Thanks to several different Limited Time Magic events, some characters offering new regular meets and some Epcot character training, 2013 provided me with the opportunity to meet more than 20 new characters. I thought it might be fun to rank the top 13 meets that were new to me and open up the rankings for some discussion.
13. Shaker
We’ve had the opportunity to meet Liverlips, Wendell and Big Al numerous times at the Magic Kingdom and Epcot training, but Shaker was always elusive to us. Many years ago, he appeared at Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party, but things changed. In 2013 the Magic Kingdom entertainment decided to bring him back with the other Country Bears for Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party for a group meet and greet. We met them right after the parade for a very short wait.
12. Greedo
I never had the opportunity to meet Greedo at Star Wars Weekends previous to this year. He was still pretty difficult to come across this year because he only came out for late afternoon rotations and roamed the dark side. Each time he would appear, he was mobbed by Star Wars fans who knew it was an unusual site to find him roaming about.
11. Sofia the First
On August 11, 2013 Sofia the First made her debut at Hollywood Studios and I was among the first guests to meet her at her new meet and greet location outside Disney Jr. There was much anticipation for this meet and greet and a long line formed that averaged one hour or more throughout the day in the scorching heat. Sofia was having a great time dancing along with her adoring fans.
I returned a few days later and a sudden rain storm began and I learned that they offered a covered outdoor meet for her just outside the Magic of Animation to keep her out of the blowing rain.
10. Anna & Elsa
I tried a number of times to meet Anna & Elsa for training before their actual meet began. They had some wardrobe issues and only appeared briefly for one day of training. Disney had announced a specific date for the couple to begin appearing in Epcot, but that was also delayed by some construction issues. I returned mid-day the following day and waited about an hour to meet the ladies. This has become THE MOST POPULAR meet in Walt Disney World right now and people regularly wait 2 hours or more to meet them. Arrive early!
9. Gideon
Throughout my many trips to Walt Disney World Gideon had always eluded me. I knew he offered training meets at Epcot, but my timing had always been wrong to meet him. I stopped by one day after checking out the Magic Kingdom’s Limited Time Magic with EuroRob to check on training and found Gideon doing some training. It was pretty funny because I was the only guest who was excited to meet him and most people didn’t know who “the cat guy” was.
8. Ludwig von Drake
Ludwig von Drake appeared for Limited Time Magic in January 2013 along side Scrooge McDuck. They were meeting their Ducktales fans in front of the flag pole in the Magic Kingdom for “Long-lost friends week.” I wish the Magic Kingdom would make every week a long-lost friends week and just rotate a different character each week or even every day. Is it really necessary to meet Pluto at the flag pole EVERY DAY?
7. Robin Hood & Friar Tuck
On the other side of the flag pole for the first long-lost friends week was the elusive Robin Hood! My family and I had met the Sheriff of Nottingham and Prince John many years ago in the Magic Kingdom, but never had the joy of meeting Robin Hood and Friar Tuck. The characters didn’t disappoint the fans and it was a fun interaction with 4 very rare characters. Another great highlight of the Limited Time Magic campaign.
6. Bowler Hat Guy
We had the opportunity to meet Wilbur and Lewis Robinson at Disney California Adventure in October 2007. We were told by the cast members there that Bowler Hat Guy was roaming about, but we couldn’t find him anywhere. We were able to find some other great villains like Shan Yu, Hades and Gov. Ratcliffe, but the Bowler Hat Guy couldn’t be found. I guess he was under Doris’ control that day? As a part of the Limited Time Magic campaign, the Bowler Hat Guy appeared in the chaos that was the Unleash the Villains Night at Hollywood Studios on September 13.
5. Louis the Alligator
Louise the Alligator appeared for the second Long-lost Friends week at the Magic Kingdom and again for the Halloween characters meets at Port Orleans. We didn’t meet him at Port Orleans, but I did have the joy of finally meeting him at the Limited Time Magic event. Limited Time Magic was a great deal of let downs with a few great character weeks throw in, but this week was a great success. I had looked forward to meeting him for quite a while. This Long-lost Friends Week coincided with a job interview that I had arranged that would eventually lead to us moving to Kissimmee.
4. 3 Little Pigs (Fiddler, Fifer and Practical)
When I met the 3 Little Pigs along with the Big Bad Wolf, I wore my t-shirt that said “Mmmm….Bacon with them on the shirt. They weren’t very happy to see that shirt 🙂 It was a fun interaction and it was great finally getting to meet the piggies.
