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Hi all,
There isn't much to report today, but thought I'd update nonetheless!
Over in Disneyland, it was announced that Mardi Gras would once again return to New Orleans Square in the form of the New Orleans Bayou Bash. It sounds as though it has been lifted right from last year's similar events during the Character Fan Weekends, but has a more extended run dedicated solely to this theme.
According to the Parks Blog there will be "special entertainment will include performances by Princess Tiana, Louis and Naveen and meet & greet opportunities with Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Donald, Goofy, Pluto and Chip ‘n’ Dale – all dressed up in their Mardi Gras finest!"
You can find out more information, including dates on our Forum post about it here.
Loren has posted his most recent weekly character update from Disneyland, and that can also be found here on our Forum.
At Walt Disney World this afternoon, there was a special mini-parade to celebrate the Big Game that happened this weekend. Although I don't have pictures to share, I know that Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Chip and Dale were there on the parade route dressed in their special sports outfits, along with cheerleaders and balloon vendors selling special football shaped balloons!
In Tokyo last week they announced that Easter Wonderland would be returning. This high energy event has a long run through the Spring period, and is very popular, as with all seasonal events at the Japanese parks. You can find out more information about this here in Jon's post on our Forum.
Be sure to check out my first in a series of special articles for character hunting at the Disney Parks and Resorts, which includes our top 10 places. The first Resort is Walt Disney World, which can be found here. Check back in the next few days to find similar articles for Disneyland and Disneyland Paris!
We celebrated Peter Pan's birthday yesterday with a special tribute blog post, which you can see here.
Finally, we know there have been some issues with being able to access the site since Sunday, and we are working with our host to resolve these issues. Please be patient, but be assured we will be fully back on line as soon as possible!
As always we thank you all for your continued support. We really appreciate it.
Dan. |
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 | Happy Anniversary Peter Pan! | |
| DisneyDan
Sunday, February 5, 2012 5:40:30 AM |
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Today is the 59th anniversary of Walt Disney's masterpiece, Peter Pan.
Peter Pan premièred at the Roxy Theatre in New York City on this day in 1953, and is an adaptation of Sir J M Barrie's 1904 play.
In true Character Central tradition, we are celebrating this occasion by showcasing some our favourite shots from the Parks and Resorts over the years. We have had some wonderful, magical memories with the Peter Pan gang and hope to have many, many more!
Ok everybody, here we go! Off to Neverland!
Happy Birthday to Peter Pan, the Lost Boys and all their friends - and foes! - in Neverland!
Dan. |
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Hi all,
Welcome to this first in a special series of articles looking at the top 10 best places for meeting the Disney Characters at the Disney Parks and Resorts.
In this first edition we look at Walt Disney World Resort's top ten. Throughout the article you can click the links to the specific places mentioned to find more detailed information about meeting characters there. At the end of the top ten, be sure to check our links to other hints and tips pages on this site!
So, let us begin in the Magic Kingdom...
1. Town Square - Town Square has a number of different character meet 'n' greet oppportunities, namely the Town Square Theater. At Town Square Theater you can meet Mickey and Minnie Mouse at Mickey's backstage dressing room. In a separate room of the theatre you can also meet the Disney Princesses. There are usually three, and are usually from the main 5 (Belle, Aurora, Cinderella, Ariel or Snow White), although Tiana and Rapunzel are there from time to time also.
Outside in the street, by the flagpole you can normally meet Daisy Duck or Pluto. Sometimes Pinocchio makes appearances too. You may bump into the Citizens of Main Street from time to time, including Mayor Weaver, Victoria Trumpetto and Fire Chief Smokey Miller.
2. Adventureland - Adventureland is the new home of the Fairies of Pixie Hollow, who were evicted from their previous location last year to make way for the new Fantasyland expansion. Tinker Bell is almost a dead cert, and these days either Terence or Vidia with her, although you may find any one of the other 4 Fairies instead (Silvermist, Fawn, Rosetta or Iridessa).
Adventureland is also the home to Pirate Goofy, Aladdin and Jasmine. For a small area of the park you can meet a good number of characters in a short space of time!
3. Halloween or Christmas Parties - These are EXCELLENT opportunities for meeting some neat characters, and meeting characters in special outfits. They can vary from year to year, but most recently the two different seasonal events have seen the likes of the Seven Dwarfs, Gaston and the Princes, to name but a few. Mickey and Minnie are on hand to meet fans at the Town Square Theater, and will be in special themed costumes, and look out for other favourite characteres around the park wearing seasonal attire approriate for that party.
