Hi all,

Just some small updates for you this evening.

First off, over in California Halloween Season has gotten under way this weekend. Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Donald, Chip and Dale have all began appearing in their seasonal costumes on Main Street, and the Villains have returned to the Small World Mall area. Over in DCA Duffy has donned a special pumpkin hat and sweater and his meet 'n' greet area has been given a neat seasonal overlay.

Loren should have a full photo update on the Character Central Forums by the end of the weekend, so look out for that one!

Across the country in Florida, and just one minor change to the characters at Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party - Donald and Daisy have moved from the Adventureland Gazebo to near the Winnie the Pooh attraction in Fantasyland. I imagine this is due to the fact there is quite a high volume of characters in that one small area of Adventureland, and they needed spreading out more (others just in Adventureland include Tarzan, Jane and Terk, Rafiki, the Fairies, Aladdin, Jasmine and Genie, and Jack Sparrow; hence the need for the move).
You can check out the full 2011 MNSSHP Character line up here.

Over in Disneyland Paris the Princess Pavilion in Fantasyland is coming along really nicely, and is expected to officially open on October 8th. It will be the new permanent home of the Disney Princesses and is a new, extravagantly themed indoor location. It utilises the space formerly occupied by the Small World post show.

Finally, staying in Paris, but in the Studios, Push the Talking Trash Can has made a random, but much welcomed return this week. He has been spotted out and about on a few occasions. We don't know if this is permanent yet, but we hope it is.

Ok, that's all for now,

Dan.

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... ]