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Hello everyone,
A few small pieces of news today.
First up, Disneyland in California has abruptly ended the Plaza Inn's "My Disneyland Birthday" which used to take place at the restaurant. The special gathering which saw the debut of a brand new park-exclusive character "Pat E Cake", ran for over 10 years, before ending this past Sunday. It was a neat little happening that also featured Mickey and Minnie meeting the invited guests together for pictures.
You may recall last year WDW similarly cut its Tony's Town Square Gathering, which featured the Lady and the Tramp's chef Tony exclusively at the Tony's Town Square Restaurant in the Magic Kingdom.
It's sad to see that these unique events are gradually disappearing from the parks, as it is often these little details and happenings that really add that extra sparkle to a guest's day.
The Disney Parks Blog finally announced details of Disneyland's version of Long Lost Friends Week. Although no date is set yet, they have released on the blog a list of characters which can be voted on, and the top ones will be the ones that appear in the park that week (whenever that may be).
The list has been met with some mixed reaction from the fan community overall, simply because it isn't as diverse as we were all hoping for. Sure, it does have the Three Good Fairies, Merlin and Ludwig Von Drake, amongst others, but it also has Alice, the Mad Hatter, Peter Pan, Chip 'n Dale, and many more who are all in the park regularly.
Some have pointed out that it's the opportunity to get these groups of characters together that is also the draw, but to be honest, when I think "long lost", meeting Alice with the Tweedles doesn't exactly inspire me. The fear is also of course that people will vote for those characters, and the event will end up being nothing more than a big gathering of current friends, rather than the return of anyone truly "lost".
I guess we shall see soon enough what happens!
Over at WDW, although Disney themselves haven't made a public announcement, Cast Members there are reporting that Hollywood Studios' Countdown to Fun parade and Disney Channel Rocks will both be ending permanently on April 6th this year.
There is no word on any replacement yet for either offering, sadly.
In Disneyland Paris, our friends at Dedicated to DLP reported that they have heard whispers of a runDisney event being held there late next year. For anyone who doesn't know, usually these events have lots of random and cool characters featured along the course! I guess we should all start training now!
This past weekend DLP also held its annual St. Patrick's Day event, which featured characters in their Irish finest, and Leprechauns! It's one of the very few things that we still haven't been to, here at Character Central. Every year we say we will, and we always fail! Maybe next year?...
Lots of the main DLP Facebook and Twitter pages had some good updates throughout the weekend of the characters, shows, special fireworks and the pre-parade, so be sure to check them out!
Remember that just a few days ago I made another News post, which contains details of lots more cool things coming to the parks this year, including a Greek event at DLR! So be sure to read that.
Although its birthday has passed now, two days ago it was Walt Disney Studios Park's 11th anniversary. I made a special tribute post with lots of really great photos in it, so if you're curious at all, then have a look.
Finally, I want to mention our brand new Tokyo Disney Resort Trip Planner that was launched last week. If you are planning to visit Tokyo, and haven't yet seen our special Trip Planner, I would suggest you do not miss it!
For those who have asked, or are curious, more Trip Planners are on their way, for the other Disney Parks and Resorts - they just take a lot of time to create! We'll let you know here on the blog when we do launch them.
Ok, I think that's all for today.
Dan. |
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Hello everyone,
Today is the 11th birthday of Walt Disney Studios Park at Disneyland Paris.
Over the years the park has undergone a massive transformation from the grey open concourse that is once was, and now has some really interesting and unique features. Although it often gets criticised for its size and lack of real depth and detail, it is an interesting park that will only get more and more exciting with time. Already under construction is the much anticipated Ratatouille attraction, which will be accompanied by a store, restaurant and new restrooms, as well as a dedicated FastPass area, all along its own special "Parisian style" street.
Here at Character Central, we love Walt Disney Studios, and look forward to many more years of fun and excitement at the park, and welcoming more and more additions that will give the park the edge that it needs.
Happy 11th Birthday Walt Disney Studios Park! Here's to the next 11 years!
Below are some my favourite pictures from Character Central's adventures at the park over the years. In a slightly different take on how I normally do these things, I've avoided posting too many character shots in here for once, because I really want to highlight the details and offerings that Walt Disney Studios already has, despite the criticisms it receives. [ Read More... ] |
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| Hello everyone,
This week has actually been quite a news filled week for a change!
