Meet & Greet Characters Coming to Disney World & Disneyland from New Holiday 2026 Tentpoles

ByTom Bricker

Walt Disney World and Disneyland are adding new meet & greets featuring animated and live action characters from the tentpole holiday movie releases, Hexed and Avengers: Doomsday, that hit theaters around Thanksgiving and Christmas 2026. At least in Florida, this news is a pleasant and unexpected surprise!

I’ve repeatedly criticized Walt Disney World for being slow to bring new characters to the parks or declining the marketing budgets for Disney+ shows or movie. It’s a recurring “be fair to Florida” complaint among fans that Disneyland receives a new, limited-time meet & greet as part of the promotional budget, whereas Walt Disney World does not.

Previously, the reason for Walt Disney World declining these characters or entertainment offerings was because they would be temporary. The studio side would only offer a marketing budget for as long as there was something to market, which meant the release window. Following that, the character or entertainment would either need to disappear or be paid for from Walt Disney World’s own budget.

Notoriously allergic to funding entertainment, Walt Disney World wouldn’t want to go the latter route. Leadership thus worked backwards from that starting point, reasoning that it would be worse to advertise a temporary offering that its tourist-centric audience might miss by the time their vacation rolled around.

Some might argue that failing to embrace synergy is an even worse thing, and I would be in that camp. An average first-time guest expects to see characters from popular new movies at Walt Disney World. Back in the 1990s, pretty much every new animated film received a full parade or entertainment offering, and as a kid that was often the highlight of trips.

For the most part, the above is past tense. Walt Disney World has changed its ways for the better when it comes to characters and limited-time promotional offerings. This started with Asha from Wish and Ariel from the live-action Little Mermaid, both of which are inexplicably still around long after their movies flopped. They’ve also added new outfits for existing characters in sequels, like Toy Story 5.

Before that, there was about a decade or more when it was rare for characters from new films to appear at Walt Disney World in any meaningful capacity. And often, those who did appear were just tossed into cavalcades and not given proper meet & greets. The most infamous example is Mirabel from Encanto, who took years to get a meet & greet in Magic Kingdom despite that film being Disney’s biggest hit in a while.

Big kudos to Walt Disney World for starting to get this right. From having more characters in general to the smash success of the spontaneous encounters in the courtyard outside the Magic of Disney Animation to Cool Kids Summer, Walt Disney World has been doing a great job of late on this front. I’d go as far as to call it Disneyland-esque.

Hexed Character Coming to Both Coasts

This positive trend will continue with the release of Hexed, who will meet guests in Hollywood Studios at Walt Disney World starting November 25, 2026. Meanwhile, she’ll arrive at Disneyland a few days earlier, beginning November 20, 2026.

This is day-and-date with the movie itself hitting theaters, which is also a rarity for Walt Disney World. At Hollywood Studios, Billie will be appearing in the Walt Disney Studios Lot.

What’s unclear is whether Billie will be at one of the dedicated character meet & greets at “Off the Page” inside the Magic of Disney Animation or as a free roaming character outside in the courtyard itself. The video that Disney Parks released showcasing the character has her outside, but that could just be because it makes for better content and is a way to highlight the holiday decorations in the courtyard. Take a look:

Personally, I think it probably makes more sense to have Billie from Hexed appear inside the building for a couple of reasons.

The first is simply because she could pass for a normal guest, both due to her straightforward outfit and given lack of familiarity many people will have with the movie when it’s first released. This isn’t a knock on the costuming or character design for Billie; it’s an “it is what it is” type of thing. I love Big Hero Six, but also wouldn’t advise Walt Disney World to have Hiro as a free roaming character!

The second reason is similarly due to logistics. Whereas some guests won’t recognize her at all, others will be very eager to meet Billie, and that could overwhelm a free roaming character. It’s already the case that some characters in the courtyard are mobbed, making it almost impossible to get a photo. The comparison here is to Mandalorian and Grogu when they first started appearing, but (probably) not quite that popular.

As basic background, Hexed is the Thanksgiving 2026 release from Walt Disney Animation Studios, and is described as a magical coming-of-age saga. In the movie, an impulsive and unconventional teenage girl named Billie (voiced by Hailee Steinfeld) discovers secret magical abilities which, once unleashed, hurtle her out of suburbia and into a spectacle-filled journey through a vast witch realm called Hexe.

Forced to team up with her cautious mother, Alice (voiced by Rashida Jones), they uncover family mysteries that could change the world of witches forever. Walton Goggins voices Beef Roger Crummchuk, a reclusive, magical three-eyed cat who forges an uneasy alliance with Billie and Alice (already my favorite character from the film and the character who really needs a meet & greet). Jodie Foster voices Queen Celeste, a sinister figure who will stop at nothing to maintain her power in perpetuity over Hexe. The voice cast also includes Henry Winkler, Dan Stevens, Tracey Ullman, and Stephen Fry.

