Characters??

[ebenmax]

What is Aulani like for meeting characters?
We weren’t planning to do the Makahiki breakfast, but we’re hoping our DGS 1 will get to meet Mickey and some others.
How frequent are Meet n Greets and what characters are involved? Are the lines crazy long like in the parks?

Thank you!

 

[thedogatemyhomework]

Lines can get fairly long (nothing like anna/elsa when frozen came out tho), but they don’t start forming until the character gets walked out to where they’re doing the meet n greet...moana and mickey are the exceptions to this as people start lining up for them maybe 15min in advance.

Mickey and Minnie are going to be the most problematic if you aren’t doing makahiki as both will only be doing pictures with makahiki gueats for the duration of the breakfast buffet (and the dinner one too), and aside from the pool party neither come out very often. During the pool party they will sometimes announce that mickey/minnie will do a meet n greet after (and the lines start forming then).

Goofy for whatever reason is the easiest of the makahiki characters to find outside of makahiki for whatever reason. Stitch appears at aunties for the stitch’s goo activity (or at least he used to...and meet n greets once or twice a day). Seems like Moana will be more of a permanent thing at aulani and other than mickey/minnie has the longest line when she’s out. Chip and dale are at the character dinner at makahiki (haven’t seen them at all during the day, but also was never really looking for them.)

Goofy sometimes will actually be in the lazy river (just barely in it at one of the entrances).

Makahiki is the best/easiest way to get mickey/minnie, and Goofy can be quite a bit more entertaining as he has more time to stop at each table to play with the kids than while doing the meet n greets.

Most characters are once...maybe twice a day for maybe 30 min. On the weekends, some may not even be out every day on the weekdays.

 

[cgattis]

We've only been once, last June, but we met Mickey and Minnie together at the koi pond. It was an advertised meet (don't remember if it was in the Iwa or I called the hotline). We never saw Chip or Dale once in 5 days. Goofy does a pool party some days so the kids can dance with him. We also saw Mickey meeting in front of the Lava Shack several times. There are multiple characters meeting every day outside (not tied to any meal). The thing that annoyed us was that they sort of seemed to bunch up all the meets around 12-2, which is Prime lunch time and also seemed to always fall on whichever family activities we were thinking of doing. And yes, there can be lines but they weren't crazy.

 

[kiford]

We were standing looking into the koi pond one day and someone tapped on my friend's shoulder. Turned around and it was Stitch. We also ran into Goofy and got pictures and ran into Mickey at one point too. We're not sure if it was just that we ran into them when they were heading out for M&G or coming back from one or if they were just wandering about randomly.

 

[ebenmax]

It sounds like there should be some characters to meet without going to the breakfast. Do they “advertise” the meetings or is it primarily by luck? What is the hotline?

Thanks!!

 

[Collmal]

They have a schedule posted at the towel stations by the pool.

 

[94bruin]

Does Lilo ever come out?

 

[olafLover]

.

 

[cgattis]

It sounds like there should be some characters to meet without going to the breakfast. Do they “advertise” the meetings or is it primarily by luck? What is the hotline?

Thanks!!

There is a phone number you can call every day that has all the meets listed. Seems like some were in the Daily Iwa too.

 

[Disneybridewifemama]

what characters are currently at the resort?

 

[Princess KP]

We were there in 2016 and Mickey and Minnie were together at the Koi pond as well as Stitch. They timed it so that you can wait for one character and shortly after, you can go wait for another character. We called the number they provided to see what characters would be out that day. Lines are not crazy like the parks. Enjoy your stay!

 

[spacecanada]

The character list is available by phone each morning as well as at the towel stations. We took a photo of it at the towel station by the infinity pool every day. (The other towel station wasn't so liberal with the times guide for some reason.) The characters on the list as of October 2017 were: Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Goofy, Donald, Chip and Dale, Daisy, Stitch, Moana, Duffy, and ShellieMay. All but Daisy were out and doing photos during our visit. We were able to meet each of the characters multiple times over the course of a week, but ShellieMay only came out once (and I was so happy she did!). We met Goofy, Duffy, and Chip and Dale the most - even just hanging out and bumping into them at the pool or on the walkways, or wherever. The PhotoPass photographers were at most character photo opportunities, but not all, so be sure to bring your own camera just in case.

We found the character interaction at the meals less entertaining than at the character meet locations. We never waited more than 15 minutes for a character, mostly because they switched characters every 15 minutes... so don't line up too early. The CMs are great at identifying who the line is for, and breaking up the line between characters, so you don't accidentally line up for the wrong one.

Also, Moana often shows up at the fire pit story telling sessions, though she won't meet and take photos there.

 

[Princess KP]

Not sure if this still applies but in 2016, we were able to get all the photos because of our AP. We just linked the PhotoPass card to our account.

 

[Disneybridewifemama]

Not sure if this still applies but in 2016, we were able to get all the photos because of our AP. We just linked the PhotoPass card to our account.

Really?! My disneyland pass includes photos, did you have a disneyland or disney world pass?

 

[Disneybridewifemama]

The character list is available by phone each morning as well as at the towel stations. We took a photo of it at the towel station by the infinity pool every day. (The other towel station wasn't so liberal with the times guide for some reason.) The characters on the list as of October 2017 were: Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Goofy, Donald, Chip and Dale, Daisy, Stitch, Moana, Duffy, and ShellieMay. All but Daisy were out and doing photos during our visit. We were able to meet each of the characters multiple times over the course of a week, but ShellieMay only came out once (and I was so happy she did!). We met Goofy, Duffy, and Chip and Dale the most - even just hanging out and bumping into them at the pool or on the walkways, or wherever. The PhotoPass photographers were at most character photo opportunities, but not all, so be sure to bring your own camera just in case.

