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Character meet-and-greet Fastpasses to debut this spring at Magic Kingdom | Haunted Mansion changes on the way | Disney cast members approve new contract | Reservations employee arrested for raping guest | AquaDuck height limits changed | Construction update | Quick takes
Character meet-and-greet Fastpasses to debut this spring at Magic Kingdom
On her blog last Tuesday, Adrienne Vincent-Phoenix posted:
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The Disney Parks Blog just announced that Fastpass service will be added to the new Mickey Mouse meet-and-greet location in Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom park (link). According to the article, visitors will get a Fastpass with a one-hour return window during which they can come back to meet Mickey, pose for photos and/or get an autograph. With Mickey's Toontown Fair closing last week at the Magic Kingdom to make room for the Fantasyland expansion, a new meet-and-greet area is under construction inside the Exposition Hall on Main Street.When Town Square Theater is completed and Mickey moves from Tomorrowland (and Frontierland and Liberty Square) into the theater, the Disney Princesses will move there as well from their current spot at the Adventureland Verandah while they await construction of Princess Fairy Tale Hall in New Fantasyland. While it hasn't been confirmed yet, we're hearing that they'll get the Fastpass treatment, as well. Stay tuned for more news as that develops.
In a Disney press release, Imagineer and Senior Show Producer Jon Georges is quoted saying "This isn't just remodeling Expo Hall; it is completely re-imagining this entire venue as a beautiful Victorian-era theater and the new home for Mickey Mouse."
Walt Disney World visitors will soon be able to get a Fastpass to meet Mickey Mouse in his new home on Main Street. Photo © Disney.
“Mickey and Main Street, U.S.A. are great examples of pure Americana that complement each other very well,” Concept Designer Jason Grandt said in the press release. “We drew a lot of inspiration from classic Mickey animated shorts such as The Nifty Nineties and Mickey’s Grand Opera. Many of the scenes in these shorts look like they take place right on Main Street.”
According to Disney, the new meet-and-greet area will bring visitors "backstage," where they will meet Mickey "in a rehearsal-room environment amid posters, steamer trunks and stage props." This sounds very similar to the Mickey's movie barn setting at Disneyland, where Mickey greets visitors in rooms themed to classic Disney animated short features.
During remarks during the Disney Investors Conference last week, Walt Disney Parks & Resorts Chairman Tom Staggs included character meet-and-greet opportunities to the list of activities, like attraction Fastpasses and dining reservations, that visitors to the Disney theme parks will be able to schedule in advance of their trip using new technology Disney is developing. This is the first time that Disney has ever used Fastpass for a character meet-and-greet opportunity, and it's likely just the first of several such offerings we'll see in coming months. Staggs also said that new meet-and-greet locations would be constructed during the Fantasyland remodel for the Disney princesses, and it's not a stretch to imagine that each of those locations will come with its own Fastpass offering.
Disney has given no indication that the new "talking" Mickey Mouse character will be used for this new meet-and-greet opportunity, but Disneyland tested the interactive character last year and it fits into Staggs' comments that characters will someday be able to interact with guests in "highly personalized" ways.
These new meet-and-greet locations are also extremely well suited for Disney's Photopass service. Last month David Koenig wrote about a rumored plan to limit character appearances at the Disneyland Resort to specific locations, "making it easier for a Disney's PhotoPass photographer to capture the marketable moment on camera." (link) The Disneyland Resort strongly denied the report.
The new area and the Fastpass offering are said to open "this spring," which means sometime between late March and June. In the interim, Mickey and Minnie are available for photos in Tomorrowland, and the Disney princesses have temporarily relocated to Adventureland.
The princesses are currently meeting guests at a series of backdropped locations inside the Adventureland Verandah. They'll move to the new Town Square Theater in the spring. Photo by J. Jeff Kober.
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