Just as was done at Rock ‘ N’ Roller Coaster a few months ago, Disney has added a pre-show video to the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train attraction at the Magic Kingdom, hoping it will help guests load into the carts faster, thus reducing wait times.
The screen is located just before the load area, as the line splits into even and odd-numbered parties of riders. The video is animated in a rather clever style, as if the Dwarfs built an automated device in the style of some of the other props found in the ride.
Similar videos were also added to Space Mountain and Toy Story Midway Mania over the last year.
A transformer failure at the Disneyland Resort resulted in loss of power to much of Fantasyland and Mickey’s Toontown Wednesday afternoon December 27th, in the middle of one of the busiest days of the year.
According to ABC7.com, the local ABC affiliate in Los Angeles, reported that a Disneyland spokesperson said guests were being evacuated from “about a dozen” rides, including the Monorail, which, interestingly, isn’t technically a Fantasyland or Toontown attraction.
As of 3pm PST (6pm EST), power to much of the park had been restored, with all of Toontown plus some Fantasyland attractions, including “it’s a small world” which is currently sporting its holiday overlay.
At least one guest paid way too much for Disneyland tickets and then complained they weren’t offering refunds when the rest of the park, as well as Disney California Adventure, were open and operating.
Nonsensical time spent at Disneyland. There is a power outage and there is no refund either!!! $1100 down the drain!! #disneypoweroutage#poorcustomerservice
Coming soon to Fantasyland at Disneyland, there will be unique ‘Beauty and the Beast’ experiences for a limited time engagement. These offerings will be there to coincide with the release of the new live action film.
Red Rose Tavern– The Village Haus Restaurant will turn into the Red Rose Tavern. This restaurant will be themed to a French tavern and offer delicious quick service meals. Inside will be beautifully, hand-painted murals that depict some of the various scenes from the animated version of Beauty and the Beast. Each room will will tell the ‘tale as old as time’ chapter by chapter. The menu will be redesigned as well, having some original classics from the Village Haus as well as some new fare inspired by French Taverns. There will also be some new specialty beverages. You can even try the grey stuff!
Royal Reception– This new gift shop will be adjacent to Red Rose Tavern and will offer merchandise inspired by the new live-action Beauty and the Beast film.
That Gaston– Gaston himself will be wandering throughout Fantasyland, offering a meet and greet with guests.
Maurice’sTreats–InFantasy Faire, each tasty treat at this existing location will have a unique ‘twist’ from Maurice himself. Also there will be delicious dipping sauces available, such as marinara, strawberry, and even Grey Stuff dipping sauce.
The Royal Theater Presents, ‘Beauty and the Beast’- Stop by the Royal Theater in Fantasy Faire and Mr. Smythe and Mr. Jones will present their own take on the classic ‘Beauty and the Beast’ story in the daily show.
At this time we have no further information on these events and when these will be occurring at Disneyland, so stay tuned for future updates.
Our first photo report of 2017 brings us to the Magic Kingdom to see the latest adjustments and merchandise additions around the park. Let’s jump right in, shall we?
Welcome to the Magic Kingdom
Good morning Magic Kingdom!
They have slowly been repaving the area outside of Mickey’s Philharmagic over the last few weeks.
Some new Villains shirts available at Sir Mickey’s.
A new Belle shirt for sale as well.
Christmas stickers were being given out all around the park.
Liberty Square Market has started selling Muppets plush since the show is nearby. They can’t sell baked potatoes anymore, BUT LETS STOCK SOME PLUSH!
There has been a pretty vile garbage mound growing in the Rivers of America as of late…
Including some dead fish…
PADDLEFISH ANYONE?
If I haven’t mentioned it before, Pecos Bill’s has recently become my favorite counter service stop at the Magic Kingdom. The fajita dish is pretty good and offers more than enough food.
The bowl is pretty good as well, considering you can load it up at the toppings bar.
Christmas Party exclusive pins were being sold to the general public before the last party even happened. As I have complained before, they should at least wait until the final party is over…
We found some baby ducks hanging out by Tomorrowland. I’ve never seen them this late in the year.
“No, don’t eat the cigarette!!!”
