Where to Look for Surprise Character Sightings at Disney’s Hollywood Studios

When it comes to meeting characters at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, you’ll find it’s one of the best parks. Even better, it’s one of the best parks for surprise character sightings. You never know who you’re going to run into!

As someone who visits the parks often, I am privy to seeing surprise characters and special appearances from time to time. A few years back, we even saw a limited-time character dance party on a stage that was used for a private event. It was awesome for anyone visiting that week to experience that special interaction with characters. Since that time, we’ve seen an abundance of surprise characters meeting at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.

Do these characters meet every day? Probably not, but we’ve run into them countless times over the years. So, I believe it’s safe enough to say that you might also run into them. However, you’ll need to know where to look. That way, if you’re in the area, you can nod your head in these directions. If you’re lucky, you might even meet a few characters! I can assure you it’s always a happy surprise!

Surprise Character Locations

The first place to look is just inside the ticket turnstiles of Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Once you enter the park, look to your left toward Sid Cahuenga’s One-of-a-Kind Shop (PhotoPass location). You might see a couple of characters out and about in front of the fence next to the shop. They are not hard to see when they’re out. But you could easily walk right past them if you don’t look in this direction.

On the afternoon of this visit, we saw a handful of guests talking to Pinocchio and Geppetto. Grumpy and Dopey were also out visiting.

I have never met Geppetto, so this was a real treat. Both Pinocchio and Geppetto are rare characters. Pinocchio is often part of the Festival of Fantasy Parade. That is the only place to see him regularly. Geppetto is usually part of the Christmas parade, but I cannot recollect seeing him anywhere else except sometimes in Fantasmic! We have a list of characters who appear in Fantasmic if you want to learn more.

After meeting Pinocchio and Geppetto, I still had time to meet Grumpy and Dopey. They were adorable and are also somewhat rare characters. They meet nightly at Storybook Dining at Artist Point, a character dining meal at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge. So you have to pay for the meal to see them. They also participate in the Festival of Fantasy Parade and meet at the Halloween and Christmas Parties at Magic Kingdom.

On a more recent visit, we ran into Prince Naveen and Princess Tiana in this same location.

In 2026, we also ran into Moana meeting guests near the former Indiana Jones gift shop by Echo Lake. She was rotating this location with Mary Poppins.

She was wearing her outfit from the first movie at this location. She debuted her updated look for Moana 2 a few years back at Epcot.

On other visits, we’ve found characters meeting outside the park’s entrance. Here, you’ll look to the far left once you walk through the ticketed entry. One afternoon, I found Baloo and Thumper in this area. No one even realized they were there! Looking back through the camera roll on my phone over the past couple of months, I’ve met Piglet, Stitch, Baloo, Thumper, Pinocchio, and Meeko at this location.

Thumper is another exceptionally rare character. I cannot remember when he last had a formal character meet-and-greet at Disney.

So, if you’re visiting Disney’s Hollywood Studios with a hope to find a few surprise pop-up meet-and-greets, make sure to check out the places we’ve discussed in this article. From my experiences, I’ve run into these characters between 2:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. Again, these characters are not guaranteed and probably not out daily. But if you’re in the area, it doesn’t hurt to look for them. There’s no telling who you might find! For more characters around the parks, see our list of Disney World Characters. Check back with ResortsGal.com for more updates!

In the Comments

Have you ever seen any surprise character sightings at Hollywood Studios? Let us know below in the comments.