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Hello everyone,
As a new year dawns on January 1st, here at Character Central we are celebrating our ninth year online!
Sometimes I can hardly believe that we have been around for so long now, but in other moments I still feel that we are young and growing, with a lot to learn about the Disney character fan community.
As the past nine years have passed us by, we have met a lot of new people, had wonderful encounters and experiences, but it has also not been completely devoid of bizarre, unusual and sometimes frustrating or even downright bad circumstances.
Characters have become a part of Jon and I's way of life. Sometimes it has consumed every waking moment and caused us stress, and for what? We have occasionally had to take a step back and refocus on what we enjoy; re-evaluating what makes us fans, and what makes us enjoy the Disney Parks and characters. But in realising that, we acknowledge that there is more to life than characters, too. We have had bittersweet experiences that have made us appreciate the wider world and a life outside of Disney, but also made us enjoy more diverse areas of the Disney community, too. We don't have to be everywhere, all the time, and we don't have to be first at everything. I think that a lot of fans in the community should perhaps take a deep breath and keep that in mind as we hurtle through the last year of this decade.
Over the past nine years, Character Central has grown to a monstrous size that I never thought imaginable, and that would not have been possible without the support and love we get from all of you - our family, friends and followers. We are forever grateful that through our ups and downs - through all those bittersweet and frustrating times - we have a community around us that loves what we share, what we do, and enjoys being a part of the ride.
In 2018 we once again managed to meet a good number of new characters and see a lot of new entertainment offerings, from (finally) meeting the truly wonderful Little John from Robin Hood and Tony from Lady and the Tramp, being at the opening of PIXAR Pier, randomly encountering the magnificent Blue Fairy in Fantasyland, meeting new characters such as Black Panther, Edna Mode and Vampirina, visiting both Disney's Vero Beach and Hilton Island for the first time, and running in most of Walt Disney's World runDisney race weekends (Princess, Star Wars and Wine and Dine - we didn't do Dopey, but we are in 2019!) - and SO much more! There was so much new content for the site, I'm still catching up!
Speaking of catching up, we continue to get a lot of questions about missing content, including locations and characters. I have always maintained that Character Central reflects our own personal experiences, and that still remains true. All the content on our site comes directly from our own adventures. If something isn't on Character Central, providing I just haven't gotten around to adding it (most things have been added, though), then we haven't got to experience it yet. Like I said before, we can't be everywhere all the time, and the site reflects our own personal adventures.
With that in mind, I want to point out that I know and acknowledge that my blog posts are a little few and far between, but I don't feel the need to share "news" with you all constantly on the blog, since there are plenty of pages that do that already. We regularly post to all our social media accounts (usually daily, unless I forget!), including Instagram, Facebook and Twitter, and even if not immediately obvious many pages here on the site actually get updated fairly frequently (such as new character outfits, etc) - you just have to go look to see what's new!
One major change we did make during an extended period of downtime for the site in the last part of the year, was to finally remove the forum. Forums are a dying breed, with social media taking over as the soapbox platform to voice an opinion these days, and coupled with the fact we would get a lot of spam, which was untenable, we took the decision to close it. You can still however keep track of your characters by logging in as usual to your profile.
Finally, for those of you who do follow our regular social media updates, you may have noticed that we spend a great deal of time at Walt Disney World these days. Well, I am very happy to reveal that since September of 2018 we in fact live in Florida! So, you can expect even more frequent updates as we get settled and immerse ourselves in the culture and lifestyle of living near Walt Disney World - but at the same time keeping our own identity, our own brand and interest, and moulding our experiences to be what we want them to be.
I'll leave you with a paraphrase of the immortal words of the great Judi Dench, "here's to the next 12 months at Character Central. While no one knows for sure what we'll see or do, I do know it will be quite an adventure - an adventure that we'll take and make together. See you in the future!"
Happy New Year, best wishes for 2019 and beyond, and peace and love to all,
Dan.
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Hello everyone,
Yesterday the Disney Parks Blog announced three premium dining options for New Year's Eve at the Contemporary Resort (WDW), two of which involve character appearances.
