Character Meets
Meeting characters with a disability and a priority pass can be something that is quite confusing and is an area where I have seen a lot of disappointment. Many Character meets require a return time but there are exceptions so this section will give my top tips to help you get to meet the characters you want to.
Some character meets are now virtual queues which must be booked on the app and where there is no differences if you have a disabilty priority pass.
Virtual Queues
The character meets that have a fixed internal meeting location are now virtual queues, booked using the Disneyland Paris app.
The virtual queues allow you to book on the app and get a countdown to when you should arrive at the location. Once you reach your time you go to the location and there is a shorter physical queue. This means that in theory there is no need for any distinction between those with disabilities and those without so these are booked the same way by everybody.
Currently there are virtual queues for:
- Mickey Mouse at Meet Mickey in Fantasyland
- Princess Pavilion in Fantasyland
- Darth Vader or a Star Wars character in Discoveryland
- Stitch in Discoveryland
- Olaf at Animation Celebration in the studios.
Scheduled Park Meets
There are always a number of scheduled meets available, and these are shown in the app with the times each day.
Some characters are nearly always available, while others are seasonal but the app will show who is available during your visit.
With a priority pass you are able to request a return time to meet the character. You need to go to the spot and look for a cast member with a stand and book, usually stood by a rope with a wheelchair symbol. You ask them and if there are any return times left they will issue you one. Some are much more popular than others and securing a return time slot can be a challenge. Ideally you need to get to the meet as early as possible, for some popular characters, Donald Duck for example, you need to be there well before the meet start time.
They only have quite a small number of return times available which are shared between guests with a priority pass and those with a pregnancy band, so it can be difficult to get return times.
Unscheduled Park Meets
While most meets are indicated on the App there are also sometimes unscheduled meets which are not listed.
Sometimes these can be semi regular and somewhat predictable, for example Donald was not on the app when I last met him but I in the run up to the trip I had seen it mentioned in Facebook groups that he had been often appearing in a certain location around lunchtime so we headed there and did find him.
When we met Donald a cast member had also come out with the stand and book to be able to offer return times, but this is not always the case with unscheduled meets. Sometimes the character is only out very briefly but is in one location and a queue forms, with no return slots available.
The other times you may see characters they may be walking to a location and be accompanied by cast members, but they are unable to stop, or in Avengers Campus where they may walk around and pick some guests to take photos with.
Disney Hotel Meets
All of the Disney Onsite Hotels offer Character Meets.
At Hotel New York, and at the Disneyland Hotel when it reopens, the meet is booked on the app once you have checked in, so they are only available to hotel guests. You book a time slot so there should be minimal queueing and no need to use a priority pass. You can also book slots in person at the hotel once you arrive.
At Newport Bay, Sequoia Lodge, Cheyenne and Santa Fe it is a standard queue. Whether a priority pass is accepted is up to the cast member on the day, sometimes they may offer for you to wait to the side for a while and then they fit you in, sometimes they offer return slots and sometimes they don't offer anything. The queues are however often shorter in the hotels than in the parks.
