An Aerial View of New Fantasyland Construction – July 2012

WDWNT on December 3, 2012

Scott Keating was once again nice enough to provide some aerial shots of the current New Fantasyland construction site after a few month absence, so let’s see all that has changed:

As you can see, everything but the Mine Train is nearing completion

If there was any doubts that the Skyway Station was going to become a Tangled meet-and-greet, the appearance of a tower frame has just about confirmed it…

The framework for Mine Train looks to be just about complete

The castle walls are taking shape

Just the three tent-like structures left to go in Storybook Circus, we expect these to open in the Fall/Winter

A look at Mine Train

As you can see, the beauty and the Beast realm is almost complete as paths and trees are already installed and all scaffolding is down. Trees are up in the Mermaid queue as well.

A closer look at the tents that will be Big Top Souvenirs, Pete’s Silly Sideshow, and a Humphrey the Bear-themed counter-service location

The concept art we say in 2009 is finally coming to life… Stay tuned…

Minnie, Daisy, Donald, & Goofy To Greet Guests at Pete’s Silly Sideshow

WDWNT on December 3, 2012

Walt Disney World announced via the Disney Parks Blog the details of what exactly will be inside Pete’s Silly Sideshow in Storybook Circus, part of New Fantasyland at the Magic Kingdom. Back at the D23 Expo, Imagineers told us at the very least it would be a meet and greet for Goofy, but it has now been confirmed that Minnie, Daisy, and Donald will be joining him under the big top at the circus.

Instead of just appearing in their normal apparel, the rest of the Fab 5 will get into the spirit of the Storybook Circus dressed as sideshow acts: The Great Goofini, The Astounding Donaldo (snake charmer), Minnie Magnifique (animal trainer), and Madame Daisy Fortuna (fortuneteller).

Exterior concept art

No information has been given about the opening date, but we assume that this too will open before the end of 2012. Stay tuned for more information as it becomes available.

Adam Roth’s 5/19-20/12 WDW Photo Report

WDWNT on October 30, 2012

WDWNT Reporter Adam Roth visited Disney’s Hollywood Studios and the Magic Kingdom this past weekend, so let’s take a look at his photos, including an in-depth look at the Fantasyland model now on display at Walt Disney: One Man’s Dream:

Darth Vader cupcake

“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”

Adam had himself frozen in carbonite in the ABC sound Studio, former home of Sounds Dangerous

Pretty neat for $120

Star Wars Weekends merchandise is in the tent behind Rock ‘N’ Rollercoaster again, Darth’s Mall

The huge Fantasyland model has moved in at One Man’s Dream

super cool

Princess Fairytale Hall won’t change the exterior of Snow White too much according to the model

A sign explains the model to guests

Some stuff isn’t labeled, like Triton’s Treasures, Ariel’s Grotto, and some minor facilities like restrooms, food stands, etc.

Some interesting points to note from this artwork:

  • Pete’s Silly Sideshow is the entire second tent towards the back and it appears it will remain a meet and greet experience only. We know Goofy should be there, but no other characters have been announced yet.
  • The unlabeled building next to Pete’s Silly Sideshow is probably the Humphrey the Bear counter service location that has been rumored, but again, we have no further confirmation.
  • You can make out the train lines that lead to the Casey Jr. Splash ‘N’ Soak Station if you look closely at Storybook Circus.
  • Triton’s Treasures (the Little Mermaid gift shop) does not appear behind the Mine Train anymore, so it may be gone from the plans altogether.
  • The unlabeled building between Gaston’s Tavern and Bonjour Village Gifts is a restroom facility.
  • You can see the track layout of the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, including when it goes through the show building with the dark-ride type scenes.

So I guess they will be done by 2013 unofficially?

The Mine Train looks pretty awesome

A closer look at the Mine Train track layout

The recent rockwork expansion at Little Mermaid is present

Let’s take a look at the real thing

The two tents are covered

The Circus animals from the Splash ‘N’ Soak Station are peeking over the wall

A wall has appeared near the Silly Sideshow tent

A look over the walls at Casey Jr. Splash ‘N’ Soak Station

Magic Kingdom “New Fantasyland” Construction Update – 6/6/12

WDWNT on October 30, 2012

What’s the latest on the New Fantasyland project at the Magic Kingdom? I took plenty of photos during my most recent trip of the progress, so let’s take a look:

Snow White’s Scary Adventures is closed….

Walls go down to Sir Mickey’s

The Seven Dwarfs’ Mine is still open

Speaking of the Seven Dwarfs’, here’s the progress on the Mine Train

The Dumbo marquee was finally installed and the Timothy figure from the old ride is back!

