Meeting Lotso From Toy Story 3

Nestled in the Magic of Disney Animation building at Hollywood Studios, is a meet and greet designed exclusively for Lotso, short for Lotso Hugging Bear, from Toy Story 3.

Now, if you have seen the movie, you know that Lotso isn’t as huggable and lovable as he once was. And as the husband puts it, he is one evil bear. But, when greeting guests at Hollywood Studios, Lotso demonstrates mostly hugs.




The queue for Lotso is themed with Sunnyside Day Care pictures and notes. There is even a collage of pictures of Toy Story characters made to look like they were colored by kids. Who knows, maybe they were.

 When you have navigated the queue, Lotso will greet you with a bit hug. And, he smells like strawberries. Really, he does!




A Disney Photopass Photographer is on hand to capture the moments for you. Lotso’s handler took him our autograph book and had him sign his autograph.

It is hard not to love this giant, purple, hugging bear.  I guess we just have to believe that like all things at Disney, meeting Lotso would be magical. 

Note:  You can get to the character meet and greet location by enjoying the show inside the Magic of Disney Animation or you can go into the art store, just to the right of the entrance to the Magic of Disney Animation and go through the back of the store into the location to meet characters.  After seeing the show with Mushu a couple of times, we have learned to take the “back way.” 

Here’s a video clip of our meeting with Lotso.  Too bad we don’t have “smellevision” so you could smell the strawberries!