New character meet title may signify changes to the lineup

Disney World is no longer calling character experiences a “meet and greet.” The new title may provide some clues that there are already changes to the lineup before an official announcement has even been made.

Character experiences

If you have been to Disney World since last July, the only ways to see characters are from a distance, on a cavalcade, or during a character meal. It is not ideal by any means, but it was necessary during the initial reopening phase.

Disney recently announced the return of character meets with a few modifications. First, these will not be up close meets where you can get an autograph and hug them.

It remains to be seen if masks will be required, but as of now it looks like yes judging off the photo Disney provided and the current mask situation.

Second, not every character experience will come back. Right now, we have a preliminary unofficial list, which you can see HERE.

Title change

Instead of calling this a character meet, Disney has changed all descriptions on the website to “sighting.” This is what those distanced character meets are called at the After Hours events and what we see occasionally when Buzz is on the Tomorrowland Stage or the princesses are in their respective pavilions in the World Showcase.

Disney has changed the title to “sightings.” This erases any hope we had of getting close to the characters.

Some of the character meets under the “unavailable entertainment” page of the website does still have the word “meet” which leads me to believe those are not part of the initial return.

In the photo above you can see where it says “Returning November 21” next to the characters we have previously written about.

Adding New Characters?

Taking a look at the various character sightings, I see that Anna and Elsa’s description also says sighting instead of meet. Right now, they do meet outside for Guests to come up and chat with them in a very laid back style.

Although there is no date listed next to them, it would make sense to the move the meet indoors and totally plausible. The official description does read, “Chill out with royal sisters Elsa & Anna from Frozen, and enjoy an enhanced Character Greeting in their charming summer cabin.”

Other princess meets like Mulan and Jasmine also state “sighting” so it’s possible they will also get moved indoors. Or, they could have just changed the title and description under the radar without any of us noticing.

Time will tell who we actually “sight”, and until Disney does so consider this unofficial speculation.

Who do you think will be part of the character sighting lineup? Let us know in the comments below and on Facebook.