Disney Countdown to Midnight
Disney Countdown to Midnight is described on the Disney Parks Blog as follows:
For an evening of dining and dancing, “Disney Countdown to Midnight” includes delightful dining, live music, libations and more. An interactive band and DJ will fill the dance floor (and we hear that Mickey and Minnie may make a special appearance). Then welcome in 2018 with a flute of bubbly and a viewing of those legendary New Year’s Eve fireworks in the Magic Kingdom.
Hours are 8pm to 1am in the Fantasia Ballroom. This party is designed for guests 18 and older.
This one sounds very much like a dance party for over 18s, and while they mention Mickey and Minnie, it is very vague and I suspect that they'll be there either dancing or on a stage; not greeting.
Pixar Party: A New Year’s Eve Celebration
Pixar Party: A New Year’s Eve Celebration is described on the Disney Parks Blog as follows:
“Pixar Party: A New Year’s Eve Celebration” is for children of all ages, a family-friendly way to ring in the New Year with a Disney•Pixar-inspired dinner.
Sarge welcomes you to the Ballroom of the Americas that features vignettes of beloved Pixar movies. From Andy’s Room in “Toy Story” to and Metro City with The Incredibles, the immersive celebration will include theatrical backdrops, dramatic set pieces and fun props that re-create the fantastic worlds of the Pixar films. And, of course, favorite characters will be on hand from “Toy Story,” “The Incredibles,” “Cars” and “Up.”
Kids can have fun at Pixar face painting, a balloon artist and a boot camp with Sarge, while an interactive DJ will spin hits from Radio Disney (he’s going to be in a “Cars”-inspired DJ rig from Radiator Springs). Dinner is buffet style.
At midnight, head outdoors to ring in the New Year with a viewing of the Magic Kingdom fireworks. Hours are 8pm - 12.15am.
This one sounds like it could be a lot of fun, though I suspect the characters may be of the simpler variety rather than any rare ones from any of those movies listed. It would be amazing to see the likes of Bo-Peep show up, but I wouldn't expect it, sadly.
Down in New Orleans: A Disney New Year’s Eve Dining Experience
Down in New Orleans: A Disney New Year’s Eve Dining Experience is described on the Disney Parks Blog as follows:
Fine dining is the theme of the third party, “Down in New Orleans: A Disney New Year’s Eve Dining Experience” in the Grand Republic Ballroom. Inspired by the Disney animated film “The Princess and the Frog,” the room is beautifully decorated French Quarter style to transport you to the Big Easy.
Actions stations will feature flavors such as oyster beignets, smoked salmon mousse cones with caviar, Kobe beef tartare and sheep’s milk ricotta gnocchi. Signature dishes will include herb-crusted Louisiana redfish, crayfish étouffée, Black Angus beef cooked two ways, braised short ribs and filet of beef with truffled celery root silk.
A N’awlins jazz band will entertain during dinner, joined later in the evening by a vocalist who will bring to life the Academy-Award-winning classics from the film. Then slip outside with a glass of bubbly just before midnight to ring in 2018 with a private viewing area for the Magic Kingdom fireworks. Hours are 7pm -12.15am.
This last one sounds pretty neat, but unfortunately does not detail any character appearances. The meal is "inspired by" the movie, and the main draw seems to be the musicians. It would be awesome to see all four characters appear there, but like with the other meals above, I wouldn't expect anything beyond what the post specifically states.
The Disney Parks Blog did not release any pricing information, and recommend that you find out more details, and book, via the Walt Disney World Dining line, at (407) WDW-DINE.
Have a great day everyone,
Dan. |
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Hello everyone,
In this fourth and final part of my trip report for our visit to Walt Disney World during Christmas 2016 I am going to share with you some more of our adventures at the Magic Kingdom.
Let's start on Main Street USA where we met Santa Claus before he set off on his magical deliveries on Christmas Eve. [ Read More... ] |
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Hello everyone,
In this second part of my Walt Disney World December trip report I am going to share you with your our adventures at Disney's Hollywood Studios and Epcot. In case you missed it, the first part of my report, which covers Disney's Animal Kingdom and the Disney resort hotels, can be found here.
Let's start with Hollywood Studios. [ Read More... ] |
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| DisneyDan
Wednesday, December 31, 2014 6:15:09 PM |
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Happy New Year to all our friends and fans!
