WDWNT Reporter Dirk Wallen visited the Walt Disney World theme parks over the last three days and has some newsworthy photos to share with us from his trip. We’ll take a look at New Fantasyland, Star Wars Weekends preparation, and more from around the Vacation Kingdom of the World, so let’s get started:
The Main Street Bakery is still behind tarps (I’m starting to think this has something to do with Starbucks moving in)
Facade work continues on the Confectionary and Chapeau
The temporary Tangled meet and greet rolls on
Work was completed on the Main Street bridge
Work on the Princess Merida meet and greet has been completed
A nearby cart has Brave merchandise
I find it hard to believe that they will sell much before the movie is released
I fully expect to get shot with arrows by smaller guests on a regular basis now…
The second Dumbo spinner is rapidly nearing completion
If I were a betting man… and I am…
I’d wager that the second spinner will be open by Memorial Day
The official opening is July, along with the interactive queue
The Casey Jr. Splash ‘N’ Soak Station looks nearly complete
We’re still not entirely sure if the center portion will spin at a slow speed like a roundhouse
98? An Animal Kingdom reference? We think about these things too much…
A look at Under the Sea: Journey of the Little Mermaid
Near the construction of what we assume is a new Pooh meet and greet, a mysterious box has appeared
The Castle Wall is rising…
More scaffolding finally went up on the detailed portion near Village Haus
This steel frame should be covered soon
This side is further along
Some walkway work being done near the Carousel as well
I had to stare at this for a while to realize what I was seeing… this is the view from the Haunted Mansion across the old Skyway site. I assume this will be addressed as construction moves forward.
Construction of the Grand Floridian DVC wing continues
A new parking lot being built across the way
Going up!
Star wars Weekends preparation underway at Studios
“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”
You can still become an unwanted action figure… ZING!
The Droid Factory recently opened at Tatooine Traders. You can make your own R2 unit toy!
Scott Smith just died
Brave banners up in the Animation Courtyard
Work was completed on the Disney Junior queue
Looks like they just replaced the awning
The same seems to be happening to the meet and greet area
Goodbye Kim…
Work continues on the new, separate Turtle Talk entrance at the Seas
WDWNT Reporter Zach Larson visited the Magic Kingdom and Disney’s Hollywood Studios on Monday and has a ton of newsworthy photos to share with us, so let’s take a look:
Construction has gone vertical on the Disney Vacation Club wing of the Grand Floridian
Welcome to the Magic Kingdom
There are two of these posters in the tunnel now… not only is it not an attraction… but it has more posters than any others…
Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom sign near Town Square Theater
Work continues on the Confectionary and Chapeau facades
Work still going on near the Main Street bridge
This new railing was installed during the work
Didn’t your parents ever teach you not to touch trash-cans?
Still not a whole lot of theme to this walkway between Tomorrowland and Storybook Circus
Work on the water tower at Fantasyland Station is complete
A look from the Barnstormer reveals that the second Dumbo spinner is nearing completion. We can also see the true height of the Seven Dwarfs’ Mine Train
The mountain of the Mine Train will be pretty tall
The second Dumbo is fully decorated
Workers on top of Under the Sea: Journey of the Little Mermaid
The covered part is the lift hill as the train will roll out of the mountain
Work continues on turning Tigger’s Bouncy Place into something else
Some tarps now up in front of the Castle Wall construction
A second set of walls now makes for a tight passage
They are working on the back end of the Village Haus facade now
It’s still quite a mess back here
Now “it’s a small world” has tarps up
Work continues on the former Skyway site
Next-gen FASTPASS testing at the Haunted Mansion
It will be interesting to see what this looks like when they are done
They were forcing guests down the graveyard side if you weren’t using FASTPASS, but you could still bypass the interactive queue
Work continues on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
Everything looks fantastic!
GOAT!
Package Pick-Up still behind tarps
Awesome shot of the Avengerail in action… I hope you’ve seen the movie by now…
A look at the Grand Floridian DVC construction from across the water
They’ve installed a rocky shoreline
Moving over to Disney’s Hollywood Studios, it looks like the Sorcerer Mickey topiary is on the move again as walls are up
Stage for Star Wars Weekends is going up
Citizens of Hollywood recently had a character shuffle. This is the “new” Mimi Kaboom
Things got heated…
ACTING! BRILLIANT!
