WDWNT Reporter Robert Ashburn visited the Magic Kingdom on Tuesday and has a ton of newsworthy photos to share with us from his trip (including lots of Fantasyland progress), so let’s take a look:
The spur beam for the Monorail is complete
Read More about Robert Ashburn’s 7/26/11 Magic Kingdom Photo Report
WDWNT Reporter Adam Roth visited The Magic Kingdom and Epcot on Saturday and has a ton of newsworthy photos to share with us (including Fantasyland Expansion progress), so let’s take a look:
A good portion of Epcot was being rented out for a party
Read More about Adam Roth’s 7/23/11 Epcot & Magic Kingdom Photo Report
WDWNT Reporter Adam Roth visited Disney’s Hollywood Studios yesterday to catch Lightning McQueen’s debut in Lights, Motors, Action!. While he was there, Adam checked out Walt Disney: One Man’s Dream to see if some of the updated exhibits had finally been installed. Well, they finally have:
The Shaghai Disney Resort is already being previewed
Walt Disney Imagineering is responsible for the new Resort previews
A brief description of the Resort
The concept art we have seen already
Some Fantasyland exhibits were already here
The new exhibit is suspended on the wall above the display case
A compilation of Fantasyland concept art including Enchanted Tales with Belle, The Great Goofini, Gaston’s Tavern, Princess Fairytale Hall, and Dumbo the Flying Elephant
An overall look at the display
A monitor has also been installed which shows an in-depth look at Under the Sea: Journey of the Little Mermaid. Here’s video of the monitor loop:
Concept art for Scuttle’s Scavenger hunt can be found in the new video loop
Looks like guests will de deciphering some kind of code
In this artwork, guests find items washing up on the beach
Here we see a close-up of Scuttle who we assume will be a living character in audio-animatronics form
For the first time, we have a name and another look at the proposed shop across from the Mermaid attraction, Triton’s Treasures. We can also see the Ariel meet and greet area labeled as Ariel’s Grotto.
For more information on the Fantasyland Expansion as it becomes available, stay tuned to WDW News Today and WDWFantasyland.com!
Adam Roth visited the Magic Kingdom on sunday morning and has a number of newsworthy photos from Fantasyland and beyond to share with us, so let’s take a look:
Construction walls up at the tram unloading platform  Transportation & Ticket Center
Read More about Adam Roth’s 7/17/11 Magic Kingdom Photo Report
Fans attending Disney’s D23 Expo August 19-21 at the Anaheim Convention Center will have the chance to experience “a great big beautiful tomorrow” as they immerse themselves in the future of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, which is currently in the biggest period of global expansion in its history.
Drawing inspiration from a classic attraction that debuted at the 1964 New York World’s Fair and has made stops at Disneyland in California and Magic Kingdom in Florida, Walt Disney Parks and Resorts invites attendees to hop aboard the “Carousel of Projects” for a sneak peek at concepts, designs, models, storytelling tools, and technologies currently being developed at Walt Disney Imagineering for Disney parks around the world.
Throughout the weekend, exclusively at the D23 Expo, fans will get a look at the latest details for Walt Disney Parks and Resorts’ 11 parks and five resorts around the world, as well as Aulani, a Disney Resort and Spa in Hawaii, Disney Cruise Line, Adventures by Disney and Disney Vacation Club, including:
In addition to the pavilion, D23 Expo attendees will also have the chance to attend numerous presentations and panel discussions. On Friday, August 19, Walt Disney Parks and Resorts Chairman Tom Staggs will give guests in the 4,000-seat main arena an in-depth, behind-the-scenes look at some of the biggest projects currently underway at Disney parks, featuring a few surprises along the way.
Imagineers and cast members who create and operate Disney’s parks, resorts, cruise ships, and other vacation experiences will take fans behind-the-magic with nine exciting presentations including:
In addition, and for the first time, the Parks and Resorts pavilion will also feature Mickey’s of Glendale, an outlet of Walt Disney Imagineering’s employee-only store, where—for just three days—guests can shop for “Carousel of Projects” souvenirs and collectibles and Walt Disney Imagineering merchandise not available anywhere else.