Disneyland Resort in California has been at the forefront of most of the news, so let's start there. On the 12th March, the brand new Fantasy Faire area officially opened to all guests. We have all talked about this a lot recently, but now it's officially open, and it seems to be really popular. Disneyland did an excellent job of it, and we can't wait to see it it in May!
The Disney Parks Blog also announced that the new Mickey and the Magical Map show at the Fantasyland Theatre will debut on May 25th. We will miss this by a few days, sadly, but plan to be back in DL in the summer, so we cannot wait to see it! Much to my happiness, it sounds like it will have Stitch in it too!
Apparently it will feature entertainment at both parks at the Resort, including one in DL that will feature Hercules! Hercules is a very rare character indeed, and it will be the first time outside of Tokyo DisneySea that he has met guests in a very long time.
Over in WDW, not strictly character related, but worth a mention; the design for this year's Star Wars Weekends logo has been released, which features Chip and Dale as Ewoks - my favourite Star Wars characters! We hope to be able to attend SWW this year, and so we look forward to seeing which characters will be out... Maybe even Ewok Chip and Dale? Of course that's my own speculation, but that would be very cool indeed!
There will also be a new "nighttime" parade, although details were sketchy, we can hope that it'll be an electrical parade? Again, that'll bring more characters to the park, even if it is just for a parade. Whilst I mention Mystic Point, HKDL are pretty good with their themed characters, and having characters in special outfits in the different lands, which makes me wonder who might appear once Mystic Point opens in May? I guess we'll find out soon enough!
At Disneyland Paris, we have heard from various contacts that for the 20th Anniversary Extension (which runs past the end of April, through to the end of September this year), will include some minor day parade changes. Tiana and Naveen are likely to be replaced with Belle and Prince Adam, and Pluto will finally return to the day parade, having been absent since last year. He will now walk in front of the Mickey and Friends finale float, with Goofy who is being demoted down from the float to the ground. I have also heard that the music will be altered slightly, but from September (not April), but I have yet to get proper confirmation of this. I'll let you all know when I hear for sure.
Finally, here at Character Central we launched the first of our brand new Trip Planners. Covering pretty much anything you could possibly imagine about planning a trip, and tips and advice for while you're on your trip (complete with tons of useful links), the new Planners are an EXCELLENT resource, and we are proud to say that they are the first of their kind anywhere! The first one is for Tokyo Disney Resort, and we will gradually be adding the other Disney Parks, with Hong Kong being the next one, hopefully in the next week to ten days. So check it out and let us know what you think!
Ok, I think that's everything for now,
Dan. |
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Hello everyone,
If you had been following our Twitter and Facebook updates since last Wednesday, you would have noticed some extraordinary happenings at Disneyland Paris!
For Valentine's Day itself there were some exceptional new and rare characters greeting that day, plus a small cavalcade featuring some new characters, too!
After Valentine's Day, for Friday, Saturday and Sunday, DLP decided to extend the rare character offerings and have a full weekend programme of cool meet 'n' greets. This idea, and the new Valentine's concept itself, stems from DLP gaining a new vice president of entertainment. He has previously worked in Tokyo, and of course, we all know that TDR get some awesome characters, shows and parades! When you see the following report (below), you will immediately notice that the characters that were out greeting definitely remind you of those often seen in TDR!
Needless to say, it was an awesome weekend, that started out with the fantastic addition of two new characters on Valentine's, and extended into being a further 3 days that definitely blows any of the Limited Time Magic stuff from the US Parks out of the water!
So, let us begin our trip through the awesome weekend, with a recap of all the characters out greeting on Valentine's Day itself, and the cavalcade, then we'll move on to the rest of the weekend!
During Extra Magic Hours, two BRAND NEW characters made their debut. Berlioz and Toulouse (Marie's brothers) from the 1970 Disney classic The Aristocats made their grand debut! Lucky guests saw them in Town Square where they appeared briefly. The brothers did not stay to meet guests, sadly, but they were awesome to see all the same! (The opportunity to meet them would come later, as we'll discover...)
Also debuting was Marie's brand new look! Marie met guests throughout the day.
