A cornerstone of any trip to Disneyland is meeting the Mouse himself—Mickey! In this post, we’ll discuss how you can meet Mickey Mouse at Disneyland. We’ll start with where you can find greetings in the park (and when and how we recommend doing those) before discussing the only way to book a Mickey greeting—character dining! Read on to learn all about meeting Mickey Mouse at Disneyland!
Checking the App for Character Info
Before we get to the specifics of meeting Mickey in the parks, I want to remind you to check the Disneyland app. The Disneyland app lists when and where the characters will be greeting, complete with the “Find on Map” feature to guide you.
Character greetings are very fluid. If there are special events going on, for example, Mickey might greet in an additional or different spot, maybe even in a unique outfit. You want to see what the app says when you wake up in the morning.
That said, there are three things to know about the character information in the app. First, it isn’t always accurate. Particularly with the classic characters (including Mickey) that meet around Town Square, I’ve seen instances where it says Mickey is scheduled by Minnie shows up instead. While I’d still plan around the schedule, take it with a grain of salt.
Second, the “Find on Map” feature sometimes only points to a general area. This is again particularly relevant in Town Square, where the locator always points to the middle of Town Square even though there are around 5 spots the characters actually greet at.
Finally, the “Characters” section of the app is only forward-looking for today. Once a time passes, it disappears from the listing. Once a character is done greeting for the day, they disappear from the "Characters” listing. This means if you want to get a sense of what to expect for an upcoming trip, you need to check the listings early in the morning when all the characters and times are listed.
Where to Meet Mickey Mouse in the Disneyland Parks
Mickey Mouse has greetings at both Disneyland and Disneyland California Adventure. This post doesn’t cover special events. The standard is for Mickey to have one permanent greeting spot (his house, in Disneyland), along with two ongoing / schedule street appearances (one in each park). None of the greetings at Disneyland have Lightning Lanes or are a part of Genie+, so you’ll have to put a bit of effort to fit them into your day even if you pay for those services.
Meet Mickey at Mickey’s House in Disneyland
Mickey has a permanent greeting spot in Disneyland—his house. Mickey’s House is in Toontown, all the way at the back of the park. He greets there from morning (usually park open) until evening (but usually not park close).
There is a wait time posted outside his house, and it is usually listed in the app under “Attractions” (not “Characters”). While it is a bit remote—in the back of Toontown in the back of the park—it actually is still pretty convenient to fit this in early in your day because there are three rides (Runaway Railway, Roger Rabbit’s Car Toon Spin, and GADGETcoaster), a playground, a quick service restaurant with cold brew, and another greeting (Minnie’s House). I wouldn’t recommend coming here first as part of Disneyland rope drop most days, but if you can beat the crowds you’ll get a lot of value out of this corner of the park.
Meet Mickey in Town Square at Disneyland
Mickey also greets throughout the day in Town Square at the front of Disneyland, with set times usually every 15 to 40 minutes. As I mentioned above, the Town Square greetings are on a bit of a fluid schedule (in my experience). I’ve seen one character show up in place of another, so you have to take the schedule with a grain of salt.
For Town Square greetings, I recommend arriving about 10 minutes before Mickey (or any other character, for that matter) us scheduled to appear. They’ll usually come out of the doors on the northeast corner of the square, opposite The Mad Hatter store. As they walk to their greeting spot they accumulate an unofficial queue of parading guests that becomes the official queue once they get to where they’re greeting.
If a character is scheduled for back-to-back greetings, they might already have an established queue and be greeting guests by the time you get there. In that case, they’ll usually pop out and back in around the scheduled time to refresh themselves, but they’ll maintain the same queue throughout.
Meet Mickey at Disney California Adventure
Over at Disney California Adventure, Mickey is typically scheduled to greet for the bulk of the day (usually park open to a bit before close, continuously) on Buena Vista Street. Most commonly, I’ve seen him greeting outside the Elias & Co. giftshop on the east side of the street. This is right alone the lefthand side immediately after entering the park.
Unlike at Disneyland’s Town Square, where he has set times every 15-40 minutes that greetings are supposed to start, the schedule on Buena Vista Street is one continuous block and Mickey is there most of the time. He’ll pop inside to refresh himself on occasion, so I recommend just checking back periodically throughout the day.
Mickey will accumulate a line on Buena Vista Street, but I wouldn’t expect to wait more than 20 minutes most days. He’s usually greeting in what I’ve seen called his “newsboy” outfit:
Mickey Mouse Character Dining at Disneyland
The other good way to meet Mickey at Disneyland is through character dining. Storytellers Cafe at Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel and Spa offers character dining at breakfast and brunch with Mickey Mouse. The restaurant also serves dinner, but characters do not appear at this meal. Reservations are highly highly recommended.