Great news, Disney fans! At long last, traditional character greetings are returning to Disney parks in the U.S.. Character greetings are also returning to Disney cruise ships and the Aulani Resort in Hawaii.
For many Disney guests, character greetings have long been a highlight of their Disney vacations. Family vacation photo albums are full of pictures of children of all ages getting autographs and hugs from their favorite characters. Since Disney parks opened in the United States post pandemic closure, character greetings have been missing from the Disney vacation experience.
Socially Distanced Characters
To their credit, Disney tried to give guests opportunity to see their favorite characters, and to take photos with the characters in the background. Disney introduced Character cavalcades—mini parades in each park featuring favorite characters on floats, in cars, or on boats. The common denominator for all these character cavalcades was “social distancing”. You could see the characters, you could even take photos of them, or of yourself with the character in the background, but you couldn’t get up close to the characters.
In addition to the character cavalcades, certain characters would pop up in various areas around the parks. Always in areas that guests couldn’t physically get to, but in locations where they could interact with guests and pose for photos with guests–at a distance.
For example, during our October family vacation, we took pictures of the kids with Buzz Lightyear and some Stormtroopers.
Anna and Elsa also popped up in Norway in Epcot as well, chatting with guests and posing for pictures. Guests were not able to get close enough for autographs, but they at least got to have some sort of “one on one” interactions.
Mary Poppins often appeared in the UK from a distance. You could find Belle in France, and Snow White in Germany.
Character Greetings Returning!
Beginning April 18, traditional character greetings and character meals are returning to Disney parks in the U.S. Character greetings are also returning to Disney cruise ships and to Disney’s Aulani resort in Hawaii.
I expect this will be a gentle rollout–probably a few character greetings will return at first, followed by more over time. I think by mid-Summer, we should be able to count on all the regular character greetings and character meals to be back to their pre-pandemic levels.
Disney released this video in celebration of character greetings returning to Disney parks.
Which Character are You Most Excited to See?
My mom and I are visiting in May for our annual mother/daughter Flower & Garden Festival trip to celebrate Mother’s Day and our May/June birthdays. We will definitely be checking out what character greetings are available by then. I’ll be sure to report back with what (and who!) we find.
One of my favorite character greetings is this moment with Minnie and Mickey Mouse at Animal Kingdom. When I went to hug Mickey, I somehow dislodged his belt, and both characters made a BIG deal out of it. Mom and I laughed so hard we cried! I’m excited the character greetings are returning to Disney parks so that guests have their own special moments like this one.
Which character do you want to hug first?
Happy Dreaming!
Brooke
Can’t wait to see how many character are interfacing with park visitors! Great update!