The characters were a huge part of the Disney experience and there were so many different opportunities to meet and see each of them with meet and greets, character dining experiences and the shows and parades too. So I thought it would be nice to go through our favourite character moments from our time at Disney World.
Merida
When we met Merida she took LP’s hat off, saying at the same time ‘Look at you! You got fire under there?’ It was so lovely to have one of LP’s favourite characters, because of her hair colour, acknowledge LP’s hair in such a positive way.
Anna and Elsa
To meet Anna and Elsa we went to their house and had what felt almost like a Father Christmas experience. We were in such a relaxed setting that felt like it could actually be their home and it felt like we had as much time with them as we wanted. We met Anna first who said to LP ‘Oh look, we have matching hair!’ and waved her pigtails at LP. I know it’s something LP will remember forever – especially with Anna leaving snowflakes in her autograph book.
Tigger and Pooh
We met Tigger and Pooh after queuing for quite a while. They’d just been for a break and came back literally bouncing in to meet us. Pooh stole Little Man’s hat and Tigger wouldn’t give me LP’s pen back. They were friendly, playful and lovely.
Ariel
We met Ariel in her Grotto and she spent such a long time talking to the children, commenting on her hair being the same colour as LP’s and then talking about how she uses a dinglehopper to brush her hair. It was sweet, funny and felt so genuine. Plus, LP’s intake of breath when she first saw Ariel was amazing to hear.
Russell and Dug
LP and Little Man queued to meet Russell and Dug at Animal Kingdom and they were so nice. At the end LP said to Dug ‘I have only just met you, but I love you!’ and Dug gave her the biggest hug after doing a bashful act. It was lovely and had the whole queue going ‘awww!’. LP says it was her favourite part of our break and we ended up buying a cuddly Dug as a souvenir to take home.
Donald
We met Donald Duck a few times – on our first day at a Disney park, on our second day during breakfast at Chef Mickey’s and then a week in, when we’d gone to the Magic Kingdom to see the fireworks. On this last meeting Donald was dressed up as a magician and when the children stood next to him for a photo he hid Little Man’s face with his cloak before uncovering him again. His face was so genuinely happy afterwards, at Donald basically playing peekaboo with him, that it was one of my favourite moments.
Minnie
We met Minnie at Chef Mickey’s but also at the Magic Kingdom – the same time as meeting Donald above. For some reason the children were giddy at meeting Minnie. They were both so excited, so happy and so smiley that the photos are some of my favourites and although Minnie didn’t do anything special – apart from be herself – it was a really lovely moment for all of us.
Judy – and LP’s birthday
On LP’s birthday we watched the Move It! Shake It! Dance & Play It! Street Party and the cast of Zootropolis and their float stopped right next to us. Judy saw it was LP’s birthday, pulled her up to dance and at the end she drew a heart in the air and pointed at LP before giving her a special sticker. It was the first of many birthday interactions but such a lovely, sweet one. Everyone at Disney noticed LP’s birthday badge, said Happy Birthday and made such a fuss of her. It was definitely her best birthday yet.
Snow White
The only time we met Snow White was during LP’s birthday meal at Cinderella’s Royal Table. She came over, got down to LP’s level and signed autograph books whilst chatting away to her before having photos taken. She was lovely. But, she also realised that Little Man was shy and didn’t want to have photos taken. Instead she said to him ‘Oh, are you bashful?’ and blew him a kiss. She was perfect.
Chip and Dale
We saw Chip and Dale on our first and second day at Disney but they were walking through on their way somewhere rather than at a photo opportunity. After that Little Man insisted we had to meet them and they were literally the only characters he wanted to meet. So, on our last full day in Florida we went on a Chip and Dale mission with a plan to start at Hollywood Studios and if they weren’t there hop over to Magic Kingdom to find them. But, we found them at Hollywood Studios – and Little Man couldn’t have been happier! Plus, when we met them they signed autographs, confused then impressed that they had to sign the cover of LP’s as it was the only space left. Because of this they looked through the autographs in the book, play acting all their friends whose autographs they could see. It was funny, cute and just so lovely – and a great character end to our time at Disney.
There were so many characters – and the children have overflowing autograph books to prove it. Meeting the characters was a lot easier and less time consuming than I thought it would be and it really was a highlight of our time at the Disney parks.
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