On October 17, Disney hosted an event in Times Square to announce their new promotion for 2013: Limited Time Magic, which they describe as “unexpected experiences with an extra sprinkle of Pixie Dust at Disneyland Resort and the Walt Disney World Resort that’ll appear, and then disappear when the next debuts.” On the Disney Parks Blog, they described several of these short term events, from a special event featuring the Disney villains on Friday the 13th (which occurs in September) and the return of the Golden Horseshoe Revue in Disneyland for one month.
There is one week in particular which stands out to me as the one I most want to attend: Long Lost Friends Week. During this week (exact dates have yet to be revealed), Disney will dig deep into their costume department and bring back some walk around characters who have since been retired, or can only be found in the Disney Parks during hard ticket parties and events. Some of the characters mentioned in the blog post are Flik, Clarabelle Cow, Remy, Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum, but Disney fans will have the chance to voice their opinions for characters they would like to see and vote for them online.
Reading about this event got me to thinking: Who are the characters I would most like to see make appearances during this week?
Characters from The Disney Afternoon
I know I’m not the only child of the 90s who fondly remembers not only watching the old Disney programming on their televisions and in the Magic Kingdom (Mickey’s Magical TV World, anyone?), particularly Gummi Bears, Darkwing Duck and Tale Spin. Some characters from these shows, such as Launchpad McQuack and Darkwing Duck, did make an appearance during a recent Walt Disney World Marathon. Other than that brief appearance though, they have been very scarce. I think they would be a no-brainer to add for this event.
Bernard and Miss Bianca
The main characters of The Rescuers and The Rescuers Down Under, they currently only meet in Tokyo DisneySea (and very rarely in Disneyland Paris). With their films recently been given a BluRay release, I think it’s about time they made a trip over to the States!
Roger Rabbit
Roger made a very brief and surprise appearance at Disneyland in May for the 20th Anniversary of Fantasmic. Now that we know the costume still exists (and is in pretty good shape), and that fact that he still has a ride for his film in Disneyland, he would be another great character to have in the parks during this special week.
Figment and Dreamfinder
Anybody who attended or read reports from EPCOT Center’s 30th anniversary can tell you that the love for Figment, Dreamfinder and the original version of Journey Into Imagination is still running strong. There’s nothing that said the Long Lost Friends would only be appearing in the Magic Kingdom or Disneyland Park, so let’s spread the love around. And while we’re at it, can Mickey and the rest of the Fab Five put on their rainbow and silver suits?
Clarice the Chipmunk
If you have ever read my Twitter feed, it comes as no surprise that I would place Clarice on this list. She appears in one of my favorite Disney short, Two Chips and a Miss, and has a lot of popularity in both Disneyland Paris and Tokyo Disneyland where she appears with a variety of costume changes. I know from time to time she will also make appearances during special parties or parades in Disneyland, but it has been a very long time since she was last seen in Walt Disney World. She may not be the most rare character, but Clarice is by far the character I most want to meet.
In doing research for this article, there were so many other characters I thought of including. From Ludwig von Drake, to the characters from Robin Hood, Oliver & Company, Kermit and Miss Piggy, and even Dumbo. It was very difficult to narrow it down to 5! I’d love to hear who the rest of you would love to meet, so please be sure to share it in the comments, or send me a tweet using my brand new Twitter name @GertieTheDino89!
Most of the photos in this post were taken from the website Disney Character Central; I highly recommend you check them out!
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Great read!! I do remember most of these characters and have pictures with them. I would love for Roger Rabbit to make an appearance again and also Figment and the Dreamfinder!