One of my favorite characters in the Disney Universe is Jiminy Cricket. My son and I both love him and he was dying to meet him when we had our passes last year. This kid has watched Pinocchio about 10 times in a row and can't get enough of the cricket. Unfortunately, Jiminy Cricket is always MIA at the Disney Parks. He cannot be found anywhere and that is a shame. This is one of the most important characters in the Disney Universe after all...It's time Disney did something about that and let the people meet Jiminy Cricket.
The easiest way and most fun way to do this is to make a character dining experience with Jiminy Cricket. The great thing about character dining is that you can meet the character without waiting in a huge line and they get to spend some quality time with your family. Here are my Top 10 character dining ideas to include Jiminy Cricket. They can do these ideas at any of the parks, resorts, or the re-imagined Disney Springs. Just bring us the cricket. These ideas are numbered 10 to 1 with 10 being the idea I would least likely pay for to 1 being the idea I want to sign up for today!!! I would pay for any of these dining experiences though.
Honorable Mention: House of Mouse Dining Experience (Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Jiminy Cricket)
This dining experience would tie into the popular series house of mouse which just so happened to be a restaurant. While Jiminy Cricket was a valuable member of that show I am not so sure that he would make the cut this time. Of course, I wouldn't really want it without him.
10. Mickey's Christmas Carol (Jiminy Cricket, Scrooge McDuck, Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse)
While they might not be the characters that play them and might actually be the character in the movie, it would be neat to have some experience surrounded on the Christmas Carol. Of course, Scrooge's longtime worker Bob Cratchit was played by Mickey while the ghost of Christmas past was played by good ol' Jiminy Cricket. People would love to see Scrooge and Jiminy both in a character dining experience.
09. A Bug's Life (Dot, Flik, Jiminy Cricket, Hopper)
While this would be more centered on the Bug's Life Movie, this would be a great experience for people and a fine way to work Jiminy Cricket into the parks. It is unlikely that there would be more Bug's Life influence in the parks though as they already got a mini show experience at the Animal Kingdom. I think this would be perfect for Animal Kingdom lodge though.
08. Pinocchio Theme (Foulfellow, Gepetto, Jiminy Cricket, Pinocchio)
This would be the easiest dining experience to do. They could even do it in the Pinocchio Village Haus that already exists and turn that from a quick service place to a character dining hall of awesomeness. Imagine riding small World and not only seeing the people waving at you, but seeing the different characters from Pinocchio.
07. Jiminy Cricket's Christmas (Jiminy Cricket, Donald Duck, Chip, Dale)
Most people don't realize this, but there was a Jiminy Cricket holiday special at one time. They should put this up as a dining experience around the holidays in my opinion. I think there would be many people who would love it. The other characters included are the main characters in the special.
06. Theme Song Characters (Gaston, Jiminy Cricket, Tigger, Thomas O'Malley)
This is a fun to me. Characters that have sung their own theme song getting included. There are numerous choices, but I chose the 4 that best fit the description. Well the three that best fit the description and Jiminy Cricket who sung the theme song for Disney as a whole. Don't forget that it was Jiminy Cricket who sung "When You Wish Upon A Star." Tigger and Gaston are already fan favorites and you can't meet Thomas O'Malley anywhere making this a fantastic meet and greet. I would love to replace O'Malley or Gaston with Darkwing Duck though for personal preference here.
05. Fun Singing Characters (Baloo, Jiminy Cricket, Lumiere, Sebastian)
For this meet and greet experience you take the four characters that sung perhaps the most fun songs in Disney. Those songs being Bare Necessities, When You Wish Upon A Star, Be Our Guest, and Under the Sea. Besides who wouldn't want to meet this group of four that is rarely featured. The only one of the four you can meet is Baloo and there is massive fan appeal for all four of the characters.
04. Most Magical Non-Mickey Characters (Genie, Jiminy Cricket, Mushu, Olaf)
Now, this would be the most popular of the meet and greets because it would satisfy the Olaf crew. It is almost a no-brainer to do something like this and pump up the other movies. These characters are very magical and either have powers or are given extra life/attributes through magic. Tinkerbell, Pinocchio, and/or Peter Pan could easily replace one of these characters in this experience.
03. Small Characters (Chip, Dale, Jiminy Cricket, Sebastian)
This is the less strong option of characters from the concept of taking very small characters and putting them into a larger than life dining experience. There are several options to go with Jiminy this is the weaker 3 to go along. There are several more characters that I wouldn't pay for, but I'd pay for this. Chip and Dale aren't as appealing to me, but are very popular, but Sebastian is a big draw. Lumiere is a bigger draw than the Chipmunks for me, but I realize that this is a more likely group if they did go with this theme. The toys would also be likely candidates.
or better option same concept...
Small Characters (Abu, Jiminy Cricket, Mushu, Timon)
I haven't seen any of these characters for a meet and greet in about 5 years. Getting all of them in this experience would be awesome.
02. Wise Characters (Jiminy Cricket, Owl, Rafiki, Sebastian)
I love this theme and would absolutely book this dining experience. My son has been begging me over and over to meet Owl and I have never seen him at Disney. Not at a parade, not at anything! You cannot see Owl on Disney property. This dining experience where you can meet Owl and Jiminy Cricket would be awesome especially when you throw in the other two. All of these characters gave a great deal of advice during their roles in the Disney Universe. It just makes too much sense not to have this dining experience. Get on it Disney.
01. Disney Throwback (Jiminy Cricket, J. Thaddeus Toad, LaunchPad McQuack, Oswald)
With throwbacks and sentimentality becoming so popular, it could be a fantastic idea, no the best idea to have a throwback character dining experience. The two no brainers for this would be Jiminy Cricket and Mr. Toad from the departed Mr. Toad's Wild Road, but who else would join them? Oswald would be another easy choice as he came before even Mickey Mouse. Using these characters that are not used as much anymore would be something that Disney fans would really enjoy. For the last character in this experience I went with Launchpad because he was so big in the 90s and is unused today. He was the sidekick in the DuckTales cartoon and in Darkwing Duck and Disney fans loved him. This experience would sell out constantly. Disney can go ahead and get on this one (I won't even charge them for my idea).
Timothy Q. Mouse would be great in either of the last two themes as well. Stay tuned next week for some more random thoughts.
-Noland
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