I dropped into Disney’s Animal Kingdom today to check out the new Dinoland Dance Party. It is a totally unpublished entertainment offering that is currently taking place each day at 11:30 and 12:30 3:30 & 5:00pm. When I asked a couple of executive/manager clothes types, they just gave me the “characters just pop up” answer that is Disneyspeak for “go away blogger guy.” (In the last few weeks this has been in the Times Guide). This dance party is some type of “test” that WDW loves to do these days. There’s like 50 dance parties out there, why not just put it in the Times Guide? The characters that appear may vary but Slim and Gypsy have been pretty common this week. The characters appear from the Dinoland gate between Primeval Whirl and the gift shop.
Click any pic for a larger image
Characters appear randomly on a given day. Characters you might encounter include:
- Atta
- Brer Bear
- Brer Fox
- Brer Rabbit
- Chip
- Daisy
- Dale
- Flik
- Gypsy Moth
- Meeko
- Miss Bunny
- Mushu
- Rafiki
- Slim
- Terk
- Thumper
- Timon
Gypsy Moth was kind enough to pose for me for just a second or two before beginning to boogie down with all the little kiddies of high school and college age. It’s the first time I’ve met Gypsy Moth. She was out for the Pixar Weekend, but it rained right when we were about to meet her. 
One guest standing nearby told her little girl to go meet “the pretty butterfly thing.” Do these people never watch Disney/Pixar movies before entering the park? I once heard Thumper referred to as Bugs Bunny. Uggh!
Brer Fox was happy to be out dancing instead of being hidden in a back closet somewhere. Either that or he was sizing me up for his dinner plate? I told him I require slow cooking because I’m chunky and full of gristle. 
Slim is another uber-rare character in Walt Disney World these days. I think he was the unofficial dance instructor because he stayed next to the DJ Truck the whole time.
You get extra moves when you have 4 arms!
Terk is a huge fan of the YMCA song by the Village People. Y. M. C. A….it’s fun to stay at the YMCA…and shoot basketball and swim for a really high membership fee. Y.M.C.A…
I asked Brer Fox exactly what does a Fox say?
He had to ask around.
Slim didn’t know what a Fox says either.
I think this Cast Member knew what the Fox says, but she wouldn’t tell me.
Oh, look a pretty butterfly! 
Ding, ding, ding… woof, woof, woof. That’s all I got from Brer Fox. So frustrating trying to learn what a fox actually says in the middle of a dance party.
Smooth dance moves
This photo shows where the dance party takes place. You’ll see a truck parked beside a gift shop in Dinoland just past the Goofy and Pluto meet and greet. The characters dance around while guests stare for the first 10 minutes or so or until a Disney College Program intern or nearby gift shop employee jumps in for the fun. If there’s no truck parked off to the right or no giant moth with pop music, it might not be happening.
With guests…
Without guests…
Dance party? Who said this is a stinking dance party? I’m posing my little beauties right in front of this butterfly thing for the memory of a lifetime! Junior, look over here! Sissy, stop playing with the butterfly thing’s wings! Butterfly lady, look at me! Uggh….how’s a visiting tourist supposed to get a good family shot with all this dancing and prancing to pop music? At least he wasn’t using an iThing for that special moment.
Deep thought from KennythePirate to management…why don’t you just play the pop music that you love so dearly in Walt Disney World and let the characters mingle about and take photos with the kids? Isn’t that what all the tourists are trying to do anyway with all the pushing the kid in front of the characters? It could be Dinoland’s version of Character Palooza! I get people asking me daily about Character Palooza, but no one asks me about dance parties. As a matter of fact, it’s the second most popular post on the blog behind the Interaction Tips. I’ll even go ahead and call it Dinopalooza!
I didn’t stick any small children in front of a character with limited vision and large wings to secure this shot!
Slim is still clueless on the whole fox thing.
Really, what does a fox say? Come on guys! I only have 25 minutes on stage to find out. Anyone? What does a fox say?
Here’s a couple of high quality videos that I shot while I was there.