Hexed is directed by Fawn Veerasunthorn and Jason Hand; co-directed by Josie Trinidad; produced by Roy Conli and Yvett Merino; written by Walt Disney Animation Studios Chief Creative Officer Jared Bush and Dana Ledoux Miller; and features an original score by Kris Bowers.

Fantastic Four Characters Coming to Avengers Campus

Ahead of Avengers: Doomsday debuting in theaters on December 18, 2026, you’ll be able to celebrate this brand-new, epic adventure at Disneyland Resort through a variety of interactive Marvel super hero experiences.

With heroic encounters, mouth-watering food, and magnificent merchandise, there’s several ways to step into the action-packed world of the Avengers according to Disney. Most of these are merchandise, and we don’t really care about that, so we’ll focus on the characters. (There will also be food, presumably at Pym’s Test Kitchen, but Disney hasn’t announced specifics.)

Starting on November 20, 2026 for a limited time, Disneyland park-goers can experience heroic encounters with the Fantastic Four at Avengers Campus in Disney California Adventure, marking the team’s first appearance in the action-packed land. (They previously appeared in Tomorrowland at Disneyland when their standalone film was released last year.)

The Thing, Mister Fantastic, Invisible Woman, and Human Torch, along with their faithful robot assistant H.E.R.B.I.E., can be spotted making select appearances near Avengers Headquarters where they’ve set up a mobile lab to study a cosmic anomaly alongside the Avengers.

More than a team of Super Heroes, the Fantastic Four are a family, brought together by their incredible abilities and an unwavering commitment to one another. From scientific genius and cosmic powers to fiery flight and super strength, each member brings something unique to the team.

Unlike the above overview of Hexed, I’m not going to give a full rundown of the cast in Avengers: Doomsday. I’m trying to get away from the 3,000 word posts. Suffice to say, everyone is in the movie. Captain America, Steve Rogers, Thor, Ant-Man, X-Men, my neighbor, your neighbor, maybe even you. But if you’re a Marvel fan, you don’t need a rundown–you watched that 8 hour long cast reveal.

As for the Avengers Campus appearances, it’s not completely clear whether the Fantastic Four will have a queued meet & greet, more nebulous “encounter,” or an entertainment “activation.”

It wouldn’t surprise us if this skews more towards entertainment, perhaps similar to Story Time with Deadpool, which has been a huge hit. That also has a higher ‘capacity’ than a traditional meet & greet, which is probably advantageous when considering the labor involved for a three-person, one rock-man, and one robot offering.

Here’s the video that Disney released announcing the Fantastic Four coming to Avengers Campus:

Although Disneyland has not yet announced it, we’re still fully expecting Doctor Doom to appear in Avengers Campus.

Disney is clearly pulling out all the stops to ensure that Avengers: Doomsday is a massive success, and I would be shocked if that didn’t include budgets for Doctor Doom costumes in the parks. There’s a lot of time between now and December 18, 2026, when the movie is released, so that will likely get its own announcement.

It’s obvious that there’s more to come with Avengers: Doomsday for the parks, as evidenced by the tease of food but no menus. While Doctor Doom strikes me as a sure thing, I wouldn’t be surprised to see several other additional characters and entertainment within Avengers Campus–maybe even a World of Color tag, too.

Unfortunately, Walt Disney World won’t get any of this. The best we might see is a monorail wrap, but not on the EPCOT route. The reason for that is simple: they can’t.

This won’t be a case of Walt Disney World declining a marketing budget; it’s that they cannot accept it. At least, not for any of these characters. You can thank the infamous Marvel contract for that, which gives Universal East Coast exclusivity. (It’s also why even Disneyland doesn’t use “Marvel” in marketing, and instead refers to them as Super Heroes, capitalized like a proper term.)

Planning a Southern California vacation? For park admission deals, read Tips for Saving Money on Disneyland Tickets. Learn about on-site and off-site hotels in our Anaheim Hotel Reviews & Rankings. For where to eat, check out our Disneyland Restaurant Reviews. For unique ideas of things that’ll improve your trip, check out What to Pack for Disney. For comprehensive advice, consult our Disneyland Vacation Planning Guide. Finally, for guides beyond Disney, check out our Southern California Itineraries for day trips to Los Angeles, Laguna Beach, and tons of other places!

YOUR THOUGHTS

Are you excited for Avengers: Doomsday characters at Disney California Adventure? Expecting any other entertainment surprises beyond the Fantastic Four characters? Think Judge Doom will appear in Avengers Campus? What about Billie from Hexed appearing at both Walt Disney World and Disneyland? Any questions? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!

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