Characters at Disney’s Animal Kingdom (Complete List of Meet-and-Greet Locations)

If you’re planning to meet characters at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, you can expect a few nuisances compared to other parks. Thankfully, many of the traditional character meet-and-greets have returned. But a few characters still cruise the Discovery River that you can wave hello to from a distance.

Additionally, you might encounter a few characters wandering the park. After all, when it comes to a park as unique as Disney’s Animal Kingdom, you never can tell who you’ll run into.

Below, we’ll discuss every character meet-and-greet at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. We’ll review which characters sign autographs, preview photos of each character’s location, and a few other tips for fitting them into your day.

This article was last updated on November 3, 2023. We live a few minutes from Disney’s Animal Kingdom and walk through the character meets regularly. When we see something has changed, we update this guide to reflect those changes.

Characters at Disney’s Animal Kingdom

The following characters have traditional meet-and-greets at Disney’s Animal Kingdom.

• Chip and Dale
• Daisy Duck
• Donald Duck
• Divine
• Goofy
• Kevin
• Meeko
• Mickey and Minnie Mouse
• Moana
• Pocahontas

Additionally, you might see these characters cruising the Discovery Island River on Festive Flotillas:

• Dug and Russell
• Pocahontas and Meeko
• Timon and Rafiki
• Launchpad McQuack and Scrooge
• Goofy and Pluto

Chip and Dale

Chip and Dale meet at several locations throughout the Walt Disney World Resort. They meet daily on the Cretaceous Trail in Dinoland, U.S.A., at Disney’s Animal Kingdom.

This fun pair meet as…you guessed it: dinosaurs! Aren’t they adorable in these dinosaur costumes?

This meet-and-greet is often referred to as Chipmunk-O-Saurus. We stopped in to see them recently!

Chip and Dale meet intermittently throughout the day. Typically, their meet is available until about an hour or so before the park closes. You’ll want to check the My Disney Experience app for their exact times on the day of your park visit.

If you’re a Chip and Dale fan, we have a complete article with more photos of this location.

Related: Meet Chip and Dale at Disney’s Animal Kingdom

Daisy Duck

Daisy Duck is another one of the characters at Donald’s Dino-Bash in Dinoland. She meets toward the front of the Cretaceous Trail near Chip and Dale.

Daisy is wearing a fun prehistoric look. As you can probably imagine–she’s ready to show off that look in true fashion.

In case you didn’t know, she created all of the character’s looks for the Dino-Bash. They are displayed on a fashion board titled “Daisy’s Designs.”

Daisy signs autographs at this location, and a PhotoPass photographer was available on our last visit. However, we no longer consistently see photographers at the character meets, so your experience might vary.

Related: Meet Daisy at Disney’s Animal Kingdom

Donald Duck

Donald Duck heads up the Dino-Bash at his character location directly across the walkway from TriceraTop Spin. Since this character meet-and-greet is outside in a reasonably populated area, expect long waits.

Often, Donald will meet for long increments at this location. However, he will have to take breaks fairly often. When this character meet ends, a cast member will cut off the line, not allowing other guests to enter.

However, when Donald only needs a break, he will disappear and return shortly. These breaks last approximately five minutes. So if you’re in line, don’t worry if you see him leave.

A cast member will try to make everyone aware that he’ll be right back. We are at these meet-and-greets often, and almost every time this happens, we see guests getting frustrated and leaving the line.

I try to bring these things up so you know what to anticipate. For example, you probably won’t get upset if you know a character might leave at any moment. But if it’s hot and you are trying to manage children in line, seeing a character leave might add insult to injury.

Walt Disney World is a place that many of us hold in high regard. But, unfortunately, often, with that regard comes expectations that aren’t always realistic.

Characters are people, too, and given their job description, they need breaks more than most of us.

Related: Meet Donald Duck at Disney’s Animal Kingdom

DiVine

DiVine is probably considered more a form of entertainment than an actual character meet. But since this might be the only time you’ve ever heard of her, I felt she was important to include.

DiVine is a stilt-walking character who hangs out at The Oasis of Disney’s Animal Kingdom. She is usually out intermittently between the park’s opening until about 1:00 p.m.

Divine is rather difficult to see because she’s covered in vines. But if you find her, you can watch her pose. Often, a crowd forms around her when someone notices she’s there. Just remember to give her enough space.

Even better, if you visit Animal Kingdom in the Spring months, you might encounter DiVine in full bloom. Here is a look at her floral costume.

Related: Meet DiVine at Disney’s Animal Kingdom

Goofy

Goofy meets with guests at Donald’s Dino-Bash. His location is adjacent to TriceraTop Spin in Dinoland, U.S.A. He meets here in his carnival suit. Sometimes, Goofy is on the boat with Pluto. However, lately, he’s been making appearances at this location.

Related: Meet Goofy at Animal Kingdom

Kevin

Kevin is one of the most popular characters at Walt Disney World. Where she goes, so does everyone else!

Kevin (from Pixar’s UP!) often roams Discovery Island. She is usually found anywhere from the front of the park to Asia near Feathered Friends in Flight. On a recent visit, she was exploring Dinoland U.S.A.!

Like DiVine, Kevin is a unique character who often prefers to keep moving over standing still. So you’ll want to allow plenty of space for her to roam freely.

From time to time, Kevin will pause to take a photo with guests. So make sure to have your camera out and ask politely for a photo. But don’t take it personally if it doesn’t work out. Kevin and her Wilderness Explorer friends tend to retreat when crowds are too much!

If seeing Kevin is essential, check for her times in the My Disney Experience app. You can usually find her at the front of the park or along the pathway to Asia. Her bright coat of feathers makes her relatively easy to see in the distance.

