ORLANDO, Fla. – Unless you’ve been living under a rock (or plan on living under one for the next 18 months), you’ve probably heard about the Walt Disney World Resort’s 50th anniversary celebration officially kicking off Friday (and, by the way, events at the Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Animal Kingdom, and Hollywood Studios will run for the next year-and-a-half).
Aside from some of the major announcements of two new spectaculars (Harmonious at the World Showcase Lagoon and the new Disney Enchantment fireworks show), a new ride (Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure), a new Cirque du Soleil show (Drawn to Life), a new hotel (Star Wars Galactic Starcruiser opening on March 1, 2022), and a new way to navigate resort facilities (check out the MagicBand+ also debuting in 2022), Disney has also added some new “bling” around its Florida theme parks.
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Announced in early September and already in place, the House of Mouse has unveiled its Disney Fab 50 Character Collection. The 50th anniversary golden statues (spread throughout the four theme parks – most of which are in the Magic Kingdom) celebrate many of the company’s memorable animated characters. Two of the statues (Mickey and Minnie) are dedicated to Walt Disney World cast members (you’ll find a plaque with the dedication in the Magic Kingdom).
The statues aren’t only there for show. Disney is encouraging guests to save pictures of the Fab 50 statues to “virtual collections” and tag them with #DisneyWorld50. In fact, starting next year when it’s available, the aforementioned MagicBand+ will allow Disney guests to interact with Fab 50 collection.
Where do you find them?
Below, we’ve broken the Fab 50 Character Collection down by theme park and given descriptions and approximate locations of where each one is placed. Some are easy to spot (you can’t miss Mickey, Minnie, Donald and Daisy) and some will be more of a challenge (you might end up walking right past Gus and Jaq, Stitch and the Cheshire Cat).
And good luck finding Tinkerbell, but don’t fret, we’ll tell you where she’s hiding!
One last thing, although there are 36 statues, there are actually 50 characters (so no, Disney won’t be adding any new statues over the next 18 months). If you spotted all of the statues, did you name all 50 characters?
Here’s our breakdown and slideshows:
Animal Kingdom (4 statues/7 characters)
Epcot (6 statues, 9 characters)
Hollywood Studios (7 statues, 9 characters)
Magic Kingdom (19 statues, 25 characters)
Happy hunting!
*Photos by Landon McReynolds, News 6 producer