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Hello everyone,
Last night was quite obviously Halloween night, and what a night it was!
It was the last Halloween party of the season at Disneyland, the penultimate one at WDW (the final one being tonight), the Halloween Soirée at DLP, and the final day of Halloween season at the Asian parks.
This Halloween has seen some great additions and improvements across all the parks and resorts.
Tokyo altered their Halloween parade slightly, and had the ghosts and goons greeting for the first time ever! Oh how we would have loved to have met one of Maleficent's goons!
At WDW, Jack and Sally greeted guests on a regular basis for the first time.
They also held the Unleash the Villains event which saw the never-seen before Oogie Boogie (excluding one private special event years ago), come out for guests! Amazing!
In Disneyland, Roger Rabbit was out at the start of every party in Toontown, greeting guests properly for the first time in years! (I don't count the bunny hop at Easter, as you couldn't officially meet him)
Disneyland Paris launched their brand new Halloween cavalcade, which starred Huey, Dewey and Louie, as well as a character never seen before in DLP, Clarabelle Cow!
Now let's come to yesterday.
WDW continued a fairly new tradition which we are glad to see them improving upon as each holiday comes around - having special characters out at the hotel resorts for greetings.
For example at the All Stars Sports, I know American football Goofy was out, and at the Coronado Springs the Three Caballeros!
When we were at WDW at Easter they did something similar at the deluxe resorts, so let's hope they keep it up!
Moving to Paris now, and last night was DLP's grand finale, the Halloween Soirée.
Lots of favourites from last year returned, such as the Stitch dance party hosted by Stitch, Angel, Goofy and Buzz, and Dr Facilier's show on the Molly Brown, which this year included Louis (as well as the returning Tiana and Naveen).
The new daily cavalcade also ran during the party.
The biggest news of all all though, was the appearance of some ultra rare characters throughout the evening - some making their first public appearance ever, not just in Paris, but worldwide!
So far I can confirm that all of the following were out (rare or otherwise):
- Duffy and ShellieMay
- Aladdin, Jasmine, Abu and the Sultan
- Yzma, Kronk and Kuzco (in human form)
- Mike Wazowski
- Mad Hatter, Cheshire Cat and March Hare
- Russell, Dug and Carl
- Goofy and Max
- Scrooge McDuck
- Darkwing Duck
- Launchpad McQuack
- Panchito, Jose and Gauchito
- The Hyenas
- The Witch/Hag
- Cruella de Vil
- Maleficent
- Bowler Hat Guy
- Queen of Hearts
- Governor Ratcliffe
- Darth Vader, Stormtroopers and R2-D2
There were probably more, but I just haven't had any confirmed sightings reported as of yet.
Unfortunately we weren't at the Soirée, as much as we really wanted to be. Money and other circumstances of course got in the way, as they always do.
On the flip side, fortunately we had met all of those rare characters before at the Disney Dreamers Everywhere event in May this year (hence why I said first 'public' appearance, as some had appeared at an event).
So, that concludes another Halloween season across the world, which can only mean one thing.
Christmas!
Dan. |
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| Hello everyone,
Starting from an as-of-yet unspecified date in November, the new stars will greet fans at Disneyland Park in California, and at Norway in Epcot at Walt Disney World. Over in Disneyland Paris, Anna and Elsa will debut aboard the newly redesigned Dreams of Romance float, alongside Rapunzel and Flynn. Rapunzel remains on the swing, as with the previous version of the float - it's the front half that's changed to accommodate Anna and Elsa, meaning the loss of Ariel and Eric. I have heard that there was a picture of the new float posted in the latest annual passholder magazine, Envie+, but I as of yet have not received my copy (DLP are notoriously bad about sending them out!). Disneyland Paris have not yet confirmed whether Anna and Elsa will also be greeting fans, but rumour has it that they might appear randomly. If I find out more, I'll be sure to post it here.
The Parks Blog also announced that coming in 'late 2016' Hong Kong Disneyland would get an Iron Man themed e-ticket attraction in Tomorrowland, along with a meet 'n' greet for Tony Stark's alter ego himself. It is the first time that Disney have confirmed that a Marvel attraction will be built inside a theme park, and the second time they have announced a Marvel meet 'n' greet for a theme park - the first being Thor for Disneyland (CA) this winter.
Ok, that's all for this evening. Jon and I will be at Disneyland Paris to celebrate Halloween Season this weekend, so be sure to follow our Facebook and Twitter pages for all the latest live updates from the parks!
Dan. |
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 | Happy 8th Birthday Hong Kong Disneyland! | |
| DisneyDan
Thursday, September 12, 2013 12:24:09 PM |
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On this day 8 years ago, Disney's first theme park and resort in China opened its gates for the first time, in the city of Hong Kong!
Since opening day, Hong Kong Disneyland has had many new additions, from "it's a small world", Autopia, to three entire new lands - Grizzly Gulch, Toy Story Land and Mystic point. The resort also features two stunning hotels; Disney's Hollywood hotel and the Hong Kong Disneyland Hotel.
The amazingly friendly and thoughtful Cast Members, fabulous entertainment, unique merchandise, beautiful landscape, and its setting at the foot of stunning mountains next to the sea, make Hong Kong Disneyland practically perfect in every way.
So, let's celebrate in our usual style, with a cavalcade of pictures from our adventures at Hong Kong Disneyland over the years!
Happy 8th Birthday Hong Kong Disneyland Resort!
If anyone is planning a trip to Hong Kong Disneyland, why not check out our awesome, dedicated Hong Kong Disneyland Trip Planner!
Dan. |
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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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 | 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,
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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