Where to meet Characters in Disneyland Paris 2023
By Helen Wright
Hugs are back! A huge part of visiting the Disney parks is getting to meet your favourite Disney Characters in the flesh. During our visit in March, we made a list of the best places to meet Characters at Disneyland Paris this year, so you can plan your day and not miss out on those all-important warm hugs.
The best places to meet characters in Disneyland Paris 2023
Disneyland in Paris has two parks; Disneyland Park and Walt Disney Studios Park. As well as some excellent attractions, both offer ample opportunity to meet your favourite Disney characters in Disneyland Paris. From the legendary Mickey and Minnie, to some fun new arrivals, you can fill up your autograph book and your camera roll with magical memories to take home and have a little fun with the cheeky stars too.
If you haven’t got your Disneyland Paris Tickets yet, see what options are available. Or, you may save money and receive additional extras buying a hotel and ticket package.
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Book a Character Dining Experience
The best way to spend quality time with your favourite Characters in Disneyland Paris is to book a character dining experience at one of the resort’s hotels or restaurants. This is one of most fun things you can do, especially with kids. Anything that involves fun characters AND food is a win for me.
Breakfast with Characters in Disneyland Paris:
Guests can choose from the following options:
Disneyland Character Breakfast at Plaza Gardens (Disneyland Park)
This is a casual buffet breakfast with a wide selection of breads, pastries, cereals, scrambled eggs, smoked salmon, pancakes and Mickey waffles, plus juices and hot drinks. Disneyland Paris Characters such as Mickey, Minnie, Goofy and Donald (and more) will drop by to wave hello to guests, pose for photos and sign autographs!
There are two seating times available per day, usually 8.15am (accessible only to Disneyland Paris hotel guests with Extra Magic Time access) and 9.45am. The character breakfast is usually priced around £36 per adult and £32 per child. Guests who have purchased the Disneyland Paris dining plan can upgrade to the Disneyland Paris Character Breakfast for a surcharge, price depending on which hotel you are staying at.
Enchanted Character Breakfast at Auberge de Cendrillon (Disneyland Park)
This rather regal breakfast takes place at a table service restaurant within Disneyland Park, either in the elegant dining room or outside on an enchanted terrace. Servers bring freshly-cooked food to your table, including fine French pastries, cereals, waffles, sausages, fruit juices, tea and coffee. There is a children’s menu (approximately £35) and an adult’s menu (approximately £45), and kids under 3 eat for free. Disney dining plan guests can upgrade.
Again, there are two seating times available per day, usually 8.15am (accessible only to Disneyland Paris hotel guests with Extra Magic Time access) and 9.45am. In peak times, this experience is also offered at lunch.
The fairytale breakfast at Auberge de Cendrillon was traditionally hosted by the Disney Princesses, including Belle, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella and Tiana. During Covid-19 restrictions, the Princesses were greeting guests from the Princess Promenade instead (this was due to the French rules on face coverings – the Disney Princesses do not wear face masks!).
During this time, Mickey and Friends, dressed in their smartest clothes, stepped in to welcome guests. This ended up being a very unique time to meet Characters in Disneyland Paris wearing lesser-seen costumes. However, the Royal court is back and now you can dine with the Princesses again, which is brilliant news for anyone visiting in 2022.
Auberge de Cendrillon has just reopened for reservations. Watch this space for any more updates. Whether the Princesses will be making a royal return, remains a mystery but we will update this post and our Facebook Page and Instagram as soon as we know any more updates.
How to book breakfast with Characters in Disneyland Paris
The most popular Disney restaurants do require reservations (especially if you want to dine with Characters in Disneyland Paris). You are able to make a dining reservation two months in advance of your visit. The best way to do this is via the official Disneyland Paris app. Alternatively, you can contact disneyholidays.co.uk directly.
NOTE TO READERS: Lunch and Dinner with Characters in Disneyland Paris at Inventions Restaurant within the Disneyland Hotel is currently not available. This is because the hotel is closed for refurbishment for a rumoured two years.
