Updated June 3, 2013. Historically, Characterpalooza took place inside the Magic of Disney Animation building. When it returned from it's seasonal hiatus in March '13, sets began occurring near Echo Lake and on the Streets of America. Information for times and locations have been updated below.
Characterpalooza occurs almost daily at Disney's Hollywood Studio's, but have you ever heard of it? I'll be honest, I hadn't heard of it until just a few months ago. It is an unadvertised Character meet and greet session (never shown on a Times Guide schedule) that takes place next to Echo Lake and on the Streets of America. For 1 or 2 half hour sessions in the evening, many characters (including rare ones) make an appearance!
It's always a SURPRISE as to which Characters will appear for Characterpalooza, which is where the "palooza" comes from. The most common Characters to appear are Stitch, Captain Hook, Mr. Smee, Snow White, Pinocchio, Gepetto, and the Queen of Hearts; but many times a more "rare" character or two get thrown into the mix. (Not even Guest Services can tell you "who" is going to make an appearance at Characterpalooza!)
The timing and number of Characters to make an appearance depends on the following show times for Fantasmic that evening:
- If Fantasmic isn't scheduled, Characterpalooza will NOT occur.
- If one Fantasmic show is scheduled, Characterpalooza will occur at 4:30 p.m. near Echo Lake and 5:30 p.m. on the Streets of America.
- If two Fantasmic shows are scheduled, Characterpalooza will occur only at 6:00 p.m. on the Streets of America.
- Thanks to Kenny the Pirate for the updated schedule!
HINT: Be sure to have an Autograph Book with you to experience some extra fun and make more memories! Here's our Favorite Autograph Book idea.
This is a great opportunity to meet a bunch of Characters that are relatively rare, and with short waits!
We didn't know about this either, until our third trip. We just happened upon it after attending One Mans Dream. It was super fun! Glad to know I wasn't the only one unaware of it :).
ReplyDeleteThis is a fantastic tip
ReplyDeletewe always hit this area! We have seen maleficent, the characters from up, goofy, the incredible, Frozone,pooh and pals, chip and dale, all in the space of 20 minutes!
ReplyDeleteWe stumbled into this building when we were there a few weeks ago and I couldn't believe all the characters inside! We were going for the animation class, but were able to get a few pics with the characters. The wait time was only about 5-10 minutes/character. Quite the find, a hidden gem. Take the animation class while you're there, my whole family really enjoyed it.
ReplyDeleteAhh, I wanna hug Meeko! I'm jealous now.
ReplyDeleteWe stumbled on to it one time before. It was a night they didn't have Fantasmic and was told that is when they do it. I didn't realize they did it even with Fantasmic that is good to know. We met Prince John and the Sheriff from Robin Hood, Incredibles and the other superhero (the one that does stuff with the ice), Meeko, Belle in her blue dress and quite a few more that I can't remember off the top of my head. We very excited to see the characters from Robin Hood because I never see them out.
ReplyDeleteI just heard about this a few weeks ago. We will definitely be checking it out on our next trip. We love those elusive characters!
ReplyDeleteYou mentioned a winter hiatus due to winter hours, but what if no Fantasmic is schedule that winter day?
ReplyDeleteSorry for the delayed response! Winter hiatus means No Characterpalooza even if there isn't a Fantasmic show scheduled.
ReplyDeleteDo you have any idea if Disneyland does this as well?
ReplyDeleteWe met Frozone, Mr Incredible, Sorcerer Hat Mickey, and Pooh Bear once!
ReplyDelete