Disney Minifigs - Matching Characters to Theme Park Concepts

[Karalora]

I know two isn't really enough to establish a pattern, but with the Disneyland Railroad and Main Street Train Station joining Cinderella's Castle as the Disney D2C sets following waves of CMFs, it's well worth wondering what other theme park sets they might release! I know a lot of people--myself included--are hoping for a Haunted Mansion...but so far, Disney seems more interested in including well-known animated characters with these sets than figures more unique to the parks. Regardless, the prospect of more theme park-based LEGO sets is great news for theme park fans like me...but maybe not so great news for people whose primary attachment to Disney comes directly through the films and characters.

Not only that, but it looks like the CMF waves themselves are going to be mostly geared toward promoting characters related to recent, in-progress, and upcoming film and television releases that the Disney corporation wants to keep on the public's radar. The recent wave of characters seemed pretty tailored to tie in with Mickey and Minnie's 90th Anniversary, the live-action Aladdin, the new DuckTales, and Frozen 2.

What all this means is that if you're hoping for a minifig that's not directly related to a contemporary film project...your best bet might be to hope for a theme park set that could logically feature that character. Hence this thread! The idea here is to think of cool Disney theme park sets that could also be good excuses to release much-desired characters in minifig form. If you don't know the parks, toss out some characters you want to see and I--or any other theme park fan who cares to participate--can propose set ideas that would work.

Here are a couple of examples:

I've seen more than one person wish for a Lilo minifig to go with Wave 1's Stitch. There's no Lilo & Stitch ride (anymore), but there is a classic attraction with a Hawaiian/Polynesian theme: the Enchanted Tiki Room! Lilo would fit in nicely there...and as a bonus, such a set would practically demand new bird molds to represent the variety of tropical birds that perform in the attraction.

Another popular pick that is definitely on my wishlist is Mickey Mouse in his Sorcerer's Apprentice costume. There are two prime opportunities here. We could get a Mickey's House set, with his "movie barn" out back where the costumed character does meet-and-greets in the parks, sometimes in the Sorcerer garb. Or--and I like this idea better--the minifig could accompany a brick-built Maleficent dragon, representing the nighttime show Fantasmic! wherein the two face off.

Hopefully you've got the idea by now. I'm eager to here other ideas!

[Oky]

Interesting concept.

I was a huge fan of the Disney Afternoon as a kid, so I'd love to get more minifigs from those shows! One possibility of course would be a Gadget's Go Coaster set with RR versions of Chip & Dale and ideally Gadget herself and Monterey Jack too! I also really want Darkwing Duck, but even though I like to think that I know quite a bit about the parks, I can't think of any attraction that could feature him. Any ideas?

Like the Rescue Rangers, there are other characters which have rides based on them and would therefore be no-brainers such as Pinocchio, Snow White, Beauty & the Beast, Winnie the Pooh, Mr. Toad, Roger Rabbit, Monsters Inc., Inside Out, Bugs Life, etc.

Here are some other suggestions for which characters could come with which attraction set:

• Pluto - Mickey's House
• Sleeping Beauty, Gummi Bears, Gargoyles - Sleeping Beauty Castle
• Jungle Book characters - Jungle Cruise
• Tiana, Prince Naveen, Dr. Facilier - Mark Twain Riverboat
• Pocahontas and John Smith - Sailing Ship Columbia
• Oogie Boogie, Santa Jack Skellington - Haunted Mansion (with extra parts to convert it into the holiday version)
• Lilo, Moana, Mulan, Miguel, Kuzco, Yzma, Kronk, the 3 Caballeros - It's A Small World
• Merlin, Arthur, Madame Mim - King Arthur Carrousel
• Mary Poppins - Main Street Streetcar
• Wreck-it-Ralph - Starcade
• Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde - Autopia
• Treasure Planet characters - Astro Orbitor or Space Mountain
• Atlantis: The Lost Empire characters - Submarine Voyage

We also need Cruella De Vil, Quasimodo and Esmeralda, Carl Fredrickson and Russel, and minifig versions of the Tangled characters. Any idea where they could be included?

[Karalora]

One of my ideas for a set is "Fantasyland Ride Vehicles"--about a half-dozen builds of iconic vehicles such as a Snow White mine cart, spinning Tea Cup, and Mr. Toad's motor car...each one paired with an appropriate character minifig!

As for the character you have trouble placing...

Cruella DeVil: Main Street Firehouse. That's where her character makes appearances in Disneyland, presumably because of the firehouse--> Dalmatian connection.

Quasimodo, Esmeralda, Rapunzel, and Flynn could all be featured in a set based on Fantasy Faire--admittedly not the most thrilling concept for a LEGO set, but I bet Castle fans would ADORE its "medieval village square" aesthetic.

Carl and Russel have been known to appear in California Adventure at the Redwood Creek Challenge Trail. Now there's a set concept with amazing playability, as you could send those or any other minifigs whizzing along rappel lines or bouncing along rope bridges.

Darkwing Duck kind of stumps me. His show is a spin-off of DuckTales, which in turn was adapted from the Carl Barks Uncle Scrooge comics, which were in their turn inspired by the Donald Duck cartoons. So there's a very tangential possible connection with Mickey's Toontown, where all the classic Toons live. It's hard to make the idea gel, though. On the other hand, since it looks like Disney is getting ready to pull the trigger on re-launching Darkwing as a series, maybe he could show up in a CMF wave after all?

(And while we're at it, let's not forget about all the Disney parks not located in Anaheim!)