Top 10 Rare Characters We Wish Disney World Would Bring Back
Whether you’re a character hunter or ride diehard who has never done a dedicated meet & greet, I think we all can agree that seeing Minnie & Mickey Mouse or other beloved furry friends at Walt Disney World is exciting. That’s doubly true when they’re rare characters who seldom make appearances.
Ever since Disney announced that Figment would be returning to EPCOT in 2023, I’ve been thinking about how other rare characters could make a comeback to Walt Disney World. Even though I’m not a hardcore character person, I do enjoy seeing and meeting the unique ones, and think they add a lot to the parks.
Seeing rare characters at Walt Disney World is something special–no joke. I’m going to stop short of calling it “magical” as that’s cliche and overused, but spotting a rare character feels like capturing a coveted Charizard from a pack of Pokemon cards. It’s a little victory worth savoring, even if you have 0 attachment to the character in question. It’s addictive, and makes me understand how people get into character hunting.
One of the difficulties with bringing back rare characters is logistics. Character hunting has been “a thing” for decades, but it’s really been dialed up several notches in the internet era. Now, everything is online instantly and there are guides for finding rare characters. The chances of stumbling on them all alone in random spots during training sessions (as used to happen all the time) seems like a thing of the distant past.
Quite simply, demand is higher for rare characters and fan favorites. A good example of this is at the Halloween and Christmas parties, where Jack Skellington continues to meet (and other rare characters like the Seven Dwarfs have previously appeared). His line is routinely several hours long during that hard ticket event…meaning guests are paying ~$25 an hour just to stand in line to meet him.
We’ve seen this play out in even worse ways in the past. The infamous Villains Unleashed special event largely centered around rare characters, most of which ended up having multi-hour long lines. As did Guest Relations at the end of the night, with people requesting refunds because the party went so badly. (For what it’s worth, I actually enjoyed Villains Unleashed, but I recognize what a spectacular failure it was for most fans.)
Honestly, I don’t have a great solution for all of this. Villains Unleashed was almost a decade ago, at a time when social media was still in its nascent years. The parks are much more popular now and character appearances frequently go viral, fueling even more demand.
Perhaps the solution is more spontaneous appearances of free-roaming characters. This is how Disneyland does things, with far less regimented character appearances than at Walt Disney World. Not only does this eliminate predictability and those multi-hour lines, but it allows character interactions to unfold organically in memorable and fun ways.
Another alternative would be having rare characters appear not at dedicated meet & greets, but in the ‘greeting’ locations (a la Winnie the Pooh in the grass over by Journey into Imagination) that are distanced from guests and thus, typically, more efficient (and also a lot of fun).
But I digress. The point here isn’t practical solutions for how rare character appearances could work, operationally, at Walt Disney World. It’s listing the ones we want to return the most!
Roger Rabbit – Who doesn’t love Roger Rabbit? Well, it seems like a lot of people. His movie is on par with the Rocketeer when it comes to forgotten Disney masterpieces and his dark ride is criminally underrated.
Despite being a morass of rights issues, I’m still hopeful that a sequel–or something of substance using Roger Rabbit–will eventually cut through the egos and red tape. Roger Rabbit seems like the perfect property for a revival in today’s pop culture landscape that loves nostalgia, pop culture influences, sharp humor, and meta-references. Perhaps I’m biased, but I also think Roger Rabbit would be the perfect mascot for Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
Prince Eric & Max – When it first came out, I loved The Little Mermaid. I didn’t care so much about the actual plot or the main characters–I loved the songs, undersea setting, and the aquatic creatures and above-water critters. Sebastian, Flounder, Scuttle, and Max were my favorites; when I reenacted the movie as a kid, it was really just about them.
It’d be cool to see any of them as meet & greets, but Max is really the only one that can have a fun personality as a fur character who interacts with guests. (To be honest, I have no desire to meet Prince Eric. However, this list is a “we” thing and I’m guessing Sarah might disagree slightly. Plus, I’ve only ever seen Max with Prince Eric, so they might be a package deal.)
