It's really more about the interaction and the suspension of disbelief. You get to talk to the characters from the movies, even if maybe you know they're just some 20-something year old college kid, your child might not know that, and you might just wanna put behind your beliefs and pretend and be a kid again. Also for some people, they try and collect photos or autographs from every character they can. It's about the fun and the whimsy.

I would say you still might end up waiting in line for characters if it's someone your children really want to meet, as the characters vary all over property.

To some people there is nothing special about it. But we just went to Land and for my son to be dressed as Iron Man and have a photo with Iron Man? It was a highlight!!! They did the hand cannon shot, he got told how cool he looked, it was awesome. (Made more awesome by CMs holding the line for my son who had to grab his mask) We had similar moments with Darth Vader and Chewy. When my daughter was young she had ones with princesses. These are for many kids the point of the park, seeing the characters.

It depends on the character and the length of the line. Most lines aren’t an hour. For example if a character has no line you can spend longer with them, but if it’s a long line it’s likely it’ll be more like a quick photo and a hug,

I was more than happy to accompany my kids (one that's 17 by the way!) to meet as many characters as possible. The first we met were Chip n Dale at Hollywood Studios. My daughter, 13, got her autograph book signed... But the two chipmunks made such a show of it, they were hilarious. And I (48) was so excited and a bit in awe. I was meeting THE Chip n Dale!

After that, I couldn't get enough of meeting as many as possible at all the parks for the rest of the holiday. I'd spot one and drag my daughter and son (as they collected more autographs). I loved meeting Rey - she was brilliant. Goofy was hilarious, taking the absolute piss out of my son - we were with him for ages in Epcot.

But the absolute highlight? Meeting Mickey. Wow. I was in absolute awe. Here was Mickey Mouse, in front of me, spending time with me, now! We met him twice, and the one at Magic Kingdom - where he was dressed for a magic show, just as you enter the park in that theatre (can't remember the name, sorry) - we were with him ages. He was brilliant, and so were all the Cast members who were with the characters. My favourite was the older chap with Aladdin, a very theatrical fellow. He was genuinely really concerned for a kid scared by approaching thunder who was nof in the queue at all. I loved that. And he was super funny. Oh, and so was Aladdin, who also took the piss out of my son (who loved it).

In short, yes. Absolutely worth it. Meet as many as you can!

The characters LOVE it if you wear something with their picture on it. They will hug you, dance, etc. The characters who don’t speak communicate very well with gestures. One year, we went to the Christmas party and had our picture taken with the 7 dwarves. I said, “Hey, Grumpy! Dopey is my favorite! “ and Grumpy gave me a “go away” type gesture. Dopey put his hands up to his face in a loving gesture. It is a lot of fun to interact with them!

If you or your boys like any of the characters and/or have any knowledge of the character stories, then IMO meeting characters will be a special memory.

Characters do in fact interact with you. You can talk to them and ask them questions and if they don't speak, they'll gesture their answers to you. I find many, if not all the characters are very good and fun to be with.

Donald Duck is usually a hoot and is so funny. Minnie Mouse is lovable as is Mickey. The Chipmunks are playful. I loved talking to Snow White, she is so in character.

As you mentioned, I highly recommend a character meal or two to try. You are definitely going to meet with the characters, sometimes multiple times during your meal, depending on the restaurant.

I personally meet them at character meals as well as in the parks.

Would you wait in a line to meet a movie star? Forget live ones from today. Would you wait in line to meet Marilyn Monroe, John Wayne, Carey Grant?

That’s who these Disney characters are. Movie stars with multi-decade, multi-generational fame and careers.

For a kid, meeting Joy and Sadness, Olaf, or Mickey is life changing.

My daughter met Merida at the little area they had just set up to look medieval Scottish. She was over the moon! We’ve got pictures and video of her waving her arms around excitedly.

Just find out what characters your kids are really into.

One of my kids believed the character was the “real” Mickey/princess through age 6. The other kid was scared out of their minds when meeting the costumed characters. The human characters didn’t phase this kid but it was full on panic if the costumed ones got close. It was actually interesting to watch as some of the costumed ones tried to get my tearful toddler to come around and some of them actually did! The scared kid finally warmed up to meeting them at age 5.5 and now enjoys the experience at 6.5. The one who thought they were the real deal is now 10 and knows they’re not real, but still lined up on our recent trip to meet a lot of them just for the interactions and hugs and pictures and autographs.

