Character meet and greets are a big part of what makes a trip to Walt Disney World so special, and in recent months Disney has taken it upon themselves to make a number of improvements and changes to each park’s character line-up. While not all of these changes are always popular with guests, Disney is constantly making adjustments to try and make character offerings as diverse as possible while still keeping things running efficiently around the parks.
This month, Epcot’s reinvention rolls on, resulting in the closure of a temporary attraction, more character shuffles, plus we say goodbye to a few friends before the end of next week!
1. Temporary Epcot Character Spot closing, causing character moves
Epcot has been in a state of upheaval over the past few months and just after the busy holiday season ends, the current Character Spot will close on January 5, 2020 in Innoventions West. Because of this closure, we will be getting a few character shuffles in the near future including the following:
- Minnie Mouse will move to the meeting area in the World Showcase Gazebo.
- Daisy Duck (who formerly met in the gazebo area) will relocate to Future World East.
- Goofy will meet guests at the park’s main entrance area near Spaceship Earth.
- Joy will be meeting guests sometime in the future in in the Imagination! pavilion in the ImageWorks area. A new backdrop and greeting area is currently being installed and should be finished soon.
Sadly it looks like January 5, 2020 will be the last day for guests to meet characters Sadness and Baymax, as these two will not be relocating after this closure.
2.New Mickey Mouse Imagination meet and greet opening January 5
Guests will be able to meet Mickey Mouse in a new permanent meet and greet area in the Imagination Pavilion as part of the Disney & Pixar Short Film Festival. Mickey Mouse will be moving in to a new area of the indoor queue space for this attraction on January 5, 2020 and have a special film strip background that will showcase this beloved characters’ history.
3. Villains Cursed Caravan hitting Villains After Hours next year
Next year, Villains After Hours will be adding the Villains’ Cursed Caravan, which will be headed by Maleficent the dragon creeping slowly through the park followed by Gaston, Oogie Boogie, Cruella DeVil, Captain Hook and more. These characters will be roaming along a parade route through the evening, but will not be stopping for photos or autographs. Instead think of this new offering as a mini-parade of sorts (and the closest thing we’ve seen to a nighttime parade at Magic Kingdom in years).
