1:58am ET
Disney sprung the announcement of #DisneyPhotoPassDay, giving guests less than a week to prep and clear their schedules. Advertised as a day celebrating PhotoPass photographers, Disney also planned to roll out some special characters at Magic Kingdom and EPCOT-- but it wasn't as magical as it sounds.
Over in the kingdom of dreams, Pinocchio, Gideon and Foulfellow were meeting guests from 9am-4pm over at Storybook Circus. By 9:20am, the line was already clocked at more than 1.5 hours in the blistering summer heat. At EPCOT, Mushu was meeting with Mulan, Dopey was joining Snow White and the Queen of Hearts was pairing up with Alice in the U.K. The lines at EPCOT were reminiscent of the infamous hard-ticket Friday the 13th Event (where many displeased guests were refunded), giving many guests their character meet-and-greet PTSD flashbacks. EPCOT's World Showcase opens at 11:00am. I was in line at 10:20am, with 40 minutes to spare before Mulan and Mushu's first set, here's the line:
Nearly 3 hours later, I was finally able to meet Mushu and Mulan at 1:16pm. Without much communication or direction from character attendants, I relied on past experiences to get through this nightmarish scenario.
Yes, guests are excited to meet new characters-- especially ones that don't typically come out. The mind-boggling part of this whole 'event' is that characters who used to meet in the parks daily were brought out and STILL created these massive lines. In the early 2000's Dopey would meet with Snow White every day, yet, the line was still tough to wait in with children. What to draw from this event: Whether it's a dragon, the seventh dwarf, a wooden boy or royalty with a mole on her cheek.. guests want variety. Nowadays, Annual Passholders, cast members and frequent vacationers are sick of seeing the same characters everywhere they turn. Mickey and the gang play a vital role, but if Disney were to make their meet and greets random, feedback would be much improved. It seems as if everywhere you turn there is a different princess, or a pixar character, or someone you've taken a picture with on your previous trip. I'm not saying more characters need to be added, I am saying there needs to be a variety to keep guests entertained.
RELIVING 'UNLEASH THE VILLAINS'
In their defense, #DisneyPhotoPassDay might've been a test for future offerings. Despite the frustration, bringing out former daily operations / characterpalooza friends was probably a safe bet? Why?
Let's look back to 2013 and the horrific event that was Unleash the Villains. A sold out hard-ticket party overrun by villains had guests foaming at the mouth but resulted in becoming the poster-child for events Disney would not likely attempt again.
On a hot summer day, word got out that Oogie Boogie (The Nightmare Before Christmas) would be
making his Disney Parks debut at the event. Oogie was first in the stage show, which introduced many hard-to-find villains, and then moved over to Echo Lake where 6 villains would meet (The Evil Queen/Shan-Yu, Oogie Boogie/Jafar & Maleficent/Bowler Hat Guy). Hindsight is always 20/20, but there are many things wrong about what has already been mentioned. First of all, these half-dozen characters were all confined to the same location of the park-- creating was essentially mass hysteria amongst crazed Disney fanatics. Also-- Oogie Boogie, arguably the most highly coveted villain was rotating with Jafar (a character you can see at Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party). Third, the rest of the villains (Big Bad Wolf, Queen of Hearts, Gov. Ratclifee, etc.) were thrown into a dance party where mobs were already forming as guests tried to catch a glimpse of Megara, Pain, Panic and Hades on the stage. Other slight problems included major traffic issues, not enough hours for the length of lines, many food carts were shut down and the park was over capacity. Many guests I know joined the longest line, Guest Relations. GR claimed they had no idea the event would be this crowded, nor would there be issues at meet-and-greets because entertainment is 'a separate department.' I came out of that night alive, and thankful I was able to get my pictures with a few rare characters-- knowing this might be the last chance to see any villains.
A SHOT AT REDEMPTION
Fast forward to August 2014.
Here we go again. Disney announces Villains Unleashed. The fact that the event title uses the same words as the nightmare guests witnesses just a year ago already sent chills down the spines of character fans. Disney did a good job of preparing a lineup for this event. With more characters, some that will NEVER bee seen again and spread out meet and greet locations.. this event was still a hot mess. Due to previous experiences, I waited about 6 hours near the backlot tour to ensure that I would get my picture with Captain Gantu (Lilo and Stitch) and would not strike out like I did the year before with Oogie Boogie.
