Meet Moana at Character Landing at Disney’s Animal Kingdom

Fans of Moana will be delighted to find that she has a traditional character meet-and-greet at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. As you can probably imagine, she’s quite a popular character and often holds exceptionally long lines. Below, we’ll walk through her location at Character Landing and discuss what to expect on your visit. So grab a snack and some water, it’s probably going to be a long wait.

While Character Landing is toward the front of the park, it’s in an almost obscure location. If you’re in Discovery Island, it’s on the right past the restrooms and the stage where the Viva Gaia Street Band performs. For reference, it’s across the walkway from Flame Tree Barbecue. Below is a photo of the entrance to the area.

This visit was from when Moana’s meet-and-greet debuted. I waited until the end of the week, hoping the initial excitement had passed. Unfortunately, I was wrong. I arrived at the park on this Friday afternoon at approximately 2:30 p.m. and went straight to get in line for the 3:05 p.m. scheduled meet-and-greet. Below is a photo of the line of guests already waiting.

Moana meets intermittently throughout the day at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. As always, you’ll want to check the My Disney Experience app for Moana’s exact time on the day of your visit. Here’s how:

It was 2:54 p.m. when I got in line to meet Moana. Per my estimation, there were approximately 50 guests ahead of me. By the time the line was cut off for the day, about 20 guests were behind me.

Cast members were quoting an hour and a half wait. Granted, most of these photos were taken the week Moana’s meet-and-greet debuted, so many guests showed up to meet her. While her line is still long, you’ll likely only wait 30-40 minutes at the longest to meet her.

We waited and waited. Eventually, we made it into the formal queue area. Cast members constantly came through, encouraging guests to stay and letting us know when Moana took a small break. These times were noticeable because the line stopped moving.

On a positive note, the queue offers a good deal of shade. However, it would probably help if Disney added a few more fans. Throughout our wait, guests would leave the line to use the restroom or get a snack for their group. So, if you need to leave briefly, let the cast member know you’ll be rejoining your party momentarily.

Finally, we were close enough to see the meet-and-greet area.

Disney did an outstanding job with this location. It felt like the perfect place to meet Moana.

Moana signs autographs at this location.

Additionally, a PhotoPass photographer is usually available at this location.

It was 4:29 p.m. when I met Moana. So I waited for 1 hour and 35 minutes!

But she was worth it. I also want to mention the little fans. We go to these character meets often, and I can’t help but notice how well some of the children behave when they’re waiting to meet their favorite character. They are so patient. She had an entire fanbase of mini-Moanas dressed in her outfit.

Since Moana is a talking character, you might want to think of something to ask her. In our conversation, Moana mentioned that Maui was around somewhere. She said he was doing a little shapeshifting and thought he had turned into a lizard. She also talked about Hei Hei and asked me if I was wayfaring. Then, she showed me the perfect pose to find the right direction.

Overall, if you are willing to wait, Moana is an excellent character meet-and-greet. For more characters at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, you might enjoy the following:

• Meet Mickey and Minnie at Adventurer’s Outpost
• Meet Kevin from Up!
• Meet Dug and Russell at the Wilderness Explorer’s Clubhouse

Or you might like to browse our entire list of Disney World characters.