Meeting characters at Disney hotels: a perk for hotel guests

Yes. If you’re a guest at a Disney hotel, the characters come to you, no park required.

It’s one of the perks of being a Disney hotel guest: the characters come to the hotel (most often the lobby), mostly during the quiet times in the morning and evening, and often in outfits tied to the hotel’s theme. The setting is calmer than in the parks, and the wait is usually much shorter.

I especially love these morning meet and greets: I head down for breakfast, run into a character in the lobby, and set off for the park with a first photo, without waiting in line. These meet and greets are only for hotel guests, as part of your stay.

Here’s how it works: the characters come to you, right in the hotel. Most meet and greets take place in the lobby or near the front desk, at the quietest times, meaning mostly in the morning and late in the day.

The characters often wear outfits tied to the hotel’s theme, so your photos look different from the ones you take in the parks. Access is only for hotel guests: staying at the hotel is what gets you in.

What’s offered varies with the season and how full the hotel is. The best habit: check the Disneyland Paris app that same morning, or ask at the front desk, to find out who’s coming by and when.

Each hotel does things its own way. Six of the seven Disney hotels offer meet and greets. Only Davy Crockett Ranch is the exception. Here’s who you can meet depending on your hotel, and how it works (booking required or an included daily meet and greet). Be sure to check the details in the app on the day, since what’s offered can change.

Two hotels offer dedicated meet and greets, by reservation, only for their own guests.

At the Disneyland Hotel, these are the one-on-one royal meet and greets (Mickey, Minnie, and royal characters) and the princesses, in a polished setting. At Disney Hotel New York - The Art of Marvel, it’s the Marvel superheroes, plus a superhero photo spot that’s only for hotel guests.

Worth knowing: what you reserve is a time, never a particular character. You can’t pick which princess greets you, and at the New York, the hotel’s own lineup decides which Marvel hero is there when you arrive.

The easiest way: open the app on the day you do your online check-in (available 1 to 7 days before arrival) and see whether the meet and greet can be booked. For some meet and greets, the time slot only shows up once you’re there. In that case, open the app that same morning, just like for the virtual queue.

Here’s the nice part: getting one takes zero effort on your end. Each guest older than 3 is issued a personal MagicPass automatically. That pass marks you as staying at the hotel, and that’s what unlocks the guest-only meet and greets.

You can have it as a physical card, a digital pass, or both (digital lives in the Disneyland Paris app and in Apple Wallet on iPhone). In most cases, the digital version shows up 7 days before you arrive. Something to keep in mind: book 3 days or fewer before your arrival date and you won’t get the digital MagicPass ahead of time, so you’ll collect it when you get there.

At Newport Bay Club, Sequoia Lodge, Disney Hotel Cheyenne, and Disney Hotel Santa Fe, things work differently: a daily meet and greet with a Disney character is included, with no booking. There’s nothing to book in the app. You just show up at the right time, usually near the front desk.

The difference from the meet and greets you book (Disneyland Hotel and New York): here, the timing is open too, with no time slot to reserve. You don’t know ahead of time who you’ll meet, and it can change from day to day. Some hotels have their own flavor, like the Cheyenne and its Western theme, but the character on hand depends on the day’s schedule.

The habit stays the same: check the app that same morning or ask at the front desk.

The bookable meet and greets aren’t the only character moments at the Disneyland Hotel. La Troupe royale performs for free in the lobby, no reservation required, and characters occasionally join in.

You can also book a character meal: Royal Banquet, with Mickey and his pals dressed as royalty, or La Table de Lumière, with princesses and sometimes their princes. A sit-down meal is a slower, more leisurely way to spend time with characters. I go into it fully in my character dining guide. For everything else the hotels offer, check out the Disney hotel activities.

To plan your trip, you can browse all the character meet and greets, read the virtual queue guide, which helps with meet and greets you book, and find out whether you can enjoy the Disneyland Hotel without staying there. To choose where to stay, compare all the Disney hotels.