>What a Character

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What makes a Magical Experience in Walt Disney World? Anytime, you or someone on your trip has a moment that will stay with them for many years. For example, in yesterday’s post I talked about Laughing with my Mom and Dad while we were riding around in the convertible that didn’t have enough seats for all of us. Or the post from a few days ago talking about my son beating me in tennis for the first time, on a Disney tennis court, these are memories that will last for a long time. Sometimes, the Magical Experiences happen because of something unexpected, something unplanned, something that you’re not ready for. Most of the time, it’s because it happened in Disney World. The Unknown Magics that happen in Walt Disney World are these Magical Experiences that you wouldn’t think would happen; Like being asked to participate in a show, or seeing a celebrity walking through the parks, or as in today’s Unknown Magic, Seeing a Character you would have never thought you’d see. This Unknown Magic happens more than you would think.

Everyone goes to Disney World wanting and expecting to see Mickey, Minnie and the rest of the Fab Five. They even know they will see Pooh and the Hundred Acre Woods gang. But there are other characters that are common place in Walt Disney World too. Chip and Dale are easy to find, as are Lilo and Stitch. In Disney Hollywood Studios, you can find Toy Story Characters and Mike and Sully from Monster’s Inc. But these guys are easy to find. The Unknown Magic comes when you find the supporting characters from the Disney shows and movies.

Many of the Characters show up in parades, but they are rarely seen elsewhere. Others perform in shows or are parts of attractions, but you don’t think about them being available for autographs or pictures. This is what makes finding them throughout the parks such an Unknown Magic, and a lot of times this can lead to a Magical Experience.

For example, you don’t often get to see Mary Poppins or Aladdin. But you are able to see them in the World Showcase, in Epcot. Some of the Country Bears from the Country Bear Jamboree show up from time to time outside of Frontierland, and even Brer’ Bear and Brer’ Fox have been known to sign autographs and pose for pictures. Other times, you may find characters from Disney movies that you forgot about or haven’t seen in many years. Characters such as Robin Hood or Friar Tuck and even Prince John may be seen on a trip to the Magic Kingdom. A lot of times, the characters appear in an area that would be like their habitat, or setting from their movie. Rafiki, and Timon, have been known to hang out in Adventureland.

Sometimes, you might run into a character that you may never have thought you’d see. One of my favorite character from a Disney Movie is King Louie from the Jungle Book. As we were walking through Adventurland on our way to Main Street USA one afternoon, King Louie just happened to be out and about. What a neat experience, to actually get a picture with him. I mean, I would expect Baloo, but not King Louie. My Son had a similar experience when we were walking through Hollywood Studios. As we were walking along, a Green Army Man from Toy story appeared on the road. My son was all kinds of excited to get a picture with him, as he loves the Army Men from the Movie.

If you have little ones, make sure you go to Disney Hollywood Studios. A lot of the characters from the Disney Channel’s younger children’s shows hang out here. As do many of the Pixar characters. Some of the more “wild” type characters such as Flik from Bug’s Life and Brother Bear can be seen in the Animal Kingdom. You never know who will find, or where, so make sure you always have your autograph book or a camera with you.

So, now you know, you can see more than just the big name Disney characters, all you have to do is keep your eyes open. And anything in Disney World can lead to a Magical Experience, especially a picture with a favorite character.

**If you want to see Jiminy Cricket, you need to go to the Conservation Station in Animal Kingdom.

>The Show is in the Back

>As you walk into the Magic Kingdom, there is an Unknown Magic that goes overlooked everyday by thousands of people. This is because there doesn’t seem to be a reason to go and see it. But for some peace and quiet, maybe some down time without leaving the park, and for a Magical Experience, this Unknown Magic can’t be beat.

The area I’m talking about is immediately inside the Magic Kingdom, after you walk under the Main Street Train Station and into the Magic Kingdom, you are standing at Town Square’s Municipal Park. As you gaze at the Castle and see all the people flowing toward it and the rest of the Magic Kingdom, look to your right. You will see Exposition Hall connected to Tony’s Town Square Restaurant (mentioned in the post Eat Like a Star of 5/14). If you walk into Exposition Hall, you will be in a camera shop. This is where you can buy camera equipment and also where you can view your PhotoPass pictures (mentioned on 6/5 in the post Say Cheese). But as you are in

Exposition Hall, the Unknown Magic lurks behind this Camera Shop. As you walk through the camera shop, and look around, there are large rooms to the back. These rooms are the Unknown Magic I am talking about.

As you enter the back room area, there are a few small display areas, some in glass enclosed showcases, and there are even some tables and chairs to sit at. At the very back of this room, there are doors that used to lead to The Walt Disney Story which has since been moved to Disney Hollywood Studios.

As you walk in to the next room, there is a 25 or 30 seats movie theatre on the one side of the room that plays old Mickey Mouse and Silly Symphony cartoons. This small

 sitting area is framed by a stand-up cut-out of Steam Boat Willie, which the kids or you, can stand on and have a picture taken. On the other side of the Theatre area, there is another cut out picture area that has a scene from 101 Dalmatians; it is the scene when they are all watching TV. There are more of these cut outs in this room also, from Toy Story (that features the little green aliens from the “Claw”.) and also a scene from Snow White. Walking through this room and getting pictures in the scenes is a pretty neat magical experience.

The other neat thing in this room is the mural that covers the whole one wall. It starts on the left with an early Walt Disney pictures and the beginning of Mickey Mouse and then goes through the years of the Disney Studios, up to Monster’s Inc. This whole room though is set up as an old time movie theatre with many railings and walkways and special little areas. In one of these little areas, there is also a car from the now defunct Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride attraction, which you can sit in.

Sometimes when it is real hot or the weather is bad, some of the Characters hang out in here. Pluto is one that I have seen in here a few times. This brings me to a reason to see this Unknown Magic as soon as possible. With the new Fantasyland Expansion Project, they are going to be shutting down Mickey’s Toon Town. This will mean that the character meet and greets in the Judges tent will not be available anymore. One of the rumors is that they will be moving Mickey and Minnie and the other characters from the Toon Town Judges Tent to Exposition Hall. This would definitely bring more visitors to this wonderful building, but it may lose some of its quiet charm, but it would make this more of an area for Magical Experiences.

So, now that you know, stop in Exposition Hall and enjoy some quiet time, a few animated shorts and take some silly pictures with your family to create that Magical Experience, while it’s still an Unknown Magic.