Fantasyland expansion will be worth the wait

Posted by Mark Chapman on February 14th, 2011 at 12:28 pm

Bill Burke

By Bill Burke

Mouse­junkies

Q: There’s a lot of con­struc­tion going on in the Magic King­dom. What’s up and how is it going to affect my vaca­tion? – Adam Pow­ers, St. Augus­tine, Fla.

A: In two years time, you won’t even rec­og­nize Fantasyland.

The Fan­ta­sy­land project, cur­rently under way, is the sin­gle largest expan­sion to the orig­i­nal Walt Dis­ney World theme park since the resort opened in 1971.

As of right now, the walls are up, cer­tain attrac­tions are down, and signs of the mas­sive project are every­where. Phase one is sched­ule to be com­pleted in 2012, with the whole project com­plete the year after.

Here’s a look at what guests can expect in the newly-expanded Fantasyland:

\Guests will be able to have more immer­sive encoun­ters with Dis­ney princesses in each of their own themed vil­lages within Fan­ta­sy­land Forest.

- At Dreams Come True with Cin­derella, guests can meet Cin­derella face to face in her coun­try chateau, share a dance or train to be a royal knight.

- At a Birth­day Sur­prise for Sleep­ing Beauty, guests will be able to take part in a sur­prise birth­day party with the princess.

- An “enchanted mir­ror” will move guests from Belle’s father’s cot­tage to Beast’s cas­tle for a sto­ry­telling per­for­mance. (This will replace Sto­ry­time with Belle near Tomor­row­land, which has already been shut down.)

* Also, the new dis­trict will fea­ture the Be Our Guest Restau­rant, one of three din­ing rooms inside Beast’s cas­tle. And just out­side the cas­tle in Belle’s Vil­lage will be Gaston’s Tav­ern (though the “tav­ern” will be dry – the Magic King­dom is a dry park), another themed eatery.

* Tak­ing the place of the old 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea attrac­tion will be “Under the Sea: Jour­ney of the Lit­tle Mer­maid” attraction.

* Dumbo fans, fear not. When all is said and done, Dumbo’s Fly­ing Cir­cus will pro­vide twice the size of the clas­sic attrac­tion. Inside a styl­ized tent, guests will enjoy mid­way games and other fun-filled expe­ri­ences while wait­ing in line. Because if you want to ride Dumbo, you gotta wait in line.

The expan­sion is going to ren­der the face of the cur­rent Fan­ta­sy­land unrec­og­niz­able, but it should improve the his­tor­i­cally stroller-choked bot­tle­neck immeasurably.

Ground was bro­ken last spring. Stand almost any­where in Fan­ta­sy­land and guests can see the tips of col­or­ful cir­cus tents pok­ing up over the con­struc­tion walls.

How’s it going to affect your trip? Say good­bye to Toon­town, which will be absorbed into the Fan­ta­sy­land For­est. Meet and greet oppor­tu­ni­ties that had taken place in Toon­town will be moved to the Expo­si­tion Hall near the front of the park. Goofy’s Barn­stormer, cur­rently located in Toon­town, will sur­vive the wreck­ing ball.

The Pooh-themed play area that was once located adja­cent to the Many Adven­tures of Win­nie the Pooh (closed for refurb at press time) and Ariel’s Grotto have already been closed. The remain­ing clas­sic Fan­ta­sy­land attrac­tions will be untouched, accord­ing to Disney.

While it’s not expected to be com­pleted until 2013, there are improve­ments already in place. A new queue area in front of the Many Adven­tures of Win­nie the Pooh was recently unveiled, fea­tur­ing a vastly-improved expe­ri­ence. If this is a measuring-stick gaug­ing how the new Fan­ta­sy­land will one day look, the future seems quite bright.

Dis­ney also released a giant caveat to all these plans: They reserve the right to change their mind at any time. In other words, com­pare this list to the final prod­uct and it may not match-up.

Still, Walt Dis­ney him­self was always push­ing his peo­ple to con­tinue “plussing” the park – con­tin­u­ing to improve and change things. And this huge, unmatched expan­sion is the best exam­ple of plus­ing the World has seen in years.

Bill Burke is the author of “Mouse­junkies: Tips, Tales and Tricks for a Dis­ney World Fix.” His follow-up guide to Walt Dis­ney World is due out this spring. Visit Mousejunkies.com.

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