Princess Elena of Avalor?

[Hessie628]

Thanks to my Apple TV we have been able to watch the first episode of the new show. My barely 3 DD is obsessed of course. I know there were talks about her coming to the MK in Aug. (We will be in WDW Aug 17 - 25.) Anyone know anything else about this? I need to plan and mentally prepare for waiting in line for a m&g if there is one.

 

[ChasingLeslie]

The only details released have been that a M&G is coming in August (possibly to MK).

Princess Elena's merchandise has already trickled into many of the gift shops. My daughter "had" to buy an Elena wand as her souvenir.

 

[tlmadden73]

Should be a neat M&G. The show seems more geared towards tweens then Sofia is.

What gets me is they explain her origin in the beginning of the show .. why is the movie that explains this origin not scheduled until the Fall? Shouldn't that have come first? That is usually how spinoffs work.

 

[Berlioz70]

Just a note - Disney has only announced that Elena is APPEARING at MK in August; not that a M&G is starting in August. While there have been two sets of auditions, and several unofficial blogs posted that Elena's August appearance would be a M&G, I do not want anyone to be too disappointed if that's not the case.

Disney Parks Blog: Elena

 

[FoxC63]

Should be a neat M&G. The show seems more geared towards tweens then Sofia is.

What gets me is they explain her origin in the beginning of the show .. why is the movie that explains this origin not scheduled until the Fall? Shouldn't that have come first? That is usually how spinoffs work.

That's just Disney! I'm not sure when Frozen movie was first released but in 2013 we actually met Anna & Elsa at Epcot. They appeared together and CM's also handed out a package of trading cards after your photo was taken. °O°

 

[yulilin3]

The casting call asked for her to be bilingual and if she knew how to play the guitar, better. This is also the only casting call that I can remember where they were taking people 16 and over, it's usually 18 and over.

 

[Ferrentinos]

I'm following along with this - DD5 would love to meet her if possible next month - she has watched the first two episodes countless times already!

 

[mdejesusjr85]

Hopefully she is there in Oct. my DD3 has already watched the show 10 times over the weekend and loves her.

 

[TigerlilyAJ]

Bumping this Elena Watch thread. We have been away on vacation and have yet to watch the show I recorded for us, but I already suspect my party will hope to meet her or at least see her in a parade or something.

 

[nicolemb]

This is great! I assumed she was too new to see during our September trip. We've watched the same first episode every single day since it aired Friday, and my DD (almost 4) decided she wanted an Elena backpack instead of a lightup Frozen one at Disney Store... She will be thrilled if we get to see Elena. Bonus if she joins the character breakfast at H&V.

Is she going to be a face character or a giant costume like Sofia/Doc?

 

[LadyRayado]

This is great! I assumed she was too new to see during our September trip. We've watched the same first episode every single day since it aired Friday, and my DD (almost 4) decided she wanted an Elena backpack instead of a lightup Frozen one at Disney Store... She will be thrilled if we get to see Elena. Bonus if she joins the character breakfast at H&V.

Is she going to be a face character or a giant costume like Sofia/Doc?

Face character. Rumor has it they are double-casting girls as Elena and Moana.

 

[nicolemb]

Face character. Rumor has it they are double-casting girls as Elena and Moana.

Any chance of Moana appearances before the movie comes out?

 

[SureAsLiz]

The casting call asked for her to be bilingual and if she knew how to play the guitar, better. This is also the only casting call that I can remember where they were taking people 16 and over, it's usually 18 and over.

It looks like they expanded all the auditions to allow for 16 year olds. There's another audition for different characters that also listed 16 rather than 18

ETA: Now that I'm thinking about it, hasn't WDW generally allowed 16+, where DLR was 18+ only?
ETA 2: Currently it looks like only face characters are allowing 16+ to audition. The show performer and fur performer auditions both list 18+. I would assume there is some sort of union rule that dictates appropriate ages for the various roles (plus state/federal rules on hours available to work as a minor)

 

[SureAsLiz]

Any chance of Moana appearances before the movie comes out?

I haven't heard of any rumors about her meets yet, but in the past the princess have appeared before their movie, so I wouldn't be surprised if she did as well.

 

[1lilspark]

I read an article that says Elena will debut 8/11

 

[Hessie628]

I read an article that says Elena will debut 8/11

Do have the link to the article? I asked a friend who works for WDW and she said her sources told her Elena was in Avalor and doesn't have any current plans to travel. (This was about two weeks ago.)

 

[1lilspark]

Do have the link to the article? I asked a friend who works for WDW and she said her sources told her Elena was in Avalor and doesn't have any current plans to travel. (This was about two weeks ago.)

http://diskingdom.com/2016/07/26/princess-elena-gets-royal-welcome-august-11th/

 

[Ferrentinos]

http://diskingdom.com/2016/07/26/princess-elena-gets-royal-welcome-august-11th/

Wow! That's exciting! My DD5 will be so excited to see her in late August if this works out!

 

[jsbowl16]

We are going to Magic Kingdom on August 11 and just moved around our fastpasses just in case this happens at 11.

 

[karly05]

Should be a neat M&G. The show seems more geared towards tweens then Sofia is.

What gets me is they explain her origin in the beginning of the show .. why is the movie that explains this origin not scheduled until the Fall? Shouldn't that have come first? That is usually how spinoffs work.

I love Elena! As an adult who shamelessly watches Elena and Sofia, I don't normally think about these age issues, but I have a theory about why they started the series before the "TV Movie" explaining Elena's backstory:

They really are aiming Elena at older kids who have "outgrown" Sofia. The origin story is going to be an Elena/Sofia crossover. I think they want to establish Elena as "cool" with the "big kids," and if her first introduction is with Sofia, said "big kids" might turn off, thinking, "Oh, that's just Sofia, that's for babies." I'm probably wrong, but that's my thought.