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Hello everyone,
Yesterday the Disney Parks Blog announced some more details about the Villains Unleashed event to be held at Disney's Hollywood Studios on 23rd August. One of the most surprising details from the release was that Captain Gantu and Dr. Jacques von Hämsterviel from the Lilo and Stitch series would be making appearances on the Streets of America for greetings during the party!
Some of the highlights of the event include:
- Hades Hangout - The party kicks off at 8pm at the main event stage, where hosts Hades, Megara, Pain and Panic are killing ‘em with comedy. They’re joined throughout the night by the Underworld Dancers, DJ Igg Nite, live music and other Villains, including the Queen of Hearts, Sheriff of Nottingham, the Big Bad Wolf and Captain Hook.
- Villains Dominion - The Streets of America will be swarming with baddies. Here you’ll have the opportunity to meet favourites like Cruella De Vil, Jafar, Dr. Facilier and Gaston, along with more rarely seen baddies such as Shan Yu from “Mulan,” Bowler Hat Guy from “Meet the Robinsons”, or Captain Gantu and Dr. Hämsterviel from “Lilo & Stitch: The Series”. In addition look for Judge Claude Frollo, Lady Tremaine, Anastasia, Drizella, and more!
- The Dark Side - During “Villains Unleashed,” the area around 'Star Tours - The Adventures Continue' becomes a wretched hive of scum and villainy, the place to find nefarious bounty hunter Boba Fett, Sith apprentice Darth Maul, and the ultimate villain - Darth Vader! And that’s not all! Wandering the area, you’ll stumble upon more malcontents from that galaxy far, far away: Zam Wessel, Aurra Sing, Asajj Ventress, Jango Fett, Greedo, Jawas, and others.
- Villainous Encounters - Visit Stage 4 (where The Legend of Captain Jack Sparrow attraction is seen during the day), and you can “Parlay” with the one and only Hector Barbossa. And just around the corner in the Animation Courtyard is where you’ll discover a bit of the Moors, where you can have an audience with the mistress of all evil, Maleficent!
- Oogie Boogie’s Freaky Funhouse Show - Over on Sunset Boulevard, Theater of the Stars presents a production of extreme performances, hosted by the original master of scare-monies, Oogie Boogie. It’s an all-new show that’s sure to thrill!
- Fantasmic! - Strolling up Sunset Boulevard, a gang of villainous henchmen, known as the Night Crawlers, tempt you to join them for a special pre-show to the evening’s performance of Fantasmic!, itself a celebration of the power and intrigue of some of the greatest Disney villains.
- “Villainy in the Sky” Fireworks - Hades summons Maleficent to the main event stage to close things out with a devilishly dazzling display of pyrotechnics!
It all sounds completely awesome, right?! Jon and I have actually already seen Captain Gantu and Dr. Hämsterviel a couple of times in the past. They featured several years ago in a popular Tokyo Disney Resort summertime show, titled "Midsummer Night's Panic". You can check out our dedicated Gantu page here, and dedicated Dr. Hämsterviel page here for lots more photos of both these galactic villains! I'm also putting a couple of photos below for your enjoyment!
Moving on now, and over at the Magic Kingdom the next couple of days will see a new system in place for the perpetually long line to meet Anna and Elsa from Disney's 'Frozen'. FastPass+ reservations can still be made (providing there is availability), however, now the stand-by line is being cut in favour of an alternate concept. If you aren't able to get a FP+ reservation (or are willing to wait in line anyway), you now receive a return time ticket for a half hour window later in the day. Disney are reportedly going to give out less of these per hour than the the equivalent amount of people who would have waited in line, meaning that in theory the line should now be a lot shorter when you return since the ticket system ensures only a limited number of people can be in line at any given moment. If the system is a success, then I expect that we can see it permanently implemented. Disneyland Paris already use virtually the same system for their popular Princess Pavilion, whereby tickets are distributed for a return time, and then you return later with a (supposedly) shorter wait. Of course these systems do have one major disadvantage in order to make lines shorter - less people now have the opportunity to experience these greetings, and there is a chance you might not get a ticket. It'll be interesting to see how it works out, and if Disney adopt this permanently.
