A chance to visit with Mickey just steps from the pool and beach in Hawaii? Yes, please! And it’s possible at Aulani, Disney’s resort and spa on Oahu. But character meet and greets there are different from those at other Disney properties. Here’s what you need to know about meeting characters at Disney’s Aulani.
You can learn the time and the location of the character meet and greets
The Daily ‘Iwa includes the phone number for the character locator – a four digit number you can call from within the resort. You can call between 8 a.m. – 8 p.m. and it lists the time and location of each meet and greet for that day only.
(The Daily ‘Iwa is a one-page publication listing the activities available at the resort in a day. It is available at the front desk and Pau Hana (community room) at approximately 7:30 p.m. the prior evening. It is not delivered to each room, you have to go get it.)
I adore Donald Duck and wanted to make sure that I didn’t miss meeting him. We were headed out in the morning before 8 a.m. and when I asked at the front desk if it was possible to call in to the character locator from outside the resort, they said technically it was not, but that I could call the main number, give them my room number so they could verify I was a guest, and they would connect me. I did that and it worked just fine. (Turns out that Donald was not meeting that day.)
When calling from your room, the pen and paper located next to the phone comes in very handy for writing down the schedule.
You can line up early for the meet and greets
Because you know the location of the meet and greet, you can get there early. Guests often begin lining up 15 minutes before the character appears, but sometimes they are there even sooner than that. No one ever had a problem with the lines forming early.
A Photo Pass photographer is not present at every character meet and greet.
Photo Pass photographers were at a couple of the character meet and greets we attended, but not all of them. Cast members were very willing to take photos with guests phones and cameras.
Character meetings are for Aulani guests only.
To make sure that you are a guest of the hotel, a cast member would ask to see either your room card or your pool wrist band. As long as one person in the party had either of those, you were good to go.
Not all characters at Aulani, and they don’t all meet in a given time period.
We saw Mickey and Minnie together, Pluto, Stitch, Chip and Dale together, Moana, and Daisy Duck. We did not see Goofy at all, but he’s typically around so we must have missed him.
When we asked a cast member about meeting Donald when in line for another character, a cast member said, “He’s out fishing. Meeting him around here is pretty rare.” But we did get to say hello to him prior to our dinner reservations at Makahiki.
Character meetings at meals is similar to Disney World.
When attending either the character breakfast or dinner at Makahiki, you meet with one character at the start of your meal and other circulate. Characters are always subject to change. At breakfast, we met Mickey at the start and Minnie and Pluto came around to greet diners at their tables. At dinner, Donald Duck was greeting. (To say I was excited is an understatement.) Chip and Dale and Stitch interacted with diners as they ate.
You may still see characters outside of scheduled meet and greet times
You never know when characters may be just walking around the pool area or other parts of the resort saying hello. We saw Chip and Dale one evening and a cast member said they wanted to say good night before heading off to bed. Chip was helping one little girl with the scavenger hunt along the Menehune Adventure Trail.
Another time Moana walked past us and a bird flew very close to her. She jumped a bit and then said to us, “Whoa! I thought maybe that was Maui, but nope, too small!” before hurrying off.
You May Also Like: 25 Must-do activities at Aulani and What to pack for Aulani (and what to leave at home)
Prior Post: Summer Stitch Fix Review June 2017
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