Then, throughout the day, there were other random meet 'n' greet opportunities.
The Mickey and Friends, were in search of their sweethearts, and had roses to give them.
Duffy, for the first time ever, had a special Valentine's outfit. Someone had suggested that he had worn a Valentine's outfit in Tokyo, but that actually was for the Sweet Duffy event, and is not actually linked to Valentine's. So, once again, DLP have the exclusive debut on something neat!
Esmeralda and Phoebus were in Central Plaza.
Stitch and Angel were in Discoveryland.
Chicken Little and Abby Mallard were in the Studios.
Peter and Wendy were in Adventureland.
Woody and Jessie were meant to meet in Frontierland, but due to the rain I think we were the only ones who saw them, as they had to leave again, sadly.
Bernard and Bianca were supposed to be out, but sadly were also cancelled due to the rain, but, we managed to grab a few pictures before they went back to the Rescue Aid Society!
Then there was the new cavalcade, which featured the Aristocats. There were performers in special costumes, and CMs handing out Valentine's roses, candy and Aristocats postcards that had the cats' signatures on (just like the Limited Time Magic cards in the US).
At the seven Disney Hotels, characters were meeting in special outfits. We were so busy and so tired, that we only saw Mickey and Minnie at the Disneyland Hotel sadly, but there were lots more around the resort!
So that was Valentine's Day. Then we come to Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
Each day was different, and had a variety of characters to offer. Let's start with Friday.
Marie was back in Town Square.
The Robin Hood characters were in Central Plaza.
The Three Little Pigs were in Fantasyland.
On Saturday the day started again with Marie in Town Square.
Mary Poppins and Mr Pengin were also out in Town Square.
In Central Plaza, Esmeralda was back, but not with Phoebus this time... but Quasimodo instead!
Mulan and Mushu were in Fantasyland.
We also saw Terk, and she was meant to be out for guests all weekend, but I have heard that for some reason she didn't appear all four days, but nonetheless, she was spotted by several people, at various times - including us!
Then finally we come to Sunday.
The Aristocats were back! All three were meeting guests in Town Square, and they were incredibly popular!
In Fantasyland, Snow White, The Prince, and all 7 Dwarfs appeared!
Megara also made one rare appearance in Fantasyland, albeit very briefly, but guests were able to get pictures before she returned to ancient Greece!
So, there we have it! An AMAZING weekend, mainly thanks to the new VP of entertainment. All these things were in addition to the regular character line up, parades and entertainment, which is incredible. We really look forward to seeing what else he has up his sleeves, because if this weekend is anything to go by, then we are in for an awesome ride!!
Dan. |
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Hello everyone!
I am posting live from DLP after an INCREDIBLE day at Disneyland Paris's "Be My Valentine" event today!
In the park today were some VERY, VERY special happenings and characters... Let's take a photographic tour of everything that happened today, and I KNOW you will be REALLY surprised!! Be prepared to see some BRAND NEW and exclusive characters!!!
Throughout the day there were character meet and greets and a special cavalcade that ran three times.
Let's start with the highlight of the day, two BRAND new characters, and their sister who received a make over... all of which debuted this morning here at the park!
It's Berlioz, Toulouse and Marie from the Aristocats! They were at the gazebo in Town Square that had been specially decorated for today.
Then we went through the parks and met all the special Valentine's characters... The Mickey & Friends characters were in Town Square, either at the specially decorated gazebo, or the Boarding House.
We watched the Be My Valentine Cavalcade twice, which featured performers in Valentine's costumes, the Aristocats atop the Omnibus which was decorated, and cast that handed out candy, real red roses and special Valentine's cards featuring the Aristocats, to guests all along the parade route! It was so cute!!
After the day's excitement, finally, the Disneyland Hotel featured Mickey and Minnie in special outfits, and Stitch and Angel at the Main Street Lounge for evening meet 'n' greets for guests returning from the parks. We stayed for Mickey and Minnie, but were sadly exhausted, and had met Stitch and Angel earlier, so we didn't stay for those.
The whole day was awesome, despite the rain. DLP really stepped up their game with Valentine's and blows the Limited Time Magic attempt at the US Parks out of the water! Especially with their world premiere exclusive of the kittens!!
