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Hi all,
Not really a news update per se, but more just some updates regarding some things that have been going on at the Parks over the last week or so.
Halloween has of course started now at DL and DLP.
DLP has seen a massive overhaul of it's Halloween Season this year, with some FANTASTIC new decorations, lots of new entertainment (at least 3 new bands!), as well as the return of the Trick or Treat stage show starring Mickey and Friends.
The Villains have all returned, and meet daily in Fantasyland, and Jack and Sally are back at Phantom Manor. Villains I have confirmation of this year are: Maleficent, The Witch, Dr Facilier, The Tremaines, Frollo, Gaston, Cruella, Gideon, Ratcliffe, Jafar, the Queen of Hearts, Shan Yu and Hook.
Goofy also has a new location on Main Street, as well as brand new outfit. Pooh has returned once again in his Bumblebee costume, too.
In California, the bulk of their Halloween offerings have moved to the Big Thunder Ranch in Frontierland.
The Villains and Mickey and Friends are all there in their Halloween finest. There are also some other small Halloween offerings, activities and games that take place there.
Of course, the park is decked out for the season too.
Much to the fans sadness, and although it was almost expected, Buena Vista Street was not decorated this year for its first Halloween.
This year we'll be visiting FOUR of the Resorts (9 of 11 parks!) for Halloween! We've already done WDW two weeks back, next up is Hong Kong, followed by Tokyo, the finally Paris! 17 days and counting until that craziness begins!
Speaking of Halloween and Florida, they had one of their many marathons that they hold, just last week, and it was a special Halloween themed one. More accurately, it was Villains, and there were some really neat characters there. Most notable were the Hyenas and the Haunted Mansion Gravediggers! We would LOVE to meet the Hyenas!
Jumping back to Paris, you may have noticed that Duffy was missing from the list of characters for Halloween. It was originally expected that he would appear in the same outfit as the US Parks, but in fact, he has been recently dropped from the park altogether (namely due to lack of interest from Guests).
We have heard that he will probably not return for Christmas, either.
Over in Florida, we have heard that at Disney's Hollywood Studios, the long running Beauty and the Beast show will be leaving, as will the Little Mermaid show. No word yet as to when, or what their replacements will be.
Florida has also mixed up some characters this autumn. Marie has moved from EPCOT to Magic Kingdom, Beast has left altogether (to get ready for his debut in the winter at MK presumably) and Chip 'n' Dale have moved from Camp Minnie-Mickey to Rafiki's Planet Watch.
I think there may have been some other minor changes too, but I don't recall what they were right now!
Back to DLP now, and today saw something quite unusual. The Three Good Fairies - Flora, Fauna and Merryweather - made a surprise appearance in Fantasyland! Apparently DLP is considering having them out regularly, and so they asked the Fairies to appear for Guests today to test their popularity! Amazing!
We had heard previously (and I have mentioned this before I think), that DLP want to start having more and more rare characters appear (something that they have always been good at anyway!), and so maybe this is the start of that? A very good start I would say!
Recently there was a promotion in France by Disney for the new Cinderella DVD release, and something quite odd happened. Disney France gave Prince Charming a name for the very first time! Disney has always insisted that the Prince's name was indeed Charming, but now I guess they have decided otherwise! The name was Henri (French of course for Henry)!
So next time you see Prince Charming in the Parks, call him Prince Henri, and see what he says!
And now to Christmas at DLP. I have to say that when I saw the release for the Holiday information this year, it made me REALLY sad that we won't be in DLP for Christmas, as we'll be in DL instead (which I'm still really excited about, of course!).
Here's a list of EVERYTHING that has been confirmed for DLP Christmas thus far, including some really neat BRAND NEW character related items!
Both DL Parc and WDS are getting brand new Christmas Trees and decorations! The DL Parc Tree will feature all new lights and decorations on it.
DL Parc is also getting brand new decorations and garlands all up Main Street, as well as brand new "snow scenes" around Central Plaza featuring character snowmen!
Brand new 3 times per day Christmas Cavalcade in DL Parc featuring Mickey and Friends, Toy Story, Santa and other Holiday friends. FOUR floats - 2 of which are brand new!!
NO MORE PRINCESS LAMP POSTS!! HOORAY!!
Christmas lights ("ice") on the rooftops of the Castle.
Tree Lighting Ceremony with Mickey and Friends
Brand new outfit and Christmas photolocation on Main Street for Minnie!
Brand new Christmas photolocation for Mickey in the Studios that is a "Christmas Tree Forest"
Santa Goofy in Town Square
Santa Claus at the Cottonwood Creek Ranch
Snowfall on Main Street
"it's a small world" Celebration
NEW Christmas photolocation at the Old Mill for Belle! (replaces Belle's Christmas Village)
Jack and Sally at Phantom Manor - they will be staying after Halloween Season to meet throughout Christmas, for the first time ever!
