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Hello everyone,
In part one of this report I shared with you our adventures at the Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, the resort hotels, Disney Springs and the Boardwalk. In this second and final part I am going to tell you about our time at Epcot and Hollywood Studios.
The week of our trip was also the last week of the Epcot International Flower and Garden Festival, which we try to see every year. While we always enjoy Flower and Garden, I do feel that over the years they have cut back more and more, and now there is very little new to see year on year, which is really unfortunate. At any rate, what they do have is pretty, and we like to walk around taking photos of all the topiaries, and occasionally sampling the different foods and drinks (while the number of topiaries has been reduced over the years, the festival seems to have taken on the role of "Food and Wine Festival 2.0", adding more and more food stands in place of the flowers!). [ Read More... ] |
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Hello everyone,
Yesterday the Disney Parks Blog finally officially announced the dates for Mickey's Halloween Party at Disneyland this year, as well as the dates the tickets go on sale to various groups of guests.
The blog confirmed the return of Haunted Mansion Holiday and Space Mountain Ghost Galaxy for the season, as well as the return of the Halloween Screams fireworks for the parties. They did also reveal that new for this year, the Headless Horseman would make a "spooky ride" through the park each party night! The Magic Kingdom's Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party has done this for many years, so it'll be interesting and fun to see the ghoulish horseman at Disneyland this year!
Halloween Time will run from 9th September until 31st October, inclusive, with Mickey's Halloween Party running on 17 select nights from 23rd September until 31st October.
The dates for the parties are as follows:
September 23, 26, 28 and 30.
October 3, 5, 7, 10, 12, 14, 17, 19, 21, 24, 26, 29 and 31.
Tickets go on sale for Disneyland Resort Annual Passholders, Disney Visa Reward members and Disney Vacation Club members next week, on the 21st July, and to the general public on 28th July. Prices start from $72 (plus tax) and go up to $99 (plus tax), depending on the night.
Have a great day everyone,
Dan. |
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Hello everyone,
Today Disneyland Paris sent out a press release announcing that Moana - or Vaiana as she will be known in France - will feature at the resort during their Enchanted Christmas season, which begins on the 11th November. The press release was actually a little vague, giving no more details other than she will be at the resort during the season, so whether that means she will be greeting, feature in a new Christmas show, or in the parade, is yet to be seen. Disneyland Paris are notoriously bad at providing clear information, and are even worse at holding fast to what they have said - so we shall see what happens. At least, for now, we can say that Moana will feature this Christmas in some capacity at the French resort! The movie is released on 30th November in many places in Europe, including France, and the week before in the US, so it will also be interesting to see whether she debuts at the start of the season (starting 11th November), or if she will only appear once her movie premiers at the end of the month.
Disney On Ice this week announced another brand new show, "Follow Your Heart", and while much of it is once again a rehash of previous shows, there are two really cool new scenes of note. A Finding Dory scene will be added, which, if the image and text on their main website is to be believed, should feature Dory, Hank and Nemo. Of course Dory and Nemo have featured before, but the Finding Dory characters, such as Hank, and story will be new to Disney On Ice. Additionally - and the most exciting part of all - characters from the blockbuster PIXAR movie Inside Out will be added! After waiting for an eternity for them to come to the US parks, we are now also going to see them in this new show. Again, things are a little vague, but from what the images depict, and what the text on the website says, at very least we should expect Joy, Sadness and Anger, and most likely Fear and Disgust, too! The new show starts in the Washington DC/Baltimore region at the end of October. You can buy pre-sale tickets on Ticketmaster now, using the code "BUBBLES".
As always, Character Central has been receiving continual updates. This week I added Constance Purchase (Main Street Citizen), Captain Phasma, the March of the First Order, The Jungle Book: Alive with Magic, and Star Wars: A Galaxy Far, Far Away.
Also, you can find out about our latest trip to Walt Disney World in part one of my most recent trip report, here on the blog. In this part I share with you our adventures at the Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, Disney Springs, the Boardwalk and the three separate Disney resort hotels that we stayed in during our trip.
This weekend we will be in Disneyland Paris, so be sure to follow us on Instagram and Facebook to see our live updates from the resort.
Have a great day everyone,
Dan. |
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Hello everyone,
At the end of May Jon and I spent a week at Walt Disney World. We hadn't been down there since February since we travelled to Australia in the spring instead. You can read my currently-ongoing Australia trip report here on my Two Lost Boys blog.
In this part of my report I will be sharing with you our adventures at the Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, the resort hotels we stayed at and visited, the Boardwalk, and Disney Springs.
Let's start with the Magic Kingdom. [ Read More... ] |
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Hello everyone,
I know it has been a while since I posted here. Life has a way of getting in the way, and I haven't had time to post as many updates as I would like. Having said that, for the eagle eyed among you, and those who regularly visit this site, you will have noticed that I have been updating many pages throughout the site, including changing character categories, moving things around, adding some brand new characters and locations, and other smaller items. So while the blog hasn't had much recently, I have been here, and Character Central still aims to be as on top of character happenings as possible!
Let's begin with some news that was released by the Disney Parks Blog yesterday. Next week, on Thursday 16th June, Shanghai Disneyland officially opens to the public, following its rather extensive soft opening period. To celebrate, Disney California Adventure Park at the Disneyland Resort will be featuring Mulan and Mushu from 10am until 5pm. Mushu rarely gets out at any of the Disney Parks these days, and so it will be great to see him visiting California.
Pocahontas and Mulan got new outfits last week, and we were lucky enough to be at Animal Kingdom and Epcot the day they debuted! Take a look at their new looks below!
