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Hello everyone,
Today the full Shanghai Disney Resort website went live for the first time, complete with park information, hotel information (with prices coming soon, apparently) and character and entertainment listings!
Yesterday Disney announced that the resort would open on June 16th this year, and so launching the official website today was a smart move.
So, let's take a look at what character offerings and entertainment we can expect at this brand new park!
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Hello everyone,
We have been exceptionally busy over the holiday season, so I have been a bit behind on the news front, but I finally have time today to provide a few small updates.
Earlier last month the new Star Wars Launch Bay opened at both Disneyland and Walt Disney World. They feature meet 'n' greets with Darth Vader and Chewbacca, as well as random appearances by some roaming characters such as Greedo and the Jawas. With the opening of the Launch Bay and preparations for Star Wars Land, we now know that Star Wars Weekends will not be returning, which is a huge shame.
Captain Phasma made her Disney parks debut at the Christmas parade taping during Christmas season at the Magic Kingdom, and subsequently appeared at a special post-premier event at Disney's Hollywood Studios. She has since appeared on the Star Wars float during the Rose Parade in California, where Kylo Ren also appeared, marking his Disney debut, albeit not in the parks.
Along similar lines, the Seventh Sister now appears during the new version of the Jedi Training Academy in both Disneyland and Walt Disney World.
Finally for Star Wars, the First Order Stormtroopers now appear randomly, not just at Disney's Hollywood Studios outside the Launch Bay, but also in Tomorrowland at Hong Kong Disneyland.
Baymax made a welcomed return to Epcot last month, at Innoventions, and it is strongly rumoured that Joy and Sadness might be appearing there soon, too - although that is purely rumour and unconfirmed right now.
Tow Mater, Lightning McQueen, Phineas and Ferb are leaving Disney's Hollywood Studios next week, according to various internet reports. This will mark the end of an era for the Disney Channel superstars, and their final appearance at DHS will be the last time they will be seen regularly at any Disney park.
At Disneyland Paris, the sorely missed hotel greetings have returned for a limited time, until the first week of March, 2016. The hotel characters were a staple of on-site stays for twenty years, and there was much uproar when Disney ended them last year. It is unclear as to why there has been a sudden, if only temporary, change of heart, but we can only speculate that the in-park greetings haven't been as well received as they'd anticipated (with many complaints about the long lines, limited numbers of characters out, etc).
Disneyland Paris also recently confirmed that there would be an increased character presence in Disneyland Park until the spring. Of course, what was really confirmed was the characters that already appear "randomly" (not on the schedule), but are actually always there, will now be made more available and easier to find, with (hopefully) longer hours, a queue line and some sort of schedule listing.
Finally, DLP has been working on a new show for the Chaparral Theatre, "The Forest of Enchantment", which is due to start on 10th February. Sadly it looks to only be a temporary show (ending 8th May), which is weird since they appear to be putting a lot of effort into it. We can hope that it'll run past the official end date and will be more permanent, as the park definitely needs some more permanent stage entertainment.
Ok, that's everything for now!
Have a great weekend everyone,
Dan. |
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Hello everyone,
Continuing with our Character A to Z, today we feature four characters from the Star Wars universe, that all star with 'A'; Ahsoka Tano, Anakin Skywalker, Asajj Ventress and Aurra Sing. All four of these characters have previously featured exclusively at Star Wars Weekends at Disney's Hollywood Studios. Sadly, earlier this week, Disney announced that Star Wars Weekends would no longer be featured at the park, and therefore 2015 was retrospectively the last year that (probably) all of these characters would come across the galaxy for a visit.
Let's take a look at each of them in turn. [ Read More... ] |
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Hello everyone,
Today the Disney Parks Blog announced that in preparation for the brand new 14 acre Star Wars Land coming to Disney's Hollywood Studios at Walt Disney World, Star Wars Weekends would no longer be presented, making this past year retrospectively the last one. This is quite a blow for the park, and Star Wars Weekends will be desperately missed by pretty much everyone.
In the same announcement they confirmed that the Star Wars Launch Bay - a new in-between attraction in preparation for the new land - will open on December 1st, and will feature character [ Read More... ] |
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| DisneyDan
Friday, September 4, 2015 9:07:32 AM |
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| Today has been dubbed Force Friday by Disney, in celebration of the upcoming film, Star Wars: The Force Awakens. To celebrate the day, I thought I'd share with you just a few of our photos from [ Read More... ] |
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Hello everyone,
It has been a while since I have had chance to make a full news post here on the blog, but today I thought it would be nice to finally share some of the things we have learned recently.
Let's start with Disneyland Resort in California, [ Read More... ] |
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Hello everyone,
At the end of May we spent ten days at the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida, where we attended (part of) the 24 hour event and two Star Wars Weekends. In this first part of my photo trip report, I'm going to cover the 24 hour event, the Four Seasons breakfast and Star War Weekends. The second part of this report will cover everything else.
