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

Disney’s Animal Kingdom is an excellent place to meet characters during your Walt Disney World vacation. Until recently, guests had the opportunity to meet characters at traditional meets and see a few character cruises. However, the character cruises have retired while traditional meet-and-greets remain.

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. 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.

Mickey and Minnie Mouse at Animal Kingdom — Disney’s Animal Kingdom is the only traditional location to meet Mickey and Minnie Mouse as a couple.

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
Dug
Goofy
Kevin
Meeko (maybe)
Mickey and Minnie Mouse
Moana
Pluto
Pocahontas
Rafiki
Russell
Timon

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

Chip and Dale pose for a photo with their arms crossed.

Daisy Duck

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

Daisy Duck at her character meet and greet at Disney's Animal Kingdom. — Daisy Duck is always ready to show off her fashion.

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.

Donald often meets for long increments at this location. However, he has to take breaks fairly often. When this character meeting ends, a cast member cuts 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.

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

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.

DiVine wrapped around a light pole at Disney's Animal Kingdom.

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.

DiVine dressed in florals for Spring at Disney's Animal Kingdom. — DiVine at Disney’s Animal Kingdom

Dug and Russell

Dug and Russell from Pixar’s UP meet daily at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. However, at the time of this update, they meet separately. Dug meets with guests for approximately 30 minutes, and then Russell returns and takes over.

Russell might be wearing his talking collar. For the first few weeks of his return, he was making appearances as a roaming character. But he is now rotating with Russell once again. If you would like to learn more we have a separate write-up with photos and video of talking Dug.

Talking Dug at Disney's Animal Kingdom — Dug | Disney’s Animal Kingdom Characters

They are a fun pair to meet, and both sign character autographs.

Russell at his Animal Kingdom character meet-and-greet — Russell from ‘Up’ at Animal Kingdom

Goofy

Goofy meets with guests at Donald’s Dino-Bash. He was meeting in a carnival outfit in the queue area adjacent to TriceraTop Spin in Dinoland, U.S.A. But he’s moved to an open space behind Chester’s and Hester’s Dinosaur Treasures Gift Shop. Here, he rotates this location with Pluto.

Related: Meet Goofy at Animal Kingdom

Goofy in his carnival outfit. — Goofy in his carnival outfit at Disney’s Animal Kingdom

Goofy in his new outfit at Animal Kingdom. — Goofy in his bird-watching costume at Animal Kingdom

Kevin

Kevin is one of the most popular characters at Walt Disney World. Where she goes, so does everyone else! She typically roams Discovery Island. However, we’ve also found her in Dinoland, USA. She can usually be found anywhere from the gift shop to the outskirts of the land. 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. Her bright coat of feathers makes her relatively easy to see in the distance.

Kevin posing for a photo at Disney's Animal Kingdom. — Kevin roams Disney’s Animal Kingdom.

Meeko

From time to time, we’ve seen Meeko greeting guests at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. However, we haven’t seen him lately! We’re going to leave him here for the time being in case he reappears!

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.

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.

Mickey and Minnie Mouse at Adventurer's Outpost — Mickey and Minnie Mouse 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. On a recent visit, we waited over an hour and a half to see her!

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.

Pluto

Pluto recently returned to Donald’s Dino-Bash in Dinoland, U.S.A., at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. As of this update, he rotates this location with Goofy. We have a separate article with photos of this meet-and-greet if you want to learn more.

Pocahontas

Pocahontas has also been meeting guests in The Oasis at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. She is now listed in the My Disney Experience app as a regular meet-and-greet.

Rafiki

Rafiki is once again meeting at Rafiki’s Planet Watch at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. He rotates this location throughout the day with Timon. It’s important to note that you must take the Wildlife Express train from Harambe to Conservation Station for this character meet-and-greet.

Timon

Here is a photo of Timon at the same location as Rafiki. Again, they rotate making appearances, and both of their times are listed individually in the My Disney Experience app.

Former Characters at Disney’s Animal Kingdom

The following character cruises were once part of the daily operations at the park. However, they have since ended. Here are a few photos of cruises past.

Pocahontas and Meeko on a festive Flotilla. — Pocahontas and Meeko on a Flotilla

Scrooge McDuck and Launchpad McQuack on a river cruise. — Scrooge and Launch Pad McQuack

Rafiki waves to guests at Disney’s Animal Kingdom.

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 considered limited-time magic with no guarantees.

But for now, I wanted to include the Animal Kingdom characters that have previously met 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.

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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.