Gaston to meet in New Fantasyland

[Melanie]

This is a good one! :thumbsup:

From Disney Parks Blog:

Gaston at New Fantasyland: ‘There’s No Man in Town Half As Manly’

Previews for New Fantasyland are just around the corner. As the date gets closer, we’re happy to be able to share more and more with you about this largest expansion in Magic Kingdom Park history.

Within the Enchanted Forest area of New Fantasyland, the world of “Beauty and the Beast” comes to life. Enchanted Tales with Belle transports you to the Beast’s Castle for a wonderful storytelling experience with Belle and Lumiere, and over in Belle’s Village, you’ll soon be able to meet another memorable character from her story – one with biceps to spare!

That’s right. That man among men, Gaston, will be tromping around the village square. As a specimen, yes, he’s intimidating, but he’s also everyone’s favorite guy, happy to pose for portraits, comment on the fine statue he has donated to the town or just generally talk about, well, himself.

You can ask any Tom, Dick or Stanley, and they’ll tell you Gaston will be in New Fantasyland when it opens for previews November 19.

[joanna71985]

Just a heads up- he wanders around

[PirateLover]

Just a heads up- he wanders around

I have to say, many people complain that the characters no longer wander, but after our experience with Gaston it's pretty apparent why all the characters tend to have designated meet and greets. We met him a few weeks ago by his fountain, and It was a mob scene straight out of Beauty and the Beast with everyone wanting a piece of Gaston! The CM kept saying "There's no line" and so people who were being your typical "nice" trained WDW guests and waiting their turn were getting shoved aside by other people taking advantage of the "no line" rule. The character attendant CM had zero control. The photopass CM that was there tried to create some order, while the other person just kept smiling and saying "No line, no line." It was pretty bad...

[joanna71985]

Yeah, it's pretty bad. I'm not a fan of it at all

[SurferStitch]

We were very lucky... We saw him during the New Fantasyland AP preview. He walked out right behind me from backstage, so I was able to sneak in pretty quickly for a picture with him. There (surprisingly) was a FP photographer with him. I got some some really great pics.

But, even then, there was no line for him... just people walking up. And, like mentioned before, us "nice" guests tried to make a line, and the attendant kept yelling out "There is no line!!" That left those who don't like to wait their turn a wide open door to just walk up and cut you off. Again, since I filed in quickly, I didn't have to wait more than a couple people ahead of me, so there weren't too many jumpers at that point.

I can see this "wandering" becoming an issue very quickly. It would be nice, but there will be those who ruin it for everyone.