Several new character meet & greets and distanced encounters are arriving at Disney’s Hollywood Studios all through February 2023, some for a restricted time and others on a everlasting foundation. This publish takes a have a look at the common and uncommon characters at DHS, plus our commentary about what else this park wants on the leisure entrance.
Let’s begin on the entrance of the park, the place Mr. Incredible and Elastigirl at the moment are showing subsequent to Echo Lake throughout from Hollywood & Vine. This dynamic duo is at the moment making meet & greet appearances at 10:30 am, 11:00 am, 11:30 am, 12:00 pm, 12:30 pm, 1:00 pm, 2:30 pm, 3:00 pm, 3:30 pm, 4:00 pm, 4:30 pm, and 5 pm.
Along with them, Edna Mode and Frozone seem as a distanced character sighting in a rotation on the patch of grass on the finish of Hollywood Boulevard (close to Echo Lake and Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway within the heart of the park). All of the characters from The Incredibles are showing at Disney’s Hollywood Studios on a everlasting foundation.
Over on the principal entrance to Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge on Grand Avenue, you’ll discover Goofy and Max Goof meet & greets. Goofy is wearing his trip apparel beforehand seen throughout his Tower of Terror distanced sighting, whereas Max Goof is cosplaying as Powerline from A Goofy Movie!
Max Goof beforehand appeared as Powerline throughout Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party and made an look because the character this month throughout DVC’s Moonlight Magic occasion (our picture beneath is from that). Prior to that, Max Goof appeared as himself in a distanced sighting in Echo Lake.
Goofy and Max will seem on Grand Avenue close to the Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge entrance at 10:45 am, 11:15 am, 11:45 am, 12:15 pm, 12:45 pm, 2:15 pm, 2:45 pm, 3:15 pm, 3:45 pm, 4:15 pm, and 4:45 pm.
Note that these are two separate meet & greets which can be every (particularly Max Goof as Powerline) fashionable, which means that you simply’ll have to attend in line twice to fulfill each. It’s our understanding that these meet & greets for the Goofs is continuous and never restricted time magic.
Finally, Chip and Dale could be seen wandering the courtyard close to The Hollywood Brown Derby as a part of distanced character encounters. Clarice Chipmunk will also be seen for Valentine’s Day, on a restricted foundation.
The massive information is that, following Clarice’s departure, the Rescue Rangers will start showing as a conventional meet & greet on the Adventure Outpost close to Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular on February 15, 2023. This will probably be an ongoing meet & greet, with no finish date at the moment set (h/t Attractions).
This is large information for kids of the 90s who grew up on the Disney Afternoon, because it’s the primary everlasting Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers meet and greet in many years. (Disney California Adventure had one to advertise the Disney+ film for a few month final 12 months.)
Don’t look a present horse within the mouth. That’s one thing my grandpa used to inform me rather a lot, and actually, it was his one piece of proverbial knowledge that by no means made sense to me. The most well-known horse-gift in all probability may’ve used a tad extra scrutiny. Might’ve helped win a battle or one thing. In that spirit, our commentary will probably be trying this reward horse within the mouth…for security’s sake.
I’ll begin with the reward. I like to see Disney’s Hollywood Studios getting love–and extra methods to fill the day. I additionally respect that a few of these characters are being strategically-placed in ‘dead space’ at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. The park has a number of that, and it breathes life into areas which were uncared for or are in any other case uncrowded.
I additionally respect the combo of meet & greets and distanced character sightings (or no matter they’re being referred to as now). The latter was among the finest additions of the phased reopening, and we overtly hoped that any such character encounter–blended with conventional meet & greets–would grow to be a everlasting fixture of Walt Disney World.
Distanced characters are nice for livening up the park and providing leisure worth with out having to attend in an extended and slow-moving line. I’m completely happy to see there be a wholesome stability of each kinds of character experiences, and need Walt Disney World would do that with extra characters that draw ridiculous meet & greet waits. (Looking at you, Jack Skellington!)
With that mentioned, this actually simply scratches the floor of what’s wanted at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. These character additions are a step in the proper route, however frankly, the sources may be higher utilized in extra substantial methods. As a reminder, right here’s what remains to be lacking from Disney’s Hollywood Studios as in comparison with pre-closure:
- Citizens of Hollywood
- Jedi Training Academy
- Jingle Bell, Jingle BAM!
- Star Wars: A Galactic Spectacular
- Voyage of the Little Mermaid
As one other reminder, we’ve been saying for the final two-plus years that Hollywood Studios is essentially the most irritating park at Walt Disney World. That article was printed pre-closure, when there was really extra to do at DHS. Among different issues, that is as a result of top-heavy nature of its attraction lineup, and lack of secondary rides. There was a degree in the course of the phased reopening when this was notably problematic, but it surely has gotten significantly better with the return of most stage reveals and leisure.
