One of the things our family really enjoys when traveling to the World is meeting the characters and getting their autographs. On our first trip, our then three-year-old daughter was so excited to seek out her favorite characters, talk to them, get their autographs in her Disney Princess Autographs & Photographs Book
, and snap some pictures with them. And it proved to be some of the best experiences we've ever had at Disney World!
, and snap some pictures with them. And it proved to be some of the best experiences we've ever had at Disney World!
Her very first meet and greet was with Mickey and Minnie at Mickey's Toon Town Fair. It was our first day in Orlando. We had literally dropped our bags at our hotel, and off we were to the Magic Kingdom, despite the fact that we were incredibly tired, and our daughter had been up since 3:00 a.m. It was early May and incredibly hot and humid, and the parks were crowded. We waited on line for well over an hour, and the only thing that kept her from completely wilting was her misting fan
. By the time we got to Mickey and Minnie, she had completely soaked herself, but she was hanging in there.
. By the time we got to Mickey and Minnie, she had completely soaked herself, but she was hanging in there.
Despite all of this, the smile on her little face when she saw Mickey and Minnie was incredible. When they started hugging her and interacting with her, she just lit up. And so did my heart. It is one of my most treasured memories of our trips.
Besides standing on long lines to meet characters, one thing we love to do is have character meals, and we've had some good ones. On our first trip, Disney ran a promotion for our travel dates and gave us an extremely generous gift card. Added to our Visa Rewards Card earnings, we had A LOT of Disney Dollars to spend. So, my plan was to make it a blowout trip for our daughter.
We had breakfast at Akershus with the princesses, one of my daughter's all-time favorites; at Chef Mickey's with Mickey and the gang; at Tusker House with Safari Donald and the Fab Five; and at Hollywood & Vine with the Little Einsteins, and JoJo & Goliath, just to name a few. But it didn't end there. We had dinner at the Crystal Palace with Pooh and Friends and at 1900 Park Fare with Cinderella, Lady Tremaine and the Wicked Stepsisters, which was such a great experience.
Since then, we've met different characters on all of our trips, and we've continued to do character meals for some of our daughter's favorites, including Akershus and Tusker House.
Our daughter loves meeting the characters, and I must admit we love it too. My favorite memory is of our first trip, during our breakfast at Akershus. Upon entering, our daughter was led to Belle for pictures. When a cast member brought that picture over to our table as a special gift from Belle and the other princesses, the tears came as I saw how incredibly cute and happy she looked holding Belle's hand. To this day, that picture hangs in her room, along with the picture of her first ever meet and greet with Mickey and Minnie.
Meeting characters is a wonderful part of our Disney trips, and there are still so many left to meet. On our last trip, our daughter was absolutely thrilled to meet Baymax and Hiro from Big Hero Six. On our next trip, we're looking forward to finally meeting the ever popular Gaston, who is fast becoming a fan favorite in Fantasyland at the Magic Kingdom.
I'll keep you posted on any new characters we encounter.
What are some of your favorite characters?
Until next time, don't forget to keep the Mouse in your house.
~ Monica
just felt like we were going to crash into everything. We had FastPasses for the Seven Dwarfs' Mine Train ride, so we were able to get on sooner than the other guests. Although we didn't have FastPasses for Star Tours, it wasn’t that long of a wait, but we had to wait for 60 minutes for Test Track.