We found the character interaction at the meals less entertaining than at the character meet locations. We never waited more than 15 minutes for a character, mostly because they switched characters every 15 minutes... so don't line up too early. The CMs are great at identifying who the line is for, and breaking up the line between characters, so you don't accidentally line up for the wrong one.

Also, Moana often shows up at the fire pit story telling sessions, though she won't meet and take photos there.

Thank you so much, my fingers are crossed for shellie mae, my daughter would be so thrilled!

 

[Princess KP]

Really?! My disneyland pass includes photos, did you have a disneyland or disney world pass?

I have a DisneyWorld AP but I''m pretty sure the DL pass would work too.

 

[oakleycat]

We were there last April and met a bunch of characters just walking through the resort. My boys will not wait in line for character meets and we still ended up with photopass photos with Stitch, Chip & Dale and Goofy. We also saw Mickey & Minnie doing meets in specified areas. It was not busy at all mid-week late April last year.

 

[ktlm]

We called the phone line every morning. I can't remember if they gave it to us on check in, if it was in the Daily IWA or if it was on a sheet in the room. The phone line gives you the exact times and locations for each character that will be out that day. It makes it easy to plan. In our experience, some characters were out every day, and some every other day. The daily IWA paper you can pick up each morning tells you when and where the character meets were for the day, but unless it has changed it does not tell you which character would be there (I'm also not positive it has every meet as things can change= seems like at least one day the phone had a time and location that the paper did not). The phone line tells you specifically which character will be at which location-- so I highly recommend making the morning call if characters are important.

DD is, and has always been a character nut, so we saw every available character, and some multiple times. For the ones we absolutely did not want to miss (and even wanted to dress nice for instead of being in swimsuits and cover ups), we would go about 10 minutes before they were set to arrive, and we usually were in the first couple of groups in line. The longest lines were always for Duffy- who is my DD's favorite so we had to see him every day.

You have to have a resort key or pool wristband on to get in line for the character, so be prepared for that. They do check too.

Also, interestingly, unless it has changed, you are not allowed to take photos with your camera- you have to hand them your camera or phone and they will take the photos for you. They take a ton- so we never had an issue with not getting a good photo. They would do both our phone and our camera for the same meet and greet too. Strange if I was not getting in the picture to just stand there while they used my camera/phone. Usually, it is another CM taking the photos with your camera/phone while the photopass photographer is also taking pictures.

Funny that cgattis never saw Chip and Dale, because that is who we saw the most. They were out every day multiple times when we were there. Stich was too. I specifically remember that Donald was out every other day because I know it took some planning to meet him. Mickey and Minnie might have been every other day too- I can't remember- but we had no problem meeting them at their designated time. I know we met them individually out on the lawn one day, and then we met them together another day. They were separate at the breakfast. The formal picture was with Mickey, and Minnie made the table rounds.

 

[Disneybridewifemama]

We called the phone line every morning. I can't remember if they gave it to us on check in, if it was in the Daily IWA or if it was on a sheet in the room. The phone line gives you the exact times and locations for each character that will be out that day. It makes it easy to plan. In our experience, some characters were out every day, and some every other day. The daily IWA paper you can pick up each morning tells you when and where the character meets were for the day, but unless it has changed it does not tell you which character would be there (I'm also not positive it has every meet as things can change= seems like at least one day the phone had a time and location that the paper did not). The phone line tells you specifically which character will be at which location-- so I highly recommend making the morning call if characters are important.

DD is, and has always been a character nut, so we saw every available character, and some multiple times. For the ones we absolutely did not want to miss (and even wanted to dress nice for instead of being in swimsuits and cover ups), we would go about 10 minutes before they were set to arrive, and we usually were in the first couple of groups in line. The longest lines were always for Duffy- who is my DD's favorite so we had to see him every day.

You have to have a resort key or pool wristband on to get in line for the character, so be prepared for that. They do check too.

Also, interestingly, unless it has changed, you are not allowed to take photos with your camera- you have to hand them your camera or phone and they will take the photos for you. They take a ton- so we never had an issue with not getting a good photo. They would do both our phone and our camera for the same meet and greet too. Strange if I was not getting in the picture to just stand there while they used my camera/phone. Usually, it is another CM taking the photos with your camera/phone while the photopass photographer is also taking pictures.

Funny that cgattis never saw Chip and Dale, because that is who we saw the most. They were out every day multiple times when we were there. Stich was too. I specifically remember that Donald was out every other day because I know it took some planning to meet him. Mickey and Minnie might have been every other day too- I can't remember- but we had no problem meeting them at their designated time. I know we met them individually out on the lawn one day, and then we met them together another day. They were separate at the breakfast. The formal picture was with Mickey, and Minnie made the table rounds.

Was Shellie Mae out for visits?

 

[ebenmax]

Also, interestingly, unless it has changed, you are not allowed to take photos with your camera- you have to hand them your camera or phone and they will take the photos for you. They take a ton- so we never had an issue with not getting a good photo. They would do both our phone and our camera for the same meet and greet too. Strange if I was not getting in the picture to just stand there while they used my camera/phone. Usually, it is another CM taking the photos with your camera/phone while the photopass photographer is also taking pictures.

Will they allow you to video tape with your own device, like a GoPro or do the Disney photographers take it to film, as well? It will be our grandson’s first encounters with characters and we want the whole experience!

Thanks!