Now let's take the Monorail over to EPCOT...
4. Future World - Future World is home to the EPCOT Character Spot (opposite Innoventions West), where you can meet Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy and Pluto all in one go. Opposite the Character Spot, Chip and Dale usually meet their fans. Inside Innoventions West, for those who hold a Disney VISA card you can have a special meet 'n' greet with two random characters (you'll need to show your card and ID, and will not know which characters are inside until you enter).
At the main entrance in Future World you will often find Stitch or Daisy Duck meeting near Spaceship Earth.
Sometimes, if you're lucky you can find random/rare characters inside the hallway behind the Character Spot.
5. World Showcase - World Showcase offers some fantastic character meeting opportunities. Here are some of our favourites:
Mexican Donald at Mexico
Mary Poppins, Alice and three random Pooh friends at the United Kingom
Marie, Aurora, Belle and Beast at France
There are more, but those are the more noteworthy ones!
At Christmas World Showcase offers the fantastic Holidays Around the World Celebration, which means you can meet a whole load more special seasonal characters, from the Monkey King in China, the Three Kings in Mexico, the Nutcracker in Germany and many more!
On occasion you may also find random characters appearing at International Gateway, World Showplace (near Canada and UK pavilions) or to the side of the American Adventure. Recently fans have met the likes of John Smith, Meg and Foulfellow to name but a few rare ones!
We exit through the International Gateway and make our way down the river to Hollywood Studios now...
6. Animation Building - The Animation Building is home to Sorcerer Mickey, the Incredibles (any combination of Mr, Mrs or Frozone), plus lots of random ones down on the floor later the day. These can vary widely from day to day but can include Goofy, Mulan, Aladdin, Pocahontas and more! We think this is a great place to cool off, and meet some random characters!
7. Star Wars Weekends - During the early summer (May/June), Hollywood Studios hosts the ridiculously popular Star Wars Weekends. A fantastic experience, but immensly busy, you can meet Stormtroopers, Anakin, Darth Vader, Ewoks, Leia, Luke and many, many more (there are far too many to list). On top of that, the Fab 5 friends get in on the act too, and you can find Jedi Mickey, Vader Goofy, Stormtrooper Donald and Leia Minnie! We highly recommend these weekends to anyone, especially Star Wars and Character fans, but be prepared for long waits!
Let us cool off now under the shade and trees of Animal Kingdom...
8. Discovery Island - At Discovery Island you can find Flik and any given three Pooh friends (nearly always Pooh, Tigger and Eeyore - but Piglet has been known to appear also).
9. Camp Minnie-Mickey - probably the best place in the park for characters, here you can meet Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Donald or Daisy all dressed in their Camp Councillor outfits at the Greetings Trails. Wandering around Camp Minnie-Mickey you can almost always find some other loveable pals to hang out with.
Thumper, Miss Bunny and Chip 'n' Dale are nearly always there. We have also seen Meeko, Pocahontas, Brer Bear and Brer Rabbit there recently. In the past Koda and Kenai would meet fairly often too, but not so much any more.
Finally for our top 10 WDW character hot spots is something special at the Grand Floridian...
10. 1900 Park Fare - Although 1900 Park Fare is a character meal which you have to pay extra for, there variety of characters is good, and can vary depending on the time of day/type of meal. You can meet the Tremaines, Cinderella, Prince Charming, Mary Poppins, Alice, Pooh, the Mad Hatter or others depending on the time of your visit, making it probably the most varied character meal on property (the others are very specific such as Princesses, Playhouse Disney or Fab 5, where as this one can vary).
I hope you all found that useful!
You might also want to check out our special Hints and Tips Blog Post here, and join our members discussion about hints and tips for meeting characters here on our Forum. Other users have posted some great tips, so be sure to check those out and maybe make your own contributions!
Stay tuned over the next few days for my next in this series which will be Disneyland Paris's Top 10!
Dan. |
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Hi all,
There hasn't been much in the way of news recently, but I do have just a couple of things to share.
We have been hearing for a while that Princess Merida will appear at WDW later this year, once the new PIXAR movie 'Brave' is released.
We now hear from several different sources that Merida will be appearing with her brothers, but with a twist! We hear that they are going to be moving into Caspian's old location in Hollywood Studios, and Merida will be a face character (PIXAR's first!) and her three brothers will be puppets! We're not sure how this will work as yet, but will keep you posted as always when we hear more.
Over at Disneyland, Loren took part in another marathon, this time the brand new Never Land 5K. He got to meet some awesome characters, so why not check out his character picture filled post about here on our Forum!