This report is very photo-heavy, so be sure you have a good connection before clicking to continue.
[ Read More... ] |
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Hello everyone,
Today the Disney Parks Blog announced that the Disney Fantasy would be hosting a Star Wars Day during select sailings in the Western Caribbean, in early 2016.
Details, as per the Parks Blog and the DCL website, includes:
Star Wars Day at Sea will transport guests to a "galaxy" far, far away—in the Western Caribbean. The event features a full day of Star Wars celebrations, including:
- Deck party celebration
- Meet-and-greets with favorite Star Wars Characters
- Star Wars-themed activities for younglings of all ages
- Out-of-this-world food and beverage offerings
- Exclusive merchandise, and more!
The only at-sea screenings of Episode VII, at this event will thrill Padawans (Jedi in training) and Jedi Masters in every family. It is ... your destiny.
Sail Dates:
Star Wars Day at Sea will be available only aboard the Disney Fantasy on select Western Caribbean sailings, January through April in 2016. Star Wars Day at Sea will take place during cruises departing on the following dates:
January 9
January 23
February 6
February 20
March 5
March 19
April 2
April 16
Entertainment and events are subject to change without notice. Merchandise offerings available while supplies last.
That's everything for now!
Dan.
If you want to book your Disney Cruise Line vacation, why not contact Dan at Vacation with the Magic, and get a free, no obligation quote! |
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Hello everyone,
Let's start with Walt Disney World, where this week the Disney Parks Blog confirmed that the immensely popular Frozen Summer events are being extended by a whole month, until 28th September. This is great news for fans who want to experience the winter wonderland that has taken over Disney's Hollywood Studios! You can sing along with Anna, Elsa and Kristoff at a special show at the park, or watch them in the magically frozen parade that happens daily.
The Disney Parks Blog also announced that Baymax and Hiro from Disney's brand new movie, Big Hero 6, will debut as characters at the Disney parks in Anaheim and Orlando this autumn. No other details about where in the parks and for how long they'll greet for has been released yet. Once Disney say more, I'll be sure to update here on the blog.
Bob Iger told investors earlier this week at a meeting that, “We’re also developing ideas and designs for a far greater Star Wars presence in our parks,” and, “We expect to provide details about this sometime next year.” Nobody knows any more than that right now, but it's an exciting prospect nonetheless!
Mickey's Halloween Party tickets for Disneyland in California went on sale, and have dates from Friday 26th September through to Halloween night itself. Prices start from $56 for annual passholders online advance purchase.
The Tokyo Disney Resort Blog released some details about this year's Christmas events at their parks. The Japanese, as always, is quite difficult to translate, but I have managed to pull some details from it. At Tokyo DisneySea we can expect to see the Color of Christmas show on Mediterranean Harbor, featuring Mickey and friends. Over at Lost River Delta you can celebrate the Spanish festival of light, although I don't think any characters are involved - it sounded like just decorations and lights. At American Waterfront there seems to be another show, called Snow Crystal Illumination. I'm inclined to think this one may be a character show since it says it'll be at Waterfront Park, an area they usually use for character shows. However, again, it's hard to translate. There is also mention of character greetings, but no further details provided. Based on past years, it'll most likely be Duffy and ShellieMay in special costumes, but others could appear also. At Tokyo Disneyland, Disney's Santa Village Parade returns. As always with Japan, there will be lots of cool decorations, merchandise and treats available throughout the season, which runs from 7th November through 25th December inclusive.
If you haven't already read it, you should check out part 1 of my Grand Circle Tour of the Magic Kingdoms of the world. Part 2 will be coming soon!
Have a great weekend everyone,
Dan. |
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Hello everyone,
First of all, apologies for being absent recently, we have had a lot going on here (real life) and so I haven't had chance to keep as up to date as I would like. Anyway, there are some cool new things I want to talk about today.
First of all the big event of the week will be the 24 hour event, "Rock Your Disney Side", coming to Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom and both Disneyland Resort theme parks on Friday this week (23rd).
Details are a bit sketchy right now though, sadly, as Disney seem to want to keep tight-lipped about which characters will appear, when and where. Of course, this doesn't make planning easy, especially since it is likely to be exceptionally busy like the previous events!
I have highlighted below some of the key moments (mainly character experiences) for Disneyland Resort, as per the Disney Parks Blog:
Event operating hours: 6 a.m May 23rd until 6 a.m May 24th.
At Disneyland Park:
In terms of characters, that's pretty much all that has been announced for DLR, sadly. Of course everyone anticipates that there will be a lot of characters out and about, and there is speculation floating around that some characters - villains in particular - may replace the princesses at Royal Hall, but that has not been confirmed publicly by Disney yet.
Over in Walt Disney World, the Disney Parks Blog reported the following (again, I've only highlighted the important moments and character experiences):
Event operating hours: 6 a.m May 23rd until 6 am May 24th.- Everything kicks off with a special edition of the Welcome Show, as heroes and villains make their way to Magic Kingdom Park.