Finally, yesterday Tokyo Disney Resort's official blog announced that the Mystic Rhythms show at Hangar Stage in Tokyo DisneySea's Lost River Delta area will be closing to make way for a new show in 2016. The new production will use projection mapping technology and follows a young girl through the world of shadows! No other information has been released at this stage, but once it does, I'll be sure to post it here.
You should also check out this neat tilt shift, time lapse video of Tokyo Disneyland that Tokyo Disney Resort released just recently. It features a bunch of characters, shows and parades, and is quite cute!
Ok, that's everything for now. If you play the Disney Tsum Tsum game on your iPhone or Android device, why not check out our brand new sister site, Tsum Tsum Central!
Have a great week everybody,
Dan. |
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Hi all,
We have been busy as always here at Character Central, but here's this weeks roundup of all the latest character news.
There has been lots of PIXAR news this week.
We start with the news that the West Coast Cruises this Fall will feature a lot of favourite PIXAR Pals. There will be special meet and greets and events on board.
The picture posted by the Parks Blog shows fairly standard characters, and I doubt very much any real neat ones will show up.
What do you all think of this? Have you already booked a DCL Cruise for these dates? Would you have liked to have known it was going to be PIXAR centric?
Staying with PIXAR, some new PIXAR stamps were launched in the US this week, and the PIXAR pals were at the brand new Art of Animation Resort in WDW for a special launch event.
That leads me to talk about the new Art of Animation Resort... It opened this week with a character filled ceremony and a speech by the fan love her/hate her head of Parks and Resorts, Meg Crofton. Characters in attendance included Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Daisy, Pluto, Timon, Ariel, Eric, and Chip 'n' Dale - and the Fab 5 friends were the talking head versions! Also there were puppeteers commanding Sebastian and Flounder alongside Ariel and Eric.
Continuing the PIXAR theme, and Downtown Disney in WDW has been hosting the Car Masters Weekend, and of course Disney took the opportunity to have some very famous stars there... Mater, McQueen and Finn McMissile! Although Mater and McQueen already meet in the Parks, Finn is a cool addition for those visiting this weekend.
Over in California, the PXAR Play Parade made it's return in "soft opening" mode, and will return officially on June 15th - DCA's official re-launch date.
The only float we can see that is missing currently is the Remy and Emile one, and that's probably due to the rats bouncing wires being too tall for the new overhead lines along Buena Vista Street.
Staying with DCA, and the Disney Parks Blog announced a few new cool things there. I thought I had mentioned these previously, but obviously completely forgot! So these are a bit late, I apologise lol.
When the new Buena Vista Street opens, some of the Fab 5 friends will get some fantastic new outfits to meet fans in the new land. We just LOVE Chip and Dale's outfits!
Also, as expected, but now confirmed, Mater and McQueen will be meeting Guests in Cars Land daily.
On top of all that, and I think maybe inspired by DLP's daily fountain shows that utilise the new Dreams technology, Goofy will be making appearances in his tux throughout the day at Paradise Bay, conducting the World Of Color fountains to music!
Finally for DCA (!), the Parks Blog also said that a character dance party will take place daily though the summer in Hollywood Land, and "you never know who might show up!"... We'll see whether that ends up being regular pals, or some more random ones (we of course hope the latter!).
We look forward to seeing all these new things this year!
Two last things, which aren't PIXAR related!
Rapunzel and Flynn have apparently been added to the day Parade in the Magic Kingdom, on the finale Castle float, which makes for a nice addition. As we all know, they are immensely popular, and so adding them makes sense - especially in the MK's ailing parade.
Finally, it has been announced (and confirmed by various sources) that place-making will begin at the Walt Disney Studios in Paris, alongside the new Ratatouille ride (scheduled to open 2014), and will continue through 2018!
I know this isn't character related, but it is a much welcomed announcement, and we can only hope that it will be along similar lines to the new DCA, and in turn will mean new character shows, greetings and entertainment!
Ok, that's all for now! Let us know your thoughts by hitting the Discuss button below and commenting on the forum!
Dan. |
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