Disneyland Character Guide

Characters at Disneyland

Characters are one of the basic elements of a Disney trip, and Disneyland is one of the best places in the world for character interaction.

If you regularly visit Disney World then the way characters work in Disneyland may surprise you, and if you have been to Disneyland before, don't worry, we'll try to fill you in on some secrets you might not know.

For a more expansive guide on Disney meet and greets please check out Disney Character Guide. The guide below only speaks to regular meet and greets where as this guide specifies in rare characters.

Roaming Characters

There are very few organized character meet and greets, and most of the characters roam randomly through the parks. Alice and the Mad Hatter wander Fantasyland. Stormtroopers wander Tomorrowland.

The full list of regular planned roaming characters is:

Disneyland

Main Street USA:

Mary Poppins
Bert

Tomorrowland:

Stormtroopers

Fantasyland:

Alice
Mad Hatter
Occasional Princesses
Evil Queen

New Orleans Square:

Princess Tiana
Dr. Facilier
Captain Jack Sparrow
Redd (Unannounced but happens daily)

Critter Country

Pocahontas (Rare)

California Adventure

Buena Vista Street:

Citizens of Buena Vista Street

Grizzly Peak

Country Bears (Seasonal)

Hollywoodland

Seasonal Marvel Heroes (Doctor Strange, Loki)

Pixar Pier

Edna Mode
Mr. Incredible
Mrs. Incredible
Frozone
Dug
Russel

Unannounced Characters

Characters not on the times guide or app frequently appear in the parks as a surprise to guests. There are patterns to these popup meet and greets. The Fantasyland ones typically happen at the same times Alice and the Mad Hatter are scheduled. In Frontierland, they typically occur during the hours 12-3.

Characters I have personally witnessed show up unannounced are:

Fantasyland:

Tweedledee
Tweedledum
White Rabbit
Queen of Hearts
Snow White
Evil Queen
Pinocchio
Geppetto

Frontierland:

Pocahontas
Woody

Disneyland Park Gate

Mulan
Fab Five (Sometimes During Parade)
Cinderella
Elana
Ariel
Snow White

Organized Meet and Greets

For the purposes of this, we are only talking about the permanently organized meet and greets.

Fantasy Faire

This is the location for princess meet and greets. You will see three Disney Princesses that rotate, even throughout the same day. Often one or two will be announced in advance, with the remaining being a surprise. Here are the princesses ranked from common to rare.

Common
Snow White
Aurora
Cinderella
Ariel
Mulan
Merida

Rare
Pocahontas
Jasmine
Tiana
Rapunzel
Belle

There is also an outdoor meet and greet right outside, which frequently features:

Belle
Rapunzel and Flynn Rider
Jasmine and Aladdin

Finally, characters will meet after the show in the Fantasy Faire Theater. This is unannounced but happens after almost all of the shows. Belle meets after the Beauty and the Beast show and Rapunzel with Flynn Rider meet after the Rapunzel shows.

Tomorrowland

Tomorrowland features all of the parks Star Wars meet and greets in the Star Wars Launch Bay. The characters currently meeting guests are:
Darth Vader
Kylo Ren
Boba Fett
Chewbacca
Rey

Adventureland

Moana is currently the only planned Adventureland meet and greet, but has recently moved around a bit due to the construction of the Tropical Hideaway.

Main Street USA

This is the center for fab 5 meet and greets. There are CONSTANT meet and greets with any fab 5 characters and Chip and Dale in the Town Square section. On the hub end of Main Street USA, Mary Poppins and Bert have regular meet and greets at the Jolly Holiday Bakery.

Mickey's Toontown

This is also a great place to meet the fab 5 characters, often with smaller waits than Main Street USA. Mickey and Minnie meet in their houses, Mickey with an inside queue. The rest of the fab 5 plus Chip and Dale meet next to the Roger Rabbit fountain.

Critter Country

This is where to meet all the Pooh and Friends characters your heart desires. But this one is a little different than other meet and greets. The characters are always announced at the beginning of the day as Pooh, Tigger and Eyeore meeting guests all day. But check the app, almost every day one will be changed for a short period with Rabbit or Piglet. This may be as short as 15 minutes so if you want to meet Rabbit or Piglet make sure you keep checking throughout the day.

Buena Vista Street

This is where fab 5 plus Daisy, Chip, and Dale meet in addition to Oswald. All have their respective spots and spend the entire day in their locations.

Hollywoodland

This is the center for Marvel meet and greets. Current permanent characters are:
Groot
Captain America
Spiderman
Black Panther

Upcoming:
Captain Marvel

Pixar Pier

There are a lot.
Woody
Jessie
Buzz Lightyear
Dug
Russel
Edna Mode
Mr. Incredible
Elastagirl
Frozone

Paradise Park

Disney uses this as their temporary meet and greet location. Some regular uses of this space are:
Lunar New Year: Mulan and Mushu
Dia de Los Muertos: Three Caballeros
Summer Promotions: Pixar Fest