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Hello everyone,
The past week or two has seen a surprising amount of character news come out the Disney parks worldwide, so I have my usual round-up of everything, complete with sources!
Let's start at Disney's newest resort, set to open on 16th June this year, Shanghai Disneyland. The Xinhua English News reported online the other day that, I quote,
"Classic Disney characters are getting a Chinese re-styling for Shanghai Disneyland, with Minnie Mouse, Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck set to appear as old Shanghai stereotypes when the park opens in three months.
Of the 7,000 souvenirs ready to debut at Shanghai Disneyland's opening on June 16, at least half were tailored exclusively for the park, said sources there on Saturday.
Minnie will be dressed like a typical Shanghai beauty in the 1920s and 1930s, wearing a pink Chinese jacket and red embroidered silk sandals.
"The dressing style was typical of ladies whose portraits appeared on calendars in every household 80 to 90 years ago," said Gu Zhengwei, director of Shanghai Disney Resort's commodity department.
In Shanghai, Mickey will be a young man wearing a top hat and holding a stick, while Donald will appear as a middle-aged Shanghai man, good-natured but aloof."
Obviously nothing is certain until the park opens, but I think it is interesting that, at least from this article, it sounds as though these costumes will be their "standard" dress in Shanghai, rather than the classic outfits we are used to seeing them in at the other parks. It's always nice to see new costumes for the characters in shows and parades, and we look forward to meeting them there!
Whilst I was on that article I clicked around the site and found something posted a couple of months ago that I don't believe anyone else has picked up on, that I thought was really interesting. Again, I quote,
"Shanghai Disneyland will feature favorite Disney characters from Snow White to Luke Skywalker, under an entertainment program announced for the upcoming park on Wednesday.
The stories of classic Disney princesses will be staged in the site's signature Enchanted Storybook Castle, said Matt Almas, the company's creative executive.
Visitors will learn to draw Marvel characters and interact with the heroes and villains of the Star Wars universe in sci-fi zone Tomorrowland.
Chinese elements will also be incorporated, Almas said.
The final carriage of Mickey's Storybook Express, a train running through the park, will be dedicated to Mulan, an animated movie depicting a female war hero of ancient China. Each carriage will be based on a different Disney film.
The Lion King musical will be performed in Chinese at the park's theater. Visitors will also join Donald Duck and Chip'n'Dale to practice traditional Chinese martial art Tai Chi."
We already knew about the castle show, so that doesn't sound too surprising, and the same for the being able to "interact" (think meet) the Star Wars and Marvel characters. What is interesting though is the information about the parade, Mickey's Storybook Express. We have heard so very little about this parade so far, that it is interesting to hear something about it, and that it will include Mulan. The other interesting statement is the one about learning Tai Chi with Donald, Chip and Dale. This is the first time we have given any kind of information about smaller, potential "pop-up" entertainment around the park - everything so far has been very much focussed on the larger stage productions. It's nice to see that this new park will have random park atmosphere entertainment, too. It should be noted that the Lion King show that they mention is actually the broadway style show, and is located outside the park at an additional cost.
Moving across the country to Hong Kong Disneyland, where spring season has started. This year Mickey and friends are appearing in some unique outfits, that while don't scream spring to me, they are really cute and offer something different to guests visiting the park. I don't have any photos of my own to share, but a tag search on Instagram shows up some pretty decent images, as I discovered. Hong Kong Disneyland are also continuing to up their character offerings across the park with the recent addition of Princess Sofia and Baymax. You can learn more about the spring season and the new character greetings, here on the official HKDL page.
Across the East China Sea, in Japan the immensely popular show, Big Band Beat, at Tokyo DisneySea has held its last weekend of performances. The newly reimagined show for the 15th anniversary of the park will open on the 15th April 2016, along with the new Crystal Wishes Journey show at Mediterranean Harbor and The Year of Wishes Greeting Drive at American Waterfront on the same day. Across the resort at Tokyo Disneyland, the new Polynesian Terrace dinner show that replaces Mickey and Minnie's Polynesian Paradise, opens tomorrow. The show will be presented up to four times daily, and is expected to feature Mickey, Minnie, Chip, Dale and Clarice.