3. Silvermist
During the Limited Time Magic campaign, the Magic Kingdom offered a Fairies Week that was back-to-back with the Long-lost Friends 2. I was hoping to meet Silvermist because she was the only pixie that I hadn’t met between Walt Disney World and Disneyland. On my first meet I missed out on meeting her but she was available on my second attempt of the only day I had available!
2. Megara
If it weren’t for the one-time-only nature of my number one choice, Megara would have easily ranked number one. She came out to visit at Epcot for a couple of days for training prior to the Unleash the Villains event. She was very in character and a lot of fun to interact with. She was a real “slice.”
The red eyes of Megara at the Unleash the Villains night 🙂
1. Oogie Boogie
We waited several hours to hope to meet Oogie Boogie on Unleash the Villains night at Hollywood Studios. My children almost didn’t even make it. They were stuck in traffic at the exit and I told them to just walk to the entrance. The night was one of craziness and chaos (what else would one expect from villains?) but we got to meet one of the most elusive villains in history!
What are some of YOUR top meets for 2013?
I met Friar Tuck back in 2006 at frontierland in magic kingdom. Ain’t that cool?
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What and when were the long lost friends and limited time magic events? And when will they be in 2014?
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They were only in 2013
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We found Pocahontas at Animal Kingdom, we knew she met there but we never got a chance to see her. My personal favorite was Lady Tremaine and the step sisters, they are so much fun. My daughter’s fave was meeting Jack and Sally at their first meet and greet. We lined up as soon as we go there and waited for about 2 hours or so and it was so worth it because they were amazing and my daughter loves them (she is 4 and can quote the whole movie). Another favorite of the night (at MNSSHP) was meeting Rapunzel and Flynn, we had a blast with them. They really know how to interact with guests.
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Our two best meets this year were Dug and Russell and Lady Tremaine and the Stepsisters. Dug and Russell were great because my three year old could quote just about every line of Up and Dug and Russell loved it. The cast member finally told us we had to move on. My 3 year old was the only one to meet Lady Tremaine and the step sisters as the older daughter rode big kid rides at least that is what we thought. My youngest was recognized a few hours later at the parade and Lady Tremaine and stepsisters laid into my oldest for not meeting them at the earlier meet because she was riding rides. My daughters’ mouths dropped. Couldn’t have been better!
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The best character i meet was kenny the pirate in his red t-shirt “costume” in the unleash the villains event.
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That was “Limited Time Magic” LOL Nice to meet you as well.
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Hi,
I just had a question about valentines day week!
I wanted to know if you heard anything about any meet and greets that Disney World will be having for that week. I know they did True Love Week last year and I was wondering if you had heard anything!
Thanks,
Mike
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Haven’t heard anything. That was part of last year’s Limited Time Magic program. We’ll see if anything happens this year.
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I met Oogie Boogie and Robin Hood and the gang too! Those were in my tops for the year. I was disappointed not to meet Ludwig Von Drake and Scrooge, but the lines were just too long, and it was a bit warm that day (darn January weather). I did MNSSHP for the first time this year, and I enjoyed all the meets and greets there – Jack and Sally (we were 1st in line!) and my first time meeting the Dwarves.
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We happened to stumble upon Captain Hook and Mr. Smee during last years (2013) Mickeys Very Merry Christmas Party. I had heard they were hard and rare characters to find so imagine my boys (10 & 6) excitement when we just happened to be in the right spot at the right time to meet them! Another awesome character meeting was Jessie from Toy Story in Frontierland. My boys had their Pirate League makeovers just before meeting her and when they got up there she actually started sword fighting with them! It was awesome!
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In June 2013, meeting jafar at character palooza was a fun experience.
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Thumper and Ms Bunny!
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Our visit with Tinkerbell and Periwinkle was wonderful…my daughter was dressed as Periwinkle for the meet and Tink shouted it out right away. When we were meeting with Periwinkle Tink asked if she could join in for a photo…awesome.
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Mermaid Ariel was the highlight for my girls this year! She was a lot of fun!
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My little one LOVED meeting talking Mickey!
Not sure when he made his debut, but our Dec trip was the first time we got to see him 🙂
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Sometimes the CM managing the meet entertains and increases the anticipation, making the meet itself more fun than it might have otherwise been. So, it’s difficult to extract & judge the actual greet from the entire experience. That being said, the Beast was really fun.
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I remember meeting Scrooge Mcduck back in Disneyland Paris in 1994 but he seems to be a pretty uncommon appearance. It’s really fascinating to see how many more characters there are across the pond!
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