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Hello everyone,
I have a few pieces of news for you today.
The Disneyland Paris Spring event (being dubbed "Spring Fling") that I previously told you about seems to really have taken momentum, and although still not officially confirmed by Disneyland Paris, two pieces of concept art have been leaked (one of Main Street Station, the other of Town Square), and even Vasile Sirli, the Resort's famed resident composer, posted about it on his Facebook page. We now know that as well as the really neat flowers and decorations, that there will be a show at the Videopolis, likely to be a short musical show with a character or two (similar to how the Jingle Bell Boys with Mickey worked at Christmas), as well as a small cavalcade that will feature two cars (thought to be former Stars 'n' Cars vehicles that are being repurposed). I have to say, this all sounds really awesome, and Jon and I will be there at the end of April for Easter, so we definitely cannot wait to see how it all finally comes together on the projected opening date of 3rd April!
Staying with Disneyland Paris, and it is being reported today from various fan groups at the parks that DLP have finally taken the initiative to set up organised lines for randomly appearing characters throughout the parks! This is a double edged sword for me, but one I think I am willing to accept. Anyone who has ever visited Disneyland Paris will know two things; one, that there are some really awesome characters out and about, including some rare ones that cannot be met usually elsewhere, and two, that queuing up has never seemed to been a concept they entirely grasped. The problem is though that it wasn't just that people would not queue, but that they would push and shove, and basically make the entire experience unbearable. I asked Philippe Gas (CEO of EuroDisney, S.A.S) about this personally in April last year at a small meeting in London, and he basically told me that they try to avoid confrontation. My argument has always been, well it's private property, if someone doesn't like to follow the rules, then have them removed! You might wonder why I am going on about this so much, but trust me, this is a huge deal for Disneyland Paris. For them to make this step is quite exceptional. The reason though I think it is a double edged sword, is that sadly I do think this will take away slightly from some of the randomness, and some of the fun interactive experiences you can get by following characters around, playing games with them, chasing them, etc. But, if it means I won't get bruised and in an argument with someone about who was next, then I am more than happy to compromise!
I just have a few other things I wanted to mention this evening.
In my last news post I forgot to mention that Princess Aurora has decided for now to return to the parks wearing her former dress that she has had for many years. Apparently Disney made the decision for her as they were not happy with the new one, launched last year, for one reason or another (many fans weren't either). So, if you got to see Aurora in her former new dress, you got to meet her in what will now be a retired outfit, and if you liked her old-old dress better, you have a chance to meet her in it again!
Finally, over at Walt Disney World's Animal Kingdom, again, as I had said previously, Camp Minnie-Mickey closed this week to make way for the new Avatar Land, but right after I posted that article, I discovered that since there is no Festival of the Lion King show right now, that a dance party will be taking place daily in Dinoland, featuring some random and very rare characters! Earlier this week Gypsy and Slim were seen, and various fan pages have reported seeing numerous other characters that haven't been seen in a while out, too!
You can check out all the other news I posted earlier in the week here.
I made a tribute to the now retired Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade earlier this week, if you missed that you can see it here.
Finally, if you want to see my tribute to Camp Minnie-Mickey, you can find that here.
Have a great day everyone,
Dan.
Check out what an awesome year Character Central had in 2013, in our massive '2013 - A Character Filled Year in Review!'
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Hello everyone,
Yesterday (6th January 2014) saw the final day of operation for Camp Minnie-Mickey at Disney's Animal Kingdom, in Walt Disney World.
Camp Minnie-Mickey was an original land that opened with the park on 22nd April 1998, and was home to several entertainment venues as well as lots of characters.
One of Disney's most popular shows, The Festival of the Lion King, was based in Camp Minnie-Mickey, at the Theater in the Wild, and featured incredible stunts, music and dancing from The Lion King, hosted by Timon.
The Greetings Trails offered character meet and greets with all your favourite Disney friends, such as Mickey, Minnie, Goofy and Donald. Often the characters would also wander around in the open area in the middle of the land, greetings fans and just generally having fun.
The Good Times Gathering Spot used to be where Pocahontas would introduce some cute little critters to the stage, along with the help of Grandmother Willow. After that show ended, the space was used for additional character greetings.
Other activities included talks by owl handlers, and Gi-Tar Dan, the resident comedic one-man band.