Ludwig von Drake – If anyone ever made the unwise decision of allowing me to instruct a course in anything, I would enlist the erudite, eccentric, and egotistical professor Ludwig Von Drake to assist. (Meaning I’d play old episodes of Walt Disney’s Wonderful World of Color for the class instead of doing any actual teaching.) The only major animated character Walt created for television, Professor Von Drake is Donald Duck’s father’s brother.
I first became a fan of Ludwig von Drake thanks to D23 events back in the day, his theme song, and “An Adventure in Color/Mathmagic Land,” the first Wonderful World of Color episode. He’s one of the wittiest and most satirical characters, Ludwig seems like one of a bygone era. I’d love to see him in the parks more–and would an educational Disney+ series be too much to ask for? I might need it someday.
Aristocats – One of my biggest regrets is not naming our cat, “Thomas.” Sarah and I were huge fans of the Aristocats at the time he decided to live with us, he looks similar to Thomas O’Malley, and a cat with the same name as me would’ve been the perfect crime.
Around that time, we also noticed that Marie from the Aristocats appeared a ton at Walt Disney World. When I asked a Character Attendant about this, they said she was one of the top character requests they received. It’s one of those things I didn’t believe then and don’t believe now, but it still stuck with me all these years as something that I want to be true. As I finish writing this, I’m not really sure why I’ve shared these two random anecdotes. I don’t think they’ve added anything of value to this post, and I should probably delete them. Yet, I do not have anything better to say other than, “I like cats.”
Mickey’s Christmas Carol Characters – During the inaugural (and only) Merriest Nites at Disneyland, one of the highlights was the meet & greet with Mickey’s Christmas Carol characters. Minnie and Mickey Mouse were wearing new costumes as Emily and Bob Cratchit, and they rotated with Ebenezer Scrooge and Goofy Marley (one of my all-time favorite character costumes, ever).
While I’d prefer Muppet Christmas Carol characters (imagine Statler and Waldorf as Marley & Marley–or better yet, a human-size Rizzo the Rat as Charles Dickens!), these were pretty awesome. That was only one year ago, so we know these costumes still exist somewhere. It’d be awesome to see them reappear at Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party in Magic Kingdom!
Jedi Mickey & Darth Goofy – Star Wars Weekends feels like a fever dream less than a decade after the last one was held. Just think about Hyperspace Hoopla, Legends of the Force Parade, the seminars, the crazy merchandise, or character meet & greets. Can you imagine any of that happening now? It feels like the ancient past, even though it wasn’t that long ago.
The party started to end when Disney acquired LucasFilm, and decided that Star Wars characters needed to be treated with more “integrity.” Almost immediately, all of the wilder character crossovers were nixed and Hyperspace Hoopla was cancelled. Over time, we also lost the tamer character costumes, like Jedi Mickey, Darth Goofy, and Stormtrooper Donald Duck.
As someone who is only a casual interest in Star Wars, I miss this. I think the franchise is inherently absurd, but takes itself way too seriously. Star Wars Weekends were a time when it could lean into the sillier side of Star Wars, and the event was flat out fun. I still hold out hope that someday Disney will loosen up about Star Wars and this event will return. I’d also love to see a Cars Land overlay, if only so I can meet Darth Mater.
Scuba Mickey Mouse – This one actually isn’t super rare or long lost. On World Oceans Day, Scuba Mickey Mouse has made appearances in the Living Seas aquarium to commemorate the occasion from time to time. Seeing him a couple of years ago was lifelong wish fulfillment. The promotional VHS tapes of my childhood all contained footage of two characters in Future World: Figment and Scuba Mickey. Between the Boy Meets World proposal at Coral Reef and footage of Scuba Mickey, seeing this character would’ve been on my WDW bucket list as a child.
Judging by the reactions of every single person–kids and adults–in the Living Seas pavilion who saw Scuba Mickey, he was the highlight of everyone’s day at Epcot. Mickey Mouse scuba diving in one of the largest man-made ocean environments on the planet is the kind of unforgettable “little thing” that absolutely defines (or should define) Walt Disney World.
It’s seemingly insignificant, but it leaves a lasting impression–an indelible memory that guests will cherish long after they’ve forgotten which rides they rode or shows they saw. Seeing Scuba Mickey Mouse is the kind of thing that made so many of us Disney fans in the first place, and is the type of experience that keeps us coming back. More guests should have that experience–it’s absolutely worth whatever cost there is in paying Mickey Mouse a bonus to go scuba diving every day.
