How to meet Moana in Walt Disney World's Hollywood Studios
The Moana meet and greet in Disney's Hollywood Studios in Walt Disney World began just before Thanksgiving. Here's the details on how you can find her and when is best to meet her.
Moana is now meeting inside the Walt Disney: One Man's Dream attraction. You find that between Voyage of the Little Mermaid and Pixar Place.
We chose to visit her at park opening and didn't arrive early in order to see what the wait time would be. Moana is still very new and people a) Haven't seen the movie yet and b) Have no clue where to find her in Disney World.
The only signage that lets you know there's a meet and greet is a little A Frame stand with this picture of Moana, the estimated wait time and the hours that she is supposed to be available inside that day.
You'll enter the building and go all the way to the back of the attraction. You're heading for the green wall. If you were to turn right at the President Lincoln animatronic, you'd be watching the movie preview, not the meet and greet.
As you enter the small queue, you'll find the same poster with wait time estimate on the left.
The queue has familiar items built into the wallpaper from the movie like Moana's boat that she used to chase down Maui.
The queue line is a bit unusual. It's just lines drawn on the floor. They aren't using any sort of queue poles. 99% of us knew what they Cast Member was instructing us to do by forming a queue using these lines. 1% didn't speak English and thought they could just cut right through. After a brief hand gesture explanation the 1% figured out the line process.
The small queue has some familiar rock work. Disney does love themselves some rock work. I've wondered for years if it's one guy's job just to draw rocks all day for the many attractions that use rocks. It could be another person's job to choose the new paint colors for said rocks for a few years from now.
Before you make the turn to meet Moana, you'll find a projected waterfall. Is that a door? Could we possibly open it and find all the ancient Wayfarers boats?
Turn right and you'll find the tropical meet and greet area. I think it would have maintained the mystery a bit more, if the guest was held here. Instead we are lined along the wall and watch the others interacting with her. It's no big deal, just a thought.
Moana is a fun person. She is full of energy and ready to discuss her culture and explorations. She asked my son and daughter to pose like this. My son wasn't as enthused by the hands on the hips pose, can you tell?
I suggested a "Wayfinder" pose and everyone seemed happy with the idea. I added the pose idea and several interaction ideas to Character Locator for you as well.
Moana asked if I am the Chief of the Tribe of pirates and said we should pose with our arms crossed like a strong chief would do. 
Moana does currently autograph. Debbie brought along a paper that was part of a little booklet they handed out at Epcot recently and asked her to sign. She wants to color it in and add it to her memory books. Several first autographs didn't have the swirl in the O in her name, so Debbie liked that little touch.
Photopass is usually offered here, but there was not Photopass photographer at park opening on November 26, 2016.
Some suggestions on the meet:
- See the movie. It's a great movie, except the weird David Bowie singing Crab scene. It's kind of a mixture of Mulan/Pocahontas, Pirates of the Caribbean and Water World. You'll be singing the songs constantly in your head.
- Arrive early or go late. The best way to meet her with little or no wait is to go as the park opens or visit late in the evening. They are supposed to offer a pager system for times when the line becomes excessive, but wait times have been reported up to 50 minutes already. We visited at park opening and there was no sign of a pager system.
- There is NO Fastpass and there's no plans to add Fastpass.
- Use FLASH on your photos. The coloring of the meet and greet is very Orange, so your photos will come out looking weird.
It sure would make sense to put Moana at the Polynesian!! My daughter would love to meet her!
Did Moana leave HS? I don't see her on the character locator. Is she heading somewhere else?? Thx.
Currently not meeting. Feel free to ask location and times questions on the Chat Room on http://www.characterlocator.com and they will be answered in detail
Thanks for sharing this! My 2.5 year old son LOVES Moana and I've watched it over 30 times with him. We even listen to the soundtrack in the car. I was impressed when he sang along and actually knew the words to You're Welcome. My husband and I loved it until the crab song, which was odd, but it grew on us.