Characters in Disneyland Paris
Don’t miss: Mickey and Minnie on the station balcony
The celebrations for Disneyland Paris’ 30th Anniversary have kicked off and the resort has a lot of exciting things going on in 2022. Mickey and Friends were given special outfits to wear during the festivities, designed in the shimmering purple and pink theme of the celebration.
Entering the park is very exciting now, with huge 30th decorations adorning the whole of Main Street Station. As you walk through the arches, be sure to look back up to the balcony, where Mickey and Minnie have been standing to wave and greet guests arriving at Disneyland park.
TOP TIP: If you wait to the right of Main Street, near the New Century Notions store (that stocks the 30th anniversary merchandise), you will get a good photo of Minnie and Mickey as they enter the Town Square on route to the station balcony.
The Princess Pavilion
If the magical Disney Princesses are top of the list of character to meet at Disneyland Paris, head to the Princess Pavilion in Fantasyland at Disneyland Park. This dedicated Princess spot allows you to meet Disney Princesses, including Belle, Aurora, Cinderella, Rapunzel, Tiana, Snow White and Ariel inside the royal pavilion. Unfortunately there is no dedicated schedule, so you can’t choose which Princess to meet. Guests join the line and the Princesses change at random. Each group gets around five minutes with their princess to take photos, ask her to sign autographs and get a royal hug.
This is a very popular attraction in the park, so guests staying at on-site Disney hotels may want to consider using their early access to join the line. In peak times, the wait to meet a Princess at Princess Pavilion is 60 minutes+.
*NOTE: Queen Elsa and Princess Anna do not currently meet guests in the Princess Pavilion.
Disney Character SELFIE SPOTS
Gone are the days where characters in Disneyland Paris roam freely around the parks. This is due to the increase in crowds and guests with camera phones over the last 15 years, swarming the characters and making it unsafe for costumed cast members. There are now designated selfie spots to meet characters in a safe environment.
At first, many didn’t like this change but I think it is much better than the hustle and pushing in that occurred in the crowd environment. Yes, you may wait up to an hour to see the Characters at Disneyland Paris at peak times, but at least you know you will definitely meet your favourite character and get a really good picture to take home as a special memory. You can take your own photos or use professional Disney photographers if you have Disney PhotoPass.
Wait times for the Characters in Disneyland Paris vary throughout the parks, but using the official Parks app will give you an indication about where you can meet the famous faces and when. It will sometimes give you an estimated wait time too.
There are 15 Selfie Spots to meet Characters at Disneyland Paris:
NOTE: The characters spotted and listed below are random and may change due to being seasonal characters, covid rules and weather.
Disneyland Park:
30th Anniversary Selfie Spot with Mickey and the Gang
Where: A dedicated indoor theatre in Fantasyland
Characters: This is where you can meet the traditional Disney Characters at Disneyland Paris (Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Goofy, Daisy and Donald wearing their limited-edition 30th Anniversary Costumes.
Far West Legend Selfie Spot
Where: Near Big Thunder Mountain
Characters: Usually Mickey and Friends dressed in their colourful Cowboy gear.
The Sweet Selfie Spot
Where: Plaza Gardens Restaurant
Characters: Winnie the Pooh and friends, Princesses, Lilo and Stitch
Adventurous Selfie Spot
Where: Near the Indiana Jones Adventure Outpost
Characters: Mickey and Minnie, Miguel*, Chip and Dale and Clarice, Baloo, Pocahontas
Selfie Spot Savanna Style
Where: Near Restaurant Hakuna Matata
Characters: Rafiki, Timon and Pumbaa, Chip and Dale
Magical Selfie Spot
Where: Behind Sleeping Beauty Castle
Characters: Cinderella and Prince Charming, Sleeping Beauty, Tiana, Rapunzel and Flynn Ryder
Selfie Spot at Mad Hatter’s Tea Cups
Where: In the middle of Fantasyland
Characters: Cinderella and Prince Charming, Alice in Wonderland, Cheshire Cat, Queen of Hearts, Tweedle Dee & Tweedle Dum, Pinocchio, Gepetto, Pete Pan and Wendy.