What are your thoughts? Would you like to see this as a dance party or another Character Palooza?
So is this officially no longer?
Ended a few months ago. All characters and entertainment is available on http://www.characterlocator.com
Hey, Kenny, I just read on wdwmagic.com that the dance party for dinoland is closing. It’s last dance will be May 9th, so if you really want to see Brer Fox dance to What Does the Fox Say, I think now’s the time. :(
Are the times for the Dinoland Dance Party up there current? (3:30 and 5:00) I’d like to go to it to try and see Br’er Fox and Br’er Bear!
Times on http://www.characterlocator.com are always updated weekly.
I’m a college program intern who really likes the Dinoland Party but I haven’t seen Brer Fox since early June and it’s near the middle of July right now. I’m afraid that he may not be coming out anymore. I only bother to bring this up is because he’s my favorite and him dancing to What Does The Fox Say is awesome!
Disregard this last post. All three Brers came out yesterday, July 13th.
Great to hear what the Fox said :)
Thanks Kenny.
How difficult is it to get photos during the dance party? Is it frowned upon? Obviously autographs are pretty much out of the question, but I would love to get a quick shot with Gypsy Moth or Slim.
They rarely stop to pose, but someone could snap your photo while you dance. Characters vary daily
I went to the dance party in May. I saw rafiki, chip n dale, brer bear, and Terk. I was able to get a picture with Terk. I was very happy and lucky :)
Has the time changed on this?
Yup
I’d love to see another Character Palooza.
I still remember going to WDW when I was 5 and getting angry at some dad calling Tigger “Tony the Tiger”.
I went to check out the Dinoland Dance party early January when it was new. There was only a handful of kids dancing with Mushu and Gypsy Moth. Went back today (Memorial Day) and there was quite a crowd. All three Brers, Terk, and Thumper were dancing. We struggled to get a photo with Brer Fox, who we had never met. You would be happy to hear that he did an entire routine to the song “what does the Fox Say.” One of the highlights of our day.
Thanks for sharing Rebekah!
Have any other characters been at the Dinoland dance party? And if yes, which ones?
Characterpalooza, characterpalooza, characterpalooza!!!!!!!!
Character Palooza is at Hollywood Studios :)
I wish they would do the meet and greets and forget the prancing around!
We were there saturday and they ran it more like character palooza. It was terk, slim and chip and dale and they just showed up, had everyone form quick lines and did photos and signed autograph books. I was super happy about it!
I was told they didn’t have enough party starters, so it was just meet and greets.
What are other characters have been seen at this DinoLand dance party?
Are the same characters expected every day?
No, they rotate
You said above there were like 50 dance parties is there a link that tells about those? I am going to definitely try and see if we can hit this one! Would love to get my little ones pic with Slim! Thanks in advance & as always thanks for your coverage! :-)
50 is hyperbole, but they have offered a bunch of dance parties in the last year. Some were short term. Incredibles Super Dance Party, Frontierland Hoedown, Dinoland Dance Party, Disney Jr Dance Party All these schedules are on my app.
Here’s info on Character Palooza and Epcot Training
“All these schedules are on my app.”
Which I just ordered! THANKS! :-D
Welcome
I want DinoPalooza! Character Palooza doesn’t bring out as many rare characters anymore, and this one has a lot of rarer characters. Do they sign autographs after, or do they just leave?
They just left at the end of the 25 minutes of dancing. They could easily shorten the dance like they did with Frontierland Hoedown
another character palooza would be nice
I’d much prefer another character palooza.
what are some characters at character palooza
Read that post, it’s all there
We went to a character dance party in DCA with some rare(er) characters and it was a lot of fun. Watching the little kids (even my daughter opened up after a bit) dance with Timon, Genie and others was more fun than just a mingle. Plus, she loved running around “dancing”.
OMG, I am so jealous! I hope that we get to see Timon in September. He is my son’s FAVORITE and we were so bummed to hear that he has been “retired”.
so are there just those characters or are there more
There are others, random