While preparing for this week’s podcast, I happened to come across something of interest…
What is it? That’s a good question. If you look closely, you’ll see some recognizable characters. Starting on the left, you’ll see what we think is “Lambert the Sheepish Lion” standing on a pile of other lions. The photo to the right of that has the seal from “Mickey and the Seal” blowing horns next to buckets of fish. The next photo features the penguins from Mary Poppins forming a pyramid and twirling plates. The next picture has what looks like the Big Bad Wolf blowing up Mickey balloons (Get it? He huffs, and he puffs, and he blows up balloons!). The final photo is hard to make out, but it’s like Bongo the Bear from “Fun and Fancy Free” on a unicycle. There’s another photo towards the top of the image that shows either Mickey Mouse or Oswald the Lucky Rabbit practicing the death-defying feat of sticking a limb in the mouth of a lion, but it’s too small and we can’t see enough of it to be sure.
What are these? We think these are concept art for Pete’s Silly Sideshow coming to Storybook Circus as part of the Fantasyland Expansion. The banners above each set of characters are similar to those that would label each act in a circus or carnival sideshow. Where these will be located in Storybook Circus and exactly what they are (moving dioramas or an animatronic show) remains a mystery. For that matter, these could be rejected concepts from the project. Regardless, it’s an interesting teaser for what might be on the way to the Magic Kingdom, so stay tuned…
WDWNT Reporter Nick Corjay returns with an update on the Magic Kingdom taken on Sunday, so let’s take a look:
The firehouse is closed, rumors say it will either be re-purposed for meet and greets or a Magic Kingdom “quest center” of some kind… more on that later…
Read More about Nick Corjay’s 7/10/11 Magic Kingdom Photo Report
Jennifer Fickley-Baker on the Disney Parks Blog has posted an in-depth look at Under the Sea: Journey of the Little Mermaid. Notice that we get a first look at the model of the exterior, a piece of concept art from the queue area, and the official attraction logo:
I love sharing New Fantasyland updates with our readers, and this one is no exception. Our friends at Walt Disney Imagineering (WDI) recently created a behind-the-scenes video on the creation of New Fantasyland to feature within the One Man’s Dream exhibit at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. (This attraction showcases Disney milestone projects of the past, and now includes a preview area of exciting projects WDI is currently working on atMagic Kingdom Park).
WDI also shared the following teaser video with us, which focuses on one of these exciting new projects: the Under the Sea ~ Journey of the Little Mermaid attraction. The expanded video will debut at One Man’s Dream this week.
In the video, Imagineer Chris Beatty gives us a sneak peek at the making of Under the Sea ~ Journey of the Little Mermaid through some never-before-seen sketches, artist renderings, attraction maps and more, and shares some details on Prince Eric’s castle and the attraction’s creative queue. Imagineer Eric Miller also takes us onsite to see the current state of the attraction’s progress.
Under the Sea ~ Journey of the Little Mermaid is one of many attractions planned as a part of the Fantasyland expansion currently taking place at Magic Kingdom Park. The new Fantasyland is set to open in phases beginning in late 2012.
WDWNT Reporter Adam Roth visited the Magic Kingdom on July 3rd to catch the first performance of “Celebrate America!” fireworks and has a lot of newsworthy photos of the on-going work in Fantasyland & beyond to share with us:
Wait. Could it be?
Read More about Adam Roth’s 7/3/11 Magic Kingdom Photo Report
As of July 2nd, Flynn Rider will no longer be available at the Tangled “play and greet” experience in Fantasyland at the Magic Kingdom. Well, I should rephrase that, because the “play” in “play and greet” was removed some time ago. That’s right, the interactive portion of the experience was removed to speed up the line, but apparently it was just not enough. Disney issued the following statement to Magic Kingdom cast members about the change:
At the Walt Disney World Resort, we are continually focused on providing the best possible entertainment experiences for our guests. As part of that effort, the Tangled play & greet will now focus on Rapunzel, who has become a guest favorite. We will also be adding more opportunities each day for guests to meet her in Fairytale Garden.
It’s hard to complain about this change if it is shortening lines and giving guests more time to spend on other Magic Kingdom attractions, especially when this line was reaching extreme wait times of anywhere between 30 minutes and 1 hour. You can relive the experience one last time through a video we published back when the “play and greet” first opened:
