Looking Ahead: 2015 Edition

I'll be frank: I don't get as excited about Club Penguin as I used to.  However, I still find it exciting to find out what CP's next party is......even to the point where the announcement is more enjoyable than the actual event.  So, here's my (probably very wrong) party slate prediction for 2015.

Please Note: I wrote this before today's big Star Wars Rebels party confirmation.  While I'm not changing any of my original predictions in order to have a more accurate look at what I got right and wrong at the end of the year, I have added some notes in red about my revised thoughts after today's announcement.  I'd still say my original thoughts are worth a read, as I do talk about things that may cross the entire year and may still be correct.

January: New Party
(Correct Prediction: Star Wars Rebels Takeover)

When the Prehistoric Party returned last year, I was shocked because it didn't follow the previous pattern of expedition parties.  This year, however, I'm sticking with my prediction that said party won't return.  You see, 2013's event was well received, whereas 2014's was widely regarded as boring and unneeded.  With this lukewarm to negative reception in only its second outing, I'm inclined to think that the team will scrap this event - at least for now - and try something different.

What that is is anyone's guess; a new expedition is probably the best guess, as Puffle Wild will have only been out for a few weeks when this party is launched and history shows a trend in January for such parties.  

On another note: Disney doesn't have a film coming out in January to have Club Penguin adopt, but a second Frozen Party would be compatible with this cold month.  There's no obvious choice from 2014's bunch of Disney projects to use here either, unlike Frozen's clear potential coming into this year.  The closest to said status would be surprise blockbuster Guardians of the Galaxy, but I don't think Marvel will come to January after successful Spring and early Summer launches.  Maleficent was also a huge success for Disney in May 2014 and Into the Woods will have just come out at Christmas time, but those don't appear to be concrete choices, either.

Now that the announcement is out there, the fact that we are getting a party based on the newest characters in Star Wars lore seems so obvious.  Disney has been aggressively marketing the new series over the past few months because they feel they could really turn it into a hit.  Placing the party in January with a movie the following December seemed a little weird when I first heard it, but is actually kind of ingenious now that I think about it; Disney will be able to create quite a few new Star Wars fans with this party, and, with the sizeable wait to the new big screen movie, these fans will have time to catch up with the other films and add to the hype of The Force Awakens.  Not bad, Disney.  Not bad.

February: The Fair

A few parties have to survive from 2014, and the Fair seems like a good choice to start off this string of returning events.  While this year's event didn't get a very warm reception, the Fair is an old enough party that has gone through a cancellation and a shift before that I think it will see another day.  (It should be noted that The Fair is longest running non-real world holiday, non-anniversary event in Club Penguin's history.) 

March: New Party

The Muppets won't have another big project for at least a year or two.  Because of this, I highly doubt a party based on them will return next year since they are not constantly relevant like Star Wars.  So, what takes its place?

Should Club Penguin go with an original party, there's no telling what the theme is.  Given the team's recent interest in reviving older parties with total reboots, I think the return of the Sports party or - on the more recent side - a Herbert Operation may be in order here.

On the takeover side of things, Disney's live action retelling of Cinderella comes out at the end of this month.  The film has received a lot of buzz but I doubt that Club Penguin would try a princess party, which would be a turn off to many boys.  Now, for those saying, "But we got Marvel and Star Wars parties!  Aren't those for boys only?  What's the difference?" my answer is rather simple: A LOT of girls enjoy both of those properties, whereas princesses are more exclusive to girls.  Then again, Frozen was about princesses.....albeit ones that didn't obsess over dresses and glass slippers.

April: Puffle Party

Given Club Penguin's obsessively obsessive obsession with THOSE THAT SHALL NOT BE NAMED, I am positively positive that this party will be back.  After all, Spike Hike once said that "the Puffle Party has kind of become our Easter thing."

This party COULD move back to my vacant March spot, for reasons I will explain later.

May: Marvel Superhero Takeover

The Future Party didn't get a lot of praise this past May, so I don't think it will be back.  However.....

Call it wishful thinking, but I believe the Marvel Superhero Takeover will return in 2015.  Why?  Well, in 2012, the party coincided with the release of the first Avengers film; in 2015, it can come out alongside the second one.

This is more or less a shot in the dark, though.  If we do get a Marvel event in 2015, it could feasibly come out anywhere between the months of April and August.  This is because of both history - April and June were the previous months for this party, premiering just one month away from each year's big May Marvel movie - and known facts for this coming year - the second Avengers comes out in May and Ant-Man comes out in July.

