As someone who doesn’t love a long parade (I know we don’t all agree on this), I wish that component would stay.
Finally, character dining has stopped in many locations; however, Chef Mickey’s [did recently add character dining back](https://ziggyknowsdisney.com/disney-world-dining-reopening/#:~:text=(NEWS%2012%2F16%2F20,a%20new%20menu%20with%20them!), so there’s hope character dining will continue to expand in the future.
Other characters floated by on parade floats at unexpected intervals rather than at scheduled times in various parks.
For example, instead of taking close-contact photos, Pooh interacted with young guests from a distant location on a lawn at Epcot while I was there.