Hi all,

With Halloween all wrapped up for another year, Christmas Season is literally on top of us now and we have some details to share from around the parks.

Over at Walt Disney World Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party starts it's run on the 8th of November, just 7 days after the last Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party. Would be neat to have been there for that crossover period and experience both in one trip!

I have heard that Phineas and Ferb are due to appear in the park for the parties, but nothing is confirmed as yet.

Aside from the parties, WDW never tends to offer much in the way of regular daytime Christmas entertainment until the week of Christmas itself. The one exception to this is Cinderella's Holiday Wish at Cinderella Castle. This show is presented once nightly, and features Mickey and friends alongside Cinderella, Prince Charming and the Fairy Godmother. This mini-show is due to begin tomorrow, Friday 4th November.

Over in California the Christmas Season kicks off on the 14th of November, and will see the return of all the traditional favourites such as A Christmas Fantasy Parade. At Disney California Adventure, the immensely popular Phineas and Ferb's Rockin' Rollin' Dance Party will receive a seasonal overlay.

Disneyland Paris's Christmas Season starts on the 7th, and as we all know already, Duffy is making is grand début at the park for the general public. It has now been revealed that he will indeed have a Christmas outfit for the Holidays.

Other seasonal favourites such as Disney's FantIllusion, the Tree Lighting Ceremony (now featuring Duffy also) and Mickey's Winter Wonderland are returning, alongside a brand new Castle show, Princess Aurora's Christmas Wish, which will act as the Castle lighting for the season (much the same way as previous shows have, and how the similarly named Cinderella show in WDW does). Little is still known about the actual show, but I guess we'll find out in 4 days time!

Finally we fly around the world to Tokyo. As always Tokyo have gone all out and there is too much to mention here. This post from someone on MiceChat sums it al up nicely. Highlights include a Christmas Parade, characters in Holiday outfits, and Christmas versions of Dreamlights, Super Duper Jumpin' Time and Big Band Beat.

Ok, that's all for now,

Dan.

Hi all,

Today we begin in Disneyland Paris. The summer season started three days ago, which meant the return of Disney's FantIllusion, their night time parade. Maleficent has been given a slight makeover, and now appears as face character. She had previously been a masked character in the parade. What was strange is that FantIllusion was the only place she appeared like that! Returning her to her regular self is definitely an improvement. Sadly I do not have any picutres to share, but if I come across any I will be sure to post them here.  [ Read More... ]

Hi all,

Today we begin with Florida. The Disney Parks Blog has reported that the Fairies will return to the Magic Kingdom from July 28th at the Adventureland Veranda. We look forward to seeing how the new location looks and works out.

The big news in WDW this week of course was that Naveen and Flynn Rider left their permanent meet 'n' greets with their princesses. There has been much fan uproar about this, and user Shiva on the Forum has since reported (later down the thread) that WDW Guest Services replied to an email saying that Flynn will appear at the Halloween and Christmas Parties, and Naveen occasionally in the Parks with Tiana, but not full time. This is better than dropping them altogether I suppose!

Jon reported on the forum that there are no longer going to be any EMH meet 'n' greets any more either, which is really sad. It seems like WDW - especially the Magic Kingdom - are really scaling back o nthe characters. But then, the WDW management never cease to disappoint us character fans any more.

Jumping aboard the Cruise Line now, and the Disney Cruise Line Facebook page posted some really cute images of some of the Characters in Alaskan gear. You can see them here and here.

Over in Tokyo, Angel got a facelift (picture later down in the thread) and I have to say I'm not sure about her new look! Her head is smaller, which is a good thing since she was HUGE before when compared to Stitch, but she just doesn't look right now. I think she needs to go back to Jumba and have it tweaked slightly!

Across the pond in Paris, although they feature no real Disney Characters, the monster and ghoul filled Terrorific Nights at the Walt Disney Studios are set to return for a third year; and it has been announced that there will two parties this year, since it was so popular last year.

Finally, last week I said that the Star Wars characters were set to return to Discoveryland, and my source was correct - the new schedule was released today, and they are back on it!

Ok, that's all for now,

Dan.

Hi all,

Over on the forum Jon posted a video of the new night time mini parade at Tokyo Disneyland, called Nightfall Glow Parade. The idea of it has two purposes. It is currently filling the gap between now and when the revised version of Dreamlights launches, and when that does launch, this new mini parade will be the Park's "Rainy Day" version. If there is enough rainfall in one night to warrant cancelling Dreamlights, this new parade has been specially designed to cope with the wet conditions - albeit in a cut down format.

I have to say that as short as it is, it looks amazing, and to be honest if they decided to make a whole new night time parade for any of the parks using the same technology I would not complain! The "light up panels" effect and the smooth, cleaner more defined lines and image of the floats makes it look modern and yet magical at the same time. Well done Tokyo Disneyland!

Also over on the forum Jon posted the meeting times of the upcoming PIXAR Weekend at EPCOT. Check it out now to plan your fun filled character hunting weekend!

Finally, staying with EPCOT, we have heard from a Character attendant friend of ours that for the time being the Fairies are to stay in EPCOT past the end of Flower and Garden Festival, and not move back to the Magic Kingdom.

Ok, that's all for now,

Dan.

Hi all,

The big news this weekend of course was the premier of Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides at the Disneyland Resort in California. As I already pointed out yesterday, Loren was there right on the front line, and made a forum post about it here, including up close pictures of all the stars! Be sure to check it out! His report also includes some character updates.  [ Read More... ]

Hi all,
 
It has come to our attention that there has been a random previously unannounced happening in Tokyo Disneyland that has been taking place the last couple of days in Fantasyland. It is called Donald’s Funny Harmony, and it involves the Fab 5 friends in some cute outfits – including a Sorcerer Donald! Although there is no other information on the website about this event, the fact it is in Fantasyland outside the new PhilharMagic attraction that is due to open tomorrow, and has Donald wearing Yensid’s hat, one can only assume that it is some sort of pre-grand-opening event. There is no word as to how long this will remain in the park, but appears to be on the schedules for the next few days at least.
We have heard reports that for some reason there have been a lot of other random character happenings in Tokyo this week, from Frontierland hoedowns with Woody, Bullseye and even Bo Peep (!), to the Alice characters and Ariel and Eric in Fantasyland. DisneySea also has had similar random happenings too, including one that was somewhat musical and involved characters and the park’s resident band. Sadly I do not currently have access to any pictures, but if I able to get any, I shall repost them here.  [ Read More... ]