Official Fantasyland Expansion Q & A (Mickey gets evicted) PART II

[Berlioz70]

TIMELINE
OPEN
Be Our Guest Restaurant MENUS & PICS
Enchanted Tales with Belle
Gaston's Tavern
Bonjour Gifts
Under the Sea ~ Journey of The Little Mermaid
Ariel's Grotto
Storybook Circus
Winnie the Pooh Meet and Greet

OPENING FALL 2013
Princess Fairytale Hall

OPENING 2014
Seven Dwarfs Mine Train

PHOTOGRAPHS
CONSTRUCTION
Imagineers Offer a Sneak Peek Inside Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, Princess Fairytale Hall at New Fantasyland, April 25, 2013

NOW OPEN
New Fantasyland A Mysterious Wonder at Night Part 3, October 22, 2012

Over 400 Photos of New Fantasyland Soft Opening from Earlier Today!, October 12, 2012

PHOTOS - Take a tour of Big Top Souvenirs from this morning's grand opening, September 30, 2012

Sneak peek: New Fantasyland's Enchanted Tales with Belle, September 10, 2012

Disney tests new Dumbo interactive Big Top Queue, June 24, 2012

Casey Jr. Splash 'N' Soak Station, June 15, 2012

PHOTOS and VIDEO - Storybook Circus nighttime lighting, March 13, 2012

PLANS

Updated Sketch, Jan. 18, 2011

Image Courtesy: http://thedisneydrivenlife.com

Original Announcement: D23 Expo, Sept. 12, 2009 (YouTube)

Orlando Sentinel Follow Up Article: Walt Disney World Makeover, Sept. 12, 2009

Essentially, the northern side of Fantasyland (including the former location of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea) was transformed into different realms, Fantasyland Forest (which includes areas dedicated to different movies) and Storybook Circus. The current Fantasyland Courtyard is also getting some updates.

ENCHANTED FOREST
BEAUTY AND THE BEAST
Be Our Guest Restaurant: Counter Service for lunch, Table Service for dinner (to seat 550) MENUS
Gaston's Tavern: Counter Service
Bonjour! Village Gifts: Merchandise Shop
Enchanted Tales with Belle: Belle "play & greet" with an audio-animatronic Lumiere

THE LITTLE MERMAID
Under the Sea - Journey of the Little Mermaid: E-ticket attraction
Ariel's Grotto: Ariel meet and greet in her fin

SNOW WHITE
The Seven Dwarfs Mine Train: E-ticket attraction (Virtual ride on the track)

STORYBOOK CIRCUS
Dumbo: Attraction (2 carousels)
Barnstormer: Refreshed attraction hosted by the Great Goofini
Fantasyland Train Station: Refreshed train station stop
Casey Jr. Roundhouse: Water play area
Big Top Souvenirs featuring The Flying Piggolinis: Merchandise shop
Pete's Silly SideShow: Character Meet and Greet featuring: The Great Goofini, The Astounding Donaldo, Minnie Magnifique, and Madame Daisy Fortuna

FANTASYLAND COURTYARD
Princess Fairytale Hall: Princess meet and greet to feature Cinderella and Rapunzel, plus others
The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh: New Pooh and Tigger meet and greet

CHARACTERS
CURRENT

Mickey is meeting at the Town Square Theater (formerly known as Expo Hall). This is Mickey's permanent home. See images from The DIS Unplugged Disney Blog.

Minnie, Daisy, Donald, and Goofy are meeting in Storybook Circus (Pete's Silly Sideshow), wearing new Circus themed costumes.

Belle can be found within the Enchanted Tales with Belle attraction, not a traditional meet and greet.

Gaston meets near his Tavern.

Ariel meets in her new Grotto.

Beast meets at Be Our Guest Restaurant for Dinner only.

Cinderella, Aurora, and Rapunzel are currently meeting at the Town Square Theater (formerly known as Expo Hall).

Tinker Bell is currently meeting in the Adventureland Veranda at Magic Kingdom with Rosetta.

FUTURE

Cinderella, Rapunzel will meet in the Fairytale Hall, Aurora's future location is unknown.

CLOSURES

Snow White's Scary Adventures closed June 1, 2012

Original Dumbo closed January 9, 2012

Mickey's Toontown Fair closed February 12, 2011

Storytime with Belle closed on September 12, 2010

Ariel's Grotto and Pooh's Playground closed on April 12, 2010

FAQ

Will Be Our Guest be Character Dining?

According to the 2013 Disney Dining Plan brochure, Be Our Guest is NOT listed as Character Dining. The Beast is available in the lobby for Guests dining during Dinner.

What is replacing the current Dumbo?

The new Castle Wall crosses right over the area where Dumbo once sat.

How will this affect my trip?

There will be walls in the middle of Fantasyland during your trip, likely to remain standing until areas start to open. Look at it this way, there are more places to park strollers!

Will the current Fantasyland close?