How amazing does all that sound?!
Ok, so I think that is all for now! It was quite a DLP-heavy article today, but then, I guess that is because they have the most news to share!
As always, you can share your own thoughts and discuss with others on our Forums.
Dan. |
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Hi all,
I was going through some old emails and I noticed one I had sent to myself before the California trip regarding some news... But of course I had forgot to report it! LOL!
Anyway, there is some new news this evening, so I thought I would report this old news and new news altogether :)
The Disney Parks Blog finally announced when the New Fantasyland would fully open (minus the Fairytale Hall and Mine Coaster - they are both coming a lot later) on December 6th this year! This means that the new character features should be open by then too, including the new Enchanted Tales with Belle (replacement for Storytime with Belle), Pete's Silly Side Show (which I reported on earlier this week, and includes some cool new outfits for the VIPs!), Ariel's Grotto (which will see the return of Ariel in her true Mermaid form!) and also some new character appearances! We have heard that Gaston and Beast will start greeting guests in the New Fantasyland, as of course it will be heavily themed towards their home village.
We have also heard "someone" will move from EPCOT to Magic Kingdom. My theory is that this is Beast. He is a difficult character to cast, and thus having him two places would be awkward. So, although I could be wrong, the EPCOT character that is moving, in my opinion, will probably be Beast.
On top of that, because of the fact Donald and Goofy will now appear in the new Circus area in new outfits, they will no longer both meet in Frontierland. I have heard that Chip and Dale will be leaving Tomorrowland and will appear in Frontierland instead. This will leave Stitch and Buzz in Tomorrowland.
Overall this means we are gaining Gaston to the regualr character line-up at the Magic Kingdom.
For Mickey's Not So Scary in the Magic Kingdom, Panchito on our forum reported that Phineas and Ferb may appear in Town Square. Their addition could mean the loss of Rafiki and Timon in Adventureland.
At Disney's Hollywood Studios, Agent P is now strongly rumoured to start appearing in the Fall. If we hear more we'll report it!
Over at Disneyland Paris, you may recall that I had mentioned a while ago that Duffy had been sidelined in favour of more popular characters during quieter hours. Well, now it appears that he has been taken off the times guides altogether. The new one for this week completes omits his location on Main Street. We still hear he will be around for Halloween Season though in a special costume.
Also at DLP, a while ago I had heard that the Cowboy Cookout was returning to a regular restaurant from the start of November. User Frollo on our Forum now reports that he has heard this will be from the start of October. So, say goodbye to the the most peculiar tea party in the Wild West! (For those of you who aren't aware, Cowboy Cookout was an amazing counter service restaurant at DLP in Frontierland. About 3 years ago they stopped the regualr operation of the venue and added a "Tea Party with Disney Characters". A tea party with Woody, Jessie and the VIPs in their Western gear, in Frontierland. It was a n odd concept, but one which was very well received, reasonably priced, and offered good food).
I actually look forward to it returning as a counter service restaurant, despite being a huge character fan. It is more fitting that such a grand restaurant fulfil it's true potential.
That isn't all this week's news - check my post from two days ago, too, for some other relevant things!
Ok, I think that's all for now. Please remember that everything is rumour or speculation until confirmed by Disney. We try to be as accurate as possible, but s with everything, things can change!
Dan. |
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Hi all,
A few small pieces of information for this week, but nothing major.
Christmas Season ended at the Parks and Resorts, and at Disneyland Paris, unusually, Mickey's Winter Wonderland - which previously was a winter show running through February - ended also.
This now makes Winter Wonderland more a Christmas show than a Winter one, which is a little sad since it added some nice seasonal entertainment through the boring months of January and February!
Along with that, Central Plaza Stage has begun being decommissioned, hence ending the Mickey's Magical Celebration show. Disney Dance Express also had it's last performance.
The Once Upon a Dream Parade lost the Imagination unit so it can be converted to the new Fairies unit, and the Romance 2 unit is soon to follow.
All these changes are in preparation for the 20th Anniversary celebration, which will begin on 1st April.
We can't wait to see everything they have planned once it is all up and running!
Staying with Paris, and of course with the end of Christmas Season the Characters revert back to regular outfits. Duffy had made his début in Paris during the Christmas period, and so now makes his official regular début on Main Street in his regular sailor outfit on a permanent basis, alongside Mickey Mouse. Incidentally, the new Mickey meet 'n' greet is taking shape apparently, with some fresh new colours being painted onto the former Fantasy Festival Stage building. Again, we look forward to seeing it completed!
Over in Florida, much to my sadness, Dug and Russell from UP have stopped meeting guests just a month after they were added at Animal Kingdom.