Heading east to Disneyland in California, and it was announced on the Disney Parks Blog that the Super Hero HQ in Tomorrowland would be closing. Saturday 2nd April will be the last day to meet Spider-Man, Thor and Captain America at the building. However, Captain America and Spider-Man will be moving over to Disney California Adventure the very next day, Sunday 3rd April. Along similar superhero lines, the Parks Blog also announced that the former Avengers half marathon weekend at Disneyland will now become the Super Hero half marathon, and will expand its offerings to include for the first time Dr Strange. Though the blog doesn't specifically say who will appear, it does say there will be "surprises" and that Dr Strange would "host", which makes it sound very likely that Dr Strange will make his first ever Disney Parks appearance! The marathon event will be held from 10th through 13th November 2016, with registration opening on 12th April 2016.
Obviously we still have a week until Easter, but it currently looks as though, much to our sadness, that spring will not be retuning to Disneyland Resort this year. We really loved the offerings the past couple of years, with a several month long celebration featuring the VIPs in special outfits and special greetings with the Disney bunnies, including Roger Rabbit. Perhaps they will surprise us next week with something, but at the moment it doesn't look likely, sadly.
I had previously posted here on the blog about the arrival of Nick and Judy from Disney's latest smash hit, Zootopia. It had been announced on the Parks Blog that they would appear for greetings at Disney California Adventure and in Move It! Shake It! at the Magic Kingdom. While that hasn't changed, we now have a clearer idea on timeframe. Shawn Slater later confirmed in the comments that Nick and Judy would be around until at least June at DCA, and while there is no firm date on their start in DCA, they would start appearing in MISICI at the Magic Kingdom from next weekend (Easter). Disney entertainment schedules typically start on a Sunday, which means that Saturday will be the last day for the current format. It is expected, though not officially confirmed, that Stitch and Genie would be the ones replaced by Nick and Judy. Saturday is also expected to be Marie's last day in Town Square, with Stitch replacing her the following day possibly at the front of the park (although Tomorrowland is just a good a location for him, of course).
There are just two weeks left now for Dream Along with Mickey at the Magic Kingdom, with its last day being Saturday 2nd April. There is still no confirmation as to when the new show, Mickey’s Royal Friendship Faire, will begin.
It was also finally announced, much to everyone's huge relief, that Joy and Sadness from last year's hit PIXAR movie Inside Out start greeting guests at the Epcot Character Spot from early April. While there is still no firm date yet (Shawn Slater's comment son the Parks Blog even say as much), it is such a welcome addition - if a little late. Shawn also confirmed that there would be no FastPass+ offered for the new experience.
Across the ocean at Disneyland Paris spring season officially started there, with their ever expanding seasonal offerings, including Minnie's Spring Train which for the first time, though rather sporadically, has included the Cheshire Cat! He appeared for the press launch last week, and has made a couple of further appearances since, giving hope to fans that he will become more of a permanent fixture in the park. An Instagram search shows up some good pictures of him, if you're interested.
Finally for today, the Parks Blog confirmed that the popular Star wars Days at Sea will return to select Disney Cruise Line sailings in 2017.
Ok, that's it for today! If you haven't already, be sure to check out my latest trip report, which can be found in the blog list on the side panel.
Have a great week everyone,
Dan. |
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 | 2014 - A Character Filled Year in Review | |
| DisneyDan
Wednesday, December 31, 2014 11:05:51 AM |
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Hello everyone,
Well, 2014 is nearly said and done, and 2015 draws ever nearer! It’s been a fantastic year here at Character Central, and I would like to take this opportunity to thank each one of our fans for supporting us for another year of laughter and magic.
In 2014 we had so many adventures, it would be impossible to claim any one of them was our favourite. From starting the year with the Einsteins at Disneyland Paris, Easter with the Aristocats, meeting Oswald for the first time in Tokyo DisneySea, to Christmas at Walt Disney World, it has been simply incredible. If I tried to share every magical moment we had in 2014 I’d not only be here for a week embedding the photos, but you would also get bored! So, this year, instead of my epic "post ever single character we saw" review, I thought I would share with everyone a selection of our favourite character moments from the year (just characters, because if I shared other photos and moments too, again, I’d be here forever!). Having said that, a "selection" from the incredible amount of things we've done means that this post is still really long, so just be warned if you have a slow internet connection!
