My 2018 Disney character meets

After writing a more personal post last week, I'm back to posting about a combination of two of my favourite things... holidays and Disney!

I'm not massively in to character meets which means they're not my biggest priority when we go to Walt Disney World, but I do try to fit a few in around our other plans.

I absolutely have to meet Pluto every year because he's my favourite, and I also pledged to meet Goofy on this year's trip before we left. I didn't have any others in mind at the beginning of the holiday so just decided to wing it whenever I saw a short queue.

It's become a standard tradition for me to meet Pluto in Epcot on our second full day. He's always got a short queue at his Epcot spot and the cast members there are always so lovely and enthusiastic. I wore my custom-made Pluto ears from Closet Geek for this meet, of course!

A few days later, we were leaving Hollywood Studios after a flying visit and happened to see Daisy and Donald Duck at the entrance. Donald had a massive queue but Daisy's was much shorter, so I quickly got in line as I'd never met Daisy before. We happened to be very colour coordinated which was a happy coincidence.

Towards the end of the holiday, we'd booked fastpasses for the Character Spot in Epcot as the attraction fastpasses were thin on the ground for that day. Neil didn't use his fastpass as he hates meeting characters, so I braved it on my own. I assumed I'd only meet one character and was trying to figure out how to choose, but I actually got to meet Goofy, Mickey and Minnie which was a lovely surprise. I would definitely recommend getting a fastpass for this experience as the standard queue length was around 50 minutes. The meets were slightly rushed as there were lots of people behind me chomping at the bit, but I still had a decent amount of time with each character.

I did go on a hunt for Donald in our last couple of days as I was on a mission to complete my Sensational Six collection, but I unfortunately didn't come across him for the rest of our trip. He'll have to go on the list for 2019.

Who's on top of your character meet list?

My bow-tiful Mickey ears

Believe it or not, I didn't start wearing novelty Mickey ears until my fourth trip to Florida in September 2016. Although I'd vaguely thought about buying the official Disney ears at the parks on our previous trips, I always decided to spend my money on something else at the last minute. I hold Instagram (particularly Sarah's beautiful account) entirely responsible for the change of heart!

After suffering from serious ear envy and seeing lots of amazing designs on Instagram, I bought two pairs of ears from Bel at Closet Geek Site for our September 2016 trip. Bel has a massive array of ears on offer which made it a difficult choice, but I finally decided on Tangled ears and classic Mickey and Minnie ears. I was in love as soon as they hit my doormat and I couldn't wait to wear them to Walt Disney World.

I loved wearing these Mickey ears in the parks as they're so unique and, more importantly, very comfortable! I didn't see anyone else wearing anything remotely similar to the Tangled ears during our holiday, and the Mickey and Minnie fabric turned out to be very unique too. Even Minnie herself was impressed when I met her at Animal Kingdom!

When we started planning our inevitable trip back to Florida in April/May 2017, I started browsing Etsy for more ears and decided to treat myself to a few more. As I was so impressed with the purchases I'd already made, I bought two more pairs from Closet Geek Site. The Pluto and Donald ears were a custom-made order, and the fabric for the Mrs Potts and Chip ears only came in a few days before my holiday so Bel kindly made sure that they arrived in the post just in time!  

As you can see, these themed ears are great for character interactions. For someone like me who's actually slightly apprehensive about meeting characters, they make a great talking point and take away some of that initial awkwardness. Pluto got very excited about my Pluto and Donald ears, as did his accompanying cast members! 

I also discovered a new seller before we went on our latest holiday so I bought a couple of pairs from Luby and Lola. Lola's ears are so pretty and glitzy with dozens of possible colour combinations, and it was really difficult to narrow my choices down to just a couple of pairs. These beautiful baby pink and baby blue ears were perfect for our evenings out as well as for our busy days in the parks - fit for a princess! 

In my world, it's never too early to start planning for your next Disney trip. I've already bought one new pair of Cruella de Vil ears from Closet Geek Site for our holiday to Walt Disney World in May 2018, and will most likely buy a few more in the next few months! 

Where do you buy your Mickey ears? Do you have any recommendations to share with me?

My 2017 Disney character meets

Even though I love going to Walt Disney World with all my heart, I'm not very good at one of the main Disney trip staples - character meets.

As soon as I get to the front of the character interaction queue, I get all shy and awkward (even more so than usual) and never really know what I'm supposed to do. Do they want me to talk to them, even if they can't talk back? Should I go in for a hug? How long should I stand there with them? What should I do with my bag and should I take my sunglasses off? Will they think it's a weird that a woman in her 30s wants a photo with them on her own? Yes, I do overthink the simplest of things.

However, despite my reservations in this area, I always make sure I meet a few special characters for those all-important photo opportunities. I thought I'd share this year's character meets on my blog... all three of them!

