Ridiculously Rare Character Greets Guests at Disney World

Hunting for rare and elusive characters at Disney theme parks is popular among avid fans. Over the years, the Walt Disney Company has introduced some exceptional character offerings. However, many characters fade into the sunset once their movie hype disappears. While Guests can sometimes get lucky when visiting Walt Disney World for the day, it is especially infrequent at the Florida Resort to find obscure characters. Disney Vacation Club Guests attending the Moonlight Magic event recently encountered a ridiculously rare Disney character appearance at the Animal Kingdom Park. This is probably one of the craziest sightings in a while!

A Bug’s Life at Walt Disney World

Disney has a long history of including Pixar’s A Bug’s Life characters and experiences at the Orlando theme park. Released in 1998, the movie takes audiences on a miniature adventure in the bustling world of bugs. The story revolves around Flik, a curious and inventive ant who embarks on a quest to save his colony from a gang of menacing grasshoppers. Flik recruits a misfit group of circus bugs, and together they devise a clever plan to outsmart the villains and restore peace to their community.

The characters of P.T. Flea’s circus troupe have appeared throughout Walt Disney World in parades such as Hollywood Studios’ Block Party Bash and Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun. However, most of them haven’t been seen in quite some time. Flik and Princess Atta have greeted Guests at Animal Kingdom periodically, and even Gypsy the Moth showed up last year. However, the latest sighting is actually even rarer than that!

Rare Disney Character Manny from A Bug’s Life Appears at Disney World

Disney World offers special after-hour events for Disney Vacation Club members at times. During the 2023 DVC Moonlight Magic event at Animal Kingdom, Guests were shocked to find Manny among the characters out greeting them. Manny is the magician praying mantis from A Bug’s Life. While fans rally around the more popular characters like Francis the Ladybug or Heimlich the Catapillar, Manny has almost never been seen in the Parks before.

Manny might be one of the rarest character sightings in recent memory. Wow. https://t.co/IumBcyNmWe

— Scott Gustin (@ScottGustin) July 12, 2023

The character caused quite the crowd during his appearance. He wasn’t alone, either. Slim the stick bug, a stilted character only seen in past parades, also waved to Guests at the event. You can see the two interacting with onlookers in the Youtube video below.

Manny has to go down as one of the most ridiculously rare Disney character appearances in recent memory. While other bugs in Pixar Studios’ A Bug’s Life have appeared several times over the years, Manny was never among them in most offerings. We are incredibly jealous of the lucky people that got to meet him.