The new waiting area for Dumbo

    We just returned from a week and a half at the world with lots to share, so stay tuned.   For now enjoy this video on the new Dumbo area to open soon, no long will you have to wait in line.   The kids can play and you will be paged when it's your time to enter the line and fly with Dumbo!

Be Our Guest Restaurant Coming Along

   Wow the Be Our Guest Restaurant is going to be amazing.   Opening this Holiday Season!!

Disney World, Fantasyland Dates!!

We all have been waiting for dates for the new Fantasyland attractions, so here they are.  Most as expected, but looks like we will have to wait on the Mine Train a bit longer than I would like :).

• July 2012 - Casey Jr Splash 'n' Soak Station 
• July 2012 - Second Half of Dumbo the Flying Elephant, including the indoor queue

• Holiday Season 2012 - Under the Sea - Journey of The Little Mermaid
• Holiday Season 2012 - Enchanted Tales with Belle
• Holiday Season 2012 - Be Our Guest Restaurant 
• Holiday Season 2012 - Gaston's Tavern
• Holiday Season 2012 - Ariel's Grotto

• 2014 - The Seven Dwarfs Mine Train

Soft Opening for Storybook Circus

Photo Courtesy of @capndanny

Great news Disney World fans, Storybook Circus today has started soft openings.   Currently looks like one of the Dumbo rides is open along with the Great Goofini.   As with any soft opening they can close it down at anytime, so if you are there when it is open enjoy it while you can.   The official opening date for this portion of Storybook Circus is March 31, 2012. 

Photo Courtesy of @capndanny

Storybook Circus is part of the new Fantasyland expansion which in the end will include two Dumbo's, The Great Goofini (re-themed Barnstormer), a new Fantasyland train station, Casey Jr. Circus water play area, the Snow White Mine Coaster, and the Be Our Guest Restaurant.

   Leave us a comment, what will your first Storybook Circus Ride be?   Ours Dumbo.   

Be Our Guest Restaurant - Sneak Peek

   The Disney Parks Blog today took us deep inside the construction of the new Be Our Guest Restaurant.  I can't express how excited we are to see a new dinner table service option for the Magic Kingdom.

   The huge medieval windows extend floor to ceiling and offer an amazing view over the countryside.   From early discussions there will be three separate dining rooms in the restaurant and overall capacity will be about 550 guests.   The dining rooms will be the Library, West Wing, and the two-story ball room shown in the video below.   Where would you like to sit?

    The restaurant will be counter service during the day and convert to table service for dinner similar to La Hacienda at Epcot.   Will this restaurant be a character dining experience?   Stay tuned...

Snow White's Scary Adventure to Close

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Fastpass: No

Ride Duration: 2 mins 50 seconds

Year Introduced: October 1971 (Updated to be less scary in 1994)

Closing Date:  May 31, 2012

   Today Disney announced that Snow White's Scary Adventure will be closing at the Magic Kingdom (Disney World) on May 31, 2012.   This will make way for a new Princess Fairytale Hall, a meet and greet for Disney Princesses.    


      This iconic ride took the guest through the 1937 classic animated movie Snow White.   Though the ride itself was dated, it was an original from the opening of the park and was on our family’s ride list each trip. 


   After May 31st, those of you still wanting your Snow White fix will have to wait until this porition of the new Fantasyland area opens sometime in 2013. Here you will get to experience the Dwarf’s cottage and the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. 

    The fans of Snow White's Scary Adventure seem to be more disappointed about what the replacement is rather than seeing the ride close.   In a discussion today on twitter there seemed to be some disgust in the replacement as meet and greets seems to be eating up more space in the parks.   Remember the good old days when characters just roamed the park and you could walk right up to them without waiting in a line?

 

So, goodbye Snow White’s Scary Adventure you will be missed and welcome to Princess Fairytale Hall.  Let us know what you think!   Are meet and greets eating up too much park real estate?   What will you miss about Snow White's Scary Adventure?    

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

Video of Fantasyland Under Construction

Fun new time-lapse video of Fantasyland under construction.    Thanks goes to Disney Parks Blog for posting.   Enjoy!!

Fantasyland Construction Update @ Disney World

 Happy Birthday Walt Disney World!   

To keep up with the Joneses I need to post my own set of construction picture updates taken at the Magic Kingdom.  As we all know, Fantasyland is almost doubling in size with the new expansion.    The DisneyDayByDay family visited the parks just last week and stretched their arms up as high as they could on the Dumbo ride to bring you these exclusive shots.  Oh, and at the very end we threw in a few Swiss Family Robinson Tree House construction pictures as there hasn’t been enough coverage of that.  

When When When

            I know most of you have been wondering when all the new attractions will open.   As you can imagine Disney is not putting firm dates out there yet as weather and construction delays make scheduling a bit difficult. So bear with them and enjoy the progress.   Here is a rough idea of what they are proposing.  

Dumbo will be closed in early 2012 to prepare for the move.  The ride system will be moved to its new home next to the other Dumbo in Storybook Circus.   The double Dumbo will open later in 2012.   The Great Goofini, because it’s just a re-theme, will open in early 2012 along with the new Fantasyland train station.   

 Take a peek at the new attractions: 

·         Under the Sea: Journey of The Little Mermaid – This ride will feature attractions from our favorite characters and music from The Little Mermaid movie.   Here is a nice preview of the recently opened Disney Land attraction: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JM1XCgfnS8&feature=relmfu

·         Be Our Guest Restaurant – If you’ve been to the park recently you might have noticed the Beauty and the Beast castle rising in the distance.   The castle will be the home of a restaurant, holding about 500 guests.  This new restaurant  will offer counter service throughout the day but will switch to a table service in the evening for Dinner.   No official word yet if this will be character dining.   Around the castle you’ll also find Belle’s Village; including Gaston’s Tavern and Bonjour! Village Gifts.

·         Belle’s Cottage – A story telling area for Belle and other characters from Beauty and the Beast.  

·         Seven Dwarfs Mine Train – One of the most anticipated pieces of the expansion will likely be the last to open.   This rollercoaster will feature an entirely new ride system in which the ride vehicles will actually swing back and forth as they take corners along the track.   Take a look at the computer ride here:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1C03pM_9ukY

·         Princess Fairytale Hall – Say goodbye to the current Snow White’s Scary Adventures.   This attraction is being replaced with a meet and greet for Aurora, Cinderella and other Disney princesses, such as Tiana and Rapunzel.   Sorry to see Snow White go, but glad to hear the princesses will