We have been working hard as always to add more and more content to the site. Many, many pages have a lot of new photos showing in their "Most Recent" sections, so next time you visit a location or character page be sure to scroll down to see if there is anything new.
We have also added a new section to our Forum - Collector's Corner, where you can discuss all things collectible! From Vinylmations to Pin Trading, we have it covered!
Ok, that's about it for now. I have some special new articles coming later this week so be sure to check back for those!
Dan. |
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 | 54 Years of Walking Once Upon a Dream... | |
| DisneyDan
Sunday, January 29, 2012 6:23:58 AM |
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Today is the 54th anniversary of the premier of Walt Disney's masterpiece, Sleeping Beauty.
Although it is thought the fairytale of Sleeping Beauty goes back even further, the first actual written account of the story was by French author Charles Perrault in the late 17th century.
Let us take a look now at the character filled magic of Sleeping Beauty at the Disney Parks and Resorts worldwide, and what better way to begin than with Charles Perrault himself (as featured at Disneyland Paris in 2011). [ Read More... ] |
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 | Happy 51st Anniversary 101 Dalmatians! | |
| DisneyDan
Wednesday, January 25, 2012 9:09:32 AM |
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Today is the 51st anniversary of Disney's 17th animated classic, 101 Dalmatians.
Sadly the only character to ever have real representation in the parks is the villainous Cruella de Vil.
Her bumbling henchmen did briefly make appearances during the Disney Cinema Parade in Paris some years ago, but haven't been seen in a very long time.
But, nonetheless, let's celebrate as we always do, by taking a look at some of Cruella's highlights from her appearances in the parks.
Dan. |
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 | Toontown Celebrates 19 years! | |
| DisneyDan
Tuesday, January 24, 2012 9:19:38 AM |
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On this day 19 years ago, Disneyland was allowed to open up the magical portal to the world of Toontown - the place where all Disney's most cherished animated Characters live, work, and play!
So let's celebrate the occasion with some of our Character filled memories of Toontown over the years!
Why not start your day in the big city with an introductory ceremony for all new visitors. You'll become an honorary citizen of the most colourful place on Earth!
You never know who you might find wandering around Toontown...
Finally, why not take the time to visit Mickey Mouse at home. You might be lucky enough to find him wearing an outfit from one of his most famous starring roles...
Here's to another 19 years of magic at Toontown!
Dan. |
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 | Happy Lunar New Year! | |
| DisneyDan
Monday, January 23, 2012 7:59:53 AM |
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Today is Lunar New Year across various parts of Asia, including China.
To celebrate I have put together some character pictures of Mulan, Mushu, Li Shang, Shan Yu and Pluto (at Hong Kong Disneyland wearing his Chinese collar and hat!) for you to enjoy.
You should also check out Loren's post on our Forums about all the special Lunar New Year happenings at Disneyland in California. With special Character meet 'n' greets and performances, if you're near to DL you should stop by and check it out!
Happy Lunar New Year everyone!
Dan.
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As we all know, Disney never throws anything away. This could not be more true in the case of the Casey Jr Circus Train at Disneyland Paris.
The train started it's life in the Wonderful World of Disney Parade in the 1990's.
In 2007 Disneyland Paris celebrated it's 15th anniversary, and the cute little engine became the Disney Character Express. The Character Express was a fantastic way of meeting some quite random characters, from Peter Pan, the Sheriff of Nottingham, Eeyore and many more.
After the 15th ended its (2 year) run, the train underwent it's second transformation to become its third incarnation - Minnie's Party Train.
A similar idea to the Character Express, but somewhat more limited in characters - and virtually always including Minnie Mouse the Party Train stayed for a year, then became the Disney All Stars Express.
Once again, a way of meeting an increasingly less random number of characters - and usually PIXAR or Fab 5.
Last year for Mickey's Magical Celebration, the poor train suffered another make over, but this time around lost the meet 'n' greet part, and presented a small interactive show called the Disney Dance Express.
Probably the most popular version of the train since the Character Express, the show sadly ended just recently... and guess what?
You got it! The Casey Jr will be returning once again for the 20th anniversary in its SIXTH incarnation, but this time as the 20th Anniversary Celebration Train (name subject to change).
From the concept art we have seen, this looks to probably be our personal favourite since the Character Express way back in 2007.
With new colours, and fantastic new 20th anniversary costumes for the characters, we look forward to singing Choo Choo Papa, Choo Choo Papa for at least another year!
Dan. |
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