WDWNT Reporter Banks Lee visited three Walt Disney World theme parks on Wednesday (take a WILD guess which one he did not go to) and took plenty of photos to share with us in a lengthy photo report:
The gingerbread house is up and open at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa
WDWNT Reporter Banks Lee visited the Magic Kingdom this morning to ride “it’s a small world” following its lengthy refurbishment. The only big changes are the queue and exit which have been swapped. Guests now enter the queue and load the boats on the left side and exit on the right. Handicap loading has also been moved to the right side. Here’s a video of the changes (Banks will be updating this video soon to include a full ride-through of the attraction):
As buisness picks up in Fantasyland at Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom, WDWNT is looking to provide you with the most complete coverage of the largest expansion in the history of the park. In addition to the constant picture updates in our photo reports and the Fantasyland Forest Project Tracker (which we are working on getting up-to-date), we are proud to introduce the very first video update of the constructions from Banks Lee:
What difference does a day make? Let’s find out! WDWNT Reporter Josh Siegel visited the Magic Kingdom a day after his last report and you may be quite surprised how much has changed:
The indoor seating area for Casey’s is still behind tarps
Read More about Josh Siegel’s 10/9/10 Magic Kingdom Photo Report
WDWNT Reporter Josh Siegel visited the Magic Kingdom on Friday where a number of projects around the park are really starting to take shape. Let’s take a look at all the newsworthiness from October 8th:
Work continues on the Rapunzel and Flynn Rider (from Tangled) meet and greet experience
Read More about Josh Siegel’s 10/8/10 Magic Kingdom Photo Report
WDWNT Reporter Nick Corjay spent Sunday at the Magic Kingdom and has a number of newsworthy photos to share with us from his trip:
It’s Halloween at the Magic Kingdom
Read More about Nick Corjay’s 9/19/10 Magic Kingdom Photo Report
WDWNT Reporter Josh Siegel spent his Saturday roaming the parks of the Walt Disney World Resort, and he has a number of newsworthy photos to share with us:
The Fantasyland crane is visible from far away
WDWNT Reporter Josh Siegel visited the Magic Kingdom yesterday and has some newsworthy photos to share with us:
Ticket prices are going up… but we only report on real news, so let’s move on 🙂
Read More about Josh Siegel’s 8/4/10 Magic Kingdom Photo Report
The refurbishment of “it’s a small world” at the Magic Kingdom began August 1st and is scheduled to wrap-up on October 22nd. The only changes to the attraction we can confirm at this time include a queue reconfiguration and the moving of the attraction entrance back to its original location near Pinocchio’s Village Haus. The following photos were taken by Banks Lee on August 1st:
Tarps wrap the entire facade
My favorite refurbishment sign EVER!!!
That sign should be moving down to the other end of the facade
oops….
The windows looking into the loading area of the attraction from Pinocchio’s Village Haus have been blocked
From the Disney Parks Blog:
Before we dive into the weekend, there are a few quick updates to share out of Magic Kingdom Park to end the week. First is a new character experience — a “play and greet” with characters Rapunzel and Flynn Ryder at the park’s Fairytale Garden. Beginning Friday, October 15, you’ll be able to interact with both of the stars from the upcoming Disney film “Tangled.”
The Rapunzel and Flynn Ryder experience will replace the current show, “Storytime with Belle” at Fairytale Garden. The final “Storytime with Belle” show will be September 12.
And some of you may have already heard about some downtime scheduled for “it’s a small world.” The attraction will be closed for refurbishment this Sunday, August 1 through Friday, October 22.
We’ll post more details on both of these updates in the future.
Now before anyone starts to worry that Disney characters are being added to “it’s a small world”, remember that Imagineers stated when the refurbishment was announced that “characters will not be added at this time”. However, this is from the same people who stated the Main Street Electrical Parade was leaving after August 14th, so, as usual, take that statement with a grain of salt. All that we can confirm is that Disney is taking this time to reconfigure the queue of “it’s a small world” and will move the entrance back to its original location near Pinocchio’s Village Haus (the entrance was moved during the huge 2004-05 overhaul of the attraction). Anything beyond that is simply speculation at this time. Stay tuned to WDW News Today for more information on these Fantasyland changes as they become available.