May 2015 be filled with much laughter and magic, and many Disney adventures!
Dan and Jon.
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| DisneyDan
Sunday, January 5, 2014 12:34:32 PM |
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Hello everyone,
First off, I'd like to wish you all a Happy 2014! Last year was a turbulent, but exciting year for Jon and I, and we hope to have many more amazing adventures in the coming months, which we look forward to sharing with you all. In case you missed it, you can check out my blog post, '2013 - A Year in Review'. Be warned, there are literally hundreds of photos (nearly all character ones!), so it might take a while to load, and a while to look through!
Anyway, it's a new year, which means there is always news from the parks to report. We'll start at Walt Disney World in Florida, and work our way around the world.
Tomorrow, January 6th is the final day for Disney's Animal Kingdom's Camp Minnie-Mickey. The small, forested trails of this cute corner of the park will close permanently to make way for the controversial Avatar Land, currently being developed by Walt Disney Imagineering. This means that Timon and his pals at the long-running Festival of the Lion King will be relocated to a new theatre later in the year, elsewhere in the park. It also means of course that the Greetings Trails will close forever. The characters will be moved to new locations around the park. At the moment, what I've heard is that Baloo and King Louie will greet up on the trail between Africa and Asia (a place they have frequented in the past anyway), Chip and Dale (as well as Gi-Tar Dan) will move to Rafiki's Planet Watch, Pocahontas can be found in the Discovery Island Trails, and Donald Duck will move to Dinoland. Mickey and Minnie already moved early last year from the Greeting Trails to their new home on Discovery Island (at the Adventurer's Outpost).
At Disney's Hollywood Studios' character dining location, Disney Junior Play 'N Dine at Hollywood & Vine, June and Agent Oso are being replaced with Princess Sofia and Doc McStuffins. I have tried to find what date this will happen, but nobody knows for sure, although one friend did tell me perhaps the 26th January. This will mean that June and Agent Oso will no longer appear regularly at any Disney Park around the world. It does also mean that for the first time ever, Doc McStuffins will be available daily, for greetings, for all guests (albeit at a meal). Also for Hollywood Studios, dates for the mega popular Star Wars Weekends were released for 2014. This year they will run every Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 16th May until 8th June inclusive.
At the Magic Kingdom, yesterday the epically long running Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade had its final curtain call. Running twice, the parade was given a neat final send-off, with a few old props returning, and fans lining the parade route with signs of support for the cast and characters. Many people have very fond memories of this parade, since its debut back in 2001 as Share a Dream Come True Parade, for Walt's 100th birthday. Although it was loved by many, I for one, and I know many others feel the same too, very much welcome a brand new day parade after 12 long years! The new parade, Festival of Fantasy is currently slated for a spring debut, and will feature a mixture of brand new floats and some that have been imported from Tokyo Disneyland's beautiful, and much missed, Jubilation parade. The new parade is confirmed to have floats representing Peter Pan, The Little Mermaid, Tangled, Brave, and of course Mickey and Friends. Two of the floats brought from Tokyo used to be the Pinocchio float (it's Monstro) and the Princess one, and therefore fuels speculation they'll be used for the same purpose again, but official images of them/concept art are yet to be released.
As a reminder, today and tomorrow are the final days for the full Christmas season offerings at both the Disneyland Resort and Disneyland Paris. If you're in the area, be sure to stop by and catch their parades and shows again before they bid farewell for another 10 months! Brand new offerings this year included the Viva Navidad event and World of Color Winter Dreams at Disney California Adventure and Disney Dreams! of Christmas and the revamped Christmas Cavalcade at Disneyland Paris.
Speaking of Disneyland Paris, we were there for Christmas and New Year, which was amazing as usual! They always put a huge effort into their special entertainment offerings, and this year did not disappoint! The highlight was the "plussed" version of the Disney's Stars 'n' Cars parade at the Walt Disney Studios, which featured awesome characters just for New Year such as Darkwing Duck, Yzma and Kronk, the Cheshire Cat and many more!
