Disneyland vs WDW which is better for character M&G's?

[Akoni]

So as you all know, WDW's character greeting offerings (mainly in MK, every other park seems to be fine) have seemingly tumbled down the rabbit hole, based on what I've read (I think budget cuts were the problem due to them wanting to add a Muppets attraction). No more Mad Hatter near the tea cups (when I went in 2017 I saw just Alice), Lady Tremaine (didn't pay attention to the area where the Tremaines meet), or Woody & Jessie (we didn't go to Frontierland for very long that trip so we didn't see if they were meeting, but we already met them the first trip in 2011). I think I also heard that Marie and Rafiki got cut.

But from what I can tell, Disneyland has much better options, like for example on Main Street, U.S.A. In WDW, I've only heard of seeing Snow White, Pluto, Marie in the past, and maybe Stitch (not sure on this one). But in DLR, I've seen numerous princesses (I think Snow, Ariel, Cindy, Belle, sometimes Mulan), as well as Mad Hatter, Alice, Queen of Hearts, White Rabbit, Peter Pan, Wendy, Bert, Mary Poppins, Evil Queen, Cruella de Vil, various Mickey friends, etc. Also, the Fantasyland M&G's appear to be better too, heck you can find Captain Hook and Peter Pan just wandering about anywhere, same with QoH and Tweedles, as well as Gaston. And they also didn't cut Mad Hatter like MK did. So I'm getting the impression that Disneyland overall has better character M&G options in Disneyland Park (I think WDW has better options for character dining, though).

But which is better in your opinion for character M&G's? Also which characters seem to be the most popular, cus I'd like to meet Mad Hatter especially (heard he's really fun)?

 

[LittleMissMagic]

I think Disneyland is definitely better with character interactions. DL has a lot of "roaming" characters. On any given day, you'll find Peter and Wendy, Gaston, Pinocchio, Alice and the Mad Hatter, Lady Tremaine, the Evil Queen, and so many other classic characters just wandering around Fantasyland, interacting with guests. There's also often some fun rare characters that will come out at random. You can regularly meet Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Goofy, and Donald at the Main Street Hub. They are also dressed in seasonal attire. So while at WDW, the characters only wear Halloween costumes at the party, at DL, they wear their costumes during regular park hours (also, they have different costumes on in DCA).

 

[Akoni]

I think Disneyland is definitely better with character interactions. DL has a lot of "roaming" characters. On any given day, you'll find Peter and Wendy, Gaston, Pinocchio, Alice and the Mad Hatter, Lady Tremaine, the Evil Queen, and so many other classic characters just wandering around Fantasyland, interacting with guests. There's also often some fun rare characters that will come out at random. You can regularly meet Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Goofy, and Donald at the Main Street Hub. They are also dressed in seasonal attire. So while at WDW, the characters only wear Halloween costumes at the party, at DL, they wear their costumes during regular park hours (also, they have different costumes on in DCA).

I didn't know Lady Tremaine appeared. CharacterCentral said she only appears at Halloween Time, but I don't rely on CC anymore because they have some updates to do (some of the character information is wrong, like how the Tweedles haven't appeared in DLR for many years according to them, but I've seen photos of them recently).

 

[LittleMissMagic]

I didn't know Lady Tremaine appeared. CharacterCentral said she only appears at Halloween Time, but I don't rely on CC anymore because they have some updates to do (some of the character information is wrong).

I see Lady Tremaine regularly. Sometimes alone, and sometimes with her daughters. You can typically find her outside of the Alice and Wonderland bathrooms across from the Matterhorn, by the entrance to Pixie Hollow (right of the castle), or on the elevated parade viewing area by Small World Mall.

 

[Akoni]

I see Lady Tremaine regularly. Sometimes alone, and sometimes with her daughters. You can typically find her outside of the Alice and Wonderland bathrooms across from the Matterhorn, by the entrance to Pixie Hollow (right of the castle), or on the elevated parade viewing area by Small World Mall.

I heard she's quite fun to meet

 

[hootey]

Disneyland wins hands down! More characters a n d much better interaction. Character meal interaction is a lot better as well. DL seems more relaxed and slower paced, everything at WDW is RUSH, RUSH, RUSH, so you can go somewhere and stand in line for a couple hours. DisneyLand is the clear winner for us and you can walk to everything!

 

[Star wars fanatic]

I’ve heard the character interaction at the plaza inn at Disneyland is fantastic

 

[Star wars fanatic]

I’ve heard the character interaction at the plaza inn at Disneyland is fantastic

 

[midnight star]

Disneyland for interactions. While WDW has a wider variety of character meals and meet and greet locations, no one wanders around. You have to get a fastpass or go to the meals to see characters. DL I see roaming characters all the time.

