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Hello everyone,
First off, I would like to apologise for the lack of updates lately - especially since there has been so much character news! I really feel like we've failed the last couple of weeks in bringing you the latest news and rumours.
But, sadly, "real life" gets in the way, and we have indeed been very busy with some rather life changing adjustments.
Anyway, with that said and done, let's take a look at what we've missed, and also some actual news, too!
Over in Disneyland, the vote for the next Long Lost Friends concluded, as announced by the Disney Parks Blog, and yesterday (being Monday and the start of a new Limited Time Magic week) those beloved Disney pals returned to the Big Thunder Ranch at Disneyland Park.
The full line up is as follows:
- Merlin
- Hercules, Megara and Hades
- Pinocchio, Gepetto, Foulfellow, Gideon and Jiminy Cricket
- Meeko, Pocahontas, John Smith and Governor Radcliffe
- Snow White and Dopey
- Robin Hood, Prince John, Friar Tuck and the Sheriff of Nottingham
- Lilo and Stitch
- Peter Pan, Captain Hook, Mr Smee and Wendy
- Tarzan, Jane and Terk
- Brer Bear, Brer Fox and Brer Rabbit.
A lot of those made appearances last time, and some, as always, aren't rare at all, but overall it's a good mix. Definitely very cool to see Hades and Merlin greeting guests! They do not get out at all these days! All characters are on a rotational system, and subject to change or cancellation at any time.
Staying with California, but rewinding back to D23 which saw some really awesome character opportunities.
Debuting for the first time (as official Disney Characters at least, and not at Universal or elsewhere) were Iron Man, Spider-Man and Captain America.
Doc McStuffins also made her grand debut in her Disney Parks make-over look (Doc could already be seen, and still can in fact, in the Disney Junior Live! show, where she looks a little different...)
Other characters that were at the event included some Mickey and Friends, Phineas and Ferb, and I believe Agent P, but I don't have confirmation of him. Characters from ABC's Once Upon a Time also greeted fans, although this was not the first time they've been seen - they were also at the San Diego Comic-Con recently, too. I believe there were five characters - Emma, David, Regina, Mary-Margaret and Hook.
Of course, the highlight for the fans attending though was when Dreamfinder made a surprise limited appearance! This is the second time in recent history Dreamfinder has shown up (the other being at Destination D: Walt Disney World in 2011), and gives fans a glimmer of hope that someday he might return full time, perhaps once WDI figure out what to do with the current Journey Into Imagination at EPCOT.
Dreamfinder links us in nicely to Walt Disney World, where it has been confirmed that Jack and Sally from The Nightmare Before Christmas will debut at Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party this year (held at the Magic Kingdom). This will be their first ever regular appearance at the Florida Resort.
Other MNSSHP changes include Phineas and Ferb joining the dance crew on Main Street before the Boo To You Parade, and the Tomorrowland dance party being re-themed to Monsters University.
Friday the 13th of September will also be a spooktacular Halloween occasion, as Disney's Hollywood Studios will hold a special Limited Time Magic event for all regular park guest that day, 'Unleash the Villains'.
Originally perceived to be a dance party featuring the Disney Villains, there have been rumours that cool creeps such as Hades and Maleficent could show up for meet 'n' greets too! (Though, again, there is no actual confirmation of this, as far as I know)
They will also hold a special fireworks spectacular that night, 'Villainy in the Sky', as well as feature special merchandise just for the evening. The event will be held from 8pm to 1am. It's best to check the Limited Time Magic website nearer the time for more details.
Finally for WDW, and WDWMagic posted that they think the epically long running Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade will finally end right before Christmas. The parade is definitely being retired due to the fact that earlier this year Disney announced the Magic Kingdom would finally be getting the brand new Festival of Fantasy Parade.
Over in Disneyland Paris, the Dreams of Romance '2' float was taken out of the parade earlier this month, for a 2 month long re-imagining, ready for its (rumoured) October 1st debut featuring the brand new Frozen characters, Anna and Elsa! We'll be in DLP for a few days mid-October, so we really look forward to seeing them for the first time!
If you had been following our Facebook page and Twitter last week, you'd have seen that we launched the second in our Trip Planner series, this time for Hong Kong Disneyland! Covering practically every aspect of trip planning for the park, from flights, tickets, hotels, dining, shopping, FastPasses, local area information and much more, it really is an invaluable resource.
For those interested, our first one was for Tokyo Disney Resort, and covers similar information, but of course for Tokyo.
Ok, I think that's all for now. Have a great week everyone!
Dan. |
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Hello everyone,
There is breaking news today from the Disney Parks Blog. They just announced that Marvel's Captain America will appear starting in October aboard the re-imagined Disney Magic cruise ship!
He will feature at Marvel’s Avengers Academy in Disney’s Oceaneer Club, aboard the ship.
The really annoying thing about this is that the Oceaneer Club is just for kids. Regular guests are not normally allowed to go down there unless it's an open house (at which time things like the Marvel Academy would not normally be running).
The biggest thing we can take out of this is that, besides the expected appearances at D23 this week, this is the first official confirmation from Disney that any Marvel character will appear to regular guests on a Disney owned property.
I wonder how long it is now until we can expect them in the parks? Time will tell.
In other news, yesterday the Disney Parks Blog also announced that Holiday Time at the Disneyland Resort is returning once again from 12th November through 6th January.
This will be a relief for anyone who has been hearing the strong rumours across the internet that Christmas this year would be very different, and would even perhaps have ticketed events for the bulk of the seasonal offerings, like at Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom.
I was busy last week, and didn't get chance to post about the latest Long Lost Friends Week for Limited Time Magic.
Disneyland had a vote on the Disney Parks Blog (now closed), which featured pretty much the same characters as before, with a few more thrown into the mix.
From what I recall characters included the Robin Hood gang, Hunchback friends (still no Quasimodo though), the Three Good Fairies, Merlin (he was a new one), Flik and Atta (Atta was also a new option), and Chicken Little (Abby wasn't listed, oddly enough, even though she was for WDW).
There is no official date for this event yet, but it is expected by most to be in the next two weeks.
Disneyland Paris fans have been hearing rumours across the internet for a few weeks now that Jack Sparrow would be setting sail from the parks after a long running stint there, in October this year. Pirate fans need not despair though as rumour has it that Jake from the Neverland Pirates will start appearing, as well as Sofia the First, over at Walt Disney Studios around the same time Jack goes away.
It'll be nice to get some new characters at the park. The last new characters from any new movie or TV show that DLP got were Rapunzel and Flynn.
Staying with DLP, and Timon has decided to sport his new look in DLP as of yesterday. This now brings him in line with the other parks.
Finally, although we (sadly) aren't attending, D23 takes place this week and is expected to star some brand new characters. We'll of course keep you all posted.
Ok, I think that's all for now,
Dan. |
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