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No trip to a Disney Park would be complete without meeting everybody's favourite star, and the world's most famous mouse, Mickey! I've compiled a list of our top places to meet him at each of the 11 Disney Parks around the world. Some of them are not as obvious as you would initially anticipate, as I have tried to offer suggestions of places where you find him wearing different outfits, or where lines are shorter.
So, let's take a look! I've organised the locations purely by destination, and not in any kind of rank order.
1. Disneyland Park at the Disneyland Resort in California
Disneyland is the gateway to the whimsical world of Toontown, and where better to meet Mickey than in his house there? Depending on your time of visiting, Mickey could be wearing a variety of outfits which include his classic suit, his bandleader outfit, Steamboat Willie outfit or Sorcerer's Apprentice hat and gown. You never know which one he'll be wearing, and while you wait you get to explore the magical home of the world's most beloved mouse!
2. Disney California Adventure at the Disneyland Resort in California
When Mickey visits DCA, he greets is fans on the historical Buena Vista Street, wearing his 1920's Los Angeles clothes. It's a cute outfit and a fitting location indeed.
3. Magic Kingdom Park at the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida
Mickey's home at the Magic Kingdom is in Town Square Theater on Main Street USA. Here Mickey feels most comfortable, and actually talks to guests whilst wearing his special magicians costume! What sort of conversation will you have with him?
Sadly we haven't yet visited Mickey at Town Square Theater since he started talking to guests. The photo above is from a previous visit. The picture below is one taken by our good friend Lori, who has been lucky enough to meet him since he started talking!
4. EPCOT at the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida
While visiting EPCOT, Mickey greets guests at the Character Spot. Although he doesn't wear a special outfit here, it is the only place you can meet him regularly in the park.
Note that the backdrop has changed since we last saw Mickey here, but remains largely similar.
5. Disney Hollywood Studios at the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida
At Disney's Hollywood Studios, Mickey wears his Sorcerer's Apprentice inside the Magic of Disney Animation building. Which spells will you help him conjure up?
6. Disney's Animal Kingdom Theme Park at the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida
Join Mickey before he sets off on his next expedition, at the Adventurers Outpost on Discovery Island! Minnie is nearly always there too, also wearing her explorers costume.
7. Disneyland Park at Disneyland Paris
This one is a bit more obscure (you might have expected I had chose 'Meet Mickey Mouse' in Fantasyland), but I have chosen Discoveryland because when Mickey visits the retro-future he dons his special space suit. Although he doesn't come out daily in Discoveryland, unlike the rest of the locations listed above, it is fairly regular, and it is the only place in the world you will find Mickey wearing a space suit!
8. Walt Disney Studios Park at Disneyland Paris
When he's filming on location at the Studios, Mickey greets fans wearing his classic outfit at Toon Plaza, in Toon Studios. The backdrop is nearly always that of his house back in Toontown.
9. Tokyo Disneyland at Tokyo Disney Resort
Again, you might have expected me to chose Mickey's permanent location in Toontown, but that can often get lines of 4 hours or more, and so I have picked somewhere a bit more "relaxed". Although he doesn't come out daily in Westernland, when he does, Mickey wears his special Western outfit. The Japanese call this a "free" character set, meaning he will walk around greeting guests, instead of having a multi-hour wait! Be warned though, when he appears, there will nearly always be hoards of Japanese fans screaming for the attention of their idol! The experience of watching them do that is alone worth meeting Mickey here over any structured location!
10. Tokyo DisneySea at Tokyo Disney Resort
Deep in the heart of the Lost River Delta, Mickey is on an excavation trip. When he's taking a break from digging up ancient ruins, he greets his fans in his tent, wearing his cute archaeologist outfit. This is one of the few places at Tokyo Disney Resort where a structured meet 'n' greet location has relatively "short" lines, too, making it a great place to visit Mickey and friends!
11. Hong Kong Disneyland at the Hong Kong Disneyland Resort
Bears and gold are the main attraction in the little town of Grizzly Gulch. It's also where Mickey likes to hang out when visiting Hong Kong Disneyland, and he does it in style, wearing his excellent gold rush costume! Minnie nearly always appears alongside him, too.
Of course, these locations aren't the only places at the parks where you can meet the Big Cheese, but are the ones that I felt were different or unique in some way.
Dan. |
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 | Happy 7th Birthday Hong Kong Disneyland! | |
| DisneyDan
Wednesday, September 12, 2012 5:39:30 AM |
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Today is the 7th anniversary of the opening of Disney's second Asian resort, and first in China, Hong Kong Disneyland.
We are away in Florida right now, and I can't make a longer post, but here's some pictures I managed to get together to celebrate!
Happy Birthday Hong Kong Disneyland!
Dan. |
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Hi all,
This week various sources are reporting that Tinker Bell's newest Fairy friend from Pixie Hollow, Perrywinkle, will start appearing this autumn at the US Parks.
When we hear more we'll of course post here on the blog.
Over in Hong Kong, they are just about 4 weeks away from the second of the three new lands to open there, Grizzly Gulch. The official HK Disneyland Facebook page and the website both confirm that Mickey, Minnie, Chip and Dale will appear in the new land in Western themed outfits, as well as Koda and Kenai from Brother Bear (the link being here that Grizzly Gulch is named after the famed bear shaped mountain that casts a shadow over the small mining town).
We are going to be in HKDL on two trips this year, so we REALLY look forward to seeing that when we go!
Over in California Loren reports that Donald is replacing Mickey at Paradise Pier. The reason, apparently is because Mickey will now be appearing down in Buena Vista Street in his new 1920s outfit.
The flaw in that logic is that Donald also will be meeting down there in a new 1920s outfit too. But either way, it means Donald is getting a new outfit for Paradise Pier, as well as the 1920s one!
