During my family’s recent trip to Disney World over the Memorial Day weekend, two special events brought even more excitement and energy to the parks than usual. Not only were we able to participate in the Rock Your Disney Side 24-hour event in the Magic Kingdom, we also headed over to Hollywood Studios for Star Wars Weekends. A common denominator in the palpable feeling of excitement at the two parks was the presence of characters.
Characters were everywhere!!
Park goers showed their Disney side by showing their passion for characters in a couple ways. First of all, many, many people dressed up as characters at both events. The Magic Kingdom was full of guests dressed as princesses, fairies, pirates, monsters, and even the fearsome Maleficent. It was great fun to wait in line for our first ever ride on the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train with a young girl dressed as Tinker Bell, whose wings tried to take flight each time we passed under the thoughtfully mounted fans (it was hot that day!!) above the queue.
In Hollywood Studios, guests were dressed up as their favorite Star Wars characters from both the light and dark sides of the force, and of course there were many Disney cast members perfectly portraying characters such as Anakin Skywalker and Darth Maul. The biggest gathering of characters at the Studios took place during the Legends of the Force Motorcade, which included not only characters such as Disney’s Jedi Mickey and Darth Vader Goofy but also numerous members of the 501st Legion volunteer organization sharing their incredibly authentic-looking Star Wars costumes with the cheering crowd.
Naturally, when all these characters appear, we all want to meet them, and so another way that park goers showed their fervor for characters was by lining up for meet and greets. At the Magic Kingdom, characters appeared throughout the day as usual, but some of the more unusual ones kept guests invigorated into the wee hours. These included the Bowler Hat Guy, Dr. Facillier, Lotso, the Queen of Hearts, and Hades, among others appearing until after 5 a.m.
At Hollywood Studios, we stood in line to meet an incredible variety of Star Wars characters, including Anakin Skywalker, Darth Maul, Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, R2-D2, Asajj Ventress, Ahsoka Tano, and Commander Cody. My boys enjoyed trading trinkets with the wandering Jawas and goofing with the wandering Storm Troopers. The rewards of meeting with these characters were huge as they all truly acted their parts. Ventress stared down many a young fan, and Anakin Skywalker chatted with my boys for several minutes by inquiring about the progress of their Jedi training.
By focusing on characters at special events, Disney has hit the jackpot in terms of getting people excited about and involved in the Disney experience. The characters at the Rock Your Disney Side event and Star Wars Weekends prove that characters are a powerful force for uniting park goers in common celebration. It will be no surprise if Disney introduces more events that highlight characters. In fact, the just announced Villains Unleashed event at Hollywood Studios on August 23 is no surprise at all. Get ready for some more character-focused fun!!!