The ‘no strings attached’ Selfie Spot
Where: Fantasyland
Characters: Cinderella, Fairy Godmother, Flora, Fauna and Merryweather, Pinocchio, Gepetto
Bouncy Selfie Spot
Where: Fantasy Land near the Princess Pavilion
Characters: Winnie the Pooh, Tigger, Eeyore, Genie, Princess Jasmine and Aladdin
The Dark Side Selfie Spot
Where: Discoveryland, near Star Tours
Characters: Darth Vadar, Startroopers, Chewbacca, Kylo Ren
You can also see Characters in Disneyland Paris at Caseys Corner and Liberty Arcade. Use the Disneyland Paris app for up-to-date information on where Character meet-n-greets are in operation.
Where to meet Characters in Disneyland Paris at Walt Disney Studios Park:
Disney Pixar Selfie Spot
Where: Near Toontown and the entrance to Crush’s Coaster
Characters: Buzz, Woody, Jessie, The Incredibles
Frosted Selfie Spot (Toon Studio)
Where: Toon Studio
Characters: Olaf only (*Anna and Elsa are currently not attending any selfie spot locations). However you can see all the Frozen characters close up, including the Arandelle sisters, at Frozen: A musical invitation at Walt Disney Studios Park. There are a fixed amount of shows per day and they always sell out, so join the line at least 45 minutes before.
Heroic Experience (production courtyard)
Where: Studio Theatre in the Production Courtyard
Who: Marvel characters, including Thor, Blank Panther, Captain Marvel
Special characters in Disneyland Paris
Minnie’s Fashionista Selfie Spot featuring her Stella McCartney pantsuit *LIMITED TIME ONLY
Where: Studio Theatre in the Production Courtyard until March 31st 2022
Who: Minnie Mouse in a limited-edition costume.
Super Hero Station at Disney’s Hotel New York: Art of Marvel
As well as perks like extra magic hours and adding the dining plan, guests staying the new Disney’s Hotel New York: Art of Marvel are granted exclusive access to Superhero Station, a dedicated selfie spot within the hotel. Guests can strike a pose with Spider-Man at the Super Hero Station and at Marvel Photo Station, also take action-packed photos in digital locations from MARVEL movies such as Guardians of the Galaxy, Captain Marvel, Iron Man, Ant-Man, The Avengers, Thor, Spider-Man and Doctor Strange.
Parades and Daytime shows featuring characters at Disneyland Paris
It’s not somewhere you’re likely to get a decent selfie (or a cuddle), but a great place to see Characters in Disneyland Paris is during the two parades that take place in Disneyland Park. Dream…and Shine Brighter is the new daytime show at Disneyland Paris for the 30th anniversary and features a wide range of characters including Genie, Tiana, Rapunzel, Woody and Jessie, Miguel, Nick Wilde and Judy Hopps from Zootopia and Joy from Inside Out, with of course, Mickey and friends.
The show features more than 30 Disney characters and dancers, performing to songs from films including Zootopia, Aladdin and Tangled, as well as an original new song written for the 30th anniversary called ‘Un Monde Qui s’Illumine’ (a world that lights up).
Dream and Shine Brighter is performed multiple times a day and accurate showtimes can be found on the Disneyland Paris app.
You will also spot a lot of Disneyland Paris characters during Disney Stars on Parade, Disneyland Park’s main parade with runs between Main Street USA and It’s a Small World. This parade features Anna, Elsa and Olaf, Belle, Tinkerbell, Alice in Wonderland, The Mad Hatter, Peter Pan, Wendy, Captain Hook, the Toy Story characters, Sleeping Beauty and a (real) fire breathing dragon.
Disney Stars on Parade is performed once per day.
Other ways to see Characters in Disneyland Paris
They may not be moving characters that interact with you, but another way to get fin selfies with characters is with some of the large Character statues that are in and around the park.
You can pretend to be getting gobbled up by Rex at World’s of Pixar and see marvel Character Statutes outside the park at the Art of Marvel hotel next to the lake. Giant Buzz also looks pretty cool after dark too.
Have fun and see how many fun characters at Disneyland Paris you can see during your trip!
*Miguel from Coco is the newest character to join the park and is only rumoured to be attending selfie spot locations
Click here for more information on tickets and hotel+park packages for Disneyland Paris.
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