Hi all,
Sorry there haven't been many updates this week, but I have just been so busy.Let us begin in Florida, where last week saw Suzy and Perla make a surprise appearance in the courtyard area behind Cinderella Castle. Apart from the meal they host at the grossly overpriced and massively overbooked restaurant in the castle, Suzy and Perla are near impossible to find in the US.
Over at Hollywood Studios Agent P (AKA Perry the Platypus) met fans this weekend alongside Phineas and Ferb. No word yet as to whether this will become a more regular thing - we only hope it will.It is good to see WDW actually doing some random character meets for a change!
Flying cross country to California now, and Loren has been keeping us all up to date with the new character happenings there. He has posted more pictures from the new Phineas and Ferb show and the new Wilderness Explorer show in DCA. In another random move for the US parks, California also appears to have started having a few more random characters the last week, and Loren has seen Foulfellow on Main Street, Goofy over the new Sky School and in a miraculous (for DL at least) moment of divine inspiration, none other than R2-D2 has been meeting this weekend over in Tomorrowland! Check out Loren's two most recent reports here and here.
Also in California, but not at the parks, the new Cars 2 movie has been screening at the El Capitan in Hollywood (the Disney owned theatre), and have had a neat area set up behind the theatre themed around places from the new movie. Tow Mater and McQueen have even been there, along with brand new character Finn McMissile! Loren has all the pictures and information in his special report here.
Moving ahead to the D23 convention that is coming up in Ahaheim, and I have heard from various sources that the brand new pirate, Jake, from the Neverland Pirates along with Agent P and Agent Oso will be appearing. No word on anyone else yet. Jake has previously been seen in Florida at special events, and is due to join Agent Oso at the Hollywood and Vine character meal at DHS soon. These two characters have never made it out to the West Coast, so it will be cool for everyone out there to see them!
Finally for California, Jon had seen on Stitch Kingdom that a new show was going to be starting in the Autumn over in DCA starring Minnie Mouse, and had an airline/travel theme. Sadly it would appear that this has now been scrapped as the Disney website no longer lists it as a new show coming soon, and the Disney auditions page have pulled the casting call for the show (I haven't checked this out for myself, but believe it to be accurate). It's a shame that a new show has been cut before it even got started, especially at a resort where there is a severe lack of major entertainment such as shows.We now go to Disneyland Paris, where we have some more more random character appearances! DLP have always been pretty good overall about having random, and often rare characters appear at any given moment in the parks, and is just one of the many things Jon and I love about DLP, but as late (last two - three months) it had become a little more static - until the last week or two. I have seen pictures from our friends who frequent the parks pictures in the last two weeks of American Indian Chip and Dale in Frontierland, regular pink-dress Daisy Duck (the Daisy Duck syndrome is ever present in DLP as much as the US parks!), the Fairy Godmother in Fantasyland, and even the Seven Dwarfs! I also heard that Prince Mickey was at the Auberge de Cendrillon character meal one day in the last couple of weeks too. I am very glad that DLP seems to be going back to their old ways again, and we look forward to seeing who is out this coming weekend when we are there!
Finally, and still at DLP, I have some news about Halloween.
According to DLRP Express (I couldn't find their original source, so accuracy is not guaranteed), there are going to be two brand new daytime shows for the Halloween Season this year! The first is going to be a main hub show and will feature Maleficent and Dr Facilier. Maleficent apparently still angry about not being invited to Aurora's Christening seeks vengence, and somehow Faciler becomes involved. The description was a little loose with the details, but needless to say it will be a very welcome addition.
The second show will apparently utilise the fan-much-loved Castle Stage and will be more interactive for the little ones.dance lesson come hula lesson come bat chasing fun all rolled into one! Again, details are not clear, but sounds like a lot of fun, and again is very much welcomed. Starring Mickey, Minnie, Goofy and Donald it will be a
Ok, that's all for now. Look out for my fifth part to my Hong Kong Disneyland Trip Report which I hope to post tomorrow!
Dan.