Am I the only one who hunts down "rare" characters?

[Rivers Rowe]

Meaning, one of the things I really enjoy at the parks is getting my picture taken with the characters. While I would not call it an obsession, I do like seeking out rare ones, especially the ones some people say are retired. Robin Hood was supposed to be retired but I got him and all the other characters from that movie my last trip. One of my all time favorite is Admiral Ackbar. When I find some time I'll post my pictures. And what are your rare/favorites?

 

[real mad hatter]

Rare to Medium?

Well my son on our first visit,[he was 6] has photos with Flik,Stanley,Prince John,Gideon,Sheriff of Nottingham,Meeko,and for me,Wendy,and the DF,Mad Hatter.Not sure if their classed as rare.This year i am hoping for a photo with Alice,always seem to miss her.She must know the Real Mad Hatter is looking for her.:hammer:

 

[Jason21783]

My wife and I are always in search of rare characters. Jimminy Cricket is always a good find, as well as World Showcase specific characters. I think Darkwing, Scrooge and Launchpad may be our white whales.

 

[King Mickey]

I'm always hunting dsown rare characters. My big thing is villains and I've been searching for Maleficent and the Snow Hag. Havn't been able to go for Halloween and can't find them any other time.

 

[lunchbox1175]

Well my son on our first visit,[he was 6] has photos with Flik,Stanley,Prince John,Gideon,Sheriff of Nottingham,Meeko,and for me,Wendy,and the DF,Mad Hatter.Not sure if their classed as rare.This year i am hoping for a photo with Alice,always seem to miss her.She must know the Real Mad Hatter is looking for her.:hammer:

Alice is actually a pretty easy one, you can either get her in Epcot in the UK paviliion area, or by the Tea Cups during the day, she usually alternates with the White Rabbit. Otherwise, you could always do the Character Tea Party at the GF. :animwink:

 

[lunchbox1175]

You most certainly are not, in fact there are websites dedicated to them. I actually am in the process of making a spreadsheet for my fiance (this is kind of her thing) on all the characters that make appearances, if they are rare or not, and what is the anniversary of their movie, or their originally appearance date. Usually they will be out for a big anniversary. Anniversaries are also good for groups of rare characters, like the Pixar Anniversary, a lot of the "retired" characters were out then. For example 12/21/12 is the 75th anniversary of Snow White, so I would expect you might be able to get all 7 of the Dwarves individually that day, when they usually only make appearances at the MNSSHP or MVMCP, and that is a group photo. After that in February of 2013 you have the 60th Anniversary of Peter Pan, so you may get a little more frequency to the character availability. We honestly try to plan our trips around character availability, and we also try to go to the Art of Animation building everyday at HS between 5 and 6 because they do a "Character Palooza" where they bring in a set of 4 different characters for 20 minutes rotations during that time. We were able to get Jafar that way, and my understanding is there is a villian in every rotation, as well as Mary Poppins with her Penguins. I have heard that you can also see rare characters at the International Gateway area at 2:00 or 3:00 everyday. We are going to the 24 hour event and hoping for Rare Characters after midnight, as the initial rumors have Mickey leaving the Town Square Theater then, while the princess side will remain open, so hopefully they will have rare characters on Mickey's side.:sohappy:

 

[MansionGoer13z]

I'm not a hardcore hunter but seeing a rare character or two is always an awesome feeling to me. What can I expect in Disneyland? Going in September this year.

 

[Cmdr_Crimson]

This site..http://www.charactercentral.net/ shows tons of RARE characters most of them are for the oversea parks..

I also mentioned in a post about Rare characters seem to appear in the Ice shows as well.
http://forums.wdwmagic.com/showthread.php?t=831849

But I just recently saw this shot of a Really really rare character..Yzma of Emperor's New Groove at DL when the movie released in 2000.

 

[joanna71985]

Nope, not at all! Meeting characters is one of my favorite things to do at Disney (I've met over 200 in 7 years). I was thrilled when I got to meet Shang back in Nov

 

[Silver Figment]

I'd like to see characters from Treasure Planet out again.

 

[lunchbox1175]

Nope, not at all! Meeting characters is one of my favorite things to do at Disney (I've met over 200 in 7 years). I was thrilled when I got to meet Shang back in Nov

I think i remember seeing your picture of that on here and being very jealous, we are at 125 and counting. Any words of wisdom?

 

[joanna71985]

I think i remember seeing your picture of that on here and being very jealous, we are at 125 and counting. Any words of wisdom?

For me, a lot has been being in the right place at the right time (for the uncommon/rare ones). Good luck! I'll have my fingers crossed for you