WDWNT Reporter Brandon Struve made a quick visit to the Magic Kingdom on Tuesday night and has a number of updates to share with us from around the park:
Most of the tarps on the Crystal Palace are down
Read More about Brandon Struve’s 1/26/10 Magic Kingdom Photo Report
A few days ago, a picture of a Walt Disney Imagineering model for the upcoming Fantasyland Expansion at the Magic Kingdom was leaked on to the Internet. We have obtained the picture and have a number of new details to share about the parks’ largest expansion ever. To view any of the images below in a larger format, simply click on the images to see them on the WDWNT SmugMug:
An overview of the entire model (you’ve probably seen this already): Since we saw the blueprints back in September 2009, some things have changed. The new “Dumbo the Flying Elephant” ride is going to be to the south of the Barnstormer now, leaving Pixie Hollow (in its newly updated form) to the north and next-door to the Little Mermaid attraction.
Beauty and the Beast Realm: Everything according to plan here. You can see the buildings for the meet-and greet and the connected buildings for “Be Our Guest” restaurant and Gaston’s Tavern behind the model facades.
The Little Mermaid Realm: The Little Mermaid dark-ride isn’t all this land has to boast. An Ariel meet-and-greet, the largest store of the Fantasyland Expansion, and (if the budget holds-up) a living character version of Sebastian the crab could be in the queue of the genuine Magic Kingdom E-Ticket.
Pixie Hollow: As we stated before, the model has a very different Pixie Hollow area from the original blueprints. Not only has the area moved, but the attractions in the area have been changed greatly. The building that will house the Pixie meet-and-greets is much bigger than the originally proposed Home Tree and is now attached to the show building for The Little Mermaid dark-ride. The huge building for the meet-and-greets isn’t a mistake, it’s because these meet-and-greets are supposed to be unlike anything ever seen before. The current plan is to use new living character technology to project the fairies into their natural habitat and have them interact with guests. We saw a short preview of this new technology in a Walt Disney Imagineering video released last year.
Also new for Pixie Hollow is a ride featuring “Cheese” the mouse, replacing the concept of a Pixie play area. This character from the Tinker Bell film series will take guests for a spin around part of Pixie Hollow after guests board from a queue made of oversized items (remember, you will be the size of one of the fairies when visiting Pixie Hollow). The ride will only be different in theme from the upcoming “Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree” at Disney’s California Adventure. Tinker Bell may even appear inside the giant lantern at the south end of the attraction as guests in vehicles spin from turntable to turntable.
Note that the new WDW Railroad station is rather plain, either because it borders both the Dumbo Circus area and Pixie Hollow, or simply because it has not been decided what the station should look like. The WDW Railroad will be closing for 3-4 months in 2010 to accommodate construction.
Dumbo’s Circus: The “Dueling Dumbos” have moved south to border the Tomorrowland Indy Speedway. Meanwhile, the new theme for Goofy’s Barnstormer is undecided. Rumors indicate that it may be a more modern version of the Casey Jr. Circus Train attraction, running on the same track as the current coaster.
Pooh and Princesses: This area remains very true to the original blueprints. The facade and shop of the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh attraction will be updated this year to reflect a “Hundred Acre Woods” theme and most of what is Pooh’s Playful Spot today is set to become a Winnie the Pooh character meet-and-greet. The Mad Tea Party will probably not see any changes until after the entire expansion is completed in 2013. The Cinderella meet-and-greet and princess/royal guard training as well as the Aurora meet-and-greet/birthday party are still very much what they were originally announced to be.
For those wondering about the placement of the Castle Walls that will separate the medieval fair from the fantasy forest, this picture should give you a good idea. The thatched roof you see on what is currently Mrs. Potts’ Cupboard is currently being put in place, so the first piece (although very minor) of the expansion is already being completed.
We hope you enjoyed this in-depth look at the Fantasyland Expansion model. Stay tuned to WDW News Today in the coming weeks as we introduce a new feature to the site that will allow you to easily follow the development of the Fantasyland Expansion.
Disney has released more information on exactly what the new year will bring to the Vacation Kingdom of the world, here are some highlights for 2010:
Disney has confirmed the Muppet pre-parade for 2010 that was first reported on WDWNT, stating that it will begin January 8:
Disney’s Honorary VoluntEARS Cavalcade (beginning Jan. 8) – Each afternoon just before the daily parade at Walt Disney World Magic Kingdom (and at Disneyland Park in California), Muppets characters and parade dancers will join special floats and vehicles celebrating volunteerism and presenting Honorary VoluntEARS serving as Grand Marshals of the parades. Kermit, Miss Piggy and Sweetums will be part of the merriment, while the dancers will be donning outfits that celebrate the work of volunteers.
