Characters
Homebody Characters aren’t like their free-range friends. Instead, they have homes. And they stick to them!
These are my kind of characters.
Much of the same advice about the free-range characters applies here too, however.
The nice thing about Homebody Characters is that, due to their popularity, they are almost always around to meet. Which is great, since if we aren’t able to meet them on one day, we can come back on another day to try again. Also, the way in which we meet these characters can be different from the free-range ones, as these characters often have different rules that apply to meeting them with a Priority Card. Read on for a (probably incomplete) list of the Homebody Characters, their homes, and how to meet them.
Mickey Mouse
It seems appropriate that the House of Mouse would have a house for the mouse. And they do! Mickey’s house is located at the ‘back’ of Fantasyland. The main entrance is visible at the front of the building, and will often have a long line formed in front of it. In order to use a Priority Card, you will need to go to the door on the right side of the building and ring the buzzer. It may take a few minutes for someone to answer the bell, but don’t go and keep ringing it. There are no return times for a visit with Mickey, but you may have to wait a little while as the line for those with a Priority Card is integrated into the regular line (but, very near to the end of the line).
The Princesses
The Princesses don’t just get a house. They get a pavilion. This is right and proper, however, seeing as they are royalty. They keep their pavilion in Fantasyland, and it is pretty hard to miss. They keep it near It’s a Small World. The Priority Card access is found to the right of the main entrance, near to the exit to the pavilion.
The princesses, being princesses, are very popular. So, expect a wait in the Priority Card queue as well as in the normal queue. One way to judge the wait for the princesses is to look at the ramp within the Priority Card line. If other guests are lined up to the bottom of the ramp, know that it will be about a 30-minute wait for anyone joining the queue there. You can use this to figure out if you or your loved ones can withstand a wait of that long, or if you need to find another time for your royal visit.
One important thing to know about visiting the princesses in their pavilion is that they keep their identity a secret until you meet them. Which is to say that we don’t know which princess we are going to meet until we get there. This can be a lovely surprise, but it is good to know so that we can manage expectations of who we expect to see while we are there.
Darth Vader
Anakin Skywalker does not have a house. The Dark Lord of the Sith needs no house. He does, however, have a meditation chamber, which is conveniently protected from the elements. But, just to be clear, he doesn’t need any of this. It is there purely for our convenience.
If we are brave enough to dare to meet Lord Vader on his own terms, we can find him in his not-home in Discoveryland, past Hyperspace Mountain. The regular line winds its way outside Vader’s faux-abode, and the Priority Card line can be found at the entrance to the dark domicile. Basically, look for the staff member near the entrance, and that is where you will need to go. There is often no line to use the Priority Card, so you may have to ask the Cast Member. They can usually be found in a little hut, guarding the entrance. So, basically, this Cast Member is acting as an Imperial Guardsman. A helpful one, though.
For some reason, Darth Vader is an “attraction” and not a “character,” so you’ll find him under the Attractions in the app.
We managed to convince the Expansion Packs to visit Vader. It was nearly the end of them. We took some pictures, and I was convinced it would be the last pictures ever taken of EP1. Because, while it is good to raise our kids to stand up for themselves, maybe this life lesson shouldn’t be taken to the extreme of arguing with the Dark Lord himself. Seriously, EP1 kept on verbally prodding daddy Vader about… something. I can’t even remember. Something about tie-fighter jamming protocols or something. I was too busy laughing to remember. And you know what? Good ‘ol Darth was amazing with them. He kept them (mostly) on track, and stayed in character the whole time. Also, the pictures were hilarious.
The Mandalorian
So, I put Mando on here, even though I’m not sure he qualifies as a homebody.
He definitely has a distinct spot where he can always be found, but he doesn’t have a building or room to himself. Instead, stays put outside in Discoveryland near to Darth Vader and the exit to Star Tours. Maybe he likes the freedom of the open air more than the security of a home base. It could be that this is because he is a foundling and has learned not to hold material possessions too closely. Or it could be that I’m overthinking this.
Regardless, there are two lines that form near the Mandalorian. If you have a Priority Card, you are able to use the line on the left to join a shorter queue. This is the way.
Spiderman and his entourage
Ok, these guys just had to be different.
There isn’t any way to use the Priority Card with these guys. Mostly because there is no waiting to see them. Well, I suppose there is waiting, we just don’t have to do it outside of their house.
With Spiderman and his hangers-on, you’ll find them in the Avengers Campus Hero Training, located by the WEB ride in the Studios Park. This lot are behind closed doors that are ‘guarded’ by several Cast Members whose job it is to answer the question “What’s behind the doors?” all day every day. The only way to breach the security and get behind the doors is to book a training session (read: photo op) with Spiderman or his friends.
Go set an alarm.
Ok, so how do we actually meet them? Well, if you guessed the app, you get 16 points! I’m not sure what you can do with the points other than to enjoy them, but still, well done.
When you are in the Parks and connected to the Disney wifi network, you are able to book a character meet with either Spiderman or a random Avenger. There are two time slots for each of these character bookings: one in the morning and one in the afternoon. The app will tell you when you are able to register for each session - currently 9:45am and 2pm. Be aware that these go fast. Really fast. What I did, and it worked well for us, was to set a timer on my watch to go off a few minutes before the registration opened. Be sure to label the alarm, though! Otherwise, you’ll end up like me and forget why you set an alarm. And then you’ll have to try again another day, once you finally remember what that alarm was for, after you get asked about the bookings. Sigh.
Once you have a successful booking, though, it will be kept in the app, under the “Account” tab. Here, there is a section called “My tickets and passes,” where the time of your character meet will be recorded. Then, just before that time, you head on over to the long-suffering guards outside the Avengers Campus Hero Training centre and show them your booking. They will let you in and tell you what is happening next! You don’t get a choice about what time the booking is, as it is all automated, but you also don’t have to wait in any line, so overall this is a fantastic system.
Ok, now that we’ve met all the characters in the Disney pantheon, let’s watch them perform!
Stitch
Stitch is so popular, he recently became a homebody character!
Stitch is still where he has always been – in Videopolis, on the side closest to Star Tours – but now he is one of the characters that you can sign up for a time to go and see him instead of waiting in a long line. Basically, Stitch is the new Spiderman.
Everything that we talked about above about getting to see Spiderman is also true of Stitch. There are two different blocks of time that we can go and visit him, one in the morning and one in the afternoon, though the actual time that you can see him depends on what is available.
There are two times when you can access the virtual queue to try and see Stitch: 9:45am and 2pm. When these times roll around (remember to set your alarms!), you can access the virtual queue to sign up for a specific time to see Stitch. Then, just show up at the door to meet Stitch at your reserved time and enjoy the visit!
Like Spiderman and his friends, now that Stitch can be visited through this reservation system, there is no ability (or need!) to use a Priority Card to set up the visit.