Disney Afternoon – Like all children of the 1990s, I was basically raised by the Disney Afternoon. (Hey, it’s better than being raised by YouTube!) I loved Darkwing Duck, TaleSpin, and DuckTales. However, I was absolutely obsessed with Chip ‘n Dale Rescue Rangers as a kid. Not only did I watch the show religiously, but I had a surplus of their toys, and even built Rescue Rangers “scenes” out of LEGO. Regrettably, I even had a Rescue Rangers jumpsuit that I wore all the time to school. It was the 1990s, man, style was wild!
In any case, it has brought me way more joy than I ever would’ve imagined gradually meeting Disney Afternoon characters as an adult. We used to make trips to “The Teardrop” in Mickey’s Toontown Fair at Magic Kingdom just to see if they were there. (They never were.) The first one I ever spotted was Launchpad at EPCOT on one of the random training days and I was absolutely overjoyed. Since then, we’ve met pretty much all of the characters at random Disneyland events. I’d love to see them all at Walt Disney World again–and I can’t be the only millennial who would overpay for a 90s nite at Magic Kingdom.
Cheshire Cat – I like cats.
Orange Bird – Created specifically for Walt Disney World where he was the representative of Magic Kingdom’s Sunshine Pavilion, the Orange Bird was an initiative to promote the Florida Citrus Commission. The character was a staple of Adventureland during the 1970s and 80s, but faded away by the 1990s.
Walt Disney World, Imagineering, and the Disney Archives brought back Orange Bird and the Citrus Swirl during Walt Disney World’s 40th Anniversary. This came after years of online fascination with the Orange Bird, and limited merchandise releases to test the waters. It was a big deal for fans at the time, as it felt like Magic Kingdom management was listening and trying to fix some of the little things and restore the “Disney Details” that made the parks special.
Orange Bird may “only” have been a character created to promote the Florida Citrus Commission, but he transcended his role as a simple advertising vehicle in his years up in the Sunshine Tree. For me, Orange Bird is symbolically significant and that’s exactly why I’d love to see the meet & greet character return. It’d be a welcome signal that Walt Disney World management cares.
Lagoona Gator – Here is a character who was born out of a desire to sell plushes, but one that failed spectacularly. This is probably why I love him so much. When Blizzard Beach opened, it had a fun mascot in Ice Gator. Accordingly, Walt Disney World made enhancements to Typhoon Lagoon to give it related a mascot: Lagoona Gator, the resident surf ace of Typhoon Lagoon…and he’s also a movie star, rock star, artist, and more. He had a whole line of merchandise and a meet & greet character…all of which is now gone. You might say Lagoona Gator did the whole domestic parks Duffy thing first.
Apparently, water park guests circa the early aughts were not in the mood to pose in their swimsuits next to an inflatable alligator (that’s what his presumably waterproof costume looked like). Well, the times have changed, and now I am certain that guests want to meet an alligator while wearing swimsuits. When it comes to character meet & greets, Lagoona Gator is my white whale (or alligator, as the case may be) and I’d honestly probably be as excited to meet him as I would be to see Figment and Dreamfinder again.
BONUS: Creepy World Showcase Dolls – If you ask me, Walt Disney World doesn’t do nearly enough to terrify children. Sure, Haunted Mansion can be scary, but there’s nothing truly traumatic. That’s why Walt Disney World should bring back the “EPCOT Pageant Dolls” or “People of the World” walk-around characters.
Not a ton is known about these walk-around characters from the early days of EPCOT Center, except that they were recycled from America on Parade, a bicentennial parade that ran in Magic Kingdom. For reasons unknown, someone thought it’d be a good idea to re-outfit those characters for World Showcase, and have some ‘it’s a small world’ characters in real life. It’s pretty easy to see why this experiment was short-lived. Still, Walt Disney World should bring them back for the comedic/fear factor. As Calvin’s dad would say, it would build character.
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YOUR THOUGHTS
Do you hunt characters when visiting the parks? Which rare characters are your favorites? Any that we missed? Which ones would you like to see reappear (or appear for the first time) at Walt Disney world? Do you agree or disagree with our picks? Hearing your feedback about your experiences is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts or questions below in the comments!