Work on the Fantasyland Expansion at the Magic Kingdom will begin in 2010. We have also heard that The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh attraction will go down for refurbishment in early 2010 to change it’s facade and a few other items, the Walt Disney World Railroad will close for 2-3 months in 2010 to make way for groundbreaking backstage, and Mickey’s Toontown Fair will most likely close permanently in the Fall. Information released today:
Fantasyland expansion – An early-2010 groundbreaking will mark the beginning of a three-year construction project that will result in a vastly expanded Magic Kingdom Fantasyland.
Wide World of Sports will finally get it’s name change:
ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex relaunch (February 2010) – A re-imagining project involving ESPN and the Disney sports complex, the leading multi-sport venue in the nation, aims to create immersive and entertaining sports experiences for athletes, coaches and fans by incorporating signature elements of ESPN in ways that will connect athletes and coaches with their favorite ESPN programs, personalities and elements. Guests will discover a new welcome center, a digital center where video captured by 44 cameras across the 220-acre sports campus is edited for display on 40 video screens and two “jumbotrons” throughout the complex as part of a veritable “Wide World of SportsCenter,” and the new ESPN Wide World of Sports Grill. Meanwhile, behind the scenes, technical staff will continue work in the Innovation Lab to develop ground-breaking ESPN on-air products – using the action throughout the complex as a real-world testing environment.
Beyond the press releases from today, there are a number of interesting attraction refurbishments already announced for 2010. Splash Mountain at the Magic Kingdom is rumored to receive lap bars for each log during it’s 1/3-2/27/10 refurbishment, Epcot’s Test Track is closed 1/11-1/17/10 and Living with the Land is closed 1/18-2/5/10 (both for unknown reasons), and the latest surprise has been the announcement that both the Studio Backlot Tour and the Studio Catering Co. at Disney’s Hollywood Studios will be closed for refurbishment from 2/15-3/28/10. Stay tuned for more details on all of these refurbishments as they become available.
WDWNT Reporter Matt Paul was able to record video of both the “Imagineering the Future of the Disney Parks” presentation and the follow-up press conference at the D23 Expo, and now has both videos available for your enjoyment. Both videos are embedded below courtesy of the WDWNTube:
Hopefully these videos have answered some lingering questions about the exciting upcoming Walt Disney World projects. We still have many questions to ask as well and will try to get them answered as soon as possible, so stay tuned.
I know it’s a few days late, but here is the full press release we were given at the D23 Expo concerning these two exciting new projects for Walt Disney World and other on-going “Parks and Resorts” projects:
Walt Disney Parks and Resorts Chairman Jay Rasulo detailed plans for future lands, attractions and adventures that will be delighting Disney guests for years to come, at the first D23 Expo. Most notable among the announcements were the confirmation of an all-new Star Tours attraction and the largest expansion in the history of the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World.
“Storytelling is the DNA of Disney dreams and we’re always exploring new ways to tell new stories in new places,” Rasulo told a crowd at the Anaheim Convention Center in California before taking them on a “behind-the-magic” tour of their favorite Disney destinations.
Rasulo announced that a new 3-D version of the tremendously-popular “Star Tours” attraction will debut at the Disneyland Resort and Disney’s Hollywood Studios in 2011. Based on the iconic Lucasfilm “Star Wars” films, the attraction will include immersive new elements that will take guests to many familiar places in the Star Wars galaxy.
For Walt Disney World in Florida, Rasulo outlined plans for the largest expansion in the history of the Magic Kingdom, vastly increasing the size of Fantasyland by 2013. Guests will soon be able to:
-Visit their favorite Disney Princess in her castle, cottage, or chateau to share a dance with Cinderella; celebrate Sleeping Beauty’s birthday with the Good Fairies; or join Belle in an enchanting story performance in the Beast’s castle library.
-Be Our Guest and dine in one of three enchanted rooms inside the Beast’s castle.
-Fly with Dumbo high above brand new circus grounds, twice the size of the existing attraction with a new interactive, three-ring circus tent.
-Journey under the sea with Ariel, The Little Mermaid, in her very own attraction – also opening at Disney’s California Adventure in Anaheim in 2011.
-Meet Tinker Bell and her friends in the magical world of Pixie Hollow.Rasulo provided updates on the multi-year expansion of Disney’s California Adventure including the new “World of Color” attraction slated to open in the spring of 2010 and the addition of the 12-acre Cars Land scheduled to open in 2012 where guests will literally step into the town of Radiator Springs and its six acres of hand-carved rockwork.
Rasulo noted the progress of several other recently-announced projects including the three new lands coming to Hong Kong Disneyland by 2014; the Disney Dream, the new ship being built by Disney Cruise Line; the many diverse itineraries being offered by Adventures by Disney that take guests on 19 unique, once-in-a-lifetime guided vacation experiences; and Disney’s first family destination resort on the island of Oahu in Hawaii.
