4. Baloo (and King Louie)

While construction is underway at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, this park is a good one for some great character interactions. You can meet Tarzan (a face character who will happily inspect your hair for bugs); Safari Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Daisy, Pluto and Goofy; and Flik from “A Bug’s Life.” But it’s two of the stars of “The Jungle Book” that are probably worth meeting the most. And they have the most opportunities for fun interactions too. You could ask Baloo to show you how to use a claw to pick a prickly pear, ask him to demonstrate how to get the bare necessities or bring him a plastic pear as a gift. Another excellent photo idea is to pose as three monkeys (“hear no evil, speak no evil, see no evil”) with the pair and ask Louie if he was elected a king or if he was born into a royal family. King Louie will also dance with you if you ask. This pair appears in Asia at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, and a good time to visit is about an hour before the park’s closing time.

5. Gaston

Nobody can ham it up like the antagonist of “Beauty and the Beast,” and Gaston is happy to pose with his admirers at the tavern that bears his name in Fantasyland at the Magic Kingdom. You can compare muscles with him, ask about the small animals on his tavern’s walls, discuss LeFou’s Brew and, of course, flatter him with a song or poem about himself. But you have to move fast — while there’s typically not a long wait to see him, he’s usually only available to his fans from about 10 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. each day. But that’s still plenty of time to challenge him to a pushup contest, tell him your favorite character is the Beast and be told to “go away and stare at my statue until you come to your senses”! Face characters, especially villains, that can sound grumpy or even insulting to guests (while completely staying in character) are some of the most fun!

Don’t forget to pick up a Times Guide when you enter each park (or look up the guide on the My Disney Experience app) to find out the most up-to-date character hours. And if you do have a chance to make some FastPass+ reservations, you also won’t want to miss the Talking Mickey (who speaks several languages) and Tinker Bell at the Town Square Theater at the Magic Kingdom. Are there any other must-see characters on the list? Let us know below!