Nope. The expansion is only going to close Snow White's Scary Adventures and Dumbo; the rest of Fantasyland is staying in tact. If the other attractions close, it is due to their own refurbishment schedule, not because of the expansion.

Where are Mickey and Minnie's Houses going?

Demolished.

LINKS

WDWMagic.com

WDWNewsToday

Orlando Sentinel Daily Disney

 

[ipodluvr287]

In that aerial photo, which is which? I honestly can't even tell those are castles yet...

 

[Berlioz70]

The one of the left is Beast's, the one on the right (near Toon Town) is Eric's.

In other news, another rumor popped up that the characters are not going to Expo Hall. They'll still be in Magic Kingdom, just somewhere else. I've updated the first post!

 

[Lillian Gracey]

I'm still hoping for a ride or something that has to do with Sleeping Beauty. And I will be so sad if they get rid of Snow White's Scary Adventure. :'(

 

[LoveKermit]

We're going in August and I just want to keep up on everything. I agree that it will be sad if Snow White closes, but otherwise, people are really adverse to change! Won't it be nice to have a fresh look in that park? I'm excited.

Can't wait to try the new TS. MK really needs it. (too bad it still won't have wine)

A new coaster will be nice too. Can't remember anything new like that since Splash, I think. It's been a while.

 

[supersuperwendy]

Wow I can't believe a new thread is needed for poor Mickey getting evicited! Thanks to everyone who's posted some much info thus far! I loved reading the last thread and can't wait to see what we find out in the future!!

 

[bellaDisneydncr]

No. Now you're just being ridiculous.

I just had to laugh at this. So funny- and so sad that there are some people out there who will seriously ask that question.

 

[LUVMICKEY]

Subscribing to this thread. We will be returning to the World in May and want to make sure we know what all the changes will be.

 

[dragonfly57005]

How do you get into that area of the park when it opens? Are they going to move the trees out of the way or will you enter through Toontown area?

 

[Berlioz70]

I highly suspect they'll be moving the trees! Some may stay permenantly for the "forrest theme," but others will likely be moved.

 

[theAnalogKid]

ToonTown is set to close on February 12th, so will it actually be open on the 12th? Or will it close at the end of the day on the 11th?

The 11th is our first day in the parks, so its obviously a concern for us.

 

[Berlioz70]

It'll be closed on the 12th, 11th will be the last day to visit it; hope that works with your plans!

 

[theAnalogKid]

It'll be closed on the 12th, 11th will be the last day to visit it; hope that works with your plans!

Thanks for the confirmation.
That's what I figured, so I guess we will definitely be heading to the MK after we arrive in the morning on the 11th.

We used to go practically every year, but haven't been down since our older son was 10 months old - and he just turned 8 today!!! I'm glad that DS8 and DS4 will get to go on the last day.

 

[supersuperwendy]

Can you currently see any of the construction while riding dumbo? I know they planted some trees a while back. We are going to WDW soon and I'd ride Dumbo if I could peek over the wall!

 

[Lillian Gracey]

I think you can. A lot of the pictures I've seen where the trees are there, you can see through them and maybe over them. Not sure about over them, but you might not be able to see as much if the trees weren't there. Hopefully you can!

 

[ChildAtHeart82]

You can also see some of the construction through the trees if you ride the railroad from Frontierland to Toontown.

 

[TinkerMouse]

I'm wondering if the Gaston's Tavern restaurant will have Gaston, the bimbettes and Lefou show up from time to time. I think that would be fun.

Does anyone know why the Little Mermaid ride took about twenty years to be made? The platinum edition DVD from years ago has a bonus feature that talks about the ride that never was and virtually takes you through the whole thing. When they first announced that they were making this ride I immediately thought about the DVD and thought "Wow so NOW they're going to do it". Why after two decades? I guess there is more incentive when there wasn't before. Anyway, I want to ride it to see if it's just like the DVD because the new pictures essentially say it is. I liked that virtual ride.

 

[mom2rtk]

Does anyone know why the Little Mermaid ride took about twenty years to be made? The platinum edition DVD from years ago has a bonus feature that talks about the ride that never was and virtually takes you through the whole thing. When they first announced that they were making this ride I immediately thought about the DVD and thought "Wow so NOW they're going to do it". Why after two decades? I guess there is more incentive when there wasn't before. Anyway, I want to ride it to see if it's just like the DVD because the new pictures essentially say it is. I liked that virtual ride.

Actually it's been under construction in California for some time! It was announced as an addition to California Adventure in fall 07 and is slated to open this year.

 

[julirina]

The platinum edition DVD from years ago has a bonus feature that talks about the ride that never was and virtually takes you through the whole thing. ... Anyway, I want to ride it to see if it's just like the DVD because the new pictures essentially say it is. I liked that virtual ride.

I don't have the DVD -- what's the virtual ride like?

 

[Berlioz70]

More information about Ariel's attraction is in the first post. There is a video with an Imagineer talking about the attraction and some sneak peaks.