Characters at Special Events etc...

[MMP]

You want the truth, there really aren't enough people in this world under five feet tall who really enjoy spending their entire day in a mouse suit or a Panchito the Mexican rooster suit. And there certainly aren't enough of them who want to work 14 hour days to be at AK in the morning and the MVMMCP at night. Luckily for you some of them actually do that but not near enough to be every single character you want to see.

 

[drew81]

Bring back Darkwing Duck and Launchpad McQuack!!!!

 

[drew81]

I will say that alot of guests don't know the difference between Goofy and Pluto. They think Chip 'n Dale are Alvin and the Chipmunks. They think Donald Duck is Daffy Duck. So even the VIP's don't always get recognized correctly.

Some of the characters that sell loads of merch could appear at WDW. Quite a few of them appear in other Disney parks around the world....Marie for example is at TDL and HKDL. I would love to see the Pigs, Disney Bear and Clara Cluck out during the Holidays. Disneyland has these type of characters out often and they bring them out because guests like meeting them.

 

[MMP]

One must also take into account the difference in the experiance of meeting Mickey and meeting Panchito from the Three Cab's. I'm friends with both of them on a regular basis and when someone meets Mickey it can be a very emotional thing, there are tears, there's hugging, it's a big deal. When someone meets Panchito they either go, "Who's the girl bird in the pink pants?" or they go. "Look it's Panchito, that's pretty cool", get an autograph and leave. I really don't see why Disney would sacrifice the magical experiance of being able to find Mickey in all the parks and replace it with running into some random characters that 3/4's of the guests don't recognize.

 

[withasmile]

i've been to wdw every summer for the last 5 years and these are all the characters i've seen. ill post where i've seen some of them too..

Mickey Mouse
Minnie Mouse
Chip
Dale
Pluto
Goofy
Mary Poppins
Buzz Lightyear
Woody
Jessie
Cinderella
Snow White
Pooh
Eeyore
Piglet
Tigger
Rabbit
Pinocchio (he was in MGM by WWTBAM)
Perla
Suzy
Aladdin
Jasmine
Genie
Peter Pan
Wendy
Captain Hook
Mr. Smee
Belle
Chicken Little
Alice
White Rabbit
TweedleDum
TweedleDee
Phoebus (he was in France at the WS in Epcot by a store)
Quasimodo (he was in France at the WS in Epcot by a store)
Esmeralda (he was in France at the WS in Epcot by a store)
Ariel
Happy (All 7 dwarfs were in the photoshop right on the right when you enter MK)
Sneezy
Sleepy
Doc
Dopey
Grumpy
Bashful
Princess Aurora
Daisy Duck
Donald Duck
Lilo
Stitch
Mr. Incredible
Elasti Girl(Mrs. Incredible)
Frozone
Pocahontas (i forget what its called but you need to take the train to it in AK)
Jane Porter (same place as Pocahontas)
Baloo
Timon
King Louie
Terk
Fairy Godmother
Prince Charming
Phil (MGM by the hat)
Hercules (MGM by the hat)
Cruella Devil (MGM by the hat)
Mad Hatter
Sulley
Figment
Kim Possible
Ron Stoppable
Max
Koda
Kenai
Bert

 

[Greenlawler]

I love the characters more than the next guy. I get excited when I'm working and I see characters doing meet and greets. I also understand Disney's way of handling things. I think 80% of our guests have absolutely no idea what is going on. You all have to understand that you make up .0003% of the guests who come. NO ONE cares about WOL. NO ONE cares if the 3rd bug to be eaten by Timon and Pumbaa appears for Meet and Greets and that is why you see Mickey and Goofy 200 times on a trip. Thats who people want to see.

You have to give them some credit for bringing different characters out though. We have Clarice out fairly frequently. Horace and Clarabelle, The Three Caballeros, Jiminy Cricket, etc. Think reasonably everyone. Think of staffing, heights, etc. Your best bet is just to get lucky and possibly run into a group of characters in training. :wave:

Boy the point has been missed, I don't care about third bug either. I do care about Scrouge McDuck, The Three Pigs, Huey, Duey, Lewey, Pete, these are not obscure characters. My kids know these guys. These are the kinds of characters you should find all out at the special events. Thanks Disney for Panchito, Horace, etc... those were great moments when we found them but I was not talking day to day at the parks. But I diagree strongly with the premise that people would rather see Goofy 200 times, than see him 199 times and Horace Horsecollar once. I think Disney does a fairly good job mixing it up. Although I do think they overkill certain characters. I don't think your No One Cares statement holds much water because I for one care and I know there was a line to meet Horace Horsecollar last time I was there.
The point of the posts which seems to have been overlooked, is that the special events are getting monotonous as far as the characters go. I would think that there would be more of difference between MNSSHP and MVMCP aside from Scrouge and the Country Bears. There should be a major difference in the special events and the day to day characters. I do not think some of you are being very objective, I think your just blowing us off as the vast minority. The problem with that is that were not as large a minority as you guys think. When people first experiance the special events they want to come back and a large number of people do. That is a fact. Keep putting the same product out and see what happens. The draw of the special events is the word "special". They should be magical and wonderful on every level. And wether you like it or not the characters are a major cog in the wheel of the Disney machine.

 

[kennygman]

I thought you might like an update of what characters we found (new to us) on our trip 9th-13th. It was a bad week for characters at the hat and main street, just the most popular ones. We saw MANY more out in August.

24 that were new to us:
Abu - MVMCP Adventureland
Aladdin - Adventureland
Beast - MVMCP Skyway (Beauty signed for him)
Brer Fox - Frontierland
Chester - Dinoland (No autograph)
Clarabelle - Entrace to MK
Darth Vader - Star Tours
Hester - Dinoland (No autograph)
Horace Horsecollar - Entrance to MK
Jose Carioca - Mexico Pavillion (3 caballeros)
Jiminy Cricket - Rafiki's Planet Watch
Meeko - Just before entrance to Africa at AK
Mike - MGM (No autograph)
Mulan - China Epcot
Panchito - Mexico Pavillion (3 caballeros)
Prince Charming - MVMCP Toontown w/Cinderella
Prince Phillip - MVMCP Toontown w/Aurora
Quincy - MGM Little Einsteins
Scrooge McDuck - Donald's Tree Lot
Santa - Entrance to MK
Stormtrooper - Star Tours
Sully - MGM (No autograph)
Snow White's Prince - MVMCP Skyway
Timon - Adventureland

We just missed Dopey with Snow White in Germany by 2 minutes.
Didn't have time to make it back around to Main St. to meet Bert, Penguins or Max. Rabbit WAS NOT with other pooh characters at MVMCP. Characters at dance party don't sign, but it was a blast for the kids.

 

[mouselvrmom]

I too want to see different characters, it's fun meeting new ones. I really want to have the kids meet Jiminy (fun & fancy free is popular right now with my kids & my son asked me if we could meet the cricket), but my husband so doesn't want to go to Rafiki's Planet Watch again, he was unimpressed with it. Do you have any idea what kind of times characters are there. Two years ago when we took the train no characters were there. Is it more mornings or afternoons or just hit or miss?

 

[kennygman]

They are there throughout the day and alternate every 30 mins. Pocahontas, Rafiki, Jiminy and sometimes Stanley.

I just kept asking people to find most. For example: Darth Vader only appeared once with stormtroopers for one hour all day while we were there. I had asked the CM and they said what time he would be there. Also ask, "Are there other characters alternating at this location today?"