I don’t think the security booths are coming back…
WDWNT’s diligent reporter Adam Roth was on the scene at Walt Disney World this weekend, visiting Epcot and the Magic Kingdom. Adam took a number of newsworthy photos on his trip, so let’s take a look at what’s new and exciting:
Art of disney at Epcot recently was refurbished and is now open once again, now featuring the Castle Collection merchandise
Looks like they just cleaned up the place a bit
They did rearrange some shelves
Work continues to prepare a new entrance at the Seas with Nemo and Friends
This new wave awning replaces the plain umbrellas that had been here
Work continues on a new entrance, presumed to be a new queue for Turtle Talk with Crush
Work continues on what we believe is a DVC booth near Canada
Bistro De Paris is gone…
It will be replaced with a new restaurant from the same company after 30 years at Epcot
The bakery is also being expanded
Construction walls up inside the shop next door
Food and Wine Festival preparations underway
No more Vanity Fair, now the sponsor is Chase
Nice to know that the new patio at Tutto Italia can be enclosed in bad weather
This fountain outside of La Hacienda has been like this for months…
The new exhibit inside the Mexico pavilion seems to be just about finished
Donald was meeting guests inside
The Cool Wash by Test Track is still behind walls
Work continues on Test Track
Heading over to the Magic Kingdom, we can see Grand Floridian DVC construction
AVENGERAIL!
It now advertises the home video release of the film
It turned into a nice day
The Country Bear Jamboree is closing for a few months this week
Some people seem convinced the show will be shortened and some songs will be removed
Shaker says “Probably not”
Trixie would be sad…
Gomer is befuddled
Some people think Big Al will be cut… yeah, OK…
The Yankee Trader is now behind tarps as work continues on the new path and restrooms in Fantasyland
Next-gen FASTPASS looks ready to go at the Haunted Mansion
The store is open during this
A strange structure has risen on the Skyway site which makes these people angry at each-other…
Chubby Moonliner?
I’m not sure what that is supposed to be
Next-gen FASTPASS installed at Peter Pan as well
People like to lean on things
The castle walls are nearing completion
Seven Dwarf’s Mine Train construction
Work continues on Princess Fairytale Hall
Caught someone picking their nose… fantastic!
Just like in the concept art, Prince Eric’s castle is visible just over the mountain
Next-Gen FASTPASS at Winnie the Pooh
More grass appearing on the roof of Under the Sea: Journey of the Little Mermaid
Big Top Souvenirs
Next-Gen FASTPASS installed here as well
The presumed Humphrey the Bear counter service location through the trees
Looks like a sign will be installed soon
Another look at the roof grass…
Work continues on the Tomorrowland bridge
And the old Swan Boats dock
Infrastructure for the eventual move to RFID tickets is being installed at the Magic Kingdom entrance
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
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
WDWNT Reporter Adam Roth visited the Magic Kingdom on Saturday and he has a ton of newsworthy photos to share with us. Dueling Dumbos are flying, Casey Jr. is splashing and soaking, and whole lot is going on at the park, so let’s take a look:
Let’s get right to Fantasyland
Seven Dwarfs’ Mine Train
More steel rises
Under the Sea: Journey of the Little Mermaid looms in the distance
The new Winnie the Pooh meet and greet is open, replacing Tigger’s Bouncy Place
Dumbo FASTPASS is running and at Philharmagic’s old machines
Another look at Mine Train
Mermaid rockwork extending down towards Storybook Circus
Big Top Souvenirs
We finally have dueling Dumbos!
Timothy now spins and moves on the sign
Only 30 minutes for stand-by… it’s working…
A large wall has appeared on the Mine Train structure
Back to Dumbo
FASTPASS return will skip the tent queue
Love the magic feather on the clock…
The old Dumbo is back as the new Dumbo! Wait… what?
“Transformers: The Ride was much better!”
No interactive queue today 🙁
A photo with two Dumbos? MIND BLOWN!
Disney released some footage of the dueling Dumbos for you to enjoy:
More Mine Train
Big Top Souvenirs
Casey Jr. Splash ‘N’ Soak Station is open
Casey Jr. got fenced in… apparently there were some safety issues with the water and guests climbing in
Other than that, the area looks great!
The animals spin and spray, much nicer than other water play areas
Poor Casey sits in a time out…
The attraction sign is pretty cool too
The backs of the 4 train cars have the years that each WDW park opened – 71, 82, 89, and 98
A nicely themed new merchandise cart sells fitting water-play merchandise
and hats…
This car will be the most popular with the fanboys… they will gather here and tell tales of Horizons
The area behind Casey still needs some work…
This PIXAR short reference was added a few weeks ago
You may recognize this emblem from Town Square Theater
Casey does look pretty great though
He even blinks!
This is always pretty disturbing…
Looking into Mermaid, you can see trees and ship wreckage are now visible
The new Winnie the Pooh meet and greet
Castle Wall construction
Mystery walls still up by the Carousel
Snow White is still closed… and it ain’t reopening anytime soon…
Only visible change is the missing attraction sign which we assume has gone to the archives
Dumbo FASTPASS, that way!
It isn’t going to open, so I’m not sure why he turned around…
If you haven’t exited by now…
Winnie the Pooh and Dumbo now share the Philharmagic FASTPASS distribution
The new signs are cool, and they give you the standby wait for each ride
More Castle Wall work
Vertical construction has begun on the old Skyway area
Looks like Rapunzel’s tower to me 😉
For the nerd in your family, anything on this shelf will do
The Crow’s Nest is closed! The sign is down… it would be a shame to lose one of the park’s oldest shops, formerly sponsored by Kodak…. We’ll keep an eye on this
Wendell!