Happy Valentine's Day everyone!
Dan. |
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Hello everyone,
Not really anything too exciting sadly this week, but just a few updates regarding Limited Time Magic,the new Fantasy Faire and Valentine's Day.
As Long Lost Friends Week at the Magic Kingdom draws to a close, we heard that it has been quite a success, and that WDW are now seriously considering more events for later this year, which would be really great! Once we hear more, we'll report it of course, but so far we heard it suggested that there could be a voting system like there was for Character Fan Days at DL last year.
This week's Lost Friends line-up consisted of the Big Bad Wolf, the Three Little Pigs, Scrooge McDuck, Ludwig von Drake, Robin Hood, Friar Tuck, Prince John, the Sheriff of Nottingham, Clarabelle Cow, Horace Horsecollar, Pinocchio, Geppetto and Jiminy Cricket (don't think I missed any!).
My only problem with an otherwise really neat week, is that some of those aren't so much "long lost" as they are just harder to find - especially the Pinocchio family. Long Lost to me would be characters that have not literally been seen in years. I guess we can't have everything! I hope that their next round - when ever they decide to do it - is just as well set up, and has even better characters!
Over at Disneyland, their Limited stuff continues with the Horseshoe running until the start of February, and the Bayou Bash with the Princess and the Frog gang.
Sadly, the next offering for this coming week is nowhere near as exciting, and is instead a vote on next years merchandise logo. I try to stay positive overall normally, with balanced arguments and seeing both side, but I have to admit, I'm at a loss with this one. In the past they wouldn't have thought twice about just asking that sort of thing on Facebook or the Parks Blog anyway, so why now make it a "limited time opportunity?" Did I miss something?
Anyway, later this year we know that they plan to hold a Villains dance party event in WDW, and at Valentine's both US Resorts will feature a week long celebration with all the Princesses and their Princes.
Also, in WDW we know that the 4th July will be celebrated all week long with patriotic characters and the like, instead of just on the day, as in the past. So there are definitely some good things to come, but this week is certainly the lamest attempt so far!
Speaking of Valentine's, you may recall that earlier this week I revealed some details exclusively here on the blog about Disneyland Paris's happenings this year. Now, in addition I have discovered that the character meet 'n' greets (click the link to see details) will extend through the weekend, making Valentine's a four day event this year! The cavalcade will remain exclusively for the 14th though, sadly.
We will be there for the entire 4 days, so be rest assured we'll be updating live from the parks on Twitter and Facebook!
Jumping back to Disneyland, and someone on the DIS posted some new details about how the new Fantasy Faire will be set up. I can't guarantee the accuracy of the information of course, but it does sound like it will be quite good once finished! Nearly every Princess will be represented and new character based entertainment will be in the line up. We look forward to seeing it in May!
Finally for the parks, and actually not a Disney park for once! As you probably know, we aren't just Disney Character fans, and we do visit other parks, including the Universal ones (which we LOVE incidentally!). Technically this site is actually Character Central, meaning we cover all characters where possible, and we do have dedicated sections for non-Disney Parks. Anyway, my point was going to be that we have been adding a bunch of characters from other parks to the site increasingly often, and two we added recently were Bumblebee and Optimus Prime (Transformers) at Universal Studios Hollywood. We now know that just in the last few weeks Universal added Megatron to their line up! I thought this was really cool, and worth mentioning, as I know a lot of our fans out there also love similar things to us! We look forward to meeting him some time!
Some brief website updates now. I have been adding some new Disney Characters also, and the latest ones can be easily seen on the Recently Added list in the panel to the left of this article.
We are also working really hard to get all the character meeting information up to date across the site, though this is a massive task! I have also been updating location information, descriptions and guidebook information, as well as giving many pages brand new images. It's hard work, but we hope that you all appreciate our efforts.
We are really hoping that VERY Soon the new version of the website will be launched, and we can assure you, you will all LOVE it!
Finally, although we are now three weeks into the New Year, I thought if any of you had missed it, you might still want to check out my EPIC Year in Review for 2012. Be warned though, it is HUGE and you need some time to be able to read the whole thing! There are HUNDREDS of pictures, so you might want to make sure you're at a good computer before hitting the link!