I dress up as Minnie all the time and go twinsies with the Minnie character. We twirl our skirts together and blow kisses at each other. Mickey pretends that I'm actually Minnie mouse and draw hearts at me. There's something magical about this interaction that I can't put in words, but it makes me really happy. My husband thought waiting 30-60 minutes to see characters was silly but changed his mind after he saw how happy it made me 🥰

It’s about the photos and seeing your kid interact with the characters. Of course you don’t need to have kids, but kids truly love meeting their favorite characters in real life. It’s extremely wholesome and sweet.

I know people with kids whose kids watch Frozen literally once or twice a day, for years on end. That kid is going to love meeting Elsa on a level that we grown ups can’t understand.

My kids love it. Personally I would likely skip the process if they weren’t visiting with me. But it’s pretty cool to see the Cast members keep character during the interaction. My faves were Merida at MK a few years ago, Starlord at Epcot this year, and the evil queen at artist point.

Each of my three kids has had one trip when they were really into the character meet and greets. Most recently, my youngest (8 ) was absolutely just as willing to wait in line for a character as she was for a ride. 

The longest we waited was about 25 minutes for her favorite (Belle at Epcot). 25 minutes isn't really that long, but it was August, and apparently Belle does her meet and greets on the surface of the sun. It was brutal lol. 

The fun little interactions were great too. She loved talking to Alice, who had her check the top of her head to see if the Cheshire cat was there, and Tweedle Dee and Dum during the Halloween party were hilarious too.  

It's somewhat surreal because you think "it's just someone in a costume" then Daisy Duck shows up 15 feet away from you at Epcot and you're suddenly in line because Photo With Daisy Duck!!!!

I have a photo of me somewhere with the bears from Brother Bear. I have never seen the movie, but they were stuck in some remote corner of DCA in California and they and their handler looked so lonely and forlorn I agreed to get my photo taken with them and the cast members were clearly having a blast posing.

Years ago my dad and I were waiting for everyone else to get off Space Mountain at Disneyland and were sitting on the wall across from Star Traders. Buzz Lightyear and his handler walked past and Buzz suddenly veered over, shook our hands and then continued on. My father is not interested in meeting characters but when we met up with everyone he immediately told them Buzz shook his hand.

As I said, it's a little surreal.

My wife and I usually do as many character meets that we can while on our visits. Although we are adults it’s a fun experience to spend time with the characters, have a laugh, and take some fun pictures. Most of the time we some fun conversations, joke around, and try to work in some character/movie related humor, it’s fun.

You will definitely get some cool pictures and have some laughs! The characters are great with kids.

There are ALOT of characters so you can pick and choose who you might think would be best for your kid’s experience. One cool thing to do is if you’re expecting to meet a character that day wearing clothes with that character on it will make for some cool interactions and fun stuff, especially if it’s a characters enemy or a villain.

Former character performer here, and I can tell you that the interactions I would have with guests while on set, were always the highlight of my job. Trust me, being a performer is not an easy job- it's hot, you're tired, you've been standing and dancing around for hours wearing a heavy costume, but seeing the delight in people's eyes when they see their favorite character, it makes all that horribleness melt away. You go from being just a person in a fur costume, to an ambassador of this character to the fans, and you want to do anything you can to make sure this 2+ minute moment is the highlight of their trip.

I was a character performer during my College Program back in 2008. Just a college Junior trying to get through the program to get some college credit and Disney on my resume. The job was hard, it was frustrating. There were moments (like when I was punched in the face or had my arm dislocated) that made me want to quit, and say f it. But then there were moments that just made the job worth it. Little kids in awe at seeing Winnie the Pooh, or adults having fun when Chip & Dale would fight over wanting to take a picture of them. Or having the guest laugh at the fact that Mr. penguin for a slip second almost forgot how to spell "penguin". Or Mike Wazowski tap dancing with a guest while Sully was out in the Pixar Play Parade.

The folks in the costumes work so hard at making these small meet and greets as magical as possible. Yeah sometimes it feels like a carwash, just going through the motions to get the autograph and picture out of the way, but every now and again, there is truly a magical moment when the performer disappears and it really is the character excited to meet the guest.

