In General...

[Greenlawler]

Or go to Disneyland during Halloweentime-We saw every one on this list except Prince John and Stromboli last October.

We also heard Don Karnage was spotted last year at DL, but we missed him...and Bowler Hat Guy was there in 09.

We did this in '09 primarily to see Shan-Yu, and would'nt you know it, he did not appear that Halloween season. We did see Don Karnage which was a nice add.

[disneycutie165]

I actually got to see all the Robin Hood characters at the same time one morning- they were all spread out near the entrance of MK- I saw Robin Hood, Prince John, the Sheriff of Nottingham, and Friar Tuck. Little did I know then that they would soon be retired from the park. That's why I'm trying to see all these villains- especially the newer additions like Shan-Yu and Dr. Facilier- because before you know it they'll be gone!

[Villains0501]

Oh ok thats good! I had heard that he only appeared in Disneyland Paris, but I'm glad he's at WDW now!

I think, and I'm not entirely sure on this, but every park has at least one copy of every costume. I don't think Disney ever limits a character to only one park. I think this is probably because most of the costumes are tied to movies that Disney wishes to promote, and it wouldn't make marketable sense to only put a character out in one park. I know that WDW had a Shan-Yu costume from the get-go, seeing as he was in Cinderella's Surprise Celebration (arguably the best Castle castle ever) back in the early 2000's. Now it is very possible that one character will end up making more frequent appearances at one specific park. For example, Cruella makes daily appearances at Disneyland, but she is hardly ever seen at WDW apart from MNSSHP. Furthermore, costumes themselves can vary between parks. The Old Hag, for instance, is a face character in Disneyland Paris but is a fur character here in the States, at both WDW and Disneyland. Overall, though, there will never be one character made exclusively available at one park!

[disneycutie165]

That's good to hear. I was going to say it doesn't make very much sense to just have characters restricted to one park... as much as I want to see Shan-Yu he is definately hard on the eys from the pics I've seen! We'll see what happens when I get to see him

[Villains0501]

Good luck with your Villain hunting! I probably can't attend this year's MNSSHP, but I will be still be keeping my ears open about any changes. I heard from another Disney forum that this may be the last year for Mix and Mingle. I think Disney is testing the waters on whether Gaston's Tavern could be a nice, niche spot for Villains. Perhaps Villains will take over the Tavern for the Halloween Season when it opens. It would make sense seeing as the restaurant is named after one of Disney's most loathesome villains.

[disneycutie165]

That is what I was thinking- I mean, if he's going to have a tavern named after him, why NOT have him in the park? And the tavern may also become a good villain hang out. And thanks! I will definately post a trip report and also report any changes made to MNSSHP. I doubt there will be very many in just a years' time but with Disney you just never know! Now, I must also ask this: is Dr. Facilier a regular in MK now? I've heard about Tiana's Showboat Jubilee, and wasn't sure if he made regular appearances now because of that show- let's just say I have a little crush on Dr. Facilier

[Villains0501]

The Showboat Jubilee no longer plays at Magic Kingdom. It was only used as a promotional tool for the film. Apart from perhaps the marathons, the only place to meet Facilier is at MNSSHP. I don't understand what they do with the performers for the rest of the year. As Facilier is only out for a small portion of the year, what does his "friend" do the rest of the year? Does he "be-friend" other characters?

[disneycutie165]

Haha he probably does! And I also don't understand that- why restrict a character to only one time of the year. Princess and the Frog is fairly new (as well as Tangled) and I feel like they should all be regulars in the park by now. Are there any other villain hotspots besides MNSSHP?

[Villains0501]

There are a few, but you must be very lucky with most. At the Magic of Disney Animation Building at DHS, a mix of characters come out every evening around 4:30. I think it's unofficially called the "Fantasmic Meet and Greet" because the most characters come out on nights when Fantasmic isn't playing. I think it's a way to substitute for the limited Fantasmic showings. Anyway, there are a few villains who appear there but it's mainly just Captain Hook and Jafar. The Snow Queen is sometimes there as is the Queen of Hearts, but you can pretty much bet on Hook being there every single night. I went to these meet-and-greets for a whole week, and not once did I see any villain besides Hook. It seems they moved him from his regular spot in Adventureland just so that he could become a regular at DHS! He's not even in Fantasmic!

