Hi all,

This week has been fairly quiet on the character news front, but there are now a few more details emerging about the upcoming Halloween Season across the parks.

At Walt Disney World the Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party line up has been released and can be found on our forums here. There are no real surprises as rumours had been flying around for a while. Just confirmation really of some of those expected, including Jack Sparrow, Lotso and Gaston.  [ Read More... ]

Hi all,

Today I learned that Disneyland Paris are due to be releasing their press statement regarding Christmas season very imminently. I had a sneak peak at it from a contact, and providing the information I saw does not change, then Duffy will be making his début at the park for the first time to the general public.  [ Read More... ]

Hi all,

We begin today's news with Halloween at Disneyland Paris. According to a friend of mine (who has many contacts), this year Disneyland Paris will not feature the Pumpkin People or the Halloween post/pre parade! I am not sure how accurate this is, because at very least the post/pre parade has always been a popular staple of the Halloween offerings at the park. I will be very surprised if they do actually go forward with this.  [ Read More... ]

Hi all,

We are now getting back into our regular schedules following our whistle-stop trip to DLP this past weekend.

We had a good time as always, but sadly on Saturday evening things didn't quite go to plan for one reason or another, and it resulted in us making a very serious formal complaint at City Hall. It is the first time I have ever had to do so at any park (I don't just mean minor issues here and there, this was quite serious), but I have to say that despite the fact I had to make the complaint, we were seen to by the Cast Members at City Hall with care and respect, and we thank them greatly for the efforts to compensate us for our grievance. In fact, I think you'll be surprised to learn that they managed not only to give us a free pin of our choice each from the stores, but we actually got a private meet 'n' greet with our four favourite characters in a back room of City Hall, the following day! They managed to arrange for us to meet Peter Pan, Stitch and Chip and Dale (who were in their Frontierland Native American outfits no less)!  [ Read More... ]

Hi all,

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.

Hi all,

This week sees the launch of Tinker Bell and her friend's brand new home in Adventureland in the Magic Kingdom. After spending quite some time in a rather uninspiring location in EPCOT, the Fairies have now moved into the neat looking Magical Nook at the old Adventureland Veranda. With props from the old Pixie Hollow, and some new things thrown in, Tinker Bell is joined by either Rosetta or Vidia currently on a continuous basis as she used to be, before she left for EPCOT. Inside the Magic posted this really lovely video of the new location. We hope that the other Fairies rejoin her real soon.  [ Read More... ]

Hi all,

I discovered that this week for some reason the stars of Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show at Disneyland Paris have been doing a parade through Disney Village at about 6pm every day. Buffalo Bill, Annie Oakley and their friends have all been there daily, riding real horses through the streets of the Village. I found this picture, but I did see more from a contact that I cannot post here. I can only assume this is a marketing thing - one of several attempts recently to try to boost numbers at the ailing show. Jon and I both personally like the show, having seen it twice now, but it has been there for many years, and I am sure most people would love to see a new show. But of course as always, it comes down to money. And with the 20th fast approaching, I'm sure DLP have more important things to worry about than Buffalo Bill.  [ Read More... ]

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.