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Hello everyone,
Last week I talked about the (then) upcoming surprise character appearances at the Magic Kingdom as part of Mickey and Minnie's Surprise Celebration (for their 90th birthdays).
Well, last Friday saw the first day of the daily fun at the Flagpole in Town Square, and I was there everyday to see who came out! From what I understand from talking to cast members who were there everyday, these characters will remain the same for the foreseeable future, and even possibly until the end of the celebration in September. The days may change later on, just to make it fair to people who can't come on specific days of the week (because of work or school, etc), but the characters are likely to remain the same. Indeed, today, Nick and Judy are back in Town Square, as they were last Friday. Of course, as always with Disney, anything is subject to change at any moment, so we shall see what happens in a couple of weeks from now.
The characters that are a part of this new offering, so far at least, are: Nick Wilde and Judy Hopps (Zootopia), Phineas and Ferb (from their namesake TV show), Robin Hood, Little John, Friar Tuck and Prince John (Robin Hood), Chicken Little and Abby Mallard (Chicken Little), Remy and Emile (Ratatouille), and Gideon and J. Worthington Foulfellow (Pinocchio).
Important! - At time of writing, the characters begin at around 11.30am (usually with a slight delay), and end around 2.30pm, daily. It should be noted that the park schedule and/or the WDW app has been listing characters off and on as being in Town Sq until around 4.45pm. We found this to not be entirely true, and when they did appear after 3pm, they would just walk around and NOT stop for photos.
Let's take a look at some of the [ Read More... ] |
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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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Hi all, Disneyland Paris yesterday had it's premier showing of the new Pirates of the Caribbean movie (not the French premier though). Disney Central Plaza posted to their Facebook page a photo of Jack Sparrow and Davy Jones meeting Guests at the cinema in Disney Village! There is some conflict of information as to whether these were real or not, but whether these characters were provided by Disney, or by the cinema, they were certainly very convincing, and were on Disney property for a Disney movie premier! In our eyes that makes them characters, but take a look and make your own judgement. Let me know what you think by hitting the Discuss button at the end of this post. I have also just literally heard from an inside source that Café Mickey in Disney Village, sadly, is no longer offering random characters at the meals! From now on it is only the Fab 5 and friends! This is quite a shame, as this was one of Disney best Character meal experiences around, and you never knew who you would get! Loren posted his latest Character Updates to the Character Central Forum. Jon also posted to the forum that a user on MiceChat heard that Phineas and Ferb would be coming to Disney California Adventure at the start of June! Of course the biggest news was from Florida where the D23 event came to a spectacular finish. None other than Dreamfinder and Figment made a surprise, and much welcomed appearance on stage. Check out the video Jon posted in the Forum here. Staying with Florida, I heard that Rapunzel and Flynn made a random appearance at International Gateway in EPCOT, and Tinker Bell is now greeting alone in the temporary Fairy Garden near Mouse Gear. She has six set times with no friends joining her. This is a massive come down from the glory days of her appearing from open to close with two other friends in Pixie Hollow in the Magic Kingdom. The lines get far too long, and she is way too popular to only have six half hour slots per day. Hopefully when she moves back to Adventureland, things will be restored to order. Don't forget to check out the latest Character of the Week, and vote for next week's star. Ok, that's all for now, Dan. |
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Hi all,
I have some exclusive news for you all!
I have been told by a friend and good inside source of mine that rumours within Disney suggest that a brand new villain will replace Frollo at Disneyland Paris this year for their Halloween season. [ Read More... ] |
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| As you all know Jon and I are currently at Walt Disney World.
Last night we heard from a friend about some special appearances due to take place today at the ESPN Wide World of Sports. [ Read More... ] |
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