Finally, and also in DCA, Loren also reports that an inside source has told him that the new Dance Party over in the Backlot will feature random and possibly rare characters this summer!
As always, we'll keep you up to date with any changes!
One last thing to mention - Happy 18th Birthday The Lion King! Check out my special tribute here on the blog!
Dan. |
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Hi all, The last week or so has been fairly quiet overall (again) for character news, but I have the following to share. Not character related, but Disneyland Paris have now launched an official fan survey, where you can give quite in-depth feedback. There is a section on there to mention websites that you frequent for all you DLP news and information needs - so Jon and I would be eternally grateful if you would list us! Staying with Disneyland Paris, and after months of speculation, and nearly happening (I mentioned this back in June I think), Disney's Stars 'n' Cars has finally dropped the show part of the show/parade at the Studios. It has always been a bit of a struggle for them to make it work feasibly, ensuring everyone can see the show and the parade, and so now I guess they finally gave up trying. With the limited space and many disappointed guests who cannot get to the show part in time enough to get a good space, a straight out parade seems the most logical option. Of course, they do now need to beef it up a bit with some more characters or performers along the parade route, but we'll see what happens... Earlier in the year, when I was discussing the upcoming changes to the Once Upon a Dream Parade in DLP, I mentioned that the Dreams of Power (Villains) float would be dropped. Although this is still the case, we have heard that it will be back for Halloween next year, implying maybe that DLP are going to make a return to some special Halloween additions to the Parade, which were dropped for the first time this year, with much uproar from the fans. Maybe they learned their lesson? Be sure to check out the latest instalment of my Grand Circle Tour of DLP which of course includes some character encounters, and stay tuned for the next part coming this week. Finally for Paris, construction on Mickey's new meet 'n' greet location at the former Fantasy Festival Stage has begun, and you can check out my special report on it here. Discover the wonder and magic of this new location in Fantasyland! Jumping across the pond now to Florida, and I realise I'm a bit late on this one, but the Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Parties have started in Florida, and as expected, no-one really special has showed up. Although Phineas and Ferb are appearing in Christmas hats and scarves, which is a nice addition to their usual costumes (they normally meet at DHS in the daytime). Also in Florida, Holidays Around the World started this week at EPCOT, and saw the return of many favourite characters including Father Christmas and Nowell the Lumberjack. Florida has also had some sort of divine inspiration this last week or two, and our friends on the ground have been reporting some cool random appearances, including Li Shang in China (who will be back on December 1st - so go check him out!) and John Smith. Ther have been some others too, but they were the most exciting ones! Over in California, Loren posted his latest report, and includes some of the character related Holiday happenigs there. Finally, Hong Kong Disneyland opened it's brand new Toy Story Land, and Woody, Jessie and the Green Army Men are reported to now be appearing regularly. Ok I think that's all for now. Nothing extraordinary, but good to catch up nonetheless! Dan. |
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 | More updates live from Hong Kong! | |
| DisneyDan
Tuesday, July 26, 2011 6:35:55 PM |
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Hi all,
I have some more photo updates for you now from our current trip to Hong Kong Disneyland!
Here is a special meet 'n' greet we had with Timon and the cast of the Festival of the Lion King, on Monday.
We got to meet my favourite character, Stitch, at the Stitch Encounter attraction.
We met Buzz Lightyear in Tomorrowland also.
We saw Lightning McQueen roll by for his new show here in HKDL, Lightning McQueen "Live"!
Tinker Bell was at her new Pixie Hollow location in Fantasyland ready to fly with us to Neverland.
Over at City Hall Donald and Daisy were in their 5th anniversary outfits.
Goofy and his son Max were at a special meet 'n' greet at Main Street Station one evening.
We met Duffy the Disney Bear over at the Fantasy Gardens area, and became the first people in the world to meet Duffy at every Disney Resort! (He isn't out in Paris at all, but we had a very special meet last month on our Magical Moments Events Tour)
Mickey and Minnie were in their beach gear ready to greet us at the same event as Goofy and Max.
And finally Pluto was also at the Fantasy Gardens in his cute little Chinese hat and collar.
Ok, more later tonight after our third and final day in the park!
Dan.
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 | We have arrived in Hong Kong! | |
| DisneyDan
Sunday, July 24, 2011 4:44:15 AM |
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Hi all, The Character Central Team have arrived safely in Hong Kong, and have free WiFi at the hotel! So expect updates over the next few days while we are here! We are not staying at Disneyland itself, but on Hong Kong Island. We will be in the park from tomorrow, but for now here is a quick pic I snapped as we whizzed by the Disneyland Resort exit on the highway on the way to the hotel!
Dan.
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Hi all, To begin with today, Walt Disney World are going to be hosting a series of DVC promotional events, and characters will be present! More information can be found on the Forum here. Staying in WDW, for the 4th of July the patriotic Mickey, Goofy and Donald as seen in previous years are set to make appearances at the American Adventure. Jumping across the world to Hong Kong, and we have heard that the Glow in the Dark Halloween parade will be returning once again. It looks really neat, and we hope we can see it some day! The park runs it during the evenings of October as an additional parade, without having to buy special tickets (unlike the US parks). Staying with Halloween, and flying back to the US, Disneyland Resort today put their Mickey's Halloween Treat tickets on general sale. We already have ours (Loren booked them when they went on sale to AP holders!), and will be attending two in mid-October - and we can't wait! It will be our first time to Halloween in California (having done Paris and Florida multiple times the last few years). Finally in Paris, I heard from a friend that Darth Vader and Chewbacca are going to be making appearances again throughout the summer as part of the Magical Moments Festival. They previously appeared for the last three months of last year, but disappeared in January. Ok, that's all for now, Dan. |
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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... ] |
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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... ] |
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