It has been strongly rumoured across the internet that Disneyland Paris will also be bringing back a very old festival of theirs from some years back, called the Festival of Flowers. The Festival of Flowers was like a DLP version of EPCOT's Flower and Garden Festival. It is rumoured that the festival will return for a three month long spring event that will also incorporate a special happening (involving characters) as well as meet 'n' greets. There is nothing confirmed yet, but we all hope that this is true!
Finally, we have been aware that many of you have been searching the website for Princess Anna and Queen Elsa from Disney's Frozen. It took a while to get them up, but I have finally done it! (Click their names to go to their pages)
Ok, that's everything for today. Have a good week everyone,
Dan. |
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Hello everyone,
As the Halloween Season draws to a close this week, I can't help but think about Christmas!
This year Jon and I will be at Disneyland Paris just after Christmas itself, for the Christmas Season and New Year's celebrations at the Resort.
We are both really excited to be going back to Disneyland Paris this year for Christmas, as there will be many new things, which only Disneyland Paris offer.
I have been to Disneyland Paris for Christmas Season at least five other years of the past ten, so let's take a look back at some of what has been offered over the year, before we come back to the new offerings this year.
This is a very photo heavy post, so be warned that it may take a while to load all the images below.
For the longest time Disneyland Park had a Christmas addition to its regular day parade, usually just tacked on at the end. This happened during the old Wonderful World of Disney Parade, and the Once Upon a Dream Parade. There was never a Christmas parade, per se. There was a Santa's Sleigh, Toy Soldiers, and more recently Duffy.
Other long running entertainment included the enchanting Mickey's Winter Wonderland show at the Chaparral Theater in Frontierland, and the Tree Lighting Ceremony in Town Square.
Mickey's Winter Wonderland remained unchanged for many, many years, but was a firm fan favourite every holiday season.
The Tree Lighting Ceremony was also incredibly popular, and always starred Mickey and Friends lighting the big Christmas Tree in Town Square. Some aspects of the show changed slightly over the years, but it basically remained the same.
Disneyland Paris also pioneered the beautiful Christmas lights that now adorn the other Disney Castles of the world. Disneyland Park would present a special Castle Lighting show. As with the Tree Lighting, the way in which this was done changed slightly from year to year, but overall the concept remained the same.
Character greetings have included Santa Claus, Elves, and of course Mickey and Friends in seasonal costumes at both parks. Other characters in Christmas costumes have included the Winnie the Pooh friends, and Duffy the Disney Bear. Some years back, Belle also used to meet in a pretty red jacket.
For 21 years, the Christmas Tree in Town Square was the same. Last year they added some 20th Anniversary ornaments to it, but it remained identical otherwise.
Some years ago, the park used to also feature the stunning Lights of Winter (which EPCOT also used to have) along Main Street USA, but these were sadly retired nearly 10 years ago now.
After the lights of winter the Princess Crowns graced the street for a couple of years, but were quite unpopular by all accounts.
Like the other parks, snowfall on Main Street is a regular occurrence, although in Paris, as we have personally experienced, it isn't always just the magical Disney snow that can fall across the park!
In Fantasyland guests used to be able to discover a Christmas market, straight from the world of Beauty and the Beast, 'Belle's Christmas Village'.
Finally, a staple of the holiday season for some years has been the "it's a small world" overlay, becoming "it's a small world" Celebration during Christmas Season.
Now we fast forward from our trip through the past, to 2012. Last year Disneyland Paris took a giant leap away from previous Christmas offerings.
Mickey's Winter Wonderland did not return, the Princess Crowns were ditched, brand new garlands graced Main Street, there was a new live entertainment offering starring Mickey, and a fantastic new Christmas Cavalcade was launched.
Unfortunately we were unable to attend last year (although we were in California for their Christmas Season, so that was a great substitute!).
That means that this year will be our first year seeing the new offerings, and what's more, there is set to be even more this year than last year!
Of course, some old favourites will still be there too.
This year the park has got a brand new Christmas Tree, which is really exciting for me, as I love Christmas Trees! As well as the new Tree, last years there were brand new garlands all along Main Street and giant character snowmen in Central Plaza. This is as well as all the beautiful decorations that find their way throughout the resort, with nearly every restaurant, store being decorated inside and out. The Disneyland Hotel also has a yearly traditional giant gingerbread house.
