Hi all,

Friday saw the official opening of the brand new Princess Pavilion in Fantasyland at Disneyland Paris.

Following a few days of soft openings, the Disney Princesses were there at 9.30am along with some other courtiers to officially dedicate the new meet 'n' greet location.

Our good friend Hilde (who is also a life long Disney fan), posted a blog entry to her tumblr account which includes some really nice pictures. You can discuss the Pavilion here on our official forum thread.  [ Read More... ]

Hi all,

As I had previously reported, Rapunzel is having her coronation in London on Saturday (further info in previous post - location etc), and will be joined by all the other Disney Princesses. There have been some neat press photos released this week of Rapunzel's trip to London before her big day. I couldn't find an official Disney source, but Stitch Kingdom reposted some here.

Disneyland in California has said that they will be holding some exclusive new annual passholder events from mid-October, but sadly to begin with these will be by invite only. The first of these parties will include an exclusive evening showing of the Soundsational parade, showing off it's neat light effects not normally seen. Al Lutz has more details here, and there is more to the events than I have time to explain here, but if they are eventually opened up to other passholders, I can see that these will be a success (see Al's post as to my meaning about "if" here).

Over in Disneyland Paris, the opening weekend of Halloween has had it's schedule posted online, much to my joy (I go for two days this Saturday for the opening). It is really good to see some decent times for the two new shows, and some good times for the Villains meets, Jack and Sally, and the Tremaines.

Staying with Paris, and on the Magic Forum, user Poppy has posted some more info about the 20th anniversary Castle show, which I had speculated on previously. The character link here is that Mickey or Peter Pan may appear - but only one of them! Of course, nothing is confirmed yet.

DLP have also announced that there will be an exclusive preview of the new Princess Pavilion for annual passholders (Dream only) on the 5th and 6th of October between 10am and 1pm. If you're there be sure to check it out and let us know what you think!

Finally, our friend Drew posted on the WDWMagic Forum that on Saturday, for WDW's 40th anniversary, the cavalcade I had previously mentioned will be at 10am down Main Street USA, and will feature 60 characters. It will be followed by a speech by Meg Crofton, at CInderella Castle.

Ok, that's all for now,

Dan.

Hi all,

Let us begin today's news in California, where apparently the Pooh meet 'n' greet area is being removed. At the moment it is unclear as to whether there is a replacement in the works, or if the Pooh characters are being permanently evicted. I guess we'll see in a few weeks, but it is strange that they didn't work on this when the whole land (Critter Country) was completely closed for several months earlier this year! California doesn't really need any less characters, and the Pooh friends are especially popular, so let's hope they return in a fab new location soon!  [ Read More... ]

Hi all,

Just some small updates for you this evening.

First off, over in California Halloween Season has gotten under way this weekend. Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Donald, Chip and Dale have all began appearing in their seasonal costumes on Main Street, and the Villains have returned to the Small World Mall area. Over in DCA Duffy has donned a special pumpkin hat and sweater and his meet 'n' greet area has been given a neat seasonal overlay.

Loren should have a full photo update on the Character Central Forums by the end of the weekend, so look out for that one!

Across the country in Florida, and just one minor change to the characters at Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party - Donald and Daisy have moved from the Adventureland Gazebo to near the Winnie the Pooh attraction in Fantasyland. I imagine this is due to the fact there is quite a high volume of characters in that one small area of Adventureland, and they needed spreading out more (others just in Adventureland include Tarzan, Jane and Terk, Rafiki, the Fairies, Aladdin, Jasmine and Genie, and Jack Sparrow; hence the need for the move).
You can check out the full 2011 MNSSHP Character line up here.

Over in Disneyland Paris the Princess Pavilion in Fantasyland is coming along really nicely, and is expected to officially open on October 8th. It will be the new permanent home of the Disney Princesses and is a new, extravagantly themed indoor location. It utilises the space formerly occupied by the Small World post show.

Finally, staying in Paris, but in the Studios, Push the Talking Trash Can has made a random, but much welcomed return this week. He has been spotted out and about on a few occasions. We don't know if this is permanent yet, but we hope it is.

Ok, that's all for now,

Dan.