According to sources responsible for the offering, the talking Mickey Mouse meet and greet in Town Square Theater at the Magic Kingdom will indeed be silenced on May 12th, 2018. This change was rumored a few weeks back, but is now seemingly confirmed.
This decision likely has been made for a variety of reasons, some being technical difficulties and overall guest confusion since other Mickey characters in the park do not talk to guests, but likely also budgetary as the entertainer contracts for this venue were higher than many others.
Mickey will continue to meet guests at this location beyond May 12th, but he will likely no longer communicate with guests.
And there we have it: “[This decision likely has been made for] budgetary [reasons] as the entertainer contracts for this venue were higher than many others”. The magic is being pulled away folks, even my tech savvy jaded 11 year old was left open mouthed at a talking Mickey Mouse. Disney are pretty unique in having these types of experiences within their parks, it’s what sets them apart as the “most magical places on Earth” but I see a race to the bottom, with IP replacing creativity and daring to do things that are hard.
Simon.
“but likely also budgetary as the entertainer contracts for this venue were higher than many others.”
And there it is.
Oh wow, I’m super disappointed. My daughter is a huge Mickey fan and we took her when she was nine months old. She went crazy.
I hate to think that other people won’t be able to see him. It really was great fun.
A budget problem? How is that possible if they have millions of visitors daily and charge each one hundreds of dollars (including charging the regular prices for all the children) in passes and tickets to enter the park and another hundreds on food and merchandise? I feel like the company is bathing in greed and it’s proven each time they increase the prices for the passes and entrance!
Think of the confusion and disappointment on kids’ faces when they meet Mickey and he won’t talk to them anymore. They will be crushed!
Exactly my thought! My son was 3 last year when we met talking Mickey. We are going next summer, and I had that exact thought! He is going to be so confused that Mickey isn’t talking anymore. He definitely remembers that Mickey spoke to him last year.
Mickey is in other parks and doesn’t speak to kids so I think it’ll be okay.
Will Mickey’s new head get rolled onto every WDW meet or will they still have the current head that was supposed to be discontinued, but it’s still in the parks for some reason?
I sent a Facebook message to WDWNT last week, the Mickey at “meet Mickey” is not talking NOW. My brother took his family for the first time on Sunday, Feb 11th and was greeted with the new “face” but no talking. VERY disappointed. The new face isn’t even consistent throughout the park!
Its not gone yet. Sometimes Mickey is talking and other times he is not. I was there Tuesday, February 13th with my family and Mickey talked and interacted with our 3 kids.
Is disappointing, but was one of the slowest Fast Passes I ever booked. For the past three years, even with a Fast Pass, it still took an hour to get through that queue.
The talking Mickey will only be gone temporarily.
Are you sure talking Mickey will be gone temporarily? Where did you here that it’s temporary?
It is not temporary.
I have heard that it is in the works to have all characters speak in the parks and they are experimenting with technology utilizing the Magic Bands that the character would call the child by name. I believe the test run began a few months ago in Disneyland.
The test had the characters talking to each other, but there was no use of RFID tech such as MagicBands.
I hate this news. Talking Mickey had me star struck and it’s a must do on every trip since. We have zero interest in waiting 30 minutes to meet a silent Mickey. Instead of eliminating this amazing experience they should be expanding it to other characters.
SHAME ON YOU DISNEY!
taking away such a magical experience.
my 3 yo and 2 yo were so amazed to meet talking mickey.
this actually makes me not want to go back
I know Disneyland has talking Mickey at the front porch at Mickey’s House and also had one with Minnie and Donald for a limited time. Hopefully it will to Disneyland or Disney World. @Tom Coorless, do you know updates on Disneyland too or just Disney World?
Why is Talking Mickey going from WaltDisney world, yet Talking Mickey at Disneyland stays?,
They don’t have talking Mickey.
So will he be talking on May 12 or silent? I have a fast pass open at the end of the trip and want to know if it’s worth using.
HORRIBLE decision! My grandson was 3 last year, and Mickey sang him Happy Birthday and talked to him. He remembers this and STILL talks about it! I’m heartbroken and so will my grandson…IF we go back, we will steer him away from this attraction.
I hope for all sake of Disney fans like me, I hope he talks another day after May 12 and if he does not, it was something because I experienced Talking Mickey. So, please I hope it is not true
I am almost 60 and have been visiting WDW for years. I must say “talking Mickey” was one of the highlights of all my trips. My friend even bought me the coffee mug with my picture on it when Mickey hugged me. I was indeed starstruck. It was a great moment even for an old lady. Sorry to see this go.