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Hello everyone,
Yesterday the Disney Parks Blog announced three premium dining options for New Year's Eve at the Contemporary Resort (WDW), two of which involve character appearances.
Disney Countdown to Midnight
Disney Countdown to Midnight is described on the Disney Parks Blog as follows:
For an evening of dining and dancing, “Disney Countdown to Midnight” includes delightful dining, live music, libations and more. An interactive band and DJ will fill the dance floor (and we hear that Mickey and Minnie may make a special appearance). Then welcome in 2018 with a flute of bubbly and a viewing of those legendary New Year’s Eve fireworks in the Magic Kingdom.
Hours are 8pm to 1am in the Fantasia Ballroom. This party is designed for guests 18 and older.
This one sounds very much like a dance party for over 18s, and while they mention Mickey and Minnie, it is very vague and I suspect that they'll be there either dancing or on a stage; not greeting.
Pixar Party: A New Year’s Eve Celebration
Pixar Party: A New Year’s Eve Celebration is described on the Disney Parks Blog as follows:
“Pixar Party: A New Year’s Eve Celebration” is for children of all ages, a family-friendly way to ring in the New Year with a Disney•Pixar-inspired dinner.
Sarge welcomes you to the Ballroom of the Americas that features vignettes of beloved Pixar movies. From Andy’s Room in “Toy Story” to and Metro City with The Incredibles, the immersive celebration will include theatrical backdrops, dramatic set pieces and fun props that re-create the fantastic worlds of the Pixar films. And, of course, favorite characters will be on hand from “Toy Story,” “The Incredibles,” “Cars” and “Up.”
Kids can have fun at Pixar face painting, a balloon artist and a boot camp with Sarge, while an interactive DJ will spin hits from Radio Disney (he’s going to be in a “Cars”-inspired DJ rig from Radiator Springs). Dinner is buffet style.
At midnight, head outdoors to ring in the New Year with a viewing of the Magic Kingdom fireworks. Hours are 8pm - 12.15am.
This one sounds like it could be a lot of fun, though I suspect the characters may be of the simpler variety rather than any rare ones from any of those movies listed. It would be amazing to see the likes of Bo-Peep show up, but I wouldn't expect it, sadly.
Down in New Orleans: A Disney New Year’s Eve Dining Experience
Down in New Orleans: A Disney New Year’s Eve Dining Experience is described on the Disney Parks Blog as follows:
Fine dining is the theme of the third party, “Down in New Orleans: A Disney New Year’s Eve Dining Experience” in the Grand Republic Ballroom. Inspired by the Disney animated film “The Princess and the Frog,” the room is beautifully decorated French Quarter style to transport you to the Big Easy.
Actions stations will feature flavors such as oyster beignets, smoked salmon mousse cones with caviar, Kobe beef tartare and sheep’s milk ricotta gnocchi. Signature dishes will include herb-crusted Louisiana redfish, crayfish étouffée, Black Angus beef cooked two ways, braised short ribs and filet of beef with truffled celery root silk.
A N’awlins jazz band will entertain during dinner, joined later in the evening by a vocalist who will bring to life the Academy-Award-winning classics from the film. Then slip outside with a glass of bubbly just before midnight to ring in 2018 with a private viewing area for the Magic Kingdom fireworks. Hours are 7pm -12.15am.
This last one sounds pretty neat, but unfortunately does not detail any character appearances. The meal is "inspired by" the movie, and the main draw seems to be the musicians. It would be awesome to see all four characters appear there, but like with the other meals above, I wouldn't expect anything beyond what the post specifically states.
The Disney Parks Blog did not release any pricing information, and recommend that you find out more details, and book, via the Walt Disney World Dining line, at (407) WDW-DINE.
Have a great day everyone,
Dan. |
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Hello everyone,
If you're considering attending the Halloween and Christmas parties at the Magic Kingdom this year, you can find the dates below.
While it is still early in the year, the Halloween parties actually start next month, and we haven't heard about any new offerings, changes of any kind at this point. With just over a month to go, I suspect that the parties will be almost identical to last year. You can check out our dedicated Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party page, here, on Character Central.
Prices for this year's Halloween parties range from $74 plus tax up to $115 plus tax, for adults (anyone over 9 years old), and from $69 plus tax up to $110 plus tax for children aged 3-9.
2017 Halloween Party Dates:
August: 25, 29
September: 1, 7, 10, 12, 15, 17, 19, 22, 24, 26, 29
October: 1, 3, 5, 6, 9, 10, 12, 13, 15, 17, 19, 20, 22, 24, 26, 27, 29, 31
November: 1
The Christmas parties start in November, shortly after the Halloween parties end, and run through December, ending just before Christmas itself. As with the Halloween parties, we haven't yet heard about any changes, but for Christmas it's a little early right now. You can check out our dedicated Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party page, here, on Character Central.
Prices for this year's Christmas parties range from $89 plus tax up to $109 plus tax, for adults (anyone over 9 years old), and from $84 plus tax up to $104 plus tax for children aged 3-9.