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Hello everyone,
Last weekend I was very lucky to be able to spend an unexpected, last minute trip at Disneyland Paris to once again enjoy all their Spring offerings.
While I never do trip reports, I thought it would be nice to just showcase some of my experiences in a photo round-up.
Instead of jumping from thing to thing, I'm going to group items into categories, such as meals, meeting characters, shows etc. So these aren't necessarily chronological.
Be warned! This is a very photo heavy post!
First up, Disney Magic on Parade. For some reason, the day we watched the parade Princess Aurora, Prince Phillip, Duffy, the Clubs Card and the White Rabbit were missing. The Peter Pan ship was also out because of being refurbished, however the characters were walking on the ground. The floating wizards that are usually before Mickey and Friends were behind, for some reason.
I was very happy that I got to watch Disney's Spring Promenade a couple more times before it ends (today in fact is its last day this year). I am in love with this parade/show, and am obsessed with the music, especially the "Let's Go Fly a Kite" sequence!
Along similar Spring lines, we saw the Welcome to Spring show once, which I was happy about. I am so glad that this show will be staying through the summer (obviously with a different title!). It brings much needed life and energy to Main Street, like similar shows at the US parks.
We also watched Disney's Stars 'n' Cars. I have to say that having known this parade from Walt Disney World more than a decade ago, and also knowing what it was like when it first came to Paris (where it was vastly different in concept to WDW), it is not too surprising that it is coming to an end.
Sticking with Stars 'n' Cars, we stayed for both sets of the lunchtime Stars 'n' Cars greetings one day. Here's who we managed to see.
I think we did exceptionally well meeting everyone that we did in two sets!
Other characters we met in Walt Disney Studios were Buzz and Spider-Man. We also saw Mickey at Toon Plaza, but didn't go to meet him.
At Disneyland Park, there were a lot of characters out and about over the few days I was there. Here's who I saw, including the special Spring greeting characters (Minnie and Duffy in special outfits, and Russell).
I also know that while I was there Scrooge, Donald and Daisy made an appearance in Fantasyland, Pluto in Frontierland, Tigger and Eeyore in Central Plaza, and King Louie and Mr Smee were in Adventureland. Those I know for sure, anyone else I can't attest to. Of course, as well as all of those, the Princesses were in the Pavilion, Meet Mickey was open as always, and Rapunzel was at the Spring location in Casey's Corner. I didn't get chance to meet any of those either, but thought it'd be good to mention.
On one of the days, the Auberge Royalty walked past me, and as well as Suzy and Perla there was the following.
I was privileged enough to stay in the Golden Forest Club in the Sequoia Lodge during my trip, and each morning had breakfast with the characters in the Golden Forest Lounge. Here's the Golden Forest Lounge (including the tea time items), my room and my breakfast greetings.
On my way from the Sequoia Lodge to the parks each morning I checked in the Hotel New York and the Disneyland Hotel. All regular characters the whole time, except one character at the New York one morning gave me a pleasant surprise!...
To break this post up a bit, here are some general park shots I took.
We ate dinner at Inventions two nights. The characters were almost identical both nights, so I won't post each occasion I met the same character, but instead just a photo of each different character between the two meals.
We also had lunch one afternoon at Restaurant des Stars at the Studios, which has now lost the Ratatouille theme, since the new area is opening imminently. Oddly enough there were some carvings that I thought were interesting.
We attended the Sunday Brunch at Inventions too. The theme this week was sports, but had an overriding feel of basketball only...
Finally, we saw the Magical Moment at the Disneyland Hotel on Sunday, after the Brunch.
We experienced some attractions and other shows too (Animagique, Cinemagique, Armageddon, Swiss Family Treehouse, Phantom Manor, Pirates of the Caribbean to name a few), watched Dreams! from Central Plaza and walked around, a lot!
Have a great Sunday everyone!
Dan.
