Walt Disney World Removing 50th Anniversary Medallions From Fab 50 Character Statues

Imagineers are “sprinkling a touch of timeless pixie dust to refresh the Disney Fab 50 Character Collection” statues at Walt Disney World Resort — which means they are finally removing the 50th anniversary medallions from the golden statues.

Fab 50 Statues

The new statues were installed at all four Walt Disney World theme parks in the late summer and early fall of 2021 to coincide with the 50th anniversary of Magic Kingdom. As the World’s Most Magical Celebration wrapped, Disney confirmed they had no plans to remove the statues.

In an X post, Disney announced that Imagineers would be touching up the statues over the next few months.

They shared a photo of one crew member spray-painting the base of the Timon and Pumbaa statue at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. In the photo, the 50th anniversary medallion is gone and there’s a visible circle of dots where it used to be. We haven’t been able to confirm if the medallion has been permanently removed yet or not. Pumbaa’s feet, and the feet of the nearby Simba statue, were wrapped in blue tape during the paint job.

Here is what the Simba, Timon, and Pumbaa statues looked like upon installation. There are 50 characters in total, but only 36 statues, as many of the characters are paired like Timon and Pumbaa. Most of the statues have the 50th anniversary medallion on the front of the base, as with these two, but some have the medallion incorporated into their design.

For example, the Stitch statue, which is on the Purple Wall in Magic Kingdom, depicts Stitch holding a chewed-up 50 medallion in his mouth.

The statues are interactive with MagicBand+. As guests approach and wave, the statues come to life with music and various phrases from the Disney characters.

The statues were such a large component of the anniversary celebration that a number of merchandise lines were introduced, allowing guests to bring home a bit of the World’s Most Magical Celebration. Mystery figurine packs of the Disney Fab 50 Character Collection came in waves last year. Ornament sets were also available for guests to bring the statues home. Throughout the celebration, even Walt Disney World theme park tickets featured EARidescent 50th anniversary designs that showcased the Fab 50 statues.

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