Jermaine Clement is the voice of the crab. He's a genius. Did not see the song until he arrived at Disney Studios but had the instruction to do his David Bowie interpretation. i loved it too!
I just read that she will end at this location in mid April. Disney Moms Blog. https://disneyparksmomspanel.disney.go.com/question/character-meet-moana-331378/
I agree!
That's my 5 year old's favorite character!
The Tomatoa singing Bowie Crab is the BEST part.
Is this going to be a regular meet and greet for the foreseeable future we are going in may and that is my daughter's#1 wish
Haven't heard of any removal plans. http://www.characterlocator.com will keep you updated on all meets and schedules
I am Moana s Bigist Fan too i Love her Movie i have Moana Doll just like her i have Moana i phone i have a Dream to Meet her soon it was my Dream Come true to meet her and Maui he is so Strong guy who Can Defeated those Monsters and he was a Hero i hope my Dream well Come true very Soon i am Looking for a New Dream and more Adventures i do Love Everything is Moana for rest of My Life
The Meet and Great area in Walt Disney World is 100 times better than Disneyland Paris where we met her. I love the walking through the hidden cave detailing. I agree that they set up should have had you held out of site for Moana, like they do (or at least they did) for Pocahontas at Animal Kingdom.
Thanks for sharing.
I went last week on a Wednesday around noon my kids met her we waited like 10mins they were so excited they love the movie my daughter is 2 & couldn't believe it was really her lol
Is that apostrophe in her name a mistake or intentional? And you said the first few signatures didn't have a swirl in the "o"? Sorry, this is the only version of her signature I can find so I'd appreciate the details :D
Probably just a mark from pen. That's the only details I have from her signature for us.
Hi,do you know if the m&g is still on there? I'm going to disneyworld on february 7 and i want to meet her :)
Yes. All current meets and times are always on http://www.characterlocator.com as well
Ha! I was a fan of the David Bowie crab actually XD
The first time I saw the song and scene...I was just very confused and sort of shrugged my shoulders at the song. However, the more and more I listened to it, the more and more the song grew on me, until now I absolutely love it.
The scene itself was the funniest in the film for me.
"Ah I see...she's covered a barnacle in bioluminescient alGae...as a diVERsion.."
I was dying.
Great post as always!
Do you know how long she is there for?
They never announce that
This is great, my kids will be thrilled! The location inside One Man's dream makes me concerned it might be temporary, but the elaborate set may be means she will stick around. We will be visiting in February, any insight into whether she will still be there?
And the kids asked if we could meet Maui anywhere. I'm guessing no, if he doesn't meet with Moana.
Never know how long something will last. At this time there's no Maui. I'll post an update if he begins to appear.
Loved meeting her Sunday. Had a 30 minute wait at 11:00 am...I spend the time trying to figure out the "door" in the waterfall.
Haha Kenny that is my husband with the pink stroller in the photo outside of One Man's Dream - we must have just missed you!
I wasn't sure if I liked it or not, but after getting the soundtrack I can't stop listening to that song haha!
We are going to HS on Dec 14th and I was planning on skipping "one man's dream"...now to adjust my touring plan document. My girls will be thrilled. Thanks for the update.
Also, my daughter loved this film so much and asked if she could meet Moana at WDW when we go in February. Only problem is we weren't planning to go to Hollywood Studios! Guess I better change my itinerary! LOL
Plan change time :)
Ha! Me too! And once I realized it was Jermaine Clement, it all made sense. LOL
For what it's worth, I liked the singing crab scene. :)
I have been telling my kids "you're welcome" incessantly since seeing the film this past Friday.
Telling them or singing it to them :)
Thanks! I really hope to see her by the end of May(which is my next trip), and also for showing us what her autograph looks like. ;)
Thank you so much! We saw the movie on Wednesday and both my kids loved it - we can't wait to meet her next week!
This is awesome. Thank you and I cant wait to take the family to meet Moana!
Welcome