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Hello everyone,
Earlier I showcased Disney's Easter at Tokyo Disneyland, which you can view here. Along similar lines, until the 23rd June this year you can experience Mickey and Duffy's Spring Voyage at Tokyo DisneySea, the second theme park at Tokyo Disney Resort, Japan.
Here is a roundup of what you can expect to find at the park during this time. All photos here were taken just last week (end of May 2014).
Lido Isle Welcome to Spring
Mickey and friends have arrived in the Mediterranean to a wonderful celebration of spring. Presented several times per day at the Lido Isle area, it fills up quickly and people will wait all day for the show, so be prepared!
Springtime Surprise
Mickey and friends have arrived in the Middle East to an enchanting, magical celebration of spring. There are some neat tricks in this show! Presented several times per day at the Arabian Coast courtyard, it fills up quickly and people will wait all day for the show, so be prepared!
Easter in New York
Mickey and the gang visit New York and discover the more contemporary music and dance styles of America. Although it's unlike any New York I've ever seen, it's definitely a lovely show! Presented several times per day at the square in front of the Tower of Terror, and as with the other shows, it fills up quickly and people will wait all day for the show, so be prepared!
Village Greeting Place - Duffy and ShellieMay
During Mickey and Duffy's Spring Voyage at Tokyo DisneySea you can meet Duffy and ShellieMay in really cute spring outfits. This year they got new outfits.
ShellieMay is there for the first half of the day (usually from park opening until around 3pm), and Duffy arrives after ShellieMay finishes, and stays until park closing.
They do not greet together, sadly (because if they did the line would be five hours long all day).
It should be noted that Tokyo Disney Resort strictly enforce a "one photo per family" rule for all set greeting locations. This means that you will only be able to get one photo of the character with your own camera, whether that be you taking a photo of them, or you being in the photo.
However, there is a slight quirk to this rule. If you purchase their PhotoPass photo then you can take your own photo (still only one), and they will take your photo, which then you can purchase later.
So, if you want a picture of the character and with the character, take your own and ask to be in theirs.
Spring Decorations
The park is decorated with colourful spring decorations, including many plants and flowers.
Spring Merchandise
The Japanese just love all things cute and spring brings the perfect opportunity to sell a wide variety of colourful merchandise.
Spring Treats
Just like the merchandise, the Japanese love to eat food that is "kawaii". The Japanese love little themed tins filled with chocolates and sweets, so you'll find tons of Spring Voyage ones everywhere!
Ok, that's everything! If you have any questions please go to the forum discussion for this entry and ask there.
Dan. |
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Hello everyone,
Today Walt Disney World released the dates for their popular Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Parties and Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Parties at the Magic Kingdom.
Dates are as follows.
MNSSHP:
September 1, 9, 12, 14, 16, 19, 21, 23, 26 and 28
October 2, 3, 5, 9, 10, 13, 16, 17, 19, 21, 23, 24, 26, 28, 30 and 31
MVMCP:
November 7, 10, 13, 14, 16, 20, 21 and 30
December 2, 4, 5, 7, 9, 11, 12, 14, 16, 18 and 19
Today, 5th May, is also the day that Doc McStuffins finally comes to Disney California Adventure, having already been at Disney's Hollywood Studios in Florida for quite some time now.
If you're planning a trip to Disneyland Paris in the coming weeks, remember that they have lots of exciting things going on right now, such as their brand new Swing into Spring season and Meet Spider-Man at the Walt Disney Studios!
Dan. |
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Hello everyone,
This year for the first time, Disneyland Paris have introduced a brand new spring celebration, which started on 5th April and will run until 22nd June.
Titled Swing into Spring, it comes with two brand new entertainment offerings, character greetings, decorations and more!
Jon and I of course had to pay a visit, and I have put together the following comprehensive round-up, as a guide for those planning a trip, and something to make you want to plan a trip if you aren't already!
Disney's Spring Promenade
The key event during Swing into Spring is Disney's Spring Promenade, a dazzling show-parade centred around Central Plaza and the Royal Castle Stage.
Let's take a look at some photos from the Promenade, then I'll give a brief guide to how it works, as it has multiple viewing areas which offer different experiences.
