No More Characters in Disneyland Paris Hotels
Below is the tweet that appears to have started much activity on Twitter this afternoon and evening:
When it comes to Disneyland Paris, @DisneyMoi has very close ties and whilst not an official representative of the resort, what he says is a close to official as we are likely to get. So there you have it, at some point later in the year, there will be no more character meet and greets in Disneyland Paris hotels.
This has caused much discussion among the Disneyland Paris community, mostly negative. Meeting characters is seen as one of the major benefits of staying on site, so the reaction is understandable, especially with escalating prices. But what if there is a silver lining to this decision, what if these characters can be deployed elsewhere in Disneyland Paris?
Imagine if these characters were instead used in a show, something that has been very thin on the ground in Disneyland Paris in recent years. Maybe taking the characters away from the hotels means we will instead get a new show, something that benefits all visitors and brings back a much needed form of entertainment to the resort. But does that then benefit the day visitor more than hotel occupant, who will by the nature of their visit be pumping more money into the much needed bank account of Disneyland Paris?
Personally I’m not actually that bothered, as in 15 visits to Disneyland Paris, and 14 times staying on site, I have very rarely had a photo taken with a character in hotels I’ve stayed in, so it’s not something I’ll miss. In fact, as someone who now stays off site when visiting with my family this will benefit me, but only if the characters are used elsewhere in the parks, and it’s not just that we lose them from the hotels.
At least the hotels are in a period of major refurbishment when this is happening, so there are good things happening to them as well as what many perceive as the negative of taking the characters away. I’m guessing character dining in Inventions will exempt from this, but what about Descent of the Stairs in Disneyland Hotel? To those who do stay on site, will this decision make you think about staying off-site, or are the remaining positives enough to make you want to stay on
site again?
[poll id=’4′]
Only time will tell as to whether we see more use of the characters in the Parks as a result of this, but if it gives way to a new show, surely that’s a good thing? Remember, the annual general meeting is tomorrow when we expect the opening date of Ratatouille: The Ride to be revealed and there is even talk of The LEGO Store finally opening this week, maybe even tomorrow!