This week saw the half marathon and the full marathon in WDW, and there were some truly amazing characters there. We really want to do a marathon some year (when we eventually get time!), and if any year has spurred us on to want to do it, it was this year. We have so far seen pictures of Darkwing Duck, Ludwig Von Drake, the Three Little Pigs and the Big Bad Wolf, amongst others. There were many more of course, but they are the most amazing ones I have seen posted online so far. Oh what we wouldn't do to meet Darkwing and Ludwig!!
In California, Disneyland held their Three Kings Day celebration, and of course Loren was there to get all the best pictures for us! Check out his picture filled Forum post here.
Finally, I posted some photo filled entries that I thought I would just highlight, as they are worth a look.
You can check out Part One and Part Two of my Disneyland Paris Christmas and New Year Photo Trips Reports here and here respectively.
I also posted a great over view of all the fantastic Character related things we have done this year, in my Year in Review post which can be seen here.
Ok, that's all for now,
Dan. |
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Hi all, After a quiet couple of weeks on the characters news front, like buses, it all comes at once today! As Halloween Season across the parks draws to a close tonight, I have a few things to mention. Disney's Animal Kingdom, which for as long as one can remember has featured the Pooh and Fab 5 characters in Halloween outfits during the last few days of the season, has this year dropped this tradition. It was the only place across the WDW Resort you could meet any Halloween characters without having to pay for the parties (with exception to Duffy at Epcot this year). So we say a sad farewell to scarecrow Mickey, mummy Eeyore and all the other cool costumes from years passed. Over in the Magic Kingdom at the parties, it was reported that Donald has been seen in his pirate outfit on some random occasions even though he is supposed to be meeting as the pumpkin this year. Moving across the pond to Paris, and this weekend saw the Terrorific Nights return, this year with the addition of some Disney Villains. The event in it's two previous incarnations had billed itself as being the more adult, and much scarier event, with very little Disney influence at all. This year saw all the regular Villains from DLP's main Halloween Season and parties appear at the Studios events, including Shan Yu, The Witch, Hades, Frollo and Jafar. I had previously said that the Headless Horseman was making a surprise appearance at the Halloween version of Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show for all performance in the last week of October, and much to everyone's surprise, he even made it over to Terrorific Nights as well! Staying with Paris, but jumping ahead to next week, and in preparation for his Christmas Season public début, Duffy the Disney Bear is appearing at a special Annual Passholder event tomorrow at the Newport Bay Club. From 1pm to 2.30pm, Duffy will greet his fans who hold the Dream pass. I have no working link for the sign up, so you will have to contact Disney if you want to attend. Over in California, Loren keeps us up to date as always with any character developments there. His latest post can be found here, and includes details about the Christmas Day Parade taping at the park this coming weekend! It is likely to be awesome, but also very hectic, so make sure you read his post about all the events before you go! Over at WDWMagic, our friend Drew posted that Talking Mickey will be making appearances in WDW this week at Town Square Theater. Disney will probably not release any details about this, and it will be pot luck if you get to meet him. Let us know if you get to see him! Don't forget to check out all the latest additions to the site. Happy Halloween everyone! Dan. |
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Hi all, Yesterday the Disney Parks Twitter account very subtly announced that on October 1st - just 3 days away (and after much fan speculation) - there would be a character cavalcade, a sing along at the Castle and special merchandise "and more". This is the first and only time this has actually been announced in any official form, but finally ends the months of speculation that something might happen in the Magic Kingdom on that day. Sadly we can't be there, but will be watching the events unfold, and hope to bring you all the latest information when we have it. [ Read More... ] |
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Hi all, Let us begin today's news in California, where apparently the Pooh meet 'n' greet area is being removed. At the moment it is unclear as to whether there is a replacement in the works, or if the Pooh characters are being permanently evicted. I guess we'll see in a few weeks, but it is strange that they didn't work on this when the whole land (Critter Country) was completely closed for several months earlier this year! California doesn't really need any less characters, and the Pooh friends are especially popular, so let's hope they return in a fab new location soon! [ Read More... ] |
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 | Duffy around the world! | |
| DisneyDan
Saturday, July 30, 2011 6:16:04 AM |
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Hi all,
With the Hong Kong trip this last week, Jon and I have now been to every Disney Park - not to mention every park in the last year!
With the addition of HK DL to our list now, we have a rather unique claim to make. [ Read More... ] |
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Hi all,
As ever Jon and I have been working hard to improve the site
and its functionality, which means there have been some changes I need to point
out.
The much asked for, and much anticipated comments feature
for this blog is now up and running. At the end of each entry there is a link
that says Discuss this Blog Entry. If you click it, it will take you to a
pre-formatted version of this blog on the forum where you can post all your
replies. [ Read More... ] |
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