The Cavalcade is said to be receiving some extra characters, making it better than last year, and the Tree Lighting Ceremony has been changed again, this time being narrated by Jiminy Cricket and Pinocchio.
Santa and his Elves will still be at the Ranch, snow will still fall on Main Street USA, and "it's a small world" Celebration has been reinstalled.
The Jingle Bell Boys are set to return too. That's a live band that also stars Mickey Mouse showing off his dance moves at the Videopolis in Discoveryland.
I have also heard that Jack Skellington is sticking around after Halloween Season ends, but will be putting on his Sandy Claws outfit! Now that would be really awesome!
One of the biggest things that the park is doing this year is a brand new version of Dreams especially for Christmas!
Disney Dreams! is the most spectacular nighttime show ever created by Disney Imagineering, and for the holidays it'll switch to featuring scenes from the new Disney movie Frozen, a Toy Story Nutcracker tale, and much more!
If all that wasn't enough, there are a few more things that are continuing some Disneyland Paris traditions.
For many years, the Disney Hotels have offered special meals during the holidays, some of which are character ones.
On the 29th December we are planning to attend the Christmas Brunch with the Disney Characters at Inventions, in the Disneyland Hotel, and on New Year's Eve there is a special character dinner at the Hotel New York, which we are also attending.
Usually on Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve, the Disneyland Hotel puts on special entertainment too. We really hope that this returns this year also, as we've really enjoyed this in the past. And speaking of New Year, both parks and Lake Disney all will continue their annual New Year's Fireworks. Two years ago we saw them in Disneyland Park, this year we plan to see them on Lake Disney due to our meal at the Hotel New York. |
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Hello everyone,
Sorry this has taken me a bit longer than I had anticipated, but of course life gets in the way! Anyway, here we are at part two of my Christmas trip report!
You can check out part one here, which was all about Disneyland Park.
Before we move on to the hotels and Disney California Adventure, there are a few additional things that I wanted to mention for Disneyland.
We were sad that this year Disneyland had axed the reindeer that used to feature at the ranch. In the past they had featured at Santa's Reindeer Round-up, which this year became the Jingle Jangle Jamboree. Overall this was a positive move, as the characters were still on Main Street, and Santa was still at the ranch, but additionally there were more Christmas characters at the ranch too. Besides losing the reindeer, Santa used to also appear after Christmas in a "post-Christmas" outfit, since Christmas is over. This year though, they decided that Santa would not appear. Instead, what they did was change Mickey and Minnie's outfits for after Christmas. Before Christmas they wore traditional, almost Victorian wear, after Christmas they sported neat Santa and Mrs Claus outfits. So, overall not a bad change. No Santa, but some really cute outfits.
One really annoying thing we discovered also, is that Disneyland are REALLY fussy about the weather. We travel a lot to all the parks, especially Florida and Paris, and the rain, and even snow in DLP, doesn't seem to affect things too much unless it's really serious. At DL though, the second there was the slightest inkling of some small drops from the sky, that was it. Ranch closed, characters cancelled. I am all for safety, but honestly, if you had seen the way they over reacted, it was ridiculous.
Similarly on the Santa situation, Santa at DCA disappeared after Christmas too, and did not return like in the past (we'll come to him shortly though).
While we're still at Disneyland, although not Christmas related, we did get to meet Ralph and Vanellope from the new Wreck-It-Ralph movie, which was neat.
We also, for the first time, had dinner at the Big Thunder Ranch BBQ. We had intended to eat here in the past, but for one reason or another, it had never happened.
I have to say that I really enjoyed it. The live entertainment were good, and while they normally have a band there, they were especially festive for the season. Oh, and make sure you order the dessert! (I think it was called a S'mores Bake, or something)...
Something randomly that I thought of also, regarding "snow". At Walt Disney World, during the Christmas parade when it is travelling down Main Street, it snows. At Disneyland Paris, during the Christmas Cavalcade, and at intervals throughout the day, everyday, it snows. So, I don't understand why Disneyland only snowed at night during the Castle Lighting or the Christmas fireworks. I realise this shouldn't bug me too much, but would it have killed them to have it snow when Santa was heading down Main Street atop his sleigh? Just a thought.