There does seen to be sizeable demand for the return of this party; both the 2012 and 2013 events brought heavy traffic for Club Penguin and when Spike Hike confirmed its absence from the 2014 schedule, there were quite a few people who displayed disappointment.  Additionally, there are still many comic book characters to create costumes for, and, along with new costumes from Ant-Man and the latest Avengers, the party also benefits from the option of creating outfits based on characters from the three Marvel hits of 2014 that didn't get a chance to shine in Club Penguin this year: Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Guardians of the Galaxy, and Big Hero Six.

Spike Hike has been vocal about the possibility of this party's return in 2015 and I think unless there is an EPF or ninja event to squeeze in, we will get one.

The Fair has taken a year off and then returned; why not this?

Since Marvel, like Star Wars, has both a film side and a television side, the Star Wars January announcement has made me think that this party could really go anywhere except October and December.  Given the past, though, April, May, June, July, or August still seem like the safest bets.  Additionally, Star Wars just became the second ever party to take a year off and then return, giving even more hope to the return of a Marvel party.

June: New Party

While the Penguin Cup appeared to get some of the best feedback of the year, I don't think it will be back since there is no World Cup this year.

Putting aside the unpredictable possibility that Club Penguin makes a wholly new party - or puts in that EPF or ninja event I mentioned a little while ago - I believe a takeover is a safe bet here as well.  A party devoted to Pixar's mid June release, Inside Out could very well find its home here.

Pixar has a loyal fan base, so this movie automatically has a lot of buzz around it and will drive a lot of traffic to Club Penguin's site.  Club Penguin's first Pixar party back in June of 2013 was based on the most recent Pixar movie - Monsters University.  Since there isn't a film in the middle of that that didn't have a party, I'm going to go ahead and assume that the Pixar connection is still alive - and I personally am going to hope it is as well.

July: Music Jam

Music Jam 2014 was bad.  OK?  Yes, it was bad.  But, Music Jam has been a solid performer for Club Penguin for several years, so I feel that it will come back, despite the negative feedback.  Cadence (and more so) the Penguin Band need something to do, right?  Let's just pray a certain Spanish speaker is too busy doing her show this time.

August: Summer Party

I'd say two of the most popular parties in the past two years have been the Summer ones.  A return from Frozen is possible given the fact it doesn't seem to be losing any steam, though Teen Beach Movie could surprise - and horrify - by returning to the party in order to promote its sequel, due out this coming summer.

September: School (but maybe not Skate) Party

This year's crop of original, and non-takeover, non-real world event parties has been small and not very impressive.  However, the School and Skate Party got fairly good reviews despite its hazardous subject material.  To add to this, Club Penguin loves excuses to promote their charity work, and this party is good opportunity to do just that.  For these reasons, I'm making the educated guess (haha so funny) that CP will allow their school event to live past its freshman year (haha i'm on fire).  However, I'm not certain if the skate part of it has enough meat left on the bone for more content (nor am I sure if the skating part was a big draw for the party), so I don't know if that element will return.

October: Halloween Party

Call this the Free space on the Bingo card; there is no way the Halloween Party doesn't return for its eleventh round in 2015.

November: Star Wars Takeover
(Probably wrong due to the Rebels event)

In what may perhaps become the biggest tossup of the year, November offers three strong possibilities.  The first is another Pirate Party, which has received some of the best reception for a party all year.  It's unclear just how popular the current party is, but I wouldn't really be that surprised if a sequel event occurred next year.

The other two strong possibilities are takeovers.  The Good Dinosaur, Pixar's second 2015 film, debuts in this month, and could very well be fused into the Prehistoric Party.  Now, while that would definitely spice things up, given the not so stellar reception from this year's event, I'm uncertain if Club Penguin would even bother to bring back a party dealing with dinosaurs - let alone allow two Pixar parties in one year.

The clear choice here is a second Star Wars Takeover.  While there wasn't one in 2014, 2013's first Star Wars party drove tons of traffic to Club Penguin and created a lot of awareness about the site.  Additionally, Episode 7 premieres in mid December and is sure to shatter box office records and become a phenomenon; with December being all locked up with (SPOILER ALERT) the Holiday Party, my guess is Disney will get as close as possible to the release date without interfering with Christmas.  Imagine if Club Penguin was allowed to give sneak peeks of the movie in game through the story and artwork before the movie premiered; the exposure to Club Penguin would be off the charts!

I sincerely doubt that Club Penguin would ever bother to have two parties that are virtually the same in one year, so this prediction has now almost certainly been blown out of the water.  However, I could still be right with my other predictions; the Pirate Party still seems like a somewhat sound choice, even if it isn't that beloved.  Don't count out The Good Dinosaur, though.  Since the Prehistoric Party isn't returning this January, the two could come together and get this slot.

December: Holiday Party

Another free space!  The eleventh Holiday Party is guaranteed to happen, with Coins For Change in tow.