 

[Akoni]

Disneyland for interactions. While WDW has a wider variety of character meals and meet and greet locations, no one wanders around. You have to get a fastpass or go to the meals to see characters. DL I see roaming characters all the time.

Yeah I saw a video of Captain Hook, Peter Pan, and Snow White near the freaking Dumbo ride.

And I've also seen characters interacting at DL who's films are not related, i.e. Peter Pan interacting with Snow White or Alice/Mad Hatter interacting with Drizella.

 

[midnight star]

Yeah I saw a video of Captain Hook, Peter Pan, and Snow White near the freaking Dumbo ride.

And I've also seen characters at DL who's films are not related, i.e. Peter Pan interacting with Snow White or Alice interacting with Drizella.

The interactions at DL are so fun! Other ones I've seen:
Cruella arguing with Queen of Hearts.
Peter and Wendy walking around together
Alice and Mad Hatter riding in the tea cups with guests
Alice and Mad Hatter playing musical chairs by Refreshment corner
Tiana riding on the Mark Twain Boat with guests

 

[midnight star]

The downside to the spontaneous interactions are that there's no line so the big mob following them makes it hard to get a picture. But it's not so bad.

 

[Kender]

I’ve heard the character interaction at the plaza inn at Disneyland is fantastic

Can confirm. Plaza Inn is fantastic for characters and interactions them. Where else can you get locked into a character sandwich?

ETA: note that we were in the sun too much. This photo was snapped after we walked into the shade while still in a character sandwich. Moved a couple feet just like this. Hence my laughter in the photo.

 

[Akoni]

The interactions at DL are so fun! Other ones I've seen:
Cruella arguing with Queen of Hearts.
Peter and Wendy walking around together
Alice and Mad Hatter riding in the tea cups with guests
Alice and Mad Hatter playing musical chairs by Refreshment corner
Tiana riding on the Mark Twain Boat with guests

I even saw a video of Gaston and Merida having an archery contest in front of a crowd in Fantasyland (which Merida won).

 

[VandVsmama]

Oh, Disneyland is far superior to WDW for character interactions. We went to WDW in the summer of 2018 and had a great time, but found meet & greets to be frustrating. ALL of them had FPs and the lines were LONG! WDW didn't have any character just roaming around like DL does. Even at Princess Fantasy Faire at DL, the wait to see princesses isn't ever that long.

At DL, a lot of the characters who roam around don't have photopass photographers with them. So if you're used to PP photographers all the time at WDW, you'll be disappointed by that at DL.

 

[Aurora0427]

Can confirm. Plaza Inn is fantastic for characters and interactions them. Where else can you get locked into a character sandwich?

ETA: note that we were in the sun too much. This photo was snapped after we walked into the shade while still in a character sandwich. Moved a couple feet just like this. Hence my laughter in the photo.

View attachment 486313

Plaza Inn is worth every penny because of the character interactions.... the food was meh but we’d go back because of the characters. My youngest was terrified of Hook, and he was so funny about not coming near her.... then Dale came in and pretended to fight Hook, which made her laugh. We were towards the end of seatings, and they all came by multiple times. Even Minnie. It was awesome. So many fun memories from one brunch!

 

[Aurora0427]

I see Lady Tremaine regularly. Sometimes alone, and sometimes with her daughters. You can typically find her outside of the Alice and Wonderland bathrooms across from the Matterhorn, by the entrance to Pixie Hollow (right of the castle), or on the elevated parade viewing area by Small World Mall.

I’ve never seen Lady Tremaine at Disneyland!!!! When is the last time you saw her????? One of my favorites at WDW is LT and Anastasia & Drizella!

 

[Aurora0427]

I didn't know Lady Tremaine appeared. CharacterCentral said she only appears at Halloween Time, but I don't rely on CC anymore because they have some updates to do (some of the character information is wrong, like how the Tweedles haven't appeared in DLR for many years according to them, but I've seen photos of them recently).

We’ve never seen LT at Disneyland. Tweedle Dee and Dum can be seen at the quick service restaurant on Main Street... near Holly Jolly. There’s a piano out there and we’ve seen them several times, sometimes with Alice and Hatter.

 

[Vala]

Nothing beats Loki heckling Star Lord... I almost died.

 

[LittleMissMagic]

I’ve never seen Lady Tremaine at Disneyland!!!! When is the last time you saw her????? One of my favorites at WDW is LT and Anastasia & Drizella!

Oh, I don't remember - I'm always walking through the parks. I would say it was after the holidays, but before the Magic Happens parade premiered. Also, when they were doing the character cavalcade, there were more hard-to-find characters meeting in the parks.