Character meet and greets returning soon to Disney Parks, should help with capacity

One of the key experiences of a Disney vacation should be returning soon to Disney World and Disneyland – the character meet and greet, Disney SVP and CFO Christine McCarthy said during a Morgan Stanley Technology, Media and Telecom Conference event on Monday, March 7.

Currently, guests can see Disney characters at various locations and at character meals, but can not physically interact with the characters. The guests need to stand near the characters for photos. The next step would be returning to allow “hugs” and direct interaction with the characters. This has already happened at Disneyland Paris.

“And for any of you with children or grandchildren, you probably have had — little kids love being around those beloved Disney characters,” McCarthy said.

No other information about the meet and greets return was announced. However, McCarthy said those meet and greets are also an important role in helping with capacity.

Not only does the meet and greets help with experiences, but help even out the capacity throughout a park. “… those character meet and greets also take people out of lines for going on Space Mountain or Mickey and Mini’s Runaway Railway,” McCarthy said.

“Some of the attractions which are great for capacity management are things like nighttime attractions, the parades, what — when those happen, people are on rides or attractions, they’re watching a nighttime spectacular or watching a parade that they’re seeing go down Main Street,” she said

When these are back they should help improve experiences since they “load balance the pak better,” she said.