Jon and I both have fond memories of Camp Minnie-Mickey, and it will be very much missed. Camp Minnie-Mickey as a nice place to hang out, meet some Disney friends and catch a show or two.
The area is now being re-imagined to become Avatar Land, a collaboration between Disney and James Cameron. The Festival of the Lion King will be moved at a later date, and some of the characters can now be found elsewhere in the park (check out my recent news article here for more information), but the park will never be the same without this cute area.
Thanks for the memories Camp Minnie-Mickey, it was definitely a lot of fun!
Dan.
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Hello everyone,
As you all probably know by now, and as I mentioned in my news article yesterday, Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom's Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade permanently ended two days ago, after more than 12 years as the park's main day parade.
Twelve years for any Disney production is a very long time, especially a day parade, and although over the years it underwent some cosmetic changes, and even two different name changes, the essence of the parade remained the same.
Starting life on 1st October 2001 as the Share a Dream Come True Parade, it was a celebration of Walt Disney's 100 birthday, for the 100 Years of Magic event.
From late 2006 the parade was altered, and became the Disney Dreams Come True Parade, which was essentially the same parade, except for the snow globes on the floats were removed.
In 2009 the music and name were changed again, and many of the original characters in the parade were replaced by performers and other characters. This incarnation saw the biggest change, and actually at the time was quite an unpopular move. Eventually more characters were added back in, and for the past 4 years the parade continued to bring a unique energy to the streets of the Magic Kingdom.
The cast, characters and performers of the parade - some of which I know were there from the start of Share a Dream Come True Parade, deserve a huge congratulations on their dedication to one of the longest running parades in Disney history, for their constant enthusiasm and smiles, and bringing life to a parade that had been out of date for several years now.
Although many people I know will miss this parade, as with everything, change is constant, and something like a parade that showcases the wonderful, magical worlds of our beloved Disney characters, needs to remain fresh and to bring something brand new. In the spring of this year the Magic Kingdom will welcome the Festival of Fantasy Parade, and I for one, cannot wait!
Let's celebrate the life and times of Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade with a photo tribute from Jon and I's favourite moments watching it over the years.
Dan. |
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 | Happy Topsy Turvy Day! | |
| DisneyDan
Monday, January 6, 2014 4:53:53 AM |
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Today is the 6th January which, according to Clopin in The Hunchback of Notre Dame, is Topsy Turvy Day!
So when you go to work today, be sure to wear your PJs, or eat ice cream for dinner... or any number of wacky things that I'm sure Clopin and the Parisian citizens at the Festival of Fools would happily endorse!
Happy Topsy Turvy Day everyone!
Dan. |
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 | New Year, New Updates! | |
| 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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 | 2013 - A Character Filled Year in Review | |
| DisneyDan
Friday, January 3, 2014 10:27:12 AM |
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Hello everyone,
Last year, 2013, was an incredible year for us here at Character Central, filled with some awesome moments.
For the past couple of years I have done my 'Year in Review' here on the blog, but I don't think any of them will compare to this one!
Let's start at the beginning of the year of course, at the Disneyland Resort in California, where we finished up a wonderful Christmas trip on New Year's Day meeting some characters around Disneyland Park.
Warning! This is a very long, photo-heavy post! If you're on the Blog home, then click to continue! [ Read More... ] |
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 | Merry Christmas Everyone!! | |
| DisneyDan
Wednesday, December 25, 2013 12:58:50 PM |
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Merry Christmas Everyone!!
(Notice that Santa is wearing his robe now that Christmas Eve is done, and he can now relax for another year!)
Dan and Jon
Character Central |
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| Advent Calendar - Christmas Eve | |
| DisneyDan
Tuesday, December 24, 2013 1:02:06 AM |
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It's Christmas Eve which means it is time to open the next door of our very special Character Central advent calendar!
Click to find out who it is today!
[ Read More... ] |
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 | Advent Calendar - 23rd December | |
| DisneyDan
Monday, December 23, 2013 3:55:28 PM |
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It's the 23rd December which means it is time to open the next door of our very special Character Central advent calendar!
Click to find out who it is today!
[ Read More... ] |
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 | Advent Calendar - 22nd December | |
| DisneyDan
Sunday, December 22, 2013 2:13:33 AM |
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It's the 22nd December which means it is time to open the next door of our very special Character Central advent calendar!
Click to find out who it is today!
[ Read More... ] |
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