5. Louis the Alligator
While Dr. Facillier is a fixture at villains-themed events, and Tiana and Naveen meet guests every day at the Magic Kingdom, one character from animated favorite The Princess and the Frog has been shuttered away, seemingly for good: Louis the Alligator. Interestingly, the last time this character made an appearance was during an ABC Christmas parade. However, Louis hasn’t actually met guests in more than three years, and probably won't be back at the parks in any meaningful capacity anytime soon.
6. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Back in 1990, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were a regular fixture at Disney-MGM Studios, performing musical numbers on the street and meeting guests for pictures and autographs. Unfortunately, this only lasted until 1996, when the Turtles license was lost. Though it seems weird now thinking about these iconic characters meeting guests in a Disney park, this meet and greet experience was definitely one of the most popular in the park during the early 1990s.
7. Power Rangers
Image: Steve Langguth, Flickr (license)
Disney acquired the rights to the Power Rangers characters back in 2001, and the characters appeared in the parks soon after, complete with their own car, music and special effects. However, in 2010 Disney lost the rights to these characters, and the Power Rangers disappeared forever from Disney's Hollywood Studios.
8. Val the Velociraptor
Last year, Disney's Animal Kingdom ran an interesting test that saw human character Professor Woodson paired with a tame (but loud!) Velociraptor named Val who enjoyed roaming around the park meeting people. Though this meet and greet experience only lasted a few weeks, it was quite unique, not only because of the velociraptor costume, but also because it featured a pair of original characters not inspired by a Disney film. Unfortunately this character experience was cancelled after less than a month, reportedly because some children were frightened of the character. You can check out a video above to get a feel for the truly unique nature of this character meet and greet experience.
Though these our our top most-missed characters at Walt Disney World, there have been dozens of characters forced into retirement over the years. Which character do you miss the most?
Comments
Several of these characters are on the course for the runDisney events. I have Flik and Louis in my race photo collections. During the Donald half marathon 10th anniversary, Darkwing, Scrooge, and LaunchPad were all out. That's really the place to see them now. We also see Venelope and Ralph, and a bunch of the Fab Five in their alternate costumes that are no longer used in parades, etc.
Louis is out every year for Halloween at Port Orleans, and meets Guests. I don't think you can consider a character gone if he's out annually.
Louis was out as a Meet & Greet during the WDW Marathon this year and Mushu was out for the 5k! I was able to get pics with both. :-)
I miss Sora. That's more because I'm a gamer than a Disneyphile.
I miss Mushu! Last time I saw him (many years ago) he was just leaving the picture spot and was never to be seen again. I still keep an eye out hoping he will come back.