Love this post. Thank you Tom.
My #1 sighting WAS Jiminy Cricket on Earth Day 15 years ago at MK. You have never seen such an excited grown woman. And yes I took a gazillion photos.
I caught The Old Hag and she let me hold the apple.
I think I’ve seen every character and
am thrilled they are bringing out more. I would faint if I saw the Cheshire Cat.
PS: I never pass up a kiss from Liver Lips.
PPS: I have a photo of me and my sister from 1974 with Pooh and Captain Hook.
Actually I do remember seeing Edna as part of an Incredibles parade in Tomorrowland a couple of years ago. I have a fun picture from when my son was much younger when Brer Fox hijacked his stroller. It was a totally spontaneous thing. Brer Fox’s assistant asked me if we wanted to do a fun picture. I handed over the stroller to him and he made like he was running away with it for the picture. They wer literally walking from backstage to the
picture spot they were headed to. I do remember seeing Professor Ludwig Von Drake in Animal Kingdom in the Dinoland USA area dressed as an archeologist with Donald as his assistant. I would love to see all the characters from Big Hero 6 in their hero costumes. I know that Baymax shows up regularly in Epcot.
– Do Bunsen and Beaker from the Muppet Mobile Lab count? I’m going to count them.
– As much as I was thrilled to see them 8-10 years ago, if Kim Possible and Ron Stoppable return I’d prefer them to be not as face characters and something more like Miguel from Coco or Captain Hook.
– With the return of the sword in the stone, perhaps Merlyn could return for some low key interactions.
That’s five, and unless Cinderella’s wicked stepsisters and walk-around Country Bears have become rare again, that’s my personal list, though there’s plenty really good ones in the original post and in the comments. (Is Marie from the Aristocats meeting guests in Town Square first thing because she’s popular, or is she popular because she’s meeting guests in Town Square? I think the answer is different depending on what park you are at.)
“ If you ask me, Walt Disney World doesn’t do nearly enough to terrify children.”
Comfortably the best line ever written in a Disney blog! Well done (and fully agree)
I miss seeing the Robin Hood characters. They used to appear in the Critter Country (and before that Bear Country) area at Disneyland when I was a kid. Usually just Robin Hood and Little John, but once in a while Maid Marion and/or Friar Tuck would be with them. I also remember seeing Flora, Fauna and Merryweather back then.
Love this post! Makes me even more excited for Figment! When I was a kid in the 80’s, we had the three little pigs and big bad wolf characters walking around the Magic Kingdom so I wouldn’t mind some retro costumes. Somewhere is a pic of my brother screaming and trying to get away. Ahhh, the good old days lol
I probably shouldn’t admit this, but there is no amount of money I would not pay to meet Eric and Max.
Tom! You like cats? You think Star Wars is inherently absurd? I didn’t think I could love this blog more than I already did, but it turns out I was wrong. Thanks for those anecdotes. These photos of you, Sarah and random characters are totally adorable.
I’d love to meet Edna Mode – I think she was at EPCOT a few years ago, but I don’t see an opportunity to meet her now.
I was not a cat person until Yossarian the Cat showed up on our door and decided we were going to adopt him. I was stubborn about not doing it, but he was even more stubborn about us doing it.
That was ~15 years ago and I’ve been a cat person ever since.
Disney’s legal department could *absolutely* make a Roger Rabbit sequel happen if they wanted. The amount of things they cleared for the Rescue Rangers “live action” movie proves it. (That movie actually feels like a spiritual sequel to Roger Rabbit in a lot of ways.)
Also you have EXCELLENT taste in Disney Afternoon toons, Rescue Rangers was clearly the best. Then Darkwing Duck, then Bonkers. Sorry, I don’t make the rules 🙂
That’s a great point. I’d love to watch a behind the scenes special on the work that went into getting that Rescue Rangers movie made, because it couldn’t have been easy. While I didn’t love the movie itself, I loved the idea of it (maybe I just had sky-high expectations because I’m a huge fan of Rescue Rangers, Lonely Island, etc).
