Meet and Greets!

A mission for many Park goers with and without children are to meet the characters. Some look to find as many as they can. Others look for specific ones and yet others keep an eye out for the rarest characters. Some may only be seen in a parade, while others can be seen during character dining or at Meet and' Greets.

Meet and Greets are opportunities where the characters will take photos with guests and sign autographs. Unlike what's seen in the commercials, they usually don't wander around, instead they stand in one place. And there are lines. Very long lines.

But how do you find them? Most Meet and Greets are marked with Mickey's glove on the Park maps. However, characters often show up in areas not marked as a Meet and Greet. For instance, you will likely find Captains Hook and Jack Sparrow near Pirates of the Caribbean. The UK Pavilion in Epcot's World Showcase is a likely spot to meet Mary Poppins, Alice and the Pooh gang. Animal Kingdom is good for a lot of Jungle Book and Lion King characters.

Some characters are not so easy to find, nor are their locations an obvious place to look. You will run into Lightning McQueen and Mater at Hollywood Studios in the New York area. Many Pixar characters, oddly enough, can be seen at Hollywood Studios' Animation Courtyard, a place dedicated to the art of traditional 2-D animation.

There is no guarantee a specific character will show up. The Flying Carpets of Aladdin is a good bet for finding Aladdin and Jasmine. You might however just as likely find Jafar instead.

Some characters have specific areas, such as in ToonTown in the Magic Kingdom where they meet people inside. Usually, the lines are long, but have the advantage of being air conditioned inside. These Meet and Greets are the most obvious. Because of course you will meet Ariel if you visit Ariel's grotto.

If you remain alert, you may even discover some rarely seen characters such as Kim Possible and Clara Cluck! In my experience I've always found the rarer characters at Hollywood Studios most often. And your rare character may be common for someone else. Grandma B was once chased around the Animation Courtyard by Frollo from Hunchback of Notre Dame. I haven't seen him since.

The characters that aren't as popular are the easiest to get to with the shortest wait. They are also the most likely to find you. So while Mickey may not just walk up to you on Main Street, Hook probably will walk up to you while you shop at the Pirates gift shop and probably threaten you with his hook. I actually find encounters like these far more fun then waiting in line for The Big Mouse! So don't sell the unpopular characters short!