Moana, Mirabel and Figment meet and greet details confirmed for Walt Disney World

[MisterPenguin]

Is Moana even doing a M&G? The way it's worded implies she's going to be on a floatilla?

She's on a float in MK's friends cavalcade now.

Later, she'll have her own M&G in MK.

New and Returning Character Greetings – All Year​

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...And, at Magic Kingdom Park this fall, Mirabel from Walt Disney Animation Studios’ hit film “Encanto” will greet guests in Fairytale Garden surrounded by whimsical décor inspired by La Familia Madrigal.​

Experience #AlltheDisneyThrills at Walt Disney World Resort - Disney World Press Room

New experiences and returning favorites for the whole family to enjoy take center stage throughout 2023 LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (Oct. 24, 2023) – In 2023, Walt Disney World Resort is the place to embrace thrills of all kinds. Exciting new experiences to celebrate this year include one of the...

wdwnews.com

 

[MagicHappens1971]

She's on a float in MK's friends cavalcade now.

Later, she'll have her own M&G in MK.

New and Returning Character Greetings – All Year​

​

...And, at Magic Kingdom Park this fall, Mirabel from Walt Disney Animation Studios’ hit film “Encanto” will greet guests in Fairytale Garden surrounded by whimsical décor inspired by La Familia Madrigal.​

Experience #AlltheDisneyThrills at Walt Disney World Resort - Disney World Press Room

New experiences and returning favorites for the whole family to enjoy take center stage throughout 2023 LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (Oct. 24, 2023) – In 2023, Walt Disney World Resort is the place to embrace thrills of all kinds. Exciting new experiences to celebrate this year include one of the...

wdwnews.com

Oh, I was talking about Moana.

 

[MisterPenguin]

Oh, I was talking about Moana.

Duh... I'm up too late. Sorry.

From the same source...

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Beginning April 22, Moana will greet fellow voyagers on Discovery Island at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Theme Park – just in time for the park’s 25th anniversary.​

No mention of a flotilla, and the paragraph it's from is about 'greeting' the character.

I wonder, tho, if all the flotillas have ended or will end soon?

 

[Cmdr_Crimson]

Duh... I'm up too late. Sorry.

From the same source...

​

Beginning April 22, Moana will greet fellow voyagers on Discovery Island at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Theme Park – just in time for the park’s 25th anniversary.​

No mention of a flotilla, and the paragraph it's from is about 'greeting' the character.

I wonder, tho, if all the flotillas have ended or will end soon?

Have to wonder if the Character Landing location is returning..

 

[TheMaxRebo]

It's not confirmed. But it does bring up the question... How else can Disney do a Figment meet and greet?

Without Dreamfinder (and puppet) what other options exist for the character? The "Living Character" initiative seems logical but how would that work with guests that go in for the emotional hug? Or family photo-op? It's gotta be a costumed character, at least in part...

You could do something like the baby Groot or the BB-8 meets - guess can't really "hug" them but do get to interract with them and get family photos - my kids had a great interaction with BB-8 and got good photos and video

 

[pdude81]

And how do we all read Moana, of all characters, meeting at DAK?

To me that means the flume has been funded

 

[pdude81]

I really hope it isn't Figzilla. That'd be very disappointing.

I'm honestly excited about the prospect of meeting Figzilla. I didn't know about this at the time, and would consider either adding an August trip or a long weekend to go see him.

UP FROM THE DEPTHS
THIRTY STORIES HIGH
BREATHES FIRE
HIS HEAD IN THE SKY
FIGZILLA!
FIGZILLA!
AND FIGZOOKYYY
FIGZILLAAAAAA!

Thank you for this.

Thankfully, though it will be a walk-around character, it will not be "Figzilla" and will be closer in height to Mickey, Donald, etc. Still would rather Dreamfinder & Figment personally.

Agreed on Dreamfinder with an animatronic puppet. If Mickey Mouse could hold a loose conversation with us in the past, then Figment should be able to in the future.

And they can visually show that by making a projected, interactive Figment grow to his Meet n Greet size.

I don't think people worry too much about anything that comes out of the Void. Have you seen the size of Vanellope?

You could do something like the baby Groot or the BB-8 meets - guess can't really "hug" them but do get to interract with them and get family photos - my kids had a great interaction with BB-8 and got good photos and video

My assumption when they went out of their way to show the little robot was that this is what they plan for Figment down the line. However, I hate those photo boxes they use to take pictures for some of these thing and worry that's what'll end up happening.

 

[ABQ]

So Tron's done, the Tiana reskin of Spash is coming and outside of the Journey of Water walk thru, all WDW has left to offer is meet and greets. I guess the money and ideas have truly run out. But Josh tells me they are dreaming of new things ever day. Sorry, just disappointed a bit. Maybe the latest idea for a Nighttime Spectacular at Epcot will being something exciting, whenever that comes to pass.