I’d really like to see Disney do more like that–things that are weird and experimental. Even if they don’t always stick the landing, it’s better than so much of the bland and formulaic fare on Disney Plus.
Objection, your honor! TaleSpin was clearly the best original Disney Afternoon show, followed by DuckTales, even though I’d already seen half of the DuckTales storylines while reading the Carl Barks Uncle Scrooge/Donald Duck comics.
Overruled on TalesSpin, sustained on Ducktales. (The pinnacle of theme song writing, too)
I miss the days of Hyperspace Hoopla and watching Darth Vader and the Stormtroopers dance to the likes of Michael Jackson. Impossible not to smile at that!
disney cruise line needs to do a disney afternoon cruise and a muppet cruise. i would be all over both of those. remember the muppet walkaround meets in the mid 90s behind muppet vision???
All I can say to Disney is make Darth Mater happen! Maybe at a Halloween party? If we’re dressing in costume, then the characters can dress in costume without anyone disrespecting Star Wars. (And, really, is anyone going to disrespect Star Wars more than Rian Johnson? 😉 And he was on Disney’s payroll.)
We did see the Ballerina Hippo from Fantasia on the course of one of the Wine and Dine Runs earlier this month which was a big treat. I had to explain to my daughter who she was — parenting fail.
Oswald rabbit
I have photos of a 1977 visit where Brer Fox and Brer Beat tossed a box of popcorn over my mom. Can’t imagine the issues that would raise today! Lots of Pooh, Alice and all the Dwarves in attendance.
As another child of the 90s I would love to meet any of the Disney Afternoon characters, and like you the Rescue Rangers were my favorites… I was hoping with the new Disney+ film, they would make some appearances in the parks, but I have yet to meet them or any of the Disney Afternoon gang. I have also been on the lookout for any characters from Robin Hood, but have been unsuccessful on that front as well. If there is some sort of petition for a 90s after hours party out there, I’d gladly sign!
“I can’t be the only millennial who would overpay for a 90s nite at Magic Kingdom.” – You are not!!! I agree. Rare characters can make your day, your week, your month, your whole year! One year I was with my family and a couple friends at Epcot. The girls and I were lazily shopping when one of us received a call from my brother. I heard my friend say, “Ah huh… okay we will be right there.” Shuts the flips phone (yes, flip phone) and says, “Ladies, it is time to go. There is a Prince in Germany.!” We put down the merchandise we were looking at and ran to “Germany” to meet Snow White and her Prince! Snow White is a favorite of mine. I will NEVER forget this experience. It is one of my all time favorite Walt Disney World memories!!! We were so excited to find such a rare gym of a character.
Two Characters I have met only once each- Jiminy Crickey ( 1980 or 1987) and Thumper ( 2006). I have never seen them since outside of a parade perhaps
We got to meet Jiminy in 2013 along with Gepetto and Pinnochio. It was fun. (https://www.flickr.com/gp/96151261@N05/6Y80p19205). Thumper used to appear with “Miss Bunny” (his girlfriend? I’m not sure how she rated a meet-and-greet!) in AK at camp Minnie Mickey.
I would never ask for another thing in life if I could see Thumper!
I remember back in the early to mid 1990s when our daughter was young (if I recall correctly). We were at Hollywood Studios (MGM Studios back then). My wife was insistent on getting photos and autographs of the characters for our daughter. She actually chased down the Mutant Ninja Turtles as they were leaving in order to get their photo. And you think people are crazy today?! We have a whole photo album of character photos and a couple of autograph books.
PS: On that same trip, my wife got pulled into an afternoon parade by one of the Cinderella characters to dance. Times have changed.
Super fun post that brought back so many memories and smiles. So true and yesss to all of the characters you mentioned! Brilliant post. Disney is really lucky to have a writer like you and the Disneytouristblog.com talking all things Disney. You really do bring out the magic!
Fun post! We were at Disney years ago when they did a “long lost friends” weekend. You could meet the 3 little pigs, robin Hood and characters from his movie, and a few more. It was fun. DHS also recently had a Ducktales theme where we met Scrooge and Lauchpad. As for Marie – we met her several times and she was a favorite of my daughter. We were told the same thing by a CM about her popularity and I’d believe it.