Is this a sign we could see more regular character meet and greets at Disney World hotels soon?!
Port Orleans French Quarter
We stopped by Disney’s Port Orleans Resort — French Quarter the other day to see if there was anything new and exciting going on — and we found something we thought was very interesting. Typically, characters have appeared at Disney World hotels seemingly randomly or just for special occasions (aside from at character meals!), but it seems that’s changing — at this hotel, anyway.
Seeing Disney characters roaming around Disney World hotels isn’t exactly rare — but it also doesn’t happen every day. We’ll see characters pop up for special occasions, or maybe when Cast Members need a bit of extra training without the chaos of the parks. In the past, there’s really been no official way of knowing when characters might pop up at any given hotel — but that isn’t the case anymore at Disney’s Port Orleans Resort — French Quarter!
Port Orleans French Quarter
Imagine our surprise as we were strolling through this hotel the other day when we spotted this sign! It was advising visitors and guests of this hotel of upcoming Disney character experiences along with days of the week and times you can spot characters here.
What the WHAT?!
In this case, at Port Orleans — French Quarter, you can expect to see a Disney character or two on Sundays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays from 9:30AM to 10:20AM in the lobby. It’s not a huge window of time, but you might be able to catch them on your way to or from breakfast, or maybe even as you’re heading into the park if you’re not rope-dropping! No characters were listed on the sign, as the appearances will likely vary.
Pluto at the Polynesian
So far, we haven’t seen this pop up at any other Disney World hotel — and these character appearances aren’t listed in the My Disney Experience app, either, but we’ll be keeping an eye out for any other signs like this one. Whether you’re a fan of meeting characters or not, seeing them around more than just the parks always adds to the Disney magic!
UPDATE: We’ve since spotted a similar sign at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge Resort! Based on what it says, you’ll be able to see characters on Sundays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays between 2:30 PM and 3:20 PM.
Wilderness Lodge sign
This is a HUGE deal and a serious gamechanger because it increases the number of places you’re GUARANTEED to see characters in Disney World — WITHOUT a park ticket! Anyone can visit the Disney World hotels to enjoy their offerings including these characters.
In the meantime, we’ll be on the lookout for more updates from Disney World hotels. Make sure you stay tuned to the Disney Food Blog for the latest Disney news and more!
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Have you ever run into any characters at Disney World hotels? Tell us in the comments.
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We were at Wilderness Lodge last week and they also had a sign saying characters would be visiting 3 days per week at 2:40-3:20.
We were at Pop Century last week and there was also a sign like this there. Sorry I can’t remember the days and times it said.
We stayed at Port Orleans French Quarter several years ago and loved it! Being it is the smallest resort it has this charm about it we loved. The food court has great selections at the time form fried chicken to gumbo to pizza and those wonderful beignets. The pool area, while not large was great, as was the boat access to Disney Springs. I highly recommend this resort (and over Riverside)
I prefer the surprise instead of listed times. I just feel like the surprise is more fun. Plus people will just line up and another thing to wait for.
When we were at POFQ in November 2023 there were characters 2-3 mornings when we were there. There was almost nobody waiting and I got to take pictures with all the characters without a wait. In fact Goofy was about to leave when I finished up with Donald and the handler had him wait so I could get a picture. 🙂
I applaud WDW for making characters available for resort guests. But while my wife and I have always enjoyed them, my children and grandkids have loved them! It would be so much better if the characters appeared at times when little kids weren’t enjoying the theme parks. Maybe if character appearances were made known a week or so in advance, families could schedule their park visiting hours accordingly.
I love that they’re doing this more. When we stayed at the Disneyland hotel in CA it was so awesome to see my kiddo greeted by Pluto as we checked into the hotel. I hope this continues at the different hotels at Disney World. Such an easy way to add magic to the trip!
I was at French Quarter last week and got to see Chip in the lobby. Have to use an ECV to move around and Chip started hitting the right side horn button so I started hitting the left side horn button. It was a blast. Also got some fantastic pictures to remember.
We were there in August and they were doing these visits then. A special treat for the 4 grand kids, 12, 11, 8 and 5. 1st visit to WDW.