The Promenade runs up to five times daily, from mid-morning to around 2 or 3pm, and as I said above, has multiple vantage points. The best place, in our opinion, to watch the performance is in front of the Castle Stage. From here you get to see Clarabelle and the band playing, as well as the cavalcade pass by twice (once out to Central Plaza, and once back again). Not only that, you of course get the view of the gorgeous Sleeping Beauty Castle behind.
Other good places to watch include on the south side of Central Plaza at the top of Main Street, facing the Castle, and at the intersection of where the cavalcade section leaves the Castle Stage area and enters Central Plaza (from here you get two viewings of the cavalcade, too).
We absolutely love the Spring Promenade. The music is very catchy, and embodies the true Main Street spirit, the costumes are bright and colourful for both characters and performers, and the entire thing has an energy to it that really brings the park to life with the celebration of spring.
Note that there are certain days that the show does not take place. Check the park schedule for details.
Welcome to Spring
Welcome to Spring is a small show that takes place at the Town Square Gazebo at the entrance to Main Street USA. It features the Citizens of Main Street who sing and dance along to a selection of classic Main Street tunes, including the wonderful 'Walking Right Down the Middle of Main Street USA'. As with the Promenade, the show brings a really good energy to Main Street and adds music and movement to Town Square that is colourful and fun. Although it doesn't feature characters, it is well worth stopping by to watch it.
Performances take place up to about five times daily. However, as with the Promenade, there are certain days that the show does not take place. Check the park schedule for details.
After the show, the Citizens of Main Street walk around Town Square greeting guests for a short while.
The best place to see the show is on the street between the Emporium and the former photography store (soon to be Flora's), facing the gazebo. There are usually coloured mats on the ground marking the line where you can stand.
Character Greetings
No seasonal event at Disneyland Paris would be complete without character greetings! During Swing into Spring you can find Minnie Mouse and Duffy at the Boarding House on Main Street USA wearing very special, particularly cute, spring outfits! Sometimes they meet together, sometimes separately. The schedule can change daily, so be sure to ask an attending Cast Member who is appearing at the location on the day of your visit.
When Minnie and Duffy aren't at the Boarding House, Russell from Disney-PIXAR's 'UP' greets his fans.
Of course, there are other regular meet 'n' greets throughout the park, as there usually are, but because of the spring season, some may have moved, or are appearing more often than they usually do.
On the days when the Promenade doesn't run, Mary Poppins and Bert greet guests in Town Square. Sometimes Mr Penguin comes with them, but not always. Unfortunately he did not when we were there, hence why he isn't in the photo below.
Rabbit has also been out and about a lot more than usual, since he is in the Promenade show, and can randomly appear in Fantasyland or other areas of the park - we even found him in Discoveryland one afternoon with Pooh!
Rapunzel has been given her own special location for the season, which features a large heart topiary with the word 'Spring' across it, and a small Pascal statue in the details. Be warned that she is ridiculously popular, and lines can be two hours long before her greeting time starts! (Literally!)
Decorations and Topiaries
For the brand new season, Disneyland Paris have worked exceptionally hard in a short amount of time to bring some stunning new decorations and topiaries to the park, starting at Main Street Station, working up through Town Square, and culminating in the spectacular topiaries found on Central Plaza.
Spring Magical Moments at the Disneyland Hotel
The Disneyland Hotel's Thursday through Sunday 'Magical Moment' has had several spring themed versions since the start of the season, and while it is not easy to predict when they will have a particular theme, just be aware that they can happen on any given day (of the days it runs). When it does happen the music will be different, and the characters will wear cute spring outfits.
And Finally...
There are other small things that all add to the experience that unfortunately we didn't get pictures of, such as the horses who pull the horse-drawn streetcars wearing cute spring bonnets and special spring cupcakes at the Cable Car Bake Shop.
Throughout the park you can also pick up a special "Junior Explorer's Guide" to the park, which tells young guests about horticulture and nature at Disneyland Paris. It's a cute idea, and makes for a nice free souvenir from the season!
On top of all that, over at Disney Village, you can celebrate spring with special kiosks selling baked goods and merchandise, and topiaries and decorations scattered throughout.