In retrospect, this event did extremely well. Why? Because there were enough rare characters for everyone to walk away with a multitude of new memories after getting into a once-in-a-lifetime event. More than 50 villains kicked off the party at the stage in front of the Great Movie Ride before marching off to their meet and greet locations (scattered all over the map). Here were the lineups:
Captain Gantu and Dr. Hamsterveil (Lilo and Stitch)
Star Lord and Gamora [Disney Parks debut/only appearance to this date] (The Guardians of the Galaxy)
Live Action Maleficent [3rd Disney Parks appearance] (Maleficent)
Constantine [first and only Disney Parks appearance] (Muppets Most Wanted)
Emperor Palpatine and Emperor's Royal Guards (Star Wars)
Shenzi, Banzai and Ed (The Lion King)
Hades, Pain, Panic and Megara [unmeetable/show only] (Hercules)
Queen of Hearts (Alice in Wonderland)
Big Bad Wolf
Captain Hook & Mr. Smee (Peter Pan)
The Evil Queen & The Wicked Witch (Snow White and the Seven Dwarves)
Lady Tremaine, Anastasia & Drizella (Cinderella)
Gov. Ratcliffe (Pochahontas)
Foulfellow, Gideon & Stromboli (Pinocchio)
Br'er Bear, Br'er Fox, Br'er Rabbit (Song of the South)
Dr. Facilier (The Princess and the Frog)
Gaston (Beauty and the Beast)
Bowler Hat Guy (Meet the Robinson)
Oogie Boogie [show only] (The Nightmare Before Christmas)
Shan-Yu (Mulan)
Cruella De Vil (101 Dalmations)
Captain Hector Barbossa (The Pirates of the Caribbean)
The Sheriff of Nottingham, Prince John (Robin Hood)
Frollo (The Hunchback of Notre Dame)
Jafar (Aladdin)
Assajj Ventress (Star Wars)
Aurra Sing (Star Wars)
Tusken Raider (Star Wars)
Darth Vader (Star Wars)
Boba Fett, Jango Fett (Star Wars)
Zam Wessell (Star Wars)
Storm Trooper
Jawa (Star Wars)
Darth Maul (Star Wars)
Greedo (Star Wars)
Gamorrean Guard (Star Wars)
This event was one for the books. The theming was perfect, the exclusivity of certain characters available that night was amazing and all guests where there for the same reason-- making for an unforgettable night. As a one-time event, it was stressful, but could be successful with proper planning. Sadly, I don't see another event like this happening again in the near future. Especially with a lack of villains at Walt Disney World parks on a daily basis.
Finding the happy medium:
With daily operations and special events being polar opposites, Disney must find a way to capitalize on their success and what keeps guests coming back. As previously noted, guests would like to see different characters on a daily basis. Walt Disney World is the mecca for theme park entertainment and has so many options to go through. Super rare, exotic characters don't need to come out every day, but different characters popping up time to time would help dilute these massive lines during special promotions. For example, many guest would be ecstatic to see Koda and Kenai wandering through Animal Kingdom, or Roger Rabbit directing on Hollywood Boulevard. Accessibility and availability can only help the guest experience; and if Disney is looking to sell photos, allow guests to take pictures with different characters to have more options to buy photos-- not just Mickey and princesses. Many of the characters in the parks right now are staples in modern Disney culture, but more can be done.
We keep seeing new characters come to life, without the chance to meet them. When children are asked what they remember about their vacations when they were little, they tend to reflect on some form of entertainment or character meet and greet. Disney is implementing groundbreaking characters that are tearing down stereotypical walls like Elena of Avalor, Nick Wilde and Judy Hopps, but guests aren't able to make those special memories because they can't share time with those characters. Nick and Judy (Zootopia) currently only perform in Magic Kingdom's "Movie It, Shake It, Dance It, Play It" parade with no plans for a standard meet and greet experience in Florida. Elena of Avalor, Disney's first latina princess, does a 6 minute show at the castle stage for a limited time while management scrambles to figure out a meet and greet plan for her.
It's personal opinion, but I believe meeting a character has more of an impact than just seeing them sing or dance. Hopefully young hispanic girls are able to meet the princess taking over the Disney Channel soon as new offerings come into light. As for Moana, well her meet and greet still seems to be up in the air. Disney says it is going to happen, but entertainment is always changing.
Integrating all of these new characters would have a positive change on the landscape and dynamic of meet & greets--- something I believe is desperately needed.