Stitch’s Great Escape Returns
Stitch’s Great Escape reopened for a bit every day to combat the crowds in the park. It actually was getting quite the line.
The walls that have been up since the rock painting began have now finally come down.
The decal over the entrance has been falling off for months, but I suppose there’s no reason to invest in something you are closing.
We pretty much just went in to say hello to Skippy who stayed over from the Alien Encounter attraction.
When seats are broken, you will sometimes still see these XS Tech “Temporarily Seized” seat covers.
This and That
The new customizable Star Wars name tags are also available at the Merchant of Venus, not just at Hollywood Studios.
They are now regularly handing out Zootopia stickers in Tomorrowland for some reason.
There its some heavy construction taking place near the Kingdom Cabanas adjacent to Space Mountain, not sure what for as of yet.
“it’s a MagicBand 2.0”
One of the first MagicBand 2’s available to guests is this “it’s a small world” 45th anniversary band currently available.
Our first photo report of 2017 brings us to the Magic Kingdom to see the latest adjustments and merchandise additions around the park. Let’s jump right in, shall we?
Welcome to the Magic Kingdom
Good morning Magic Kingdom!
They have slowly been repaving the area outside of Mickey’s Philharmagic over the last few weeks.
Some new Villains shirts available at Sir Mickey’s.
A new Belle shirt for sale as well.
Christmas stickers were being given out all around the park.
Liberty Square Market has started selling Muppets plush since the show is nearby. They can’t sell baked potatoes anymore, BUT LETS STOCK SOME PLUSH!
There has been a pretty vile garbage mound growing in the Rivers of America as of late…
Including some dead fish…
PADDLEFISH ANYONE?
If I haven’t mentioned it before, Pecos Bill’s has recently become my favorite counter service stop at the Magic Kingdom. The fajita dish is pretty good and offers more than enough food.
The bowl is pretty good as well, considering you can load it up at the toppings bar.
Christmas Party exclusive pins were being sold to the general public before the last party even happened. As I have complained before, they should at least wait until the final party is over…
We found some baby ducks hanging out by Tomorrowland. I’ve never seen them this late in the year.
“No, don’t eat the cigarette!!!”
Stitch’s Great Escape Returns
Stitch’s Great Escape reopened for a bit every day to combat the crowds in the park. It actually was getting quite the line.
The walls that have been up since the rock painting began have now finally come down.
The decal over the entrance has been falling off for months, but I suppose there’s no reason to invest in something you are closing.
We pretty much just went in to say hello to Skippy who stayed over from the Alien Encounter attraction.
When seats are broken, you will sometimes still see these XS Tech “Temporarily Seized” seat covers.
This and That
The new customizable Star Wars name tags are also available at the Merchant of Venus, not just at Hollywood Studios.
They are now regularly handing out Zootopia stickers in Tomorrowland for some reason.
There its some heavy construction taking place near the Kingdom Cabanas adjacent to Space Mountain, not sure what for as of yet.
“it’s a MagicBand 2.0”
One of the first MagicBand 2’s available to guests is this “it’s a small world” 45th anniversary band currently available.
The Elena of Avalor meet and greet is currently testing at Princess Fairytale Hall at the Magic Kingdom
Now, meeting Elena is not a guarantee until 11/24, but if you see the Cinderella sign next to a crown on the board outside of Princess Fairytale Hall in Fantasyland, there’s a good chance you could be meeting the star from the Disney Junior series.
Elena of Avalor meeting with some of her “subjects” inside Princess Fairytale Hall
On a hunch, we grabbed a FastPass+ for the experience and Elena just happened to be meeting just next door to Cinderella.
Princess Elena of Avalor meet and greet at the Magic Kingdom, Walt Disney World
I’m not one for face character interactions in my old age, but Elena was pretty charming and very talkative with all guests (even the awkward ones filming her for a blog post). I have a feeling this will be quite the popular offering once it officially starts and if her interaction with your little one (who likely loves the show) is half as good as ours was, I’m sure it will be worth your wait.
Again, the meet and greet experience with Elena of Avalor officially opens at Princess Fairytale Hall on November 24th, but is testing there currently. There is no guarantee that she will be there when you visit during this test period, but you can certainly take a shot and hope for the best. Just don’t send me nasty messages if you get Aurora…
In our latest photo report, we visit the Magic Kingdom as the Christmas holiday season kicks off early. The park is already fully decorated and new entertainment for the season has already debuted. There’s also plenty more new and exciting things happening around the park, so let’s check it all out.
