Characters You Can Meet & Greet at Universal Studios Orlando

Last Updated on March 12, 2024 by Suzy McCullough

We LOVED and I mean LOVED our meet and greets at the two Universal parks in Florida – Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure. They were such a refreshing change to our meet and greets at Disney. Now don’t get me wrong we had some amazing meet and greets at Disney World, with our highlights being Chewbacca, Buzz Lightyear and Goofy.

However, the meet and greets at Universal had much smaller queues and felt less rushed. We rarely waited more than a few minutes and sometimes not at all. Now that’s always a bonus.

It’s not always guaranteed that certain characters will be in certain places throughout the day. In fact, they swap around a lot. This post is merely to give you an idea as to where to look out for certain characters. A few have designated spots but even then they swap around the characters.

Universal offers My Universal Photos which is similar to Disney’s Photopass but in no way do you have as many opportunities for photos as Disney. Some of the character’s meet and greets have a photographer who will take your photo and hand you a card for you to then purchase the photo, should you wish.

We never bothered with it here although we loved using Photopass at Disney World. You can purchase a 3-Day Photo Card which means all the photos that you have taken that day are then yours. This costs just over $109.99 plus tax.

Characters at Universal Studios Orlando

Minions & Gru – Universal Studios Character Meet and Greet

Right, let us start with the Minions. At Illumination Theatre, you can meet and pose for photos with Illumination characters including Minions, Gru, Margo, Edith and Agnus plus characters from the film Sing.

Transformers – Universal Studios Character Meet and Greet

The Transformers character meet and greet is located near one of the exits for the Transformers shop. This meet and greet always had the longest queues but A. It was worth the wait and B. They are some of the most popular characters at Universal. It’s not a meet and greet in the usual sense as you aren’t allowed to touch the characters.

This is for obvious health and safety reasons. The Transformers are so realistic and it’s hard to believe that there is a human being inside them. They do sometimes talk to the crowd especially when they arrive and leave but they rarely talk during the meet and greets. The three main characters Optimus Prime, Bumblebee and Megatron are rotated throughout most of the day.

Character Party Zone Nickelodeon’s Spongebob Squarepants Meet and Greet

You have the chance to meet SpongeBob SquarePants inside his bubbly store. Located at Woody Woodpecker’s KidZone. You can meet Patrick there, too. Please note: Appearance of characters listed is subject to change without notice and not all characters listed are guaranteed to appear at the same time or on the same day. We met Spongebob in a parade although I’m not sure this is now possible.

Marilyn Monroe

We also spotted Marilyn Monroe in a car when we were stood outside Race through New York starring Jimmy Fallon. Her car was then stopped over near Revenge of the Mummy where we saw her get out of the car for photos.

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Hollywood Character Zone Meet and Greets

We found and spotted quite a few different characters to meet and greet on Hollywood Boulevard. There’s no set time of the day that characters can appear and you’re not always guaranteed to see them. If the Mystery Machine is parked up it’s often likely that some characters from Scooby Doo are close by waiting to be met. But again it’s not always guaranteed. They often swap the characters that are with Scooby Doo.

Familiar faces you might find here include Woody Woodpecker, Marilyn, Betty Boop and Doc Brown from Back to the Future.

Another day we spotted the Simpsons camper van driving around but no characters. Then another day the camper van was parked up and Homer and Bart were stood by it for character meet and greets. Again the Simpson’s characters can vary throughout the day and aren’t always there.

The Simpsons – Universal Studios Character Meet and Greet

As well as sometimes being able to meet The Simpsons characters on Hollywood Boulevard they also have a permanent spot next to the Simpsons ride. I have to say that this was my favourite area in Universal Studios.

We are massive Simpsons fans and have watched it for years and years. I love how they’ve done this area. It is literally like walking around a Simpsons set. We were completely giddy taking photos and selfies. There are so many different non-human character sets to meet. I have around 20 photos of us posing with various things. Here are a couple of my favourites.

We were absolutely thrilled with the short queues to meet some of The Simpsons characters. They again have no set schedule as to who is out and when.

On the outskirts of the Simpsons area, you can sometimes find Marty McFly or Doc Brown and the DeLorean. We spotted him on just one occasion.

Characters at Islands of Adventure

Cat in the Hat – Dr Seuss Characters in Islands of Adventure Meet and Greets

Over in Seuss Landing, there are plenty of Dr Seuss characters that you can find to meet. Near the Caro-Seuss-el and the entrance to the Trolley train ride, we found a couple of separate meet-and-greets with the characters. They were even swapping characters over while we were meeting other characters so again this is a turn-up and see who is there kind of meet and greet.

We met Cat in the Hat with Thing 1 and Thing 2. After we met them we also met the Grinch and Sam I am.

Meeting lots of Dr Seuss characters in Seuss Landing.

Marvel Character Meet and Greets at Islands of Adventure, Universal

Spider-man has a separate meet and greet to the other Marvel characters. He can be found in the shop in between Cafe 4 and  Captain America Diner. This is a green screen meet and greet. When we walked in there was no sign of Spider-man just a green screen and a counter full of products you can purchase for your photo with Spider-man.

I asked if it was a green screen photo and if you had to pay. To which I was told yes so we left. I have since been informed that you can take your own photos with Spider-man they will just have a green screen instead of the backdrop that you’d get if you purchase a photo from them.

Opposite the Spider-man meet-and-greet, you will find another area for other Marvel meet-and-greets with characters such as Captain America, Cyclops, Wolverine, Storm and more. They tend to come out into the street and wander around for their meet-and-greets.

Classic Comic Strip – characters meet and greet at Islands of Adventure

Over in Toon Lagoon, they have a permanent spot for classic comic strip character meet and greets. They alternate between Popeye, Betty Boop and Olive Oyl. Not all characters will be there during a given day and who is there varies with no set times for each character.

Raptor Encounter

This isn’t a Universal character as such but my goodness was the meet and greet fun. Your guide will take a group of you through to stand in line to meet their Raptor. There’s lots of drama and then the Raptor appears behind a pretend security fence and poses for a photo with you.

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Universal Orlando Tickets

Are you looking for 2-3 park tickets for Universal in Orlando, Florida? Most of the Facebook planning groups I’m in recommend this website for purchasing your tickets. These tickets will include the Hogwarts Express from park to park.

For further Universal Orlando reading why not check out –
Rides at Universal Studios Florida For Families with Young Kids,
Islands of Adventure Orlando Rides For Families with Young Kids, Universal
Top 10 Best Rides Universal & Islands of Adventure – Family Rides
Universal’s Cabana Bay Beach Resort | Review – Family Suites

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