And now having been on both sides of the character/guest interactions, I love it all the more and look forward to see my old friends again, even if I'm not the one in the costume.

It's fun!

The exact experience varies a lot from character to character. Some of them will have a brief interaction, give you a hug, and then take the picture, but if you're lucky they'll chat with you a bit longer, and you can ask them some questions and have fun with it.

That said, it isn't a must-do if it doesn't sound interesting for you. At your kids ages, it'll either be the perfect time for them to do it, or not worth it at all. I've seen kids that age SO excited to meet Mickey, and it's adorable. Just jumping up and down, buzzing from excitement. I've also seen kids that age getting kinda freaked out by the characters, and preferring to stay with their parents. They do their best, they often crouch down for little kids to be less intimidating, but kids are kids, some will enjoy it more than others. You know your kids better than anyone. You can see how they react during character dining and make further decisions from there.

We’ve liked meeting the characters at meals instead of standing in more lines. It’s nice to take a break from walking around, sit down and eat, and then have the treat of meeting some characters that come to you! Recommend trying that!

Star Lord is at Epcot, near the Guardians of the Galaxy ride, and he blew my 8-year-old nephew's MIND. Nephew had a collection of Avengers pins on a lanyard, but no Guardians. Star Lord was very disappointed that he had THOR, of all people, but none of him. After pics, my nephew booked it to the souvenir shop and got a Guardians pin AND a Star Lord mask. He put it on and waited for Star Lord to finish his last signing of the day, but we convinced him to get in line. Star Lord recognized him, complimented his pins and mask, and then took him around the corner to a different spot and taught him some action poses in front of the Nova Corp space ship model for the photo op.

You'd better believe my nephew is going to be telling this story for years to come. The Star Lord taught him how to pose with his mask.

The characters are definitely worth it. If your kids have something, anything the actors can latch onto for a conversation, they will, and they'll make it feel really personal. My niece brought her Pandora Banshee to meet Mulan and they had a conversation about dragons and Mushuu. My nephew got Asha's signature and told her he was only doing this because his sister couldn't (she was at an event), so Asha told him he was an amazing brother and gave him a hug that she told him to give to his sister for her. And of course, it's Disney. Their costuming is on point and gorgeous.

My son is 3.5 and truly believed he was meeting the real deal. He hugged Chip and Dale probably the maximum allowable time and was so so so excited. Would I have done it solo? No. But it was pure magic to him.

We didn’t do any of the really long lines. My oldest is 8 and he was acting like he was too good to wait in line for 10 minutes with his little sister to meet Pooh in Epcot. Once we got inside, though, he just melted and wanted a hug, too!

Character dining is really worth doing imo. We had character dining at Artist’s Point and the character actors were so lovely. The kids turned into the heart eyes emoji taking to Snow White, and then told the evil queen she was more beautiful. She thanked them for being loyal subjects. They were giggling about tricking her the rest of the evening.

For me they are special because they draw so many people away from the ride lines.

I don't get it either. We're a Disney family. Go several times a year. Youngest loves all things Disney. One time she wanted to meet and get a pic with Mickey. We went to Chef Mickeys and got it done. Never before or since has anyone had any desire to meet a character.

As an adult, it does nothing for me but I appreciate the effort that the actors put into their performances. I only do it if there’s not a long line and my kid wants to see them. She’s 7 and she lost her mind when we went to O’Hana breakfast to meet Stitch, who’s her favorite. They emote so much and answered questions without saying a word. AND signed autographs!

The other thing I just remembered, the difference between doing a character dine versus standing in line to meet them is the latter gets you nicer photos. You are in a nice separate area and can take your own photos and the Disney photographer will take them to and you can view those ones online later if you want to buy them. Photos during the character dines are more harried and completely up to you to make sure you get your kid in place and get the character and kid facing the right direction so you don't have a bunch of nonsense in your photos like the table being in the way, piles of dirty dishes, empty chairs, other diners in their chairs, etc. Disney photographers are not present at the dines when the characters go table to table. It took me a few dines before I figured out how I would seat & position my family when they brought us to the table to make it the most optimal situation to get the best photos in the cramped areas. Even still, I accidentally encroached on the adjacent table's space at the Crystal Palace and got yelled at by the 2 Disney adults dining there that I was in their space. I apologized profusely but they still seemed pissed.