Hi all,

As promised here is Loren’s report from last weekend at the Fiesta Disneyland Family Fun Days.

Loren also discovered the magic of characters at Universal Studios recently, and has been visiting there fairly frequently after deciding to purchase an annual pass. So, within this report he also gives us some of his thoughts on his experiences at Universal.

Over to Loren!  [ Read More... ]

Hi all,

Earlier this week the brand new Disney Cruise Line ship, the Disney Dream launched in spectacular Disney style, as I reported on earlier. Since then we have learned from the Orlando Sentinel that there is at least one new show on board title the Sail Away Party. There is also a new segment added to the Golden Mickeys show (also currently plays aboard one of the other ships) starring Rapunzel, Flynn Rider and none other than Mother Gothel! This is the first time the vain and self-obsessed step mother has appeared in character form, and we look forward to seeing her in the future! I don’t currently have any pictures of these things, but if I see any, I will be sure to post them here.  [ Read More... ]

Hi all,

Disney Cruise Line’s newest ship, the Dream was Christened this morning at Port Canaveral in Florida, and although we were not there (sadly), I did watch the live video feed online, and have a special report for those of you who missed it. There is a video now up on the Disney Parks Blog, but it is slightly edited from the full version I saw live, so some of you might still find the following article interesting.  [ Read More... ]

Hi all,

Today’s big news is of course the press conference over at the Magic Kingdom regarding the Fantasyland expansion (amongst other things).

Besides a couple of new rides, and the new theming and areas all of which sound really awesome, the character news to come out of this is that the Snow White attraction will be closing in order to make way for a brand new Princess meet ‘n’ greet “attraction”, to replace the Hall of Fame, which closes in a couple of weeks’ time. Disney are compensating for the closure of the Snow White attraction by of course adding a brand new Snow White themed ride - the Mine Coaster, not to mention the new Ariel attraction! To put it simply, they are getting rid of the Hall of Fame and the Scary Adventures, but in their place getting an awesome new roller coaster and a new meet ‘n’ greet area!  [ Read More... ]

Hi all,

Today has seen more character news emerge, in what has been quite an eventful week so far!

The ever reliable drew81 on the wdwmagic forum posted saying that when SpectroMagic returns to the Magic Kingdom (still no idea as to when though), new characters will be added including possibly Oswald the Lucky Rabbit! Apparently the float will change colours from black to white, although how successful this will be for a night parade (black?) is yet to be seen! All the same, Oswald will be a fantastic addition, and one which the character fan community will welcome with open arms, I am sure! There is no other mention of the other new characters yet.  [ Read More... ]

Hi all,

This week has been quite eventful for new character happenings across the parks, so let’s start with California, which rather unusually has seen a big increase in character offerings!

This weekend was the start of a series of two month long events, all under the umbrella of Family Fun Days. This weekend’s event was the Fiesta Disneyland event over at the Festival Arena in Frontierland.

Our good friend and California correspondent, Loren Javier was there of course, and this is what he had to say:  [ Read More... ]

Hi all,

Yesterday drew81, who is generally a very reliable and knowledgeable source on WDW Character news, posted on the wdwmagic forum that he has heard Pegleg Pete and Oswald the Lucky Rabbit will start making appearances sometime on the future - although it is unknown when at this stage.

Also in the same thread, Samuele reported that three new meet 'n' greet locations will be opening soon in the Magic Kingdom in Tomorrowland, Adventureland and Frontierland.

Over in California, today saw the the launch of a new small entertainment offering involving those red PIXAR heroes, The Incredibles. It is strange because Disney seem to have kept this one very quiet, and yet it really isn't that big a deal. It is titled PIXAR Pals: Heroes in Training, and is situated over in California Adventure. It is speculated to be a small replacement for the fact the the parade cannot currently run due to the construction. Mr DAPS posted a picture of it here. You can even see a parade float in the background!

Ok, that's all for now,

Dan :)

Hi all,

Just a quick update for you. It has been reported by PhotoMagiques, and since by other sources, that the new Princess meet 'n' greet location in Fantasyland in Disneyland Paris is now not opening until the 20th Anniversary begins next year (2012). I have heard from an inside source that as far as they knew, this project was still on track for this year. So I am not sure what is going on right now, but it would seem that it has been put on hold for some unknown reason.

Also just briefly, Disneyland Resort have released the results of the vote for the characters. It would appear that they have chosen the top TWO results from each poll, which makes the event somewhat more worthwhile for local fans as that does mean that some cool ones are now included - though there are still some disappointing ones due to people voting for their favourites, rather than using the opportunity more wisely.

Ok, that's all for now,

Dan :)

Hi all,

I have a bit more information on all the cool new happenings that I posted about yesterday.

The Aladdin meet ‘n’ greet area will be located at the back of the Bazaar in Adventureland.

The Peter Pan Happening is still confirmed, despite not hearing any more about it – which brings the new “happenings” count up to two so far (the other being the the Jungle Book one I mentioned yesterday) – both in Adventureland!

Rapunzel and Flynn will have a dedicated meet ‘n’ greet area near the Old Mill with set times, once the new celebration starts.

The Castle show will have the Three Good Fairies in it as well as the face Genie I mentioned - and Merlin and the Fairy Godmother!

Darth Vader may be making a return, but Chewbacca will not.

One of the new sets of costumes for the Parade will be bees, behind the Winnie the Pooh section.

The new version of the Disney Dance Express will only have the Fab 5 on it for now.

Finally, jumping over to California and to the Family Fun Days. The Disney Parks Blog released a little more information about the upcoming events, including some cool Mardi Gras costumes for the characters, a Lunar New Year Festival (no mention of characters though - but we can expect there will be) and cowboy “fiesta” with Mickey and Minnie!

Ok that’s all for now!

Dan :)

Hi all,

So Character Central has been given some exclusive updates from inside Disneyland Paris, which we can now share with you here! All the news is regarding the new celebration year, replacing the current one, starting in April. The name for the new celebration, as previously announced by Disney, is Magical Moments.  [ Read More... ]