Merry Christmas
November 2nd was the official start of the holiday season at Walt Disney World as the Magic Kingdom is fully decorated and several holiday offerings are now in full swing.
The Jingle Cruise poster is back under the train station. We’ll check in on that a bit later in the report.
IS IT ART?
IS IT? IS IT ART?
Be sure to take a look at our daytime video tour of the decorations below:
Uptown Jewelers Reopens
Uptown Jewelers has been closed for months but reopened over the weekend. The store was completely remodeled and now seems just jewelry and bags for women.
Baked Potato Moves
The baked potato is gone from Liberty Square Market, but don’t fear. It has moved to the nearby Sleepy Hollow Refreshments.
The Jingle Cruise Returns
The Jingle Cruise is back for 2016! The annual holiday overlay began its third season at the Magic Kingdom on Wednesday. We have a video of our first ride of the season for you below:
This and That
The lighting on the Storybook Circus sign is being replaced, so it is just some flat lettering right now.
A Snowman Tote is now available as a purchase-with-purchase gift for $19.95 when you spend $25.00 or more.
Pins from Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party still linger in Big Top Souvenirs.
Elena of Avalor Meet and Greet
The Elena of Avalor meet and greet, scheduled to begin on November 24th, 2016, is already in a soft-opening phase. Elena can be found next to Cinderella at Princess Fairytale Hall at random.
We have video of our excellent experience with Elena of Avalor for you:
“it’s a small world” Merchandise
Some new “it’s a small world” merchandise is now available around the resort.
Mousecellaneous
Even though the crane is gone, work continues behind Cinderella Castle.
The holiday finale of Mickey’s Royal Friendship Faire debuted yesterday. You can see video of the finale below:
So, for the past several months, guests who wanted to eat lunch at Be Our Guest restaurant in New Fantasyland either needed to be a resort guests with a FastPass reservation or arrive at the restaurant pretty early in the day to get a return time to eat at the establishment. Needless to say, the test was pretty disastrous, leading Disney to implement a new system starting next month.
Much like a table service restaurant, Advanced Dining Reservations (ADR) will be available for the Be Our Guest Restaurant lunch by phone or through MyDisneyExperience starting February 25th. We assume this will be utilizing the established 180 day window for advanced reservations, but that has not been confirmed as of yet.
Guests will also be able to pre-order their food and drinks anywhere from 30 days to within 5 minutes of their arrival at the restaurant once they have a reservation, again via MyDisneyExperience. Pre-ordering isn’t necessary, you can still order at the restaurant as well.
Disney has confirmed breakfast will be added to Be Our Guest Restaurant as well sometime this year, but details on the counter service offering will be provided at a later date.
The new FROZEN scene debuted a day early on the Storbookland Canal Boats at Disneyland Park. Disney has shared photos of the scene which includes Elsa’s castle, the kingdom of Arendelle, and Wandering Oaken’s:
When the restrooms near the Peter Pan’s Flight attraction closed in 2013, we expected work to begin on an interactive queue for the attraction. When walls came down and there wasn’t a queue to be found, many were quite puzzled. Finally, just last week, the mystery was solved. The long rumored interactive queue at Peter Pan’s Flight was quietly under construction inside the former restroom building, completely out of the view of guests. We have pictures and videos of the amazing new queue to share with you today:
The queue is entered through this door, which can be closed if the elements break or if the line simply isn’t long enough
The first hallway is lined with beautiful Peter Pan artwork
We then enter the home of the Darling family
The nursery is the largest room in the queue and features many details from the room in the movie
A fairly well-hidden camera allows cast members to see the inside of the room
Many of these items in the room will be interactive elements, they have yet to be turned on though
We also have a video walk-through of the new queue for you to enjoy:
Rumors indicate the queue is the first step in modernizing the attraction which may go through a massive refurbishment to reflect changes being made to the ride at Disneyland in 2015 and built for the attraction at Shanghai Disneyland. It will likely be a few years before that project gets underway, but this is a good start…
