your  specific area as soon as your fastpass tells you you can. Most people will sit down to wait for the show, which is fine, but be ready to wiggle to the front as people start to stand up. Another great way to get premium seating is through dining specials. Certain restaurants at DC