Here’s Where to Look for a Raya Surprise Meet-and-Greet at Magic Kingdom

Raya from Raya and the Last Dragon is considered a rare character find at Disney World. She has never had a traditional meet-and-greet in any of the four theme parks. Until recently, we only saw her in the Adventure Friends Cavalcade at Magic Kingdom.

This summer, however, we’ve run into her numerous times in Adventureland! We’ve seen her out meeting guests so many times that we would say this has become more of a regular thing than a coincidence. The only issue? At this time, she’s not listed in the My Disney Experience app. Therefore, you won’t have any guidance on whether or not she’s available or what time she might be meeting. But if seeing her’s a big deal, we’re going to discuss how and when we found her, so you’ll at least know where to look.

Over the course of several visits to Magic Kingdom, we noticed a line of guests waiting to meet someone in Adventureland. As we got closer, we found that Raya was meeting guests. Since it was the first time I had seen her, I decided to investigate a little further and see if I could find her on subsequent visits. After the third time of intentionally walking through the area over a period of several weeks, I consistently found her in the same spot. She was greeting guests to the right of the entrance of Swiss Family Treehouse, not terribly far from that spitting camel outside Aladdin’s Magic Carpets. (All of these visits were made in the afternoons between 1:00 and 4:00 p.m.)

A PhotoPass photographer was even available to take guests’ photos. On that note, Raya is an autograph-signing character. Therefore, if you have the opportunity to meet her, you’ll want to have your book out and ready before your turn.

We waited about 15 minutes to meet Raya. While I was waiting, I talked with the cast member who was attending the meet-and-greet location. She said that, at this time, Raya’s meet-and-greet was only a surprise and delight offering. Here are a few more photos.

We were excited to stumble upon this meet-and-greet (multiple times) and hope that Raya becomes a regular character. She is exceptionally popular, and it’s always fun to see a fresh face in the parks!

For more characters who regularly meet at Magic Kingdom, you might like the following:

• Meet Ariel at Ariel’s Grotto at Magic Kingdom
• Meet Classic Characters at Pete’s Silly Sideshow
• Meet Mickey Mouse the Magician at Town Square Theater
• Meet Mirabel from ‘Encanto’ at Magic Kingdom

In case you missed it, we also recently stumbled upon Bert and Mary Poppins in Jolly Holiday Fashion!

More Planning

Resorts Gal specializes in Disney World Resorts, Characters, and Dining. Explore our resources, including our Disney World Resorts Guide. It provides an overview of everything you need to know about the Disney Resort Hotels. For dining, our Disney World Dining Guide is an excellent place to start. Our Disney World Transportation Guide is a wonderful resource for planning your routes. It’s one of our most popular resources. If you plan to meet characters in the parks, we have an updated list of Disney World Characters. It includes every available character meet-and-greet in the parks, as well as where to find rare characters throughout the year. Lastly, our Disney Parks Guide provides a complete overview of all four theme parks and water parks.

In the Comments

Have you ever met Raya at Disney World? Is she one of your favorite characters? Let us know in the comments.