2017 Christmas Party Dates:
November: 9, 10, 12, 14, 16, 17, 26, 28
December: 1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 10, 12, 14, 15, 17, 19, 21, 22
All event tickets can - and should - be purchased on the official Walt Disney World ticketing page, here.
Have a great day everyone,
Dan. |
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Hello everyone,
Last month (April 2017), Jon and I took part in our second runDisney weekend, the Star Wars Dark Side Half Marathon Weekend at Walt Disney World. Followers of my blog will know that in February we participated in our very first ever runDisney event at the Disney Princess Half Marathon Weekend. Well, here we were, two months later, ready to do it all over again for the Empire!
I won't repeat everything I said in my first Princess blog about our impressions of runDisney, training, organisation of the event, impressions, etc, as many of those aspects were very similar this time, but needless to say, we were exceptionally proud of ourselves for being able to achieve not just one half marathon weekend, but now two in the space of two months!
As per the usual setup with the runDisney events, we went along on the Thursday before the race weekend to collect our bibs and merchandise at the health expo, at ESPN. The setup was virtually identical to the Princess Half expo, down to the bib collection areas, the vendor booths and show area, and the official race store.
[ Read More... ] |
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Hello everyone,
As Jon and I spend an increasing amount of time at the Walt Disney World Resort theme parks, I find it correspondingly redundant to post "trip reports", in the more traditional sense. You may have noticed that, for example, recently I posted a stand alone review of the Garden Grill, a report on meeting the stars of Cars 3, and my report on the DVC Moonlight Magic event here on Character Central, and over on Two Lost Boys, my review of Flower and Garden 2017 at Epcot. I thought that it would be nice to share the more "generic" things we saw, too, over the past two months, and so decided to make this report more of a round-up of multiple visits, rather than breaking it down into separate trip reports. We will actually be back at the parks again this week and next, and so you should expect to see a similar round-up and more specialised individual reports once I get around to doing them, too.
Let's start our February-March walk though the park with the Magic Kingdom. [ Read More... ] |
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Hello everyone,
Last weekend, the Lightning McQueen was joined by Cruz Ramirez and Jackson Storm at Disney Springs, at Walt Disney World, for a special three-day appearance to kick off their nationwide tour to promote the new movie (June 16th).
We were there on Sunday to meet them, and so I have some photos to share with you all. [ Read More... ] |
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Hello everyone,
This week has been a particularly good week for character news, with lots coming out of Disneyland, Walt Disney World, Tokyo Disney Resort and Disneyland Paris.
Let's start with Tokyo Disney Resort, where last night they announced a brand new character to join Duffy and friends at Tokyo DisneySea - a bunny named StellaLou. [ Read More... ] |
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Hello everyone,
Last month Jon and I, along with a very dear friend, took part in our first ever runDisney race weekend. We participated in all three races (5k, 10k and half marathon) at the Disney Princess Half Marathon Weekend at Walt Disney World in Florida.
It's hard to even know where to begin describing this entire journey to you, since it wasn't at all like a normal trip. We didn't just go to the parks and happen to run through them like our lives depended on it - this was an altogether different experience. A journey that involved months of hard training, registrations, and bookings at precise moments to get what we wanted, and planning out strategies and coping mechanisms for running these events as a team, while making individual achievements.
We had known for a few months prior to booking that our goal was to be fit enough to want to complete a runDisney event, and when we booked the races last year, we had reached a point where we felt we could be ready in February to compete. The booking process itself was a challenge - as with everything with Disney these days - and we had to make several calls and enquiries to get what we wanted. They don't really make it very clear with regards to some aspects of it, if you have never done this before. So to that degree it was frustrating.
Months later still, and February finally arrived, and we were as ready as we were ever going to be! [ Read More... ] |
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Hello everyone,
In this fourth and final part of my trip report for our visit to Walt Disney World during Christmas 2016 I am going to share with you some more of our adventures at the Magic Kingdom.
Let's start on Main Street USA where we met Santa Claus before he set off on his magical deliveries on Christmas Eve. [ Read More... ] |
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Hello everyone,
In this third part of my Walt Disney World Christmas trip report, I am going to share with you some of my photos from our various viewings of Mickey's Once Upon a Christmastime Parade and Mickey's Most Merriest Celebration at the Magic Kingdom.
The Christmas parade has changed little over the past few years, but there have been some tweaks along the way nonetheless. This past year saw the princes wear their new outfits in the parade for the first time. Being there Christmas week, we got to see the parade during the day (as opposed to at night, at the much more crowded Christmas parties), which was nice so that we could get decent photos of their new outfits.
Before the parade the Kringle Crew danced down Main Street USA, giant inflatable balls in tow. [ Read More... ] |
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Hello everyone,
In this second part of my Walt Disney World December trip report I am going to share you with your our adventures at Disney's Hollywood Studios and Epcot. In case you missed it, the first part of my report, which covers Disney's Animal Kingdom and the Disney resort hotels, can be found here.
Let's start with Hollywood Studios. [ Read More... ] |
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