First of all, I absolutely have to meet Pluto on every trip as he's my favourite Disney character of all time. This year, I'd even ordered a pair of custom-made Pluto ears from Closet Geek Site beforehand so I made sure I wore them to Epcot on our second full day in preparation for our reunion. He got adorably excited about the ears... I love him. 

Next up was a new character for this year - Baymax! Big Hero 6 is one of my favourite modern Disney films and I'm still amazed that the animators managed to make two circles and a line look so cute. I couldn't pass up the opportunity to get my photo taken with my favourite healthcare companion, and I must admit that getting wrapped up in a squidgy Baymax hug was very comforting. Thankfully (mostly for his sake rather than mine), he was stationed in an air-conditioned room!

Lastly, I took the opportunity to meet one more new character for 2017. When I saw that Olaf was meeting guests in Hollywood Studios and the wait time wasn't ridiculous, I just had to join the queue. I needn't have worried about character interaction on this occasion as it was very much a 'get in, pose for one photo, get out' policy. As I'm sure you can imagine, Olaf is a very popular character attraction! I'd already exhausted all my character meet social skills by this point as I'd met Baymax on the same day, so I wasn't disappointed by the brevity of this visit. 

Although most die-hard fans probably meet more than three characters in an hour on their typical Disney trip, I'm pretty pleased with my total considering my slight phobia of character meets! Do you have any 'must meet' characters on your Disney trips? 

Hollywood Studios

I had no idea what to expect from Hollywood Studios when I went to Walt Disney World for the first time 18 months ago, so it wasn't on my list of top 5 things I was most excited about. I wasn't particularly interested in how films are made back then, and I thought that would be the main focus of the park. However, this year I knew exactly what to expect so I was very excited about going back. You can never fully grasp the scale of Hollywood Studios (or any of the Disney parks) until you've experienced it in person!

Hollywood Studios is home to two of my favourite rides in Walt Disney World - Rock'n'Roller Coaster and the Tower of Terror. Both these rides usually have a substantial queue, but they're totally worth the wait. Rock'n'Roller Coaster isn't a very long ride, but it's brilliant while it lasts. It also has the bonus of blaring Aerosmith music the whole way around. The Tower of Terror is just a whole different sensation... I scream with genuine terror on this ride, but I absolutely love it. It also gives you a great view of the park...!

Pixar Place is one of my favourite areas in Hollywood Studios. The design of this area is phenomenal, but then I wouldn't expect anything less from the geniuses at Pixar. Toy Story Midway Mania is (obviously) situated in Pixar Place. Midway Mania is an interactive 3D ride based on classic carnival games. I'm not actually very good at these games, but the ride is great fun whether you get a high score or not. And everyone loves to wear 3D glasses once in a while! You can also meet Buzz and Woody in Pixar Place if you're prepared to queue for a very very long time...

I also love the landmarks at Hollywood Studios. I did think the Sorcerer's Apprentice hat could have done with a bit of a spring clean this year but it's still an impressive sight as you walk in to the park.

I went to see the Beauty and the Beast Live on Stage show in Sunset Boulevard for the first time this year. I was expecting great things, but I was genuinely blown away by the half hour production. Everything was spectacular, from the set to the costumes to the very enthusiastic singing and dancing. Belle and Gaston sing live throughout every show, and the Beast's characterisation is fantastic. I was humming my favourite songs from Beauty and the Beast all day after watching this show!

Fantasmic also takes place in Sunset Boulevard, in the open-air amphitheatre. Fantasmic is Hollywood Studios' night show and, although it's my least favourite of the three night shows at Walt Disney World, it's still pretty amazing. The show features fireworks, water effects, pyrotechnics, lasers, music and projections on to large mist screens featuring scenes from the Sorcerer's Apprentice and other classic Disney films. Fantasmic is actually quite scary at times as it depicts a battle between good and evil taking place in Mickey's dreams/nightmares, but Mickey Mouse obviously triumphs over evil in the end. You get to see loads of your favourite characters in this show and there's always a great atmosphere in and around the amphitheatre, so it's definitely worth a look.

Hollywood Studios went all out to promote Monsters University this year, and I especially loved the Monsters University display outside the main entrance. Just like everything else in Disney World, it was massively intricate and totally flawless!

Although I didn't get to meet Sulley and Mike Wazowski from Monsters University at Hollywood Studios as the queue was too long, I did get a hug from Pluto. Pluto is one of my favourite Disney characters so I was extremely excited about this. He's so cute!

Just like the Magic Kingdom and Epcot, I can't write about everything I love about Hollywood Studios or the blog post would take four days to write. So again, this has just been a flavour of the main things I love about Hollywood Studios.

What do other people think of Hollywood Studios? Is it your favourite Disney park?