Not sure what happened here
Skyway construction visible from across the park
Work continues on the Main Street Bakery
I still think this has something to do with Starbucks…
Package Pick-Up still behind tarps as well
As is The Confectionary and the Chapeau
Looks like the Snow White poster is finally down and now Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom has its own poster
Big Thunder Mountain is on the maps now… I can’t remember the last time that happened
WDWNT Reporter Adam Roth visited Epcot, Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and the Magic Kingdom on Friday and has a TON of newsworthy photos to share with us, so let’s take a look:
Flower and Garden Festival in bloom at Epcot
IF ONLY WE HAD XPASS!!!!
Queue modifications are done… it’s a completely different queue experience now…
Peacock
Cool graphics on the Epcot tip board
Enjoy Kim Possible while it lasts
Habit Heroes and the VISION House now on the list inside Innoventions East
Habit Heroes is still closed
I’m offended…
Work continues on the VISION House
Habit Heroes now has a sign on the entry wall
Goodbye
VISION House will be added soon as it opens in April
Phineas and Ferb now have an entire section at MouseGear
AGENT P!
The light-up Vinylmation lamps and Baseball figures now available
Let’s Go Yankees! (Personal bias)
These are buy 1, get 1 50% off
Shouldn’t the Knicks be on the bottom? (I actually am a fan… but I’m realistic)
Let’s go Dolphins! (Please pity me)
2012 dated Vinylmation
Zodiac series
Flower and Garden merchandise
Cool magnets
This is too cool…
If your imagination features Captain EO, seek help
Bambi’s Butterfly House is back
The play area for this year’s festival is called “Let’s Get Moving”
Chimpanzee is coming… before Earth Day?
Can’t imagine why they are changing this…
Exterior work continues at the Seas with Nemo and Friends
A new entrance being worked on, possibly for Turtle Talk
There’s a new path in the queue…
It leads to Seabase
The mural is surviving the work
A new company has taken over the chromakey photo area at Imageworks
It’s pretty empty right now
Amazing Pictures (who you may have seen at Universal Studios) is now here
Hey, why don’t we just start the demolition…
On to the Festival Center
The Flower and Garden, Food and Wine Festival?
A touch-screen map of the Festival available
Body Wars is back there somewhere
The Odyssey has been painted blue
Well, at least the roof
This exhibit is weird…
Tarps are now up for the Tutto Italia refurbishment
FREE SAMPLES!
Another play area
Let’s take a boat over to Studios
We can’t get enough of these
The outline of Roger Rabbit has seen better days
The entrance at Tower of Terror had some pavement replaced
The Star Tours name is on some of the merchandise tags now
On to the Magic Kingdom, Skyway demolition continues in Fantasyland
The Tigger Bounce area being removed from the Pooh queue
Yes, more Dumbo photos…
Storybook Circus sure is something at night
HA!
I love restrooms… there, I said it…
I’ll tell you what I don’t love… the Club 626 Dance Party
WDWNT Reporter Adam Roth visited the Magic Kingdom and Downtown Disney yesterday and took plenty of newsworthy photos, so let’s take a look at what’s new:
It appears some of the elements for the Adventureland interactive game have been installed
This icon should help guests locate the game area
Not sure what this will do
A different icon near this cannon
You can see the cannon aiming at something behind this tarp
Another game area
Looks like there is a skeleton under the water where the Junior Jungle Boats used to be
Another game area being set-up
The Crow’s Nest is still behind walls
We expect this is where the game will begin for guests
Golden Oak Outpost is closed again…
The tower from Tangled visible from Frontierland
Kind of strange…
Work is speeding along on the restrooms on the former Skyway site, rumors still indicate we will see guest charging stations for electronics in this area as well
The tower was installed recently
The Royal Majesty Makers out and about in Fantasyland
Seven Dwarfs’ Mine Train construction continues
The construction walls were updated with the Dwarfs now mimicking the areas they are in
This scene is near Enchanted Tales with Belle
The small Lumiere on the signage now swings his arms back and forth
Looks like another device built by Maurice
More new Mine Train walls
Some new concept art shows off the interactive queue
Looks like fun
The finale scene
Everyone has clocked in, meaning they are working hard on the new attraction
Another look at Mine Train
Some more walls came down revealing a small section of the bridge
A look from the other side
100 minutes for Mermaid… yeah, Fantasyland is a total failure 😉
All of the screen-based wait times signs in the park were themed recently, all of them now match the physical signage now
The back side of Mine Train
Triton’s Treasures is being built and is coming along quickly
Wait for Ariel’s Grotto
Some cool walls you can look through were put up as well
Let’s take a look inside
A lot of work still to be done
This wall is near Winnie-The-Pooh
Near the Mad Tea Party
Another look through the walls
Moving to Downtown Disney, the volcano at Rainforest Cafe is coming along nicely
Splitsville opens December 19th
Curl is also moving to some small space next door to Splitsville
Looks like there is space for another store as well
