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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,
This week we start our updates in Disneyland, where the Disney Parks Blog announced that Marvel hero, and God of Thunder, Thor would start making appearances at the park in the winter (no confirmed date as of yet)!
Currently it is unclear as to how long Thor will stay at the park once he starts appearing, but it will mark the first time a Marvel character will greet guests inside a Disney Park.
Captain America, Iron Man and Spider-Man previously appeared at D23 (which was not inside the park), and Captain America is due to appear on the DCL Disney Magic from the autumn.
To mark the end of summer, just across the esplanade from Disneyland, Disney California Adventure is holding an End of Summer Party at the Pier.
All this week, until next Monday inclusive, Paradise Pier will host variety acts and the Disney Characters in beach wear. The LTM website doesn't make it clear whether the characters will be meeting, or part of the acts and other entertainment. Technically it did start yesterday, but I haven't yet seen any photos yet of who is starring - I guess we'll find out soon enough!
Similarly over at Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom, Tomorrowland's regular dance party will add Dug and Bolt into the mix for a special Dog Days of Summer party, also running through next Monday.
Other dogs in attendance will be Goofy, Pluto and honorary dog, Stitch. Basically Chip and Dale are being replaced with Dug (who is over at DAK daily anyway), and Bolt. Hosts are also handing out bone shaped character autograph cards (similar to how all previous LTM events have had character autograph cards).
Staying with WDW, and the Parks Blog released an image of the marquee going up at the new Princess Fairytale Hall in Fantasyland. They also confirm that the new princess meet 'n' greet is set to open in the fall.
Looking to next month's LTM offerings, and Friday the 13th at both Disneyland and WDW looks set to be a blast, with special villainous events.
As we already know, at WDW they are holding a dance party at Hollywood Studios. Disneyland will run the same hours (8pm - 1am) for the event, but will instead have what appears to be various activities scattered throughout the park.
Interestingly, both resorts will apparently have 13 villains in attendance. All other details right now are sketchy, and of course anything could change. I'll be very interested to see what Disneyland has up their sleeves for this one!
Finally, moving ahead to Christmas season, and the Parks Blog announced some of the seasonal offerings taking place this year at Tokyo Disney Resort. When I say some, I really mean very little, because as you read below, you'll see a lot of the previous years offerings were missing from the announcement.
Tokyo Disneyland will be host to the Christmas Fantasy celebration, featuring Santa's Village, complete with a toy workshop, and the Santa's Village Parade. The Santa's Village itself I expect will be home to Santa Claus while he is visiting Tokyo. There are no other details, so we shall wait and see!
Last year TDL had a small nighttime projection show at Cinderella Castle titled Twinkling Christmas Castle. It has not been stated whether this will return this year yet.
Also, in the past, up to last year, during the park's electrical parade Dreamlights Mickey and Friends would wear sparkling Christmas outfits. Again, no mention as to whether they will do this again this year.
At Tokyo DisneySea the Christmas Wishes celebration will feature Colors of Christmas, which is a nighttime Christmas Tree lighting show on the Harbor, and stars Mickey and Friends. There will also be Holiday Greeting From Seven Ports, a daytime show on the Harbor waterfront featuring Mickey and Friends.
Last year, the American Waterfront show A Table is Waiting had a Christmas overlay, titled Christmas Cuisine. It has not been mentioned whether this will return this year yet.
In the past Duffy and ShellieMay have greeted guests in special Christmas outfits, Santa Claus has appeared in American Waterfront, and fireworks at both parks usually changes over to the Starbright Christmas version. Again, we'll have to wait and see if any of this returns this year.
Both parks will of course have special merchandise, decorations and menu items.
Apologies if all the Tokyo stuff seemed like a lot of non-news, you can blame the Parks Blog for their lack of information! It was interesting nonetheless to see what is definitely confirmed, and what else we might expect based on previous years, despite not being announced yet.
UPDATE: A Japanese friend of mine posted on our forum after I had written this article, saying that a recent Japanese press release had revealed a few more details about this years happenings. I really wish Disney would release everything in multiple languages as so that we can avoid confusion! Anyway, he tells me that A Table is Waiting, Big Band Beat, Super Duper Jumpin' Time and Dreamlights will all receive their Christmas overlays this year. Also, as well as Duffy and ShellieMay wearing Christmas outfits, Ariel (greeting at her grotto in Mermaid Lagoon), also has a festive costume.
Ok, that's everything for today. We are actually off to Disneyland on Friday for four days, so be sure to follow our Facebook and Twitter pages for live updates from the resort!
Dan. |
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Hello everyone,
Yesterday Oriental Land Company, the operating company behind Tokyo Disney Resort, released a press statement that revealed some changes to the entertainment line-up at the Resort from next year.
At Tokyo DisneySea, the long running Legend of Mythica will end on September 14th 2014. This seems a long way off, and no replacement has been announced for the epic harbour spectacular, but with over a year until its last performance, there is a lot of time for OLC to announce something new.
It is a very popular show, but by the time its last performance rolls around, it will have been at the park for over eight years, which is especially long for a Tokyo production (entertainment in TDR tends to change fairly frequently compared to the other Disney Parks. A maximum of about four years isn't uncommon).
Also in TDS, in Mermaid Lagoon, the Little Mermaid show will be given a compete overhaul, and will feature some new technology such as digital displays. Although the press release mentions characters such as Sebastian, Flounder and King Triton, it is not known whether they will be actual characters, or just digital versions or puppets.
The current show will have its final performance on 6th April 2014, and will be closed for about a year (no definite opening date announced yet - just 'spring 2015').
Finally for TDR, although not character related, OLC also announced that a new night time projection show would be coming to Tokyo Disneyland's Cinderella Castle. The press release talks about projection mapping technology to bring it all to life, which is what the ridiculously popular Disney Dreams! at Disneyland Paris uses - they even used a picture of DLP's Sleeping Beauty Castle in the release to illustrate their intention. Hopefully they won't lift directly from Dreams though, and instead have their own show. Disney Dreams! is a truly awesome show in every respect, and it really belongs uniquely at DLP.
Over in California, the DCA Today Facebook page yesterday announced (rather suddenly) that Dancin' with Disney is reopened at Hollywood Land.
There is no word as to which characters are appearing, but I will keep my eye out, and post on the Blog as soon as I hear anything.
Ok, that's all for today.
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,
It has come to our attention that there has been a random previously unannounced happening in Tokyo Disneyland that has been taking place the last couple of days in Fantasyland. It is called Donald’s Funny Harmony, and it involves the Fab 5 friends in some cute outfits – including a Sorcerer Donald! Although there is no other information on the website about this event, the fact it is in Fantasyland outside the new PhilharMagic attraction that is due to open tomorrow, and has Donald wearing Yensid’s hat, one can only assume that it is some sort of pre-grand-opening event. There is no word as to how long this will remain in the park, but appears to be on the schedules for the next few days at least.
We have heard reports that for some reason there have been a lot of other random character happenings in Tokyo this week, from Frontierland hoedowns with Woody, Bullseye and even Bo Peep (!), to the Alice characters and Ariel and Eric in Fantasyland. DisneySea also has had similar random happenings too, including one that was somewhat musical and involved characters and the park’s resident band. Sadly I do not currently have access to any pictures, but if I able to get any, I shall repost them here. [ Read More... ] |
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