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July 4th Characters at Walt Disney World

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Meeting Chip and Dale at Epcot on July 4th
Meeting Chip and Dale at Epcot on July 4th

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.

Meeting Goofy at Epcot on July 4thMeeting Mickey at Epcot on July 4th

You can also find characters at some of the resorts on July 4. The details change each year, and they aren’t always advertised, but this year, there were characters at Pop Century Resort, Art of Animation Resort, Old Key West Resort, Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa, and the All-Star Resorts. In the past, the characters at the resorts all wore patriotic outfits, but this year, it was a bit different.

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.

Meeting Donald at Epcot on July 4th

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!

Meeting Mickey at All Star Music on July 4th
Meeting Mickey at All Star Music on July 4th

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.

Meeting Minnie at All Star Music on July 4thMeeting Pluto at All Star Sports on July 4thMeeting Goofy at All Star Sports on July 4th

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Heather Winfield

I live in NJ, but love coming up with excuses to take a trip to the parks, especially when characters and runDisney are involved! Visit my "I Love Characters" site to see pictures of the over 250 characters I've met at Disney World and Disneyland: http://heatherw.com/character You can also follow my adventures at Disney on twitter and instagram @heatherw25 and facebook at facebook.com/ilovecharacters

6 thoughts on “July 4th Characters at Walt Disney World

  • I was so surprised to see a blog post by you, Heather! I’ve been following you on Instagram for years and the moment I saw the first picture, I thought, “Has she always written for Touring Plans? How did I not notice this???” Congratulations to you and to TP both! 🙂

    Reply
  • Thanks for this great article. Just booked for next year and will be there on July 4th for first time ever. Coming from UK so want to see all the special activities related to Independence Day

    Reply
    • I’m glad you enjoyed the article. This was my second year at WDW for July 4th, and it’s a lot of fun.

      Reply
  • Welcome to Touring Plans Heather! What a fun post! My wife and I have been to Walt Disney World many times, but we normally don’t set aside much time for characters. We decided to fix that on our last trip and the character interactions we enjoyed are now some of my favorite memories. The Mad Hatter was hilarious and Gaston was a big ham. We will definitely be making more time for characters on future visits. Thanks!

    Reply
    • Thank you so much for the welcome, Ben! Meeting characters at the parks is so much fun, I’m so glad you had some great interactions. Gaston and Mad Hatter are definitely some of the most fun characters to meet. 🙂

      Reply

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