Hi all,

So recently has been very quiet on the character news front, then all of a sudden loads of new stuff comes along at once!

Let me begin with Walt Disney World. Yesterday drew81, who is generally a very reliable source on wdwmagic.com informed the community that there would be some character changes coming in the New Year.

First off he says that Phineas and Ferb - who have been rumoured to be coming for a long time - will finally be making appearances at a new location near where McQueen and Mater are currently in Disney's Hollywood Studios. Previously it was thought that the old Power Rangers vehicle would be used for an entrance routine more like how the Rangers used to come out.

Staying with Hollywood Studios, Lotso is meant to be leaving in the Spring. The indoor location at the Animation building will once again be transformed to welcome another set of characters, and this time it is the turn of Winnie the Pooh and friends, in time for the new movie next summer. It is annoying that this once unique location that favours all the latest Disney stars is going to be used for characters that are easily findable all over the Parks.

Just along the street from the Animation building, the Caspian attraction will finally be closing, and being used for somebody else. There is no word as to who yet, but I speculate that based on the announcement today from the Disney Parks Blog that Tinker Bell will be coming to the Studios, it may very well be her (see below for more thoughts on this).

Finally for the Studios, don't forget that the new parade, Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun!, will begin on 16th January, replacing Block Party Bash which ends on New Year's Day.

Moving over to the Magic Kingdom now, and it was announced today on the Disney Parks Blog that Toontown will finally close on 11th February next year. This means that not only will we lose a whole land in the Park, but Mickey, Minnie, the Princesses and the Fairies will all be evicted!
Mickey, Minnie and the Princesses will randomly appear around the Kingdom until their new meet and greet location opens in Expo Hall. Tinker Bell will be moving to Hollywood Studios - and as I pointed out above, Caspian's old attraction seems like the best candidate right now. Strangely, the other Fairies will be appearing in EPCOT. I heard that this will be for the Flower and Garden Festival which runs right the way through Spring. Where they will go after that I'm not sure. No other information yet as to where they will go in the future, if they will be reunited or even if they will return to the Magic Kingdom. They were meant to return to the Kingdom once the Fantasyland expansion was complete, but since they changed it all, no confirmation has really been given. Maybe they'll cram them into Expo Hall, too?... Sure is going to be crowded down there! I dread to think what the lines are going to be like. The Princesses, Mickey and Minnie are among Disney's biggest stars, and although Expo Hall is big, it may be a squeeze accommodating all of them, and the queue areas. The lines out into Town Square might be interesting to see...

Crossing over into Frontierland now, and referring back to drew81's post on wdwmagic.com, apparently Woody and Jessie are to get a new set location back drop. Donald received one earlier this year. Seems to be all the rage!

Ok so that's everything for Florida, so let's travel around the world now to Japan, and Tokyo Disney Resort.
MiceChat TDR expert JoeInJpn posted details recently of the new events coming to the resort next year. I know this isn't new news, but I don't think I mentioned it all before (some it I have), and so thought it was worth mentioning.

Picking the character related news from what he had to say, we can see that there will be a new show at the Dockside Stage to replace the recently departed Over the Waves. The new show is titled Your Table is Waiting.

Fantasmic! begins on April 23rd, and is expected to be a brand new spin on the US classic spectacular. It is likely to be a cross between Fantasmic! and World of Color, with some more contemporary additions. Fantasmic! at Tokyo DisneySea replaced BraviSEAmo!

A new greeting show, likely to replace the Lido Isle Greet and Smile will begin the same date, and is titled Be Magical!

Although there were a couple of other things mentioned they aren't really character based, or are a long way off yet, but I do want to mention one last thing for Tokyo. The greeting trails that I mentioned a while ago are also slated to open up in the Lost River Delta, again on April 23rd. This is actually really sad because it means that the characters will now have lines, and in Tokyo that means LONG lines. Currently the Lost River Delta characters come out randomly, and it is a lot easier for you to just grab a quick pic with your favourite; now you will have to wait in the crazy 3 hour lines that the Japanese seem to love.

Ok, I think that's all for now then. Don't forget to check the site regularly. We are always updating things and adding more content, even if there is no news to post.

Dan :)