A Fun Find: Character Statues at Walt Disney World’s Theme Parks

Back in 2021 when Disney started to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Walt Disney World, they created golden statues of 50 classic Disney characters and sprinkled them throughout the four WDW theme parks.

It now looks like the character statues are here to stay. The original 50th Anniversary medallions have been removed from most of the statues’ bases and the pedestals have been painted a slightly darker bronze rather than the iridescent rose gold used during their debut. Below, we’ll talk a bit about the statues as a MagicBand+ activity, and show you where to find all of them. Tap any link to go directly to the section for each park, and tap the images in the sections to enlarge them.

Where to find character statues in Animal Kingdom
Where to find character statues in Hollywood Studios
Where to find character statues in EPCOT
Where to find character statues in Magic Kingdom

Using MagicBand+ With Character Statues

Guests using a MagicBand+ in the parks have access to special features related to the statues. When wearing a MagicBand+, the band will briefly vibrate and glow whenever you get within about 10 feet of one of the statues. The vibration is not constant, you can easily ignore the notification if you’re not hunting for characters. But it can be helpful in locating some of the more out-of-the-way statues.

If you’re standing directly in front of a statue and you wave your arm, you’ll activate a sensor that plays a brief musical theme (about two seconds long) related to that statue. When this embellishment works, it’s absolutely charming. There is, however, a bit of caveat emptor with the music activation. In a solid week of statue stalking, I had about a 75% hit rate in getting the music to play. Sometimes I’d watch another guest get it to work and then a minute later it wouldn’t work for me, and vice versa. Similarly, I would sometimes get the music to work, then when returning half an hour later it wouldn’t.

Additionally, the PlayDisney app (available at the Apple app store and Google Play has a game called The Fab 50 Quest where you can “collect” the characters and activate some augmented reality features within the app.

While I did see plenty of adults interacting with the statues, children aged about 5 to 10 years old seemed to get the most enjoyment from activating the electronic enhancements. If you have a child who likes collecting things, keeping a running list or a photo album of all the found characters can be a pleasant way to focus your touring.

In the photos below you’ll find close-ups of the statues, as well as wider shots of the area to help you orient when homing in on the harder-to-find characters. Click on the photos to enlarge them.

Note: While there are 50 characters represented in the parks, there are only 36 individual statue podiums. Some characters share their space.

Character Statues in Animal Kingdom

The Animal Kingdom characters are: Simba, Timon, Pumbaa, Bambi, Thumper, Marlin, and Dory. You can find them all in the area immediately to the front of the Tree of Life as you enter the park.

Character Statues in Disney’s Hollywood Studios

The Hollywood Studios characters are: Woody, Bo Peep, R2-D2, BB-8, Sebastian, Flounder, Joe Gardner, Frozone, and Edna Mode. They are all located in the central courtyard area, broadly in front of Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway.

Character Statues in EPCOT

The EPCOT characters are: Figment, Rocket Raccoon, Groot, Pua, Hei Hei, Olaf, Bruni, Miguel, and Dante.

Character Statues in the Magic Kingdom

The Magic Kingdom characters are: Lady, Tramp, Chip, Dale, Dumbo, Timothy Q. Mouse, Winnie the Pooh, Piglet, Tinker Bell, Gus Gus, Jaq, Abu, Stitch, Pinocchio, Orange Bird, Cogsworth, Lumiere, Cheshire Cat, Mad Hatter, Donald, Daisy, Goofy, Pluto, Mickey, and Minnie. The statues are primarily scattered around the hub, with a few tucked away in more hard-to-find places.

Which is your favorite character statue? Are you glad they’re sticking around?