August 24, 2014

Last night I attended the first Villains Unleashed event that Disney has done. They did have a Limited Time Magic event last September on Friday the 13th where the villains invaded the Studios along with the 24 hour event that happened this May to test out how well a villains event may go. The two previous ones were both popular enough, so Villains Unleashed received the go ahead.

Countdown from when I was at the park earlier in the day

I arrived at 7:15 (the official start of the event was 8:00) and went straight to the Streets of America to figure out which villain I wanted to meet first. Unfortunately, one of the main characters I wanted to meet, Captain Gantu from Lilo and Stitch, wasn't going to start meeting guests until 9:30. I wandered around the Streets checking out other times for characters and a few would start at 8 while others started at 8:30 or 9:00.

Constantine's sign

I decided to meet Constantine from Muppets Most Wanted since he had never appeared in a meet and greet before. While the line moved very slowly, there was a lot of excitement rushing throughout the line when we found out that not only was Constantine in Muppet form, but he was being performed by Matt Vogel, the actual performer for Constantine in the film!

Constantine said he didn't want to pose but was afraid someone would kill him if he didn't

I ended up waiting three hours (45 minutes before the event began and another 2 hours and 15 minutes after), but it was well worth the wait. While the family in front of me only got a quick picture with Constantine, I spent about five minutes talking with him while we tried to figure out a way to break him out of jail (he especially liked my idea of putting his cell on wheels and starting a trend of Jails on Wheels).

Meeting Constantine

After talking with Constantine I wandered around the Streets of America where several other characters were wandering around as well. Gaston had a group of girls following him while Anastasia and Drizella were yelling for someone to propose. I opted not to get in another line for a meet and greet so I would have a chance to experience some other entertainment being offered at the event.

Captain Gantu

I headed over to Oogie Boogie's Freaky Funhouse Show which was located at the Theater of the Stars on Sunset Boulevard. The show was very odd and weird. In fact, it was one of the weirdest experiences I've ever had on Disney property. The preshow was very good, but the actual show starring Oogie Boogie and some sideshow acts was entertaining, but I can't stress it enough, just plain weird. There was a sword swallower, a couple that shot arrows at each other, and another couple that danced with fire. Again, it was entertaining, but very weird.

Oogie Boogie's Freaky Funhouse Show

Afterwards I wandered around for a little bit longer taking in all the sights and sounds of the event, but eventually I made my way over to Hollywood Boulevard to get a good spot for the fireworks. I was worried on how the fireworks would play out since the Star Wars ones were amazing, but the Frozen ones are simply so so. Overall, it was an amazing display. The music selections to go with the display were all instrumental, which was a great choice (I would have loved to hear things like Poor Unfortunate Souls or Be Prepared, but this was a smarter move I think) and the finale was over the top amazing!

Stormtrooper Selfie

Throughout the night, none of the characters were signing autographs, but while we were leaving the park everyone received an autograph card with almost every villain found during the event! I wish I could have had a few characters sign my autographed copy of From Screen to Theme, but the card was a great little bonus as well.

Autograph card

Overall, I had a great time during the event. The three hour wait for Constantine wasn't great, but in the end it was totally worth it. I've always been a huge fan of the Muppets and to actually interact with a Muppet who was being performed by their actual performer was almost worth the price of admission itself. The fireworks display was great and I loved watching the characters roam around.

Hades Hangout

I do feel like this event will occur again in the future, and when it does I hope they have multiple days for it so guests have a chance to meet more characters. Other than that, I did have a great time throughout the evening!

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