One last thing before we head to the hotels, Downtown Disney and finally DCA, is about some things we heard while in DL.
On many - far TOO many - occasions this trip we heard things like "because Florida say no", "because Florida don't allow it", and so on. It seems that gradually WDW are trying to somehow cripple everything that DL do. Every time we asked why something had changed, why something wasn't as nice or good any more, why something had to be cancelled - you name it - the answer was that Florida didn't like it. Maybe now that Meg Crofton is being inched out the door, things might change a little, but only time will tell.
The other thing we heard a few times is that to everyone's great sadness, it might appear that this would be the last real year for Christmas season as we know it in DL. Once again Florida want their way, and Christmas sounds like it might be ticketed, like it is at the Magic Kingdom. That would be a heavy loss indeed. I am glad we went this past year to experience it fully, before the magic is sold out to hard ticket events.
Ok, so that's enough about Disneyland, now we shall take a stroll through Downtown Disney and the resort hotels, before heading into DCA!
For the new Tinker Bell movie about the winter, and because it is winter, Downtown Disney featured an ice skating rink for the Christmas period. Other than that, and some regular decorations, there wasn't too much in the way of Christmas offerings at DTD, not that we saw at least.
At the resort hotels, before Christmas Day they had Santa greeting in the evenings in their main lobbies. We managed to meet Santa at the Grand Californian and DL Hotel, but not the Paradise Pier.
The hotels looked pretty with their large Christmas trees in their lobbies, and the restaurants had gingerbread houses made by the in-house chefs.
Ok, so we shall step in to Disney California Adventure now, and discover their festive line-up.
It was DCA's first Christmas with it's shiny new look. Buena Vista Street, Cars Land and all the other things that they had re-launched earlier in 2012 got another chance to shine with the decor and lights of Christmas.
The decorations on BVS and Cars Land were really nice, and felt appropriate and not too overdone. The rest of the park didn't have too many decorations, but here and there were some small things, that just added a nice touch.
There was some new entertainment offerings for Christmas too, including the really talented Community Bell Ringers.
The other regular park bands played seasonal tunes, too, and the Phineas and Ferb mini-show had a small Christmas overlay.
Of course there were all the normal things that you would expect for the holidays, such as treats and merchandise. Some of the DCA Christmas merchandise was actually really nice.
Over at Hollywood Land, they had switched the Muppets 3D movie for the new Prep and Landing short film. We got to see it twice, which was good as we got to sit in the warm, and see a decent Disney movie in 3D for free!
One other main thing that they did, oddly though only on select days, was the Holiday Tree Lighting in Carthay Circle.
This little show in front of the large Christmas tree involved the characters, Citizens of Buena Vista Street and the Bell Ringers coming together and lighting the tree.
It was a pretty touch, but for some reason they didn't do it every night, and it ended on Christmas Eve, which is weird since they call the entire season Holiday Time (note the lack of actually being Christmas), and their "Holiday Time" runs until 6th January. The least they could have done is lit the tree on Christmas Day itself, but nope, it ended on Christmas Eve. Odd.
Now we come to characters at DCA for the Holidays.
On Buena Vista Street, Mickey, Goofy, Pluto, Chip and Dale all had festive alterations to their BVS outfits. Milly/Molly the Messenger, Phi Phi the Photographer and Donna the Dog Lady got a few small additions too.
Over in Cars Land Tow Mater had a large Santa hat on (but not McQueen though), and at Paradise Pier Donald and Duffy had Christmas clothes too.
Of course no Christmas would be complete without Santa, and he was available up until Christmas Eve at Elias and Co, in a traditional America department store setting, along with some Elf helpers.
Lastly we come to New Year's Eve. We had decided that our best option would probably be to stay over at DCA because, honestly, we had experienced Disneyland on busy days, and that was bad enough. Add New Year into the equation and you get a whole other level of insanity! DCA provides larger open areas, wider walkways and generally less intensity of craziness than DL park (generally, not always!).
