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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!
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