Now, I’ve come to phrases with the fact that the Citizens of Hollywood are unlikely to return. It breaks my coronary heart to kind that sentence, and every time I stroll into Universal Studios Hollywood (which has been typically in 2023), I’m reminded of simply how a lot streetmosphere and different atmospheric leisure provides to the park.
Nevertheless, the Citizens of Hollywood consist of pricy fairness entertainers, are humorous, and don’t characteristic Disney mental property. Unless there’s a Disney+ synergy present concerning the Citizens of Hollywood, it’s arduous to think about them ever returning. It’s unhappy, however I’ve come to phrases with it.
However, the identical can’t be mentioned for Jedi Training Academy or Voyage of the Little Mermaid. While the latter was somewhat lengthy within the tooth, it may nonetheless be up to date and assist take up crowds and fill out days in DHS.
Then there’s Jedi Training Academy, which I can solely assume hasn’t made its return on account of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. I don’t perceive why that might be the explanation for it ending, however there’s no different believable rationalization for it not having returned. That stage present scored extremely effectively with friends and will’ve been used to assist promote lightsabers. (Although I ponder whether a number of lightsaber ‘shows’ in the identical park may’ve been its undoing. Still a silly determination.)
Even if these particular reveals and experiences don’t return, there are many purpose-built and unused venues round Disney’s Hollywood Studios the place extra substantial “character stuff” might be created. Heck, precisely that already exists for the Incredibles in Pixar Place, which remodeled into Municiberg metropolis block just a few years in the past to assist take up crowds in the course of the opening of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge.
In case you missed it or forgot, this metropolis block hosted a dance occasion in honor of Mr. Incredible, Mrs. Incredible, and Frozone to have fun their Super deeds. In addition to the dance occasion, a devoted Edna Mode meet & greet on Pixar Place showcased a few of her greatest designs. Also on Pixar Place, there have been clues as to the whereabouts of Jack-Jack.
This Metroville space in Pixar Place was nothing particular, but it surely was one thing. It gave the Incredibles characters their very own venue, and in a comparatively high-traffic space by the doorway to Toy Story Land. I’m shocked that Walt Disney World didn’t decide to revive this. (Maybe there’s a purpose for that, although? Metroville was a useless finish.)
In addition to this, there are a variety of below or completely unutilized places round Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Transforming one in every of these, even quickly, right into a 90s nostalgia venue with characters from the Disney Afternoon and different cult classics can be superior.
That’s one thing the notorious Childless Millennials and oldsters with young children would completely eat up, whereas introducing these beloved characters to a complete new technology. People my age completely adore Rescue Rangers, Darkwing Duck, TaleSpin, and DuckTales…and we at the moment are, primarily, the target market of the parks. Why there haven’t been extra efforts to focus on our childhood nostalgia completely baffles me. (Not simply within the parks, however with extra Disney+ reboots and different synergy performs. There have been some, however not sufficient.)
Ultimately, that’s what I need to see: extra Nineteen Nineties nostalgia at Walt Disney World. I’m fairly clear about that. As shared beforehand in our Top 10 Rare Characters We Wish Walt Disney World Would Bring Back, we will’t be the one millennials who would overpay for a 90s nite at Magic Kingdom or Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
While we may argue all day about whether or not the 90s had been a very good or unhealthy decade for popular culture extra broadly, it’s simple that this was a good time for the corporate. The Disney Renaissance. The Disney Afternoon. The Disney Decade. The heyday of the Eisner-Wells period. It was an undeniably nice time to be a younger Disney fan. It can be cool to see the corporate pay homage to this beloved period, and because the “most 90s” theme park at Walt Disney World, it will make sense for DHS to be the epicenter of this occasion. But I digress. What had been we speaking about…uncommon characters at Disney’s Hollywood Studios?
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YOUR THOUGHTS
What do you consider these new character meet & greets and distanced sightings at Disney’s Hollywood Studios? Excited to see Max Goof as Powerline, Chip ‘n Dale Rescue Rangers, or anyone else on your next visit to DHS? Do you hunt characters when visiting the parks? Which rare characters would you like to see join the meet & greet lineup at Walt DIsney World? Happy that these meet & greets are happening, or do you wish Disney’s Hollywood Studios would convey again extra devoted leisure and stage reveals? Agree or disagree with our commentary? Hearing your suggestions about your experiences is each attention-grabbing to us and useful to different readers, so please share your ideas or questions beneath within the feedback!