You can catch the Tremaine family (Cinderella's Stepmother and Stepsisters) at MK near Tink's Treasures in Fantasyland on most mornings. However, I would recommend going early seeing as your best shot with them is right at park opening. They're really funny! The best character interactions that I've had are definitely with them!

At the International Gateway in EPCOT you can see a few villains in training. New "friends" of Maleficent, the Snow Queen, King Louis, and the Tremaine Family have been spotted there. I, personally, have seen Maleficent, King Louis, and the Tremaines there, and I consider myself extremely lucky to see them due to the fact that those meet-and-greets are entirely random. There is absolutely no way to predict who will come out and when. Similarly, over by the Character Spot in Future World I know some people have seen a few villains. I have seen the Queen of Hearts over there, and someone else said that they once saw Prince John. There's another spot in between Canada and England, I think, which is like a pavilion area; they usually hold Pin Events there. At this area they have a few random meet-and-greets throughout the week, but the only two villains I've read about appearing there were Jafar and Hook. I hope this very long post helps!

[disneycutie165]

Trust me, it does help! I've always been really into seeing characters but this year I definately want to make a record from our previous trips. I think the best thing to do id try not to find them and we usually find them- when we went in '03 we saw numerous characters that are now retired or rarely seen like Gov. Ratcliffe, and we saw all of the Robin Hood characters (we didn't know how lucky we were on this 1!). I'm hoping there will be plenty of characters at MNSSHP!

[Greenlawler]

Trust me, it does help! I've always been really into seeing characters but this year I definately want to make a record from our previous trips. I think the best thing to do id try not to find them and we usually find them- when we went in '03 we saw numerous characters that are now retired or rarely seen like Gov. Ratcliffe, and we saw all of the Robin Hood characters (we didn't know how lucky we were on this 1!). I'm hoping there will be plenty of characters at MNSSHP!

When you say all of the Robin Hood characters are you including Little John and Maid Mariam?

[disneycutie165]

Yes- I had seen Little John on a previous trip and saw Maid Marian along with Robin Hood, Prince John, the Sheriff, and Friar Tuck on the same day.... pretty lucky

[Greenlawler]

Yes- I had seen Little John on a previous trip and saw Maid Marian along with Robin Hood, Prince John, the Sheriff, and Friar Tuck on the same day.... pretty lucky

Holy cow that is lucky. I would say Maid Marian is by far the rarest character I have heard of recently. I had no idea she was out as late as 2003.

[disneycutie165]

I know I had no idea how lucky I was that year, and actually didn't know until a while ago when I heard someone on here say they were rare! But I've got autographs from all of them! That trip was really lucky for us because we saw Suzy (one of the mice from Cinderella), Gov. Ratcliffe, the two bears from Brother Bear (the names escape me, and I'm not sure if they are considered "rare"), Meg and Hercules, Sully and Mike, Kermit and Miss Piggy, and Peter Pan also told us his version of the 3 little pigs, which didn't make much sense and everyone in the line behind us was fuming. If only I could be so lucky to see such rare characters again!

[Greenlawler]

I know I had no idea how lucky I was that year, and actually didn't know until a while ago when I heard someone on here say they were rare! But I've got autographs from all of them! That trip was really lucky for us because we saw Suzy (one of the mice from Cinderella), Gov. Ratcliffe, the two bears from Brother Bear (the names escape me, and I'm not sure if they are considered "rare"), Meg and Hercules, Sully and Mike, Kermit and Miss Piggy, and Peter Pan also told us his version of the 3 little pigs, which didn't make much sense and everyone in the line behind us was fuming. If only I could be so lucky to see such rare characters again!

Kenai and Koda are a little more rare now because they have not been regular for a while. They still do sets at Disney's California Adventure but they do not sign. Meg and Herc are certainly rare as are Kermit and Piggy. Rumor is that you will never see "full sized" Muppets again. But like I said...Maid Mariam was the real find. My family and I started character angling in 04. That year we ran into Herc, Meg, Phil, Kuzco, when the old "Fantasmic Meet n Greet was up at the front of MGM. Of course none of those characters are still around, except for Meg on the boat from time to time. In the short time we have been angling I just think about all the characters that used to be regular as recently as 04 that you can hardly find anymore....
Dug, Carl, Mr Fredrickson, Bolt, Rhino, Mittens
Chicken Little, Abby Mallard, Louis, Wilbur, Bowler Hat Guy, Fowlfellow, Gideon, Geppetto, Stanley, Brer Fox, Dopey, and many others.