The back of the sign is pretty neat

Work continues on the former Tigger’s Bouncy Place

Rumor is that Winnie the Pooh and Tigger will be doing meet and greets in this new spot

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The facade of Under the Sea: Journey of the Little Mermaid is looking great

More Mine Train

The second Dumbo spinner was testing all week, should be open any day now

Another look at Mermaid

Big Top Souvenirs still under construction

More Mermaid

The new Dumbo sign on a sunnier day…

The hose that the monkey uses to spray guests will go across the entire Casey Jr. Splash ‘N’ Soak Station

Guests have been ripping the handles off of the luggage near the train station

They aren’t doing too well

Some were completely ripped off

Hadn’t see this reference yet

The unlabeled structure next to Pete’s Silly Sideshow is coming along nicely

Pete’s Silly Sideshow progress

Another look at the mystery structure

Some new steel has appeared at the base of the Mine Train

Looks like one of the lower hills

A new stand-by wait sign up at the second dumbo spinner

An arrow was added to the construction walls so it is clearer to guests what is back in Storybook Circus

A day later and a primer coat of paint is going on the new covered area in the Pooh queue

The Castle Walls are coming along quickly

Walls also up near the Carousel

The old Skyway site is still pretty barren

Tarps up at “it’s a small world”

Adam Roth’s 9/20/12 New Fantasyland Photo Report

WDWNT on October 29, 2012

WDWNT Reporter Adam Roth took a stroll through New Fantasyland at the Magic Kingdom on Thursday and has some newsworthy photos of the construction to share with us:

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Castle Walls are pretty much finished

You can see the track recently installed at Seven Dwarfs’ Mine Train

Cute details on the Castle Wall

A closer look at the track

A look back

The Storybook Circus sign is nearing completion

The grass on the top of Under the Sea: Journey of the Little Mermaid is looking good

A closer look at the Storybook Circus sign

Lights were on in the third tent, which we now expect to have seating and FastPass distribution for Dumbo and Barnstormer

Signage up on Pete’s Silly Sideshow

WE WILL!

Jose Castillo’s 10/2/12 Magic Kingdom Photo Report

WDWNT on October 29, 2012

WDWNT Reporter Jose Castillo visited the Magic Kingdom and Tuesday and has some great newsworthy photos to share with us of all the fantastic progress in New Fantasyland:

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Big Top Souvenirs is now open in Storybook Circus

Humphrey the Bear got his billing on Big Top Treats inside

The checkout areas are animal cars from the train

A candy dispenser is disguised as a stand for fire-hoses

Plenty of baked goods available

Drinks are in the Penguin car…

Some new Dumbo merchandise was ready for the opening

The cast costume for Storybook Circus merchandise

The side entrance

The third tent features more seating and FastPass distribution for Dumbo and Barnstormer

The tables outside are pretty neat

They look like the Toy Story ball…

Pete’s Silly Sideshow was still closed

New carts in the middle section

Looks like the mesh mountain will start appearing on Mine Train soon

Water was running on the Mermaid facade

Another new cart by the entrance to Storybook Circus

Another look at Mine Train

More work on the Castle Walls happening

The amount of detail on the wall is insane

Work still being done at the very top

The old Snow White facade is long gone

Work continues on the former Skyway site

We’re still expecting this to be restrooms and a Tangled meet and greet


Rockwork went up quick on the side by the Haunted Mansion

The TVs in the queue for Carousel of Progress were replaced… too bad they just covered the brand with black tape…

If you look close enough, you can see water running on the Be Our Guest facade

Adam Roth’s 10/7/12 WDW Photo Report

WDWNT on October 29, 2012

WDWNT Reporter Adam Roth visited Epcot and the Magic Kingdom on Sunday and has a TON of newsworthy photos to share with us, so let’s take a look:

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Great chocolate art at the Festival Center at Epcot

It’s dark, but nice to see them use more of the pavilion space

Work continues on Test Track as we race towards December 6th

The IBM Runtime game is now closed inside Innoventions, it opened back in 2008

Rumor is that IBM Smarter Planet is getting some updates

I hope so because it wasn’t really working…

The seating area that was formerly Rockin’ Robots is now walled off as well

Some scaffolding inside

Still nothing going on at the former Segway Central

Habit Heroes is still closed…

The Epcot 30th display remains at MouseGear

What remains of the merchandise is on display

A lot of generic Epcot merchandise has filled in some space

Moving to the Magic Kingdom, the Seven Dwarfs’ Mine Train construction is picking up

An Orioles hat… how cute… đŸ˜‰

Under the Sea: Journey of the Little Mermaid

The now completed Storybook Circus

I love these seats…

That is some fancy lighting for an outside tent…

Let’s go to Pete’s Silly Sideshow!

The calliope is from Disneyland PAris’ Main Street U.S.A.

Reference to a classic Disney animated film by the same name

Into Pete’s mouth!

Meeting Minnie and Daisy

The theming is insane… the walls are labeled for easy construction, insinuating that the Circus moves from town to town

Goofy and Donald

A look up at the ceiling

It’s a tent

PANORAMA!

ANOTHER PANORAMA! AMAZING!

Minnie trains trick Poodles…

It looks much better when Adam doesn’t use the world’s brightest flash…

Awwww…

Daisy

Daisy will see you now!