Mickey and Minnie Mouse finally got a new permanent greeting location at Disney's Hollywood Studios, after several months of them moving from place to place, following the closure of the Animation Building. The new location is much nicer than anything previously, and Minnie even got a new outfit!
Along similar lines, after what seemed like an eternity, Olaf finally started greeting his fans at Disney's Hollywood Studios, at the new Celebrity Spotlight location.
Some people have asked us about some of the new characters appearing at the parks, and I can happily confirm that last week I was finally able to add Nick and Judy, Captain Phasma and Joy and Sadness to Character Central (click on the names to go to their pages!).
Before I leave you with some of my photos of those brand new characters (there are many more on their respective pages!), I want to just mention that in the next few days I will be making a blog post/guide to the character experiences at the brand new Shanghai Disneyland. While we are not visiting just yet and therefore Character Central won't feature the park until then (since we need photos - we have our trip booked though!), I wanted to gather together all the information we know about character experiences at the new park, in one handy reference guide, until such a time when I can add the park to the website.
In the next week I also will be writing my latest Walt Disney World trip report here on the blog.
So stay tuned for both of those!
Anyway, that's all for today. Be sure to scroll down for the photos of Joy, Sadness, Nick, Judy and Captain Phasma that I promised!
Have a great day everyone,
Dan.
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Hello everyone,
Today the Disney Parks Blog finally made some announcements about some upcoming additions to the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida.
In a surprise announcement, they revealed that the latest Disney Channel princess, Elena of Avalor, will debut at the Magic Kingdom in August. Elena is the first Latin inspired princess, and is from the Disney Channel show of the same name, which is also set for a summer debut. No other details about where she will meet and an exact start date have been given yet.
The Parks Blog also confirmed that the brand new, much talked about, Magic Kingdom stage show, "Mickey's Royal Friendship Faire", will debut in June. As vague as always, there is no precise date yet, but it is good to get confirmation that it will be sooner rather than later, at least.
Over at Epcot, the Parks Blog confirmed that the new Frozen attraction and meet and greet will also open in "June" (again with the non-specific dates). Anna and Elsa will greet guests at the new Royal Sommerhus, currently under construction.
Once we know more about actual dates for opening and the location for Elena, I will of course post it here on the blog.
Have a great day everyone,
Dan. |
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Hello everyone,
The Walt Disney World website has been updated now to include dates for this year's Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party at the Magic Kingdom in Florida.
There are going to be 21 nights of parties, in the following dates:
November: 7, 8, 10, 11, 13, 15, 18, 27 and 29
December: 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 9, 11, 13, 15, 16, 18 and 22
Tickets have not yet gone on sale, and there is currently no other information about this year's event officially available. Once we do find out more, I'll be sure to post it here on the blog.
Yesterday the Disney Parks Blog announced the Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party dates, which can be found in my news post, here.
Have a great day everyone,
Dan. |
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Hello everyone,
Today the Disney Parks Blog announced the dates for this year's Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party at the Magic Kingdom.
There will be 29 nights of parties, and they are as follows:
September: 2, 8, 11, 13, 16, 18, 20, 23, 25, 29 and 30
October: 2, 4, 6, 7, 10, 11, 13, 14, 16, 18, 20, 21, 23, 25, 27, 28, 30 and 31
The Parks Blog has confirmed the return of character filled favourites, such as Mickey's Boo To You Halloween Parade and the Hocus Pocus Villain Spectacular.
They have not yet announced any further details on pricing and sale dates.
Once we find out more information, I'll be sure to post it here on the blog.
Have a great week everyone,
Dan. |
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 | Walt Disney World February 2016 Trip Report | |
| DisneyDan
Tuesday, March 22, 2016 1:59:50 PM |
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Hello everyone,
Last month we made a very brief trip down to Walt Disney World to check out some new offerings that were not going to be around for very long. We spent Valentine's weekend there, staying at Disney's Saratoga Springs Resort, and managed to visit all four theme parks in two days.
Let's jump straight in, starting with Animal Kingdom, where it was Sweetheart Weekend (for Valentine's). [ Read More... ] |
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Hello everyone,
For a few days rumours of a new special event have been floating around the internet of a special event coming to the Magic Kingdom during April and May. Today, the special events page on the official Walt Disney World website has details of the event, while the Disney Parks Blog has yet to announce it (at time of writing at least).
The event will be held from 10pm until 1am on April 28th and May 5th, and from 11pm until 2am on April 14th and 21st, and May 8th, 12th and 19th, 2016.
Tickets for the events are priced at $149 per person, including children, plus tax.
The website page gives little away, except that the event will keep open some of the most popular attractions in the park, such as the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train and Big Thunder Mountain.
As character fans we were hoping that this might be a special character event, but unfortunately all the page says is "Disney Princess Greetings at Princess Fairytale Hall" and "most popular attractions and Character Greetings". That point is interesting though because recently there have been a lot of sighting of the Disney Princes around the parks with the princesses (such as the Snow Prince at Epcot last week, and Prince Charming at Magic Kingdom the other day), which leads me to believe that perhaps they may appear at the event. That is my own speculation though, and you should not count on that for your planning purposes.
UPDATE March 23: The Disney Parks Blog today said the following (I quote):
This event will enable participants to enjoy more exclusive time in Magic Kingdom – with quicker than typical access to popular attractions like Space Mountain and the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train and character greetings like the ones in Town Square and Princess Fairytale Hall.
This very much makes it sound like that the character offerings will be the regular greetings, and nothing special.
Ticket numbers are very limited apparently, and you have to call Disney rather than book online.
If any more information is released, I'll be sure to update this blog post.
Have a great day everyone,
Dan. |
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