- The Move It! Shake It! Celebrate It! Street Party will feature Disney heroes at 10 a.m and Disney villains at 1:30 p.m. When it comes to the 5:45 p.m. performance, though, exactly who makes an appearance will be determined by your votes throughout the day! (More information on how you can vote will be posted on Friday morning on the Disney Parks Blog).
- Magic Kingdom Park parades will each have two performances. “Disney Festival of Fantasy Parade” will be at 12 p.m and 3:30 p.m, and Disney’s Main Street Electrical Parade at 11 p.m and 1 a.m.
- Wishes Nighttime Spectacular fireworks at 9 p.m
- Prior to each presentation of Disney’s Main Street Electrical Parade, the Disney villains roll through Magic Kingdom Park in a pre-parade, celebrating how “It’s Good to Be Bad!”
- Starting at 11 p.m half of Princess Fairytale Hall becomes Scary Tale Hall, where you can meet Maleficent and the Queen. The other side of the hall will still feature favourite royals Anna and Elsa.
- Around 1:45 a.m, the villains will take over the rest of the park’s character greeting locations. Where Aladdin and Jasmine appear in Adventureland during the day, expect to find Jafar. Dr. Facilier takes the place of Princess Tiana in Liberty Square, Captain Hook replaces Peter Pan in Fantasyland, and more!
- In Tomorrowland, the INCREDIBLES Super Dance Party rocks the Rockettower Plaza Stage from 4:30 p.m – 10 p.m, and is expected to feature characters from 'The Incredibles'.
- Disney’s “Up All Night” Dance Party at Cinderella Castle and the Frontierland Dance Party will run from 2 a.m – 5:45 a.m, and may (or may not...) feature Disney characters (no official confirmation, yet)
- The event concludes with a special “Kiss Goodnight” at 5:50 a.m at the Railroad Station in Town Square on Main Street, U.S.A.
The Move It Shake It heroes line up is likely to include Hercules, who has been seen out and about at EPCOT the past few weeks in preparation for his starring role in this event!
It should be noted that for both WDW and DLR there were more things announced such as bands, food and merchandise, which you can find out about if you search the Disney Parks Blog. Here at Character Central our main focus is of course characters!
Staying with Walt Disney World, and this year's Star Wars Weekends Celebrity Welcome and Motorcade saw the debut of three new characters to the Disney Parks! Sabine, Ezra and a grumpy droid named Chopper have all landed on Earth for the special weekends this year, from their new Star Wars TV show, 'Star Wars Rebels'.
Check out this video below from Attractions Magazine, which features the new characters in the Motorcade!
At the Magic Kingdom, Tinker Bell and her fairy friends have left the Nook in Adventureland, and sadly all the fairies have now left Florida and are heading back to Pixie Hollow. Tinker Bell has found a new home at Town Square Theatre on Main Street USA, filling the empty space left by the princesses when they moved into the new Fairytale Hall.
Other recent character changes in Walt Disney World include the Pooh characters leaving Animal Kingdom, and Donald and Daisy replacing them - just in regular outfits, sadly (I wonder what happened to their special DAK costumes from when they met in Camp Minnie-Mickey?).
Taking the heat off the summer at Disneyland Park in California, the Disney Parks Blog announced the other day that Anna and Elsa from the ever-popular Frozen will feature in a brand new pre-parade addition to Soundsational. At the moment no other details are known except they will feature from "mid-June".
Keeping with Frozen, and the big news this week was that there will be a brand new Disney On Ice show this autumn featuring the characters from Frozen! You may recall that I actually reported about this way back in January, when I even suggested that characters such as Olaf and Sven would appear, and now it has come true! The video below was posted by Disney On Ice and shows some great concept art for the new show.
The description on the Disney On Ice website also specifically mentions Olaf, Kristoff, Sven and the magical trolls, leading us to believe they will all feature in the new show!
Finally for news, and Hong Kong Disneyland finally announced today that their new nighttime parade will debut in October, ending long running speculation that it would start in the autumn. The brand new electric light parade will use innovative new technology and will be interactive, too, whereby guests can use a mobile app to control the colour changes on the floats!
Don't forget that Disney's Swing into Spring season continues at Disneyland Paris until the 22nd June, and features a fabulous new show-parade, characters and other offerings. You can read my review of it here, and visit our dedicated guidebook page to it here.
You can also continue to meet Spider-man at Disneyland Paris until the 10th July. The Walt Disney Studios is the only place in the world you can currently meet the webbed hero! You can read my review of our meeting with him here, and visit our dedicated location page here for more photos and information.
Finally, don't forget that the Halloween and Christmas party dates for WDW were released less than two weeks ago. You can check all the dates on my previous blog post, here.
Ok, that's everything for today,
Dan.
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