Looks very “Museum of the Weird” like the Madame Leota cart

Exit

Into Big Top Souvenirs

Very fitting that they sell Popcorns Vinylmation here

Everyone loves this carpet!

The “Under the Big Top” series is also available

My favorite display

A close second is the Penguins cage holding the cold drinks

The strange tiny MousekeEars are also available here

A look at the new food carts in the area

I’m in love with a food cart…

Usual cart food though

So much time and energy spent on such little details

I love the striped curtain for when they are closed

Let’s go back in

Those random doors look themed…

THEY ARE!

GOOFY!

He crashed his motorcycle

Donald is a snake charmer

ANOTHER PANORAMA! ASTOUNDING!

Could have been a sign, but it is a material banner

I wonder if someone could go in that booth…

I hate to say this so soon, but I love Storybook Circus. It is simply 2 small rides, meet and greets, and shopping, but it is so well done. Kudos to Disney on delivering with a land that was rushed in as a replacement in the expansion.

If Storybook Circus is that cool, I can’t wait to see this…

Another new cart near the entrance

Not listed, but they have roasted almonds too

Another look at Mine Train

A look at what will be Princess Fairytale Hall

The former Skyway site which will now be restrooms and maybe something more…

They are still working on Village Haus

Another piece of track should be lowered into place shortly

FastPass+ equipment was simply covered after the tests ended, so it might just be permanent now

Cool popcorn bucket, but it must be pretty easy to spill…

Going back to Epcot, we take a look at Test Track through a rainy monorail window

Well, that was neat… I guess…

Adam got to stuff his face at the Disney Dessert Discovery event as part of the Food and Wine Festival

So much to eat and drink

Live entertainment

FLAMING DOUGHNUTS!

IN 3D!

WOOOOOOOAH!

Fruit? We didn’t come to a dessert event for fruit!

We came for flaming doughnuts!

Gross…

Thank you for the flaming doughnuts! Oh, and all these photos Adam…

Adam Roth’s 12/17/12 WDW Photo Report

WDWNT on May 31, 2012

WDWNT Reporter Adam Roth visited the Magic Kingdom and Downtown Disney on Monday and has some newsworthy photos to share with us from his trip, so let’s take a look:

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RFID turnstiles are installed and being used at the Magic Kingdom

Looks permanent this time

More track has been installed for the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train

Looks like WDW Resort Hotel carpet on the roof so workers don’t slip

A lift hill now installed

A lot of dirt…

More rockwork is about to appear

Something interesting happened to all the new screen-based wait times signs

Yep, that’s there…

Instead of being a generic font with a black background, all of them are themed and match in color now

The Pete cut-out at Silly Sideshow now tips his hat

TA-DA!

Guests were getting confused, so Pete got an added uvula that is a sign…

WAIT! Is that a Maelstrom reference? IT IS! “… seek peril and adventure, but more often find beauty and charm.”

Mine Train track

Triton’s Treasures is coming along nicely

Work continues on Princess Fairytale Hall

Work also continues on the new Tangled area

We think there might be a small counter-service location (more of a cart in terms of size) over here that looks like the “Snuggly Duckling”

As we reported over a year ago, there will also be an area for guests to charge their electronic devices

One wall is done

Yankee Trader came out from behind tarps, this is on the Fantasyland side

You can start to see pathways taking shape

Art on Demand is now selling a ton of Fantasyland concept art under “Realms of Fantasy”

Plenty of New Fantasyland concept art available

Kodak references are still up at Town Square Theater

Should be gone soon

Moving to Gaston’s Tavern, we find a display with pastries

They are also serving Hot Cocoa

So, some names were added to the barrels behind the register

EIGERBOCK? Looks a lot like the Matterhorn too

Staggs Ale… absolutely brilliant

The Gaston’s Tavern steins are available again

I love this shirt…

More Adventureland interactive game props have been revealed

Now there is a treasure chest

And another…

Pirate skeleton under the water

Looks like the lock was busted off by a pirate

You can see the entire mechanism that raises the skeleton… hope they fix that

FastPass+ installed at Magic Carpets of Aladdin

The Grand Floridian DVC wing is coming along nicely

Moving to Downtown Disney, there is now a Wreck-It Ralph area in DisneyQuest

Plenty of Fix-It Felix machines

Adam then attended the Splitsville Parks Blog meet-up

The pizza is surprisingly good

These cheesecake bites were amazing

Let’s take a look at the drink menu

Ooooooo….

The kids balls have Mickey and Minnie on them

A mual downstairs depicts artwork from the old Walt Disney World shopping bags

Spaceship Earth is a bowling ball…

Even More Aerial Pictures of New Fantasyland – March 2012

WDWNT on April 19, 2012

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

Supports for the Seven Dwarves Mine Train are going up

The base of the Casey Jr. Splash ‘N’ Soak Station is in place at Storybook Circus and the second tent is now fully covered

A lot of work still to go on the second Dumbo spinner

The bases for the Castle Walls are starting to go in at the old Dumbo site