An Aerial Look at New Fantasyland – March 2012

Courtesy of Scott Keating and scottkeating.net, we once again have some fantastic aerial photos of Fantasyland to share with you:

The base of the old Dumbo is still lingering, guess it isn’t that easy to completely remove…

A lot going on here: The bridge that will serve as the entrance to the Be Our Guest Restaurant is nearing completion, the Mermaid queue entrance is out from behind scaffolding and appears mostly complete with the exception of pavement, and we can now make out a distinguishable footprint for the Seven Dwarves Mine Train

Another angle shows that Gaston’s Tavern is far behind the other buildings in the village

We can now see where the Casey Jr. Splash ‘N’ Soak Station is going in Storybook Circus, but what lies beyond it in the tents is mostly a mystery…

Getting away from Fantasyland, the Big Thunder Mountain refurbishment rolls on with most of the queue being rebuilt, all track being replaced, and a visible fresh coat of paint being applied to the entire mountain

Work continues on the DVC wing of Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa

Jeff Lukas’ 3/25/12 WDW Photo Report

We welcome Jeff Lukas to the WDWNT team with his first photo report, taking us to the Magic Kingdom and Epcot:

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Work continues on the Bakery facade

Dapper Dans

Fantasyland Woodwind Society

The roof on Prince Eric’s Castle is almost complete

More scaffolding came down at Be Our Guest Restaurant

The Fantasyland Skyway station is completely gone

The queue building at Big Thunder Mountain has been rebuilt for the most part

Work continues on the track

Site looks completely cleared for the Grand Floridian DVC

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On to Epcot

Story Time is still occupying the former Velcro exhibit in Innoventions

Still closed…

Work continues on the VISION House

Welcome to the Wonders of Flower and Garden Festival Stages and Shopping

Kind of cute…

Still cool

Welcome aboard Jeff!

First Look at Completed Section of New Fantasyland’s Castle Walls

WDWNT reader AJ P. found some more pictures from her trip to share and these few are pretty interesting…

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The first completed section of the Castle Wall has been revealed

It stands right near the pit left by the old Dumbo

All that remains is a stroller parking sign

It looks great!

The wall will soon stretch across this area

Welcome to “One More Disney Day”

So, it has been almost a week since “One More Disney Day”, and we are still doing a bit of recovering here at WDWNT. While we’ll spend more time on the podcast talking about the event, here is video of the 5:50AM welcome show at the Magic Kingdom presented on February 29th:

Carl Rishi’s Walt Disney World Photo Report

WDWNT reader Carl Rishi was nice enough to offer some of his photos from his latest trip for us to share, so let’s take a look:

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This banner was up for One More Disney Day

A look at the times guide

The free button

Special cake pops available

They have cupcakes with the stained glass artwork featured in The Magic, The Memories, and You! romance segment

Looking good

Prince Eric’s castle is looking great

The Muppets Star Wars toys are now available

St. Patrick’s Day Mickey plush

Easter Duffy

Flower and Garden topiaries were up already

Disney Offers First Look Inside New Fantasyland’s “Be Our Guest” Restaurant

From Jennifer Fickley-Baker on the Disney Parks Blog:

“Be our guest! Be our guest! Put our service to the test!” Or so the song goes. Who doesn’t love this playful scene from “Beauty and The Beast,” in which the enchanted staff welcomes Belle to the castle in grand style?

And speaking of “style,” Walt Disney Imagineering (WDI) has been busy recreating the castle’s very detailed beauty in the form of the Be Our Guest Restaurant in New Fantasyland at Magic Kingdom Park.

In this video, provided by WDI, Senior Concept Designer Ted Robledo presents our very first sneak peek inside this highly anticipated restaurant. Imagineers recently put the finishing touches on one of its major elements: a massive mural that will serve as the restaurant’s backdrop. Here, Ted shows how WDI combined digital technology with traditional artistry to create a sweeping landscape that gives guests the feeling that they really are walking into a part of the film.

First Look at Storybook Circus Without Construction Walls!

WDWNT reader Jessica Walker was nice enough to provide us with some photos she took at the Magic Kingdom yesterday. Just wait until you see these…

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The Fantasyland Station looks just about finished

Some final painting and it should be ready to open!

Men at work

So the walls start coming down around this end of the Station… by the way, those are copper gutters… expensive stuff!

Imagineering gets ready to hand operations over to the Magic Kingdom

We can kind of see The Barnstormer from here…

OK! WALLS ARE DOWN! The Barnstormer queue is now located on this side of the building

The queue looks to have some great props of various Goofy stunts

A small poster next to the prop better explains the stunt

You can see a smoking rocket and other props strewn about

It looks like Goofy splattered paint all over the wood railings…

The back of the tower/lift hill

We can somewhat see something Goofy crashed through off to the left side of the building

I think they’re saying “We’re done!”

Construction walls already up near the tents which will open later this year

You can now see lights and canvas hung from the Dumbo queue which will open with Storybook Circus!

It’s almost time!

While a little further down the road, Belle’s Village is looking better and better every day

Prince Eric’s castle looks great too! Thanks for the photos Jessica!

More Photos of Storybook Circus with Construction Walls Down!

Well, everyone enjoyed the photos we shared yesterday so much that WDWNT reader Jessica Walker decided to take another pass at Storybook Circus from the Walt Disney World Railroad, and there was plenty more to see:

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Most of the Fantasyland Station is now visible

Plenty of construction going on inside the building though

Still a little more work to be done

But the workers are excited to near completion!

Cool vest!

Even cooler vest!

Oh Goofy!

If you like behind the props in the queue, you can see the red Barnstormer plane vehicle

This queue is much improved

They were fixing the smoking rocket

Some final touches being added

We can see the front of the train!

From the other side, the detail on Dumbo is slowly appearing

I love the lighting fixtures in Storybook Circus

Well, this is what we get for making fun of DCA…

Work continues on Under the Sea: Journey of the Little Mermaid

“Be Our Guest” Restaurant

Enchanted Tales with Belle

So, the Skyway is gone, clock-tower and all… Thanks again for the photos Jessica!

New Cast Costumes Send Guests Further into the Fantasy of New Fantasyland

From the Disney Parks Blog:

Some of the first areas of our New Fantasyland expansion at Magic Kingdom Park will be opening by late March, featuring a re-imagined version of The Barnstormer and a relocated Dumbo the Flying Elephant attraction. When they debut, cast members working in these areas will be wearing new costumes inspired by the “Big Top” setting of Storybook Circus.

The Creative Entertainment Costuming team worked with Walt Disney Imagineering to develop these designs to bring the environment of Storybook Circus to life. The bold colors evoke the spirit of the ringmaster or sideshow barker, while the tails and detailing provide a period look of the 1930s.

In this video, you’ll see how the partnership between Walt Disney Imagineering and Creative Entertainment has produced an entire collection of unique costumes to be worn by cast members in each area of New Fantasyland, creating a rich sense of place and community.

Our First Pictures Inside Storybook Circus!

I’m sure you have heard by now, but Storybook Circus opened to the public this morning and WDWNT Reporter Melissa Weber was on the scene:

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We’re walking in!

Not much to see down here yet

Dumbo is back! And it looks glorious! There’s even circus trash-cans!

Circus ticket booths around the ride

Looks great!

The Barnstormer is also open

What an improvement!

This is the restrooms… yes, they are too nice to be restrooms…

A Casey Jr. weather vane at the top of the station

The last remnant of Toontown sits in the background

Fantasyland Train Station is open as well now

A neat detail: the train tracks in the ground turning into pavement

The lights and railing on the Tomorrowland path got painted and it is once again open!