If you're considering a trip to Disneyland Paris for the spring season, you can check prices and availability on the official Disneyland Paris website, hereg(214505)a(1961589)) . They have some great offers right now, including up to 25% off hotel and and park tickets, and free half board meal plans!
Have a great weekend everyone,
Dan. |
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 | Welcome to Spring! | |
| DisneyDan
Thursday, March 20, 2014 12:38:09 PM |
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Today, 20th March, is the first day of spring in the northern hemisphere. Also known as the Spring Equinox, it's the day when the hours of daylight and nighttime are equal, with the days getting longer from here on.
Here to celebrate are some of our furry pals that just love the spring!
Welcome to spring everyone!
Dan. |
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Hello everyone,
Today we finally have official confirmation from Tokyo Disney Resort that Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, who had been rumoured to start appearing for some time, will appear from the 2nd April at Tokyo DisneySea's Cape Cod area! This will be the first time ever that Walt Disney's original cartoon star will appear at a Disney Park, and hopefully paves the way for him to make future appearances around the world!
It is not known if he will remain after their spring festivities end, as at the moment he is only listed under the spring pages of the Japanese language website. We can only hope he will remain!
Other offerings this spring at Tokyo Disney Resort include a brand new Easter parade at Tokyo Disneyland, Mickey and Duffy's Spring Voyage at DisneySea which features three separate shows around the park's ports, and greetings with Duffy who will be wearing a special outfit.
Over in WDW, the Disney Parks Blog today announced that Anna and Elsa would be leaving Norway at EPCOT and moving to the Princess Fairytale Hall at the Magic Kingdom from 20th April. FastPass+ is expected to be available. Cinderella and Rapunzel should still be available in one room, but Anna and Elsa will be replacing Aurora and Snow White in the other. The Parks Blog have said that Anna and Elsa would only be greeting during the day, and in the evening other princesses shall visit, meaning that hopefully Snow White and Aurora will still be greeting at some point during any given day.
Finally, Disneyland Paris last week celebrated their annual Welsh St. David's Day festival, and this coming Monday (17th) will be celebrating the Irish St. Patrick's Day. The schedule of events will include character greetings with Mickey and Minnie in special Irish costumes, lucky (and rather mischievous!) Leprechauns roaming around Frontierland, a small dance show featuring Chip 'n' Dale in their Irish finest, and a pre-parade featuring the Disney characters in their special Irish clothes. The day will be topped off with special St. Patrick's Day fireworks over Disneyland Park.
Have a great weekend everyone,
Dan. |
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Hello everyone,
This week the Disney Parks Blog announced that the insanely popular Star Wars Weekend at Walt Disney World's Hollywood Studios would be extended to a fifth weekend, up from its normal four. In addition, there would be brand new nightly fireworks (during the weekends), similar to those seen last year at the May the Fourth event. Other Disney news sites are also reporting that there will be a new "experience" to replace the long running and very popular Hyperspace Hoopla. There is no word yet as to why they are doing this and what exactly Hoopla will be replaced with, but we can only hope it's as energetic and fun as Hoopla has been in the past few years. We'll be sad to see Hoopla go, but look forward to having some new entertainment, hopefully!
Across the Twitterverse and beyond, many people have now been talking about the strong possibility that Oswald the Lucky Rabbit will finally be allowed to step out of Toontown and join the Disney Characters at the Disney Parks, for the first time ever this spring! It has been suggested by many that he will start appearing during Disneyland Paris' and Tokyo Disney Resort's spring events. Of course, it could be a rumour that has just spiralled and grown, or there could be something in it, but I have a feeling, and talking to some people I know, that it could very well be true! I guess we shall see at the end of next month! Let's hope it is true!
Speaking of the new spring season at Disneyland Paris, although I had talked about this before, and other sites have also all been talking about it, I wanted to just mention here what we know so far, to give a roundup of what we can expect.