Of course they have replaced them with other characters for the most part, but it does not give me much hope that characters from movies like Atlantis, Treasure Planet, and etc...., will ever come back

[disneycutie165]

Kenai and Koda are a little more rare now because they have not been regular for a while. They still do sets at Disney's California Adventure but they do not sign. Meg and Herc are certainly rare as are Kermit and Piggy. Rumor is that you will never see "full sized" Muppets again. But like I said...Maid Mariam was the real find. My family and I started character angling in 04. That year we ran into Herc, Meg, Phil, Kuzco, when the old "Fantasmic Meet n Greet was up at the front of MGM. Of course none of those characters are still around, except for Meg on the boat from time to time. In the short time we have been angling I just think about all the characters that used to be regular as recently as 04 that you can hardly find anymore....
Dug, Carl, Mr Fredrickson, Bolt, Rhino, Mittens
Chicken Little, Abby Mallard, Louis, Wilbur, Bowler Hat Guy, Fowlfellow, Gideon, Geppetto, Stanley, Brer Fox, Dopey, and many others.

Of course they have replaced them with other characters for the most part, but it does not give me much hope that characters from movies like Atlantis, Treasure Planet, and etc...., will ever come back

The majority of the characters that trip we simply stumbled upon. We weren't trying to look for them- we had just found them all. We happened to be walking in DHS and noticed Kermit and Piggy. We did the same thing with ChickenLittle and Abby Mallard. Of course, that was the year the movie was about to come out or had just come out (can't remember).
From your list of characters I have actually seen most of them. I've seen Chicken Little and Abby, Louis, Fowlfellow, Gideon, Geppeto and Br'er Fox. And of course all these characters we simply just found. We weren't really looking for characters that trip, we just found them. Maid Mariam was actually out 2 times that trip. We saw all of the RH characters in MK right at park opening, with no lines at all. But Maid Mariam did have quite a line. We saw them all again in DHs a few days later. Now I know how lucky we were!
As for the characters from Treasure Planet, etc., I had no idea they even had them at one point! They would have been incredible to see because it seems like finding them you would just know that they will be rare because these were a few of the lesser mentioned Disney movies (though I loved Treasure Planet, Atlantis... not so much). I'm interested to know have you ever seen them? And which do you think are the most rare characters you've seen?

[Greenlawler]

The majority of the characters that trip we simply stumbled upon. We weren't trying to look for them- we had just found them all. We happened to be walking in DHS and noticed Kermit and Piggy. We did the same thing with ChickenLittle and Abby Mallard. Of course, that was the year the movie was about to come out or had just come out (can't remember).
From your list of characters I have actually seen most of them. I've seen Chicken Little and Abby, Louis, Fowlfellow, Gideon, Geppeto and Br'er Fox. And of course all these characters we simply just found. We weren't really looking for characters that trip, we just found them. Maid Mariam was actually out 2 times that trip. We saw all of the RH characters in MK right at park opening, with no lines at all. But Maid Mariam did have quite a line. We saw them all again in DHs a few days later. Now I know how lucky we were!
As for the characters from Treasure Planet, etc., I had no idea they even had them at one point! They would have been incredible to see because it seems like finding them you would just know that they will be rare because these were a few of the lesser mentioned Disney movies (though I loved Treasure Planet, Atlantis... not so much). I'm interested to know have you ever seen them? And which do you think are the most rare characters you've seen?

Well the most rare character I have ever seen as in stumbled upon would probably be Kuzco. He really only appeared a few times before he dissapeared. We have meet lots of rare characters. But there is a difference between "meeting" and "running into". We have met lots and lots of very rare characters (I posted my list on the rare character thread), but we have rarely just stumbled upon them. Phil, Launcpad....we ran into them with no prior "arrangements". I also run the marathon every year so on the course I have met like Zorro, Hades, Shan Yu, etc...
I have never seen the Atlantis or Treasure Planet Crews, most films have characters. Even films like... Great Mouse Detective, Oliver, etc....although I don't think they ever produced characters for "Home On The Range". Those characters usually dissapear after their movies have been out a while. I have seen pictures of some very rare characters including the Rhino's from Robin Hood, Dumbo, Rattigan etc...

[disneycutie165]

Wow, now seeing the Rhinos or Dumbo would really be special! I didn't even know they existed in the parks!