Disney Character Fun!

So meeting characters was a fun highlight of our Disney vacation. They do such a great job getting the kids excited and signing their autographs. I LOVE the autographs -- Ariel's has bubbles; Pluto's has a paw print; Peter Pan's has an arrow through it; Eeyore's has a rain cloud above it; Minnie's has hearts; etc.

This trip we were fortunate enough to MEET 28 characters! On top of that, we saw (outside of the parade) more than 10 others. My kids were in heaven. (Warning: This post is photo heavy. And I could have included oh, so many more!)

First and foremost, we got to meet Ariel as the first princess!!! Yes! We didn't know she was there, so as soon as Shayla saw her she had to put on her Ariel costume. Ariel said, "We look like twins!" Shayla could not have been happier for Ariel to say that:

 

Who knew Disney had so many red-headed characters? I didn't realize Peter Pan was a red-head:

He was hilarious! He said, "I know big sisters are bossy. Wendy taught me that." When Zachary handed him the autograph book with his name on the cover, he said, "I'm going to guess that your name is Zachary." When Zachary responded affirmatively, he said, "I knew that because I'm very good at guessing." Then he said to Becca, "I like the pixie dust on your shirt!"

Another red-head who got excited about Shayla was Jessie the cow girl -- she touched her own hair; touched Shayla's; and then did her "yee-haw" punch into the air. It was awesome:

One of the kids' favorite characters to meet were Chip and Dale. They were HILARIOUS! Unfortunately (makes me so sad) our videotape ran out and Paul had to change right during the funniest part. Oh well ...

They read Zachary's shirt (The Force is Strong with This One) and kept pointing to it. Then when they saw Tyler's shirt (Midi-Chlorian Count >20,000), they gave him a high five. Then Tyler started dueling with fake light sabers with Chip. Then Tyler pushed his hand out like he was using the force, and Chip flew backwards. Check it out:

 

 

When Chip came in for a hug (they were very huggy), Tyler did the force thing again forcing him back, so he turned his back on Tyler to give his autograph. Then Dale tapped him on the shoulder as if Tyler did it:

 

They did so many other things I can't even remember. But they were hilarious and the kids loved 'em:

 

Tigger was also full of energy and fun. That's the joy of waiting in line before characters are there -- when you're one of the first visitors they have lots of energy. Austin had enjoyed looking at the characters before Tigger, but Tigger did the kissing sound twice fast and made Austin laugh. I LOVED it! Austin was giddy to be playing with Tigger:

Tigger also liked Zachary's shirt (X-wing Pilot) and acted like he was flying a plane and shooting guns. It was funny. Then he was just funny signing autographs and taking pictures:

 

 

The longest line we waited in for a character was about 35 minutes to see Rapunzel. Becca really wanted to see her. Well, she was really hoping Flynn Rider would be there, but apparently he was out with Maximus. Oh well -- Rapunzel was pretty. :)

Becca also wanted to see Belle pretty bad. We had waited in line for the princesses twice already and hoped we'd catch her with a short line. Becca found a short line, and I asked the lady who was there. Belle was one of the three there! But she was getting off in 5 minutes, which meant we'd miss her again. The employee told us which way she leaves so we could catch a glimpse of her, even if she couldn't sign autographs and take pictures. I was hoping this would suffice for Becca. So when we'd been waiting about five minutes, I asked the employee if she could unofficially tell me which princesses would start the day the next morning if we came back. She said she didn't know, but that she had arranged with Belle to see just one last set of people before she left for the day. So she took us in the back and the girls met Belle! That was soooooo incredibly awesome of that employee.

Oh, and Belle asked Shayla, "Are you Ariel's sister? You look like her." Shayla LOVED that and told her she was, in fact, Ariel's sister. :)

Let's see ... this character was so animated and hilarious, too. And after we met him and got his autograph (which includes a hat), the kids said, "Who was that?!"

Other characters we met:

Dug from Up

Mulan and a teething Austin (hands in mouth at Disneyland - yuck!)

Tinkerbell

Ariel's autograph with bubbles

Buzz -- who can't sign autographs due to his space gloves

Cruella Devil

Eeyore

Goofy being, well, goofy

Goofy

Pooh

Austin <3 Pooh!

As we were leaving Pooh, he came and stopped me. I wondered why since we had already taken a lot of time having four kids get autographs, pictures with all of us, and an individual with Austin. However, he patted my stomach and I realized I was wearing my Pooh shirt. Once I realized, Pooh put his hands over his heart like he was so happy about it. It was cute:

Sleeping Beauty (Aurora)

We figured Austin would be soooo happy to meet Mickey and Minnie since he loves Mickey Mouse's clubhouse. He did stare at Minnie until she tried to eat him:

Okay, I think it was a kiss, but it sure looked like she was trying to eat him.

He did like Mickey, although instead of being all happy he seemed more in awe:

Other characters we met:
Snow White
Woody
Pinocchio
Gepetto
Princess Tiana (princess & the frog)

Pluto
Goofy's son Max

We saw Cinderella and her fairy godmother, but we didn't meet them. Same with Donald Duck, whose line was cut off both times we saw him before we got there. Oh well ... maybe next time! :)