Disneyland Park awakes each morning to a colourful character cavalcade created especially for the celebration, bringing a train full of classic Disney stars onto the streets of Disneyland to join the 15th Anniversary party.  With a gleaming new redesign and some very special passengers, Disney Characters' Express brings a real care-free atmosphere to Main Street USA throughout the morning and early afternoon.

This is your chance to rub noses with the VIPs of the Disney world, get cheek-to-cheek with a host of wild party animals or let your fantasies fly with fairytale friends.  Each day and every Character Express brings new faces and unexpected live surprises direct to you.

"All Aboard!"

Disney Characters' Express

"Attention! Attention! Le petit train des personnages arrive!"
"The Disney Characters' Express is coming!"

With a *choo choo*, a puff of smoke and a frenzied pace, the familiar Casey Jr train rolls into view from next to Discovery Arcade.  Huffing and puffing with smoke pouring and pistons pumping, the Character Express makes its way slowly but surely across Town Square to Main Street, and goes "full steam ahead!" for the heart of the magic, its unstoppable soundtrack filling the air.

"Tous en train, tous en train! All aboard!"

Riding aboard its three anniversary-styled blue, white and gold wagons are a whole host of famous Disney Characters, "en route au coeur du magie" - heading to Central Plaza for a magical meet 'n' greet with all their fans!  As the hefty trainload of characters and dancers in blue and white rounds the corner, guests grab their first glimpse at the famous faces on board - different with every journey, and all wearing special 15th medals.

Up Main Street the cavalcade continues, gathering steam and speeding past guests through the blue surround of Lumière's 15th Anniversary banners lining the street on this special party occasion.  As it joins Central Plaza and rounds the final corner, the Characters' Express puffs a final breath of steam and comes to a halt right outside Sleeping Beauty Castle.

Disney Characters' Meet 'n' Greet

With Casey Jr taking a well-earned rest, the characters are helped down from its wagons by their partners in dazzling blue and white, before they run off to dedicated locations around the hub, creating a circle of famous faces all around Central Plaza!  Four special photo locations featuring Lumière and a giant '15' emblem have been positioned to allow characters meet and greet their guests in style, with the stars heading to the location that suits them best - for example: Chip 'n' Dale near Frontierland, Captain Hook at Adventureland, Pinocchio outside Fantasyland or Buzz Lightyear near Discoveryland.

With different characters arriving for the party with every journey of the Disney Characters' Express, this provides a perfect opportunity to grab those final few autographs for your collection - and "say cheese" with the characters for a memento of your 15th Anniversary meet 'n' greet experience.

Their time at the party complete for now, the characters head back to the express train and the whole cavalcade steams back along Main Street USA with the catchy music of "All Aboard" filling the air.

"Choo Choo!!"

Music

In the months before the official premiere of Disney Characters' Express, great speculation about the music choice spread, with the three favourites of the recently retired 'Dancin (A Catchy Rhythm)', the popular 'All Around The World' and the new 'Just Like We Dreamed It' ultimately proved wrong.  The music was finally confirmed with a nighttime preview performance for travel trade groups one week before the premiere, and would be brand new to Disneyland Resort Paris.

The irrepressible song 'Tous En Train - All Aboard' actually originates from a 2001 Tokyo Disneyland parade, 'Disney's Party Express', and was brought to life again in 2006 thanks to the 'Rainy Day Parade' locomotive parade at Hong Kong Disneyland.  The version heard with Disney Characters' Express, however, is almost totally re-recorded and features brand new lyrics in both French and English.  With engine sounds, words inviting guests to "join the party" and head "to the heart of the magic" plus an unstoppable beat, the song has fast become a firm favourite at the park and a key theme of the 15th Anniversary celebrations.

History

First announced to press as 'Le Petit Train des Personnages Disney' on 24th October 2006, Disney Characters' Express actually uses a very familiar base for its locomotive cavalcade - the old Dumbo Casey Jr float of 'The Wonderful World Of Disney Parade', which was retired just one week before the 15th Anniversary.  Created as one of several new floats for the parade's debut in 1998, the train become a key icon of this "timeline of Disney Classics" parade and of the park's parades in general.  The float first appeared in chronological order, before later serving as the finale to the parade for much of its run until 14th July 2006, when the parade was once again renamed 'Disney Princess Parade' and lost the float.  It was not until early 2007 that Casey Jr's eventual return was fully confirmed...

Concept art for the event, showing the redecorated Dumbo float and its route to Central Plaza, was first released at the 21st February 2007 shareholders' Annual General Meeting.  The concept revealed the striking new colours of Casey Jr along with some of the characters that would be featured on-board.

Disney Characters' Express began public rehearsals on 30th March 2007, with its official press premiere the following day, 31st March 2007, during the 15th Anniversary launch events.  For the occasion, 15-year old Miley Cyrus, star of Disney Channel's hit show 'Hannah Montana' rode aboard the train, which for one performance stopped exclusively for press photographers and film crews in front of the Castle.