Hi all,

The last few days have been quite eventful in the Character world!

Let me begin by going back the start of the weekend at Disneyland Paris, which saw the press launch of the new Magical Moments Festival. All the main features of the new celebration were previewed during the day, treating regular park Guests to a snippet of what is to come. Later in the evening, they had the main press event, and that consisted of a spectacular show on the hub – though sadly not one we’ll see during the main celebration. Photos and one video of the press event and show can be found on DLRP Express’s website here.

Over on the forum, Jon posted a video of the new Following the Leader with Peter Pan happening in Adventureland, which was unofficially launched this weekend also.

We had a good friend who was there and he managed to get some pictures of a special meet and greet that took place in the Disneyland Hotel main atrium during the press event. It would appear that although this was for a special reason, people who were lucky enough to be passing by were also able to join in the fun, and would have gotten to meet Huey, Dewey, Louis and Hyacinth Hippo!

I met with a friend in London yesterday who was at Disneyland Paris late last week, and although I do not have any pictures to share, he showed me a photo of a new tent that has gone up near “it’s a small world” which looks set to become a temporary Princess meet and greet area. It is very near where the new permanent Princess location will be opening (no date yet). If I see any photos online that I can share, I’ll post them here.

My friend also told me that he saw Bellhop Goofy in the Studios last week. I mention this because Bellhop Goofy has not been seen for quite a long time, sadly, and so it is great that they put him out! Goofy seems to have a good week last week because my friend also told me he met the old Studios pink superstar Goofy at the Hotel New York, and the Disney Afternoon “orange sweater” Goofy at the Sequoia Lodge. If he posts his pictures online I will try to share them with you (he did say he might post them to the Character Central forum – I’ll let you know if he does).

I mentioned last week that Angel may be staying in Paris and it now seems my source was correct, and on top of that, Mike will be staying too! Both are expected to start appearing in Stars and Cars in the Studios. I seem to recall hearing that they may have started appearing already, but have had no confirmation of this yet.

Saturday saw the opening of the brand new walkway from the hub to the “it’s a small world” exit gates, and thus the parade was able to make its return to a fully-fledged parade once again. The new show stops were included, but I have to say that they were not popular at all. I have to admit that they are certainly a backwards step, and are not easily manageable by the poor Cast Members. The kids walk off and on the parade route where they please, no-one seems to listen to the instructions given by Cast and Characters, people cross the street, and a whole manner of difficult circumstances. I know from my CM friends on Facebook that none of them liked it, and yesterday, just one day after it debuted, the shop stops were cut! We have no actual confirmation as to the reason for this, but we can only hope that they are rethinking what they are going to do, or how they can manage it better, as it truly was a disaster. Our friends at the Facebook group Characters Photos Blog posted some videos to their YouTube page here.

Characters Photos Blog (CPB) also noted on their Facebook page this afternoon that Buffalo Bill was randomly at Café Mickey in Disney Village yesterday, which is extremely unusual. He can normally only be found in his show further up the Village.

Speaking of random appearances and the new celebration, most of the characters due to be out during the new celebration have already started unofficially meeting Guests in their new locations over the last few days. I have seen pictures from contacts with Alice and the Mad Hatter at their new spot in Fantasyland, Rapunzel and Flynn at their new Fantasyland location, Genie at the new Aladdin Adventureland area and Rafiki and Timon in their new spot in Adventureland also. Sadly I cannot repost those pictures as they are private pictures from friends, but if I see any online I’ll of course share them here.

Today I found this video on YouTube of Lightening McQueen who like the other new Magical Moments characters, has started appearing unofficially in the Motors Action Stunt Show in the Studios. There is another car in the short sequence also, who does speak, albeit in French, which I suppose makes him a new character too!

Finally for Paris, CPB noticed today that the Zazu and Kaa statues that were at the new Jungle Rhythms area in Adventureland have been removed! There is no apparent reason as to why this has happened.

Over in California our good friend Loren has been checking out all the new Pirates of the Caribbean - On Stranger Tides locations and events (including Jack Sparrow making appearances), and has made a comprehensive post about it here on the forum.

Finally, I do not normally comment on non-Character related things, but thought this was worth a mention. Google reported that work on Shanghai Disneyland is due to start this week, with the construction kicking off with a special event. What this is we are not sure, but if I see anything of course I’ll let you know as always.

Ok that’s all for now!

Dan.