We actually ended up making the right decision, because really, honestly, compared to what DL Park had been the few days leading up to New Year, DCA was a BREEZE. We were pleasantly surprised how quiet it was. We wandered around and checked out the special New Year entertainment, which consisted of three bands. One country rock in Cars Land, and two jazz (one on BVS and the other in Paradise Pier). I'm not a fan of jazz and found them quite dull, especially the one on BVS, but that's just me.
I think that overall the bands and entertainment for New Year's Eve could have been a bit better, but the best was yet to come!
For the turn of the year there was a breathtaking spectacular on Paradise Bay, with lasers, fireworks, fountains, music and an energy that really brought the park to a roaring climax, before they followed it up with a full presentation of World of Color.
Over at Disneyland they would never been able to achieve what they did at DCA simply because of the setting, surroundings and size. DL wouldn't have the fountains, and probably no-where near as many lasers, if any (has anyone ever seen lasers used in DL for spectaculars? Let me know!).
If we are ever back at DLR for New Year we would definitely chose DCA again. I can't imagine at the end of the night how horrendous the crowds must have been. Getting out of DCA was relatively easy. DL was at capacity, and we know from previous experience - on a non-New Year's event - that even if it gets remotely crowded the park grinds to a miserable halt. We made the right choice for sure!
Well, that concludes this report. We really enjoyed Christmas ("Holiday Time") at Disneyland Resort, and definitely recommend it. We just hope that they continue to add things to the season, and they manage to stave off Florida's advances regarding the ticketed Christmas!
Dan. |
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Hello everyone, and Happy New Year!
I hope you all had a fun and restful break, and are all looking forward to the fun and challenges that 2013 is sure to bring.
This coming year will be yet another incredible year for us, as we start the year with grand plans for visiting Disney Parks across the world as often as possible, as we have done in recent years.
We actually saw the New Year in over at the Disneyland Resort in California, and next month will be visiting our "home", Disneyland Paris, particularly for their Valentine's offerings.
More importantly right now for us though, Happy 3rd Birthday Character Central!
It was 3 years ago yesterday that, after designing and creating the site, we went live for the first time! (We were travelling all day yesterday, so I didn't get chance to post).
Since that day three years ago, our lives have got more incredible with every passing month. Our experiences have surpassed anything I could have imagined, and it is all because of the support and love we get for this site.
Character Central started out as being a website solely dedicated to the Disney Characters at the Disney Parks and Resorts.
We have both always loved Disney Characters, and have always enjoyed seeing them and meeting them at the Parks.
Character Central was born from that enthusiasm.
We had this vision that we wanted to be able to provide pictures and information about every Disney Character that has ever existed at the Parks, and bring them to life through our love of photography, and our love of Disney.
Over time, the site has grown, and we have grown with it. We have had some extraordinary experiences, and met some wonderful people.
The website has now exploded into this vast database of information about, and photos of, the Parks and Resorts - and of course characters.
We literally have somewhere around 100,000 pictures (at least), on the website.
We photograph everything from the stores, restaurants, food, attractions... You name it, we have seen it, done it and photographed it!
We have not abandoned our original idea, and we still focus heavily on characters, but now we also provide information and guides to everything Disney. We have a blog, and a forum with a growing number of very friendly Disney fans. We use Twitter and Facebook frequently too, and everyday more people are liking our page or following us.
We are constantly updating every page on the site, and some day soon hope to have a complete guide book of every Disney Park, down to the last detail. I can assure you, it's been hard work, but it's getting there, and even now we currently have a more-or-less complete guide to ALL of Disneyland Paris, and a complete guide to ALL of Hong Kong Disneyland.
The Asian parks are our particular project right now. There is so little information out there about them, that we are aiming to have the single largest and most comprehensive guide to those parks on the Internet - and I think I can safely say we are nearly there!
We hope that people will find the website useful when planning to visit these destinations, and hope that we are an invaluable resource to Disney fans across the world.
We thank you all for your continued support for the work we do, and we promise that there are some really neat things coming in the new year!
We have some very grand plans for the website, and we look forward to sharing our work with everyone.
Dan and Jon
Character Central |
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Hi all,
Welcome to part two of my photo trip report from our two trips to Disneyland Paris for Christmas and New Year.
Let us take a look now at the other really neat things that we did this Holiday Season! [ Read More... ] |
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