There will be a brand new cavalcade at Disneyland Park, featuring around thirty characters, some of them I'm told are "uncommon". It's strongly hinted that Thumper and Miss Bunny will come to Disneyland Paris for the first time (as well as Oswald, who I mentioned above). The cavalcade will utilise the former Casey Jr train from years gone by, along with three of the cars from Stars 'n' Cars (Walt Disney Studios Park's parade). The cars being taken out of Stars 'n' Cars are Mary Poppins and Bert, Snow White and Dopey and Sulley. The loss of three cars and five characters means that the parade will no longer be able to operate in its current capacity, and therefore plans are in the works to use the remaining cars for a special meet 'n' greet cavalcade. Details are sketchy right now, so we will have to wait until next month to see how it all works out.
As well as the parade changes for both parks, Disneyland Park is also expected to get some awesome decorations, musicians, street artists and there has even been talk of a small show on Main Street, but, that's still as yet unconfirmed.
As you would expect, there will also be some special meet 'n' greets at Disneyland Park, with our favourite characters in special outfits.
Of course, as I said, much as all this is currently unconfirmed. Admittedly, a lot has come from usually very reliable sources, and the odd thing about DLP is that rumours more often than not tend to turn out true! So let's hope all of this works out that way, too!
Staying with DLP, I want to draw you attention my extensive report I posted the other day that covered the new changes at the Disney Hotels and character greetings around the park. It's a sort of hybrid trip report and news report, but if you're planning a trip to DLP soon, it's well worth reading.
Finally we skip over to Hong Kong Disneyland, where the popular blog Disney and More revealed that the long running Glow in the Park Halloween Parade will sadly not return this year. Jon and I saw it several times in 2012 and really liked it. However, the park will be gaining a brand new nighttime parade, titled 'Disney Paint the Night' which will be a permanent addition. This of course is awesome, but I'm sure the Hong Kong fan community will miss not having a dedicated Halloween parade during the season.
Ok, I think that's everything for today,
Dan. |
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Hello everyone,
The Disney Parks Blog announced this week that Disney California Adventure would play host to Disneyland Resort's Lunar New Year Celebrations this year, which will feature Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Chip and Dale, Mulan and Mushu over at Paradise Gardens. There will be crafting, Chinese dragon and lion dances, as well as Vietnamese and Korean dance groups. The event will run from 31st January until 2nd February inclusive, from 11am until 5pm.
The Disney Parks Blog also announced that the Disneyland Resort is playing host to another round of rare character weekends from now until May, yes May! Every Friday through Sunday you can head over to the Big Thunder Ranch Jamboree to see who is appearing. Our good friend Loren was there last weekend, and you can check out his report on who he met, here.
The Tokyo Disney Resort Blog made a post revealing some information (albeit all in Japanese) about this year's spring events at the resort. From the 2nd April through 23rd June inclusive, the resort will play host to various shows and parades at both parks.
At Tokyo Disneyland, after a hiatus last year, the park sees a spring parade back on its streets, titled Hippiti-Hoppiti Spring Time. The parade will feature seven new floats, starring Mickey and his friends in their spring finest, as well as Marie. The blog also mentions Easter Bunnies, but it's hard to make out whether it means that the Easter Bunny himself will feature, or if he's just a statue on a float.
At Tokyo DisneySea, Lido Isle Welcome to Spring, Easter in New York and Springtime Surprise all return for another year, at the various ports around the park.
In addition to the shows and parade featuring the characters, there will be special menus, merchandise and decorations.
Jon and I will be there in May, and cannot wait to see the new parade!
I want to also point you to my previous news posts from the last week or so, in case you missed them, because there were some interesting things that are still relevant.
To find out about news for Captain America, Marie, and a brand new Disney On Ice show featuring the Frozen characters, click here.
To find out about Disneyland Paris Spring events, queue lines, Aurora and Camp Minnie-Mickey, click here.
To find out about Doc McStuffins and other news, click here.
For my tribute to the recently retired Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade, click here.
For my tribute to the recently closed Camp Minnie-Mickey, click here.
For my massive photo-filled year in review for 2013, click here.
For my most recent dining review for Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show, click here.
Finally, I have been adding more and more content to the site, including locations and characters! As well as that, new photos show up across the site on many pages almost daily, as we continue to work through our massive backlog! Whenever you visit a page on the site, you never know what you might see that's new or different! So be sure to check back regularly.
Ok, I think that's everything for this evening,
Dan. |
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