Related: Meet Kevin at Disney’s Animal Kingdom

Meeko

Meeko has been out meeting guests at Disney’s Animal Kingdom as of late. You might find him out greeting guests in The Oasis until about lunchtime. After that, it’s not uncommon to find him on a character flotilla a couple of times in the afternoon.

Related: Meet Meeko at Disney’s Animal Kingdom

Mickey and Minnie Mouse

Mickey and Minnie Mouse meet daily at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. This is the only traditional location to meet the pair as a couple in all four parks.

They meet in safari suits at Adventurer’s Outpost. This location is on the path to the right of the Tree of Life before you cross the bridge to Asia.

Adventurer’s Outpost is typically available from the park’s opening time until about an hour before it closes. However, we have found that if you wait until toward the end of the day, wait times for this meet-and-greet tend to drop.

Additionally, this location has a Lightning Lane entrance. So, if you purchase Genie+, you can use this meet-and-greet as one of your selections based on availability.

Mickey and Minnie both sign autographs at this location. Unfortunately, a PhotoPass photographer is no longer available here.

The photographer was replaced with photo boxes that electronically take your photo. So, if you would like a decent photo, you might ask the cast member attending the meet if they would take one with your camera or phone.

Related: Meet Mickey and Minnie at Adventurer’s Outpost

Moana

Moana meets guests daily at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. Her character meet-and-greet is located at Character Landing.

This location is on the immediate right before you cross the bridge from Discovery Island to Dinoland U.S.A. Since it’s toward the front of the park, it’s fairly simple to find.

Expect exceptionally long wait times at Moana’s meet-and-greet location. We waited over an hour and a half to see her on a recent visit!

Moana signs autographs, and a PhotoPass photographer will likely be available at this location. Additionally, she is a talking character, so you might think of a few things to ask her while waiting.

Related: Meet Moana at Disney’s Animal Kingdom

Pocahontas

Pocahontas has also been meeting guests in The Oasis at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. She is not listed in the My Disney Experience app as of this update. But she’s been meeting in this area close to Meeko pretty consistently in the mornings. Hopefully, she’ll transition to a more permanent location.

Related: Meet Pocahontas at Disney’s Animal Kingdom

Other Character Opportunities at Disney’s Animal Kingdom

Here are the characters who still take part in the cruises along Discovery River Island.

Dug and Russell

Dug and Russell formerly had a traditional character meet at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. However, that meet-and-greet hasn’t been available for the last few years.

You can now find them on a character flotilla at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. These flotillas cruise through the waterways intermittently throughout the day. So, if you’re anywhere near the water, you’ll likely hear and see them coming through.

Most of the flotillas come out around the same time. If you want to see them all at once, I recommend finding a seat at the former Rivers of Light theater in front of Expedition Everest. (Times for these experiences are listed in the My Disney Experience app.)

This is where the flotillas enter and exit the area. Therefore, if you wait long enough, you’ll see each one come through twice.

Pocahontas and Meeko

Pocahontas and Meeko also have a character flotilla. So you might see them in The Oasis area in the morning and on a character cruise after lunch.

Scrooge and Launchpad McQuack

Scrooge and Launchpad McQuack aren’t always listed as one of the flotillas in the My Disney Experience app. However, the past few times I’ve visited the park, they have been part of the flotilla lineup.

These two formerly had traditional character meets at Donald’s Dino-Bash. However, it’s been some time since we last saw those popular meet-and-greets.

Timon and Rafiki

Timon and Rafiki are often on a character flotilla representing The Lion King. Sometimes, we see them together, but most recently, we’ve only seen one at a time.

Rafiki formerly had a traditional character meet at Rafiki’s Planet Watch. At one time, they met simultaneously at Character Landing. Time will tell if these character sightings return to traditional meet-and-greets.

Rare Character Sightings at Disney’s Animal Kingdom

Throughout the year, various characters appear in the parks as surprises. These special meet-and-greets are meant to surprise and delight guests. Unfortunately, they are limited-time magic with no guarantees.

Since moving to Orlando, we’ve been trying to catch as many of these pop-up characters as possible. Eventually, I’ll put together a guide that includes all of the rare character meets we’ve encountered.

But for now, I wanted to include the Animal Kingdom characters available during Earth Week. For starters, we met Tinker Bell and Fawn. I think we all know Tinker Bell. At least, I hope so. But Fawn is an exceptionally rare character from the Tinker Bell spin-off movies.

Her special fairy talent has to do with animals. So she and Tink flew into Disney’s Animal Kingdom to help celebrate Earth Week.

A few days later, Jane and Terk from Tarzan were greeting guests in the park. They are also very rare meets.

Then we saw Princess Atta from A Bug’s Life.

And Flik from A Bug’s Life was also present.

Lastly, we ran into Koda and Kenai from Brother Bear on a flotilla. Again, these characters were all part of Earth Week, which is celebrated yearly at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. So if you visit during that week, you might see a few surprise characters!

Final Thoughts

Ultimately, Disney’s Animal Kingdom provides guests with traditional character meets and a few other unique ways to see characters in the park. Don’t forget to take the time to have a family photo made with Mickey and Minnie Mouse! Remember, it’s usually the only place to find them together.

For more character meets at Disney World, you might enjoy our other park guides:

• Magic Kingdom Characters List
• Epcot Characters Guide
• Hollywood Studios Characters
• The Ultimate Guide to Dining with Characters at Disney World

In the Comments

Do you have any questions about meeting characters at Disney’s Animal Kingdom? I’ll be happy to answer them based on our experiences.