 

[SpectreJordan]

The Moana part definitely makes me believe the Moana area is coming to Animal Kingdom. She's moving in early.

I just hope they put in some effort & have new exhibits of wildlife from that area of the world. There's some really cool animals they could bring & I like the idea of an island/beach themed area in Animal Kingdom.

 

[Magenta Panther]

Maybe someone here can tell me...what does Disney have against Dreamfinder? Why has he disappeared from EPCOT?

 

[MisterPenguin]

Tarzan and Pocahontas have met in DAK... they never got their own attraction.

We'll see.

Tho, if Encanto is the reason for a South American animal exhibit and a ride through Isabella's and Antonio's doors... it'll be worth it!

 

[MisterPenguin]

Maybe someone here can tell me...what does Disney have against Dreamfinder? Why has he disappeared from EPCOT?

Well, Figment also nearly disappeared with the second iteration of the ride just giving him a small cameo.

The third try brought figment up front, but Dr. Nigel was already part of the Honey, I Shrunk backstory of the pavilion being a weird science institute. So, he became a foil to Figment.

Since then, Dreamfinder has made M&G appearances (rarely) in EPCOT. And there was a Marvel comic book run featuring a young Dreamfinder.

So, he's sorta like Figment. As much as we have of him now, will be how much we have of him forever until they finally pull the trigger on whatever the Imagination Pavilion's next iteration will be. And all signs pointed that that was going to happen in this recent EPCOT refresh... but got cut last minute.

 

[UofMGuy423]

Tarzan and Pocahontas have met in DAK... they never got their own attraction.

We'll see.

Tho, if Encanto is the reason for a South American animal exhibit and a ride through Isabella's and Antonio's doors... it'll be worth it!

Do you think Disney would develop a whole new attraction for Encanto though? I know two of Lin Manuel Miranda's songs from the movie were popular, but the movie itself was a box office dud and likely lost money for the company. Not at the level of Strange World, but it made less than $100 million in the U.S. I'm wondering if the M&G in MK is the only attraction we'd see, especially since the film is 2 years old now.

 

[Touchdown]

It’s consistently on the most streamed movies on D+ and is selling merch. It did not lose the company money.

 

[drew81]

Tell me again why Miguel isn’t on this list?

 

[UofMGuy423]

It’s consistently on the most streamed movies on D+ and is selling merch. It did not lose the company money.

D+ is not profitable yet, so any streams of the movie didn't add to the profitability of the movie. From what I can remember reading, the Studio lost about $65 million on Encanto.

 

[networkpro]

Tell me again why Miguel isn’t on this list?

Wrong self identification, just like Miguel from Coco. They are skewing again towards MK equating to a place for your daughters to meet princesses.

 

[Touchdown]

I don’t know what to tell you, but WDW does not usually increase character presence of movies that aren’t popular (aka profitable.). The only time they take a chance is when a movie is in theatrical release, but Mirabel didn’t join the cavalcade until over a year after release.

 

[Inspired Figment]

Maybe someone here can tell me...what does Disney have against Dreamfinder? Why has he disappeared from EPCOT?

Inner corporate politics. Grudges from certain individuals against folks that speak up for and create quality characters & attractions for the parks. They loathe the fact the original incarnation of that ride & those characters go against and/or prove wrong (both critically and financially) their ludicrous mandates and incorrect philosophies/visions for the parks & company. It’s a HUGE form of proof against them that they’re wrong. That creative balance works as opposed to the strict IP mandates they have, And if they succeed, they’re out or at the very least, out of power/control. LOL! Hence why they intentionally sabotage/neglect it.
The truth is, the people that don’t like the original Journey Into Imagination or the folks involved with keeping those qualities alive (Using their creative abilities & ideas to benefit the greater good and keep the original Disney legacy alive) are ‘only’ focused on ego, power & profit and nothing more. They’d rather use it as a proxy for their own selfish benefit completely seperate from anything to do with Disney.

 

[MisterPenguin]

D+ is not profitable yet, so any streams of the movie didn't add to the profitability of the movie. From what I can remember reading, the Studio lost about $65 million on Encanto.

It lost $74M in the theatrical window. But then again, they cut its theatrical window to 30 days to feed the D+ monster.

But, there are other windows in which to monetize content. While D+ isn't profitable yet, its losses could be much greater if not for very popular content like Encanto.

And there's been $12M in home video sales so far.

Plus there are the music residuals from all the music streaming and with Encanto being the number one album and Bruno the number one song on Billboard for weeks and weeks... it adds up.

Plus there is burnishing the brand. Very popular content associated with Disney makes people feel warm and fuzzy about Disney, and so, they buy Disney content and products more and more.

Encanto in the parks is on the same trajectory somewhere in between Frozen and Tiana. Each year, there is more.

Not to mention the movie, along with Coco, roping in the huge Spanish-speaking market into Disney's fold.

Remember: Tangled also lost money at the box office. It has a life still after the theaters.