July 4th Characters at Walt Disney World

Welcome to my first post for TouringPlans!

My name is Heather, and even though I live in New Jersey, I’m lucky to visit Walt Disney World often enough that some of my friends think I live in Florida. I’m a runDisney addict, and I especially love meeting characters at both Walt Disney World and Disneyland. So of course my first post is character related.

Each July 4th at Walt Disney World, you can meet characters in special outfits that are only available on this holiday. Characters meet in special patriotic outfits at Epcot, and you may also see characters at different Walt Disney World resorts. Even though it won’t help you right now, it’s never too early to plan your character strategy for the future. Here’s a look at who I met this year on July 4th.

At Epcot, you can meet Mickey, Donald, Goofy, Chip, and Dale. Chip & Dale meet together throughout the day on the right side of the American Pavilion, near the restrooms. Chip & Dale are very interactive, so their line usually moves slowly. However, even when their set is over, the next set is only 5-10 minutes later, so you won’t have to wait too long for Chip & Dale to have their acorn break. The line is also partly in the shade, which always helps.

Patriotic Mickey, Donald, and Goofy’s set is different than Chip & Dale’s. The three characters appear at the end of the Voices of Liberty show at the American Gardens Theater. After the show, they walk over to the left side of the American Pavilion to meet guests. The line works like at the Epcot Character Spot. They do not meet together, but you stand in one line and meet each of them in a row.

Mickey, Donald, and Goofy only have 3 sets, since there are only 3 Voices of Liberty shows in the American Gardens Theater, and they are very popular, so make sure you get there early. Their sets start about 15 minutes after the Voices of Liberty show, so I would get in line shortly before the show begins. The line is unfortunately mostly in the sun. It was so hot this year that Cast Members passed out free water to those of us in line for the first set. However, you can hear the Voices of Liberty from the line, which is a nice perk.

Early in the morning, Mickey & Pluto in patriotic outfits (though Mickey was different than at Epcot) met together at Art of Animation, and Chip & Dale in sailor outfits met together at Pop Century. Early afternoon, Beach Goofy met at Saratoga Springs and Goofy (in the same patriotic outfit as at Epcot) met at Old Key West.

At the All-Star Resorts, the characters met from 4:30 PM to 6:30 PM, and they switched out with a 30 minute set each, instead of meeting together. I didn’t make it over to All-Star Movies Resort, but Donald, in a white sailor outfit, and Daisy, in a beach outfit, met inside near the lobby.

At All-Star Music Resort, I met both hip hop Mickey and Minnie. Their outfits are cute and rare, but I’m not sure what they have to do with July 4th. They met by the pool, without any shade, and they had a line throughout both sets. I waited about 15 minutes to meet Mickey, got back in line, and then waited another 15 minutes to meet Minnie. So even though the line looked long, the wait time wasn’t that bad, though I still wish they met inside at this resort too!

At All-Star Sports Resort, Goofy and Pluto were both dressed for baseball, which makes a lot more sense for July 4th. They also met near the pool, but unlike at All-Star Music Resort, neither had much of a line. There was no one waiting for Goofy when I met him, and the only wait I had for Pluto was to wait for the characters to switch.

One other note about characters at the resorts. They do sign autographs. There is also always a Cast Member there to take your picture, but Disney PhotoPass wasn’t available, so make sure you bring your own camera or phone.

Follow my adventures at Disney on twitter, instagram, and facebook.  Visit my website, I Love Characters, to see pictures of the over 250 characters I’ve met at Walt Disney World and Disneyland.