Ok, I think that is all for now. You can discuss anything mentioned here by clicking the blue title bar above, and then scrolling down to Discuss, to leave comments on our forum.
Dan. |
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 | 2012 - A Character Filled Year in Review | |
| DisneyDan
Saturday, January 12, 2013 5:25:29 AM |
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Hello everyone!
This is a little later than I had anticipated, but thought you would all appreciate it nonetheless.
Last year, 2012, was an incredible year for us. We set new records throughout the year for our trips, and we had some of our most magical adventures ever!
Let us start way back at the beginning, with the turn of the New Year, at Disneyland Paris.
Please be warned that this is a very picture heavy post, so before clicking to continue you should ensure you are in a position to load HUNDREDS of photos! [ Read More... ] |
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Hi all!
We are back form our crazy round the world Halloween trip, and I have a few small updates for you this evening!
Over the coming weeks I plan to write a full trip report for both Tokyo and Hong Kong, and of course in due course the pages on this site will be updated with all the most recent pictures and character, show and parade information. But that might take a while!
I don't want to go into too much detail right now, as I don't really have the time, but here's a recap of some fo the things that happened while we were away that I didn't get to blog about...
- For Halloween at WDW, some very special characters appeared at the Hotel Resorts, including Panchito and Jose, and Louis the Aligator!
- Ralph and Venellope from Wreck-It-Ralph started meet and greets at Disneyland CA and Hollywood Studios at WDW.
- WDW announced that Santa Goofy will meet guests at a special location on the Streets of America during Christmas Season, while the Osborne Lights are there.
- Scrooge will return for meets at the Magic Kingdom for the Parties.
- There was also some BIG news for the Magic Kingdom... They will FINALLY be getting a new day parade! Hooray!
At Disneyland Paris, their Christmas Season will be kicking off this Friday, and although the schedule has not been released yet, a good friend of ours has provided the information for us! It looks set to be an amazing season, filled with true Holiday magic!
Here's the schedule as it stands right now. Please note ANYTHING can change at ANY time.
Characters Meet and Greet:
- Mickey and friends 9:30 AM - 4:00 PM
Location: Town Square
- Duffy the Disney Bear 9:30 - 4:00 PM
Location: Town Square
- Santa Goofy 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Location: Gazebo, Town Square
- Stitch and Angel 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Location: Christmas Tree, Town Square
- Winnie the Pooh 10:30 AM - 3:30 PM
Location: Casey's Corner, Main Street USA
- Belle 11:30 AM - 5:00 PM
Location: Old Mill, Fantasyland
- Jack and Sally 10:30 AM - 4:45 PM
Location: Phantom Manor, Frontierland
- Santa Clause 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Location: Cottonwood Creek Ranch, Frontierland
Shows and Parades:
- Disney Magic on Parade 4:30 PM
- Christmas Cavalcade 11:15 AM, 12:15 PM, 1:15 PM
- Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony 6:15 PM
- Castle Lighting Ceremony 6:45 PM
- Disney Dreams 8:15 PM
I think that's everything for now!
Dan. |
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Hi all,
Overall not too much going on in the character world this week, but there were a few interesting points to note.
Over in California, Buena Vista Street got it's previews, and some of the brand new Citizens of Buena Vista Street were out greeting for the first time, as well as Mickey and Friends in their brand new 1920's style Hollywood outfits!
I don't have any pictures to post here (all from my contacts, sadly), but if you find any, hit the Discuss button below and reply on our Forum! We'll also be there at the end of July for ourselves, and will meet them all, of course! We're really excited to be able to go to DCA so soon after the new things open!
Along with the Buena Vista Street preview, Cars Land also had a preview, and Mater, McQueen and the brand new Red character were there. Mater and McQueen have been park regulars for a long time now, and will continue to meet once DCA re-opens. Red will star in his own new show in Cars Land once the land opens this week! [ Read More... ] |
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| DisneyDan
Sunday, June 3, 2012 3:33:36 AM |
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I thought I would share this picture I uploaded today from our April trip to DLP for their 20th Anniversary launch.
It shows Mickey and Philippe Gas on Main Street USA, casually enjoying a moment, right before the Cast Member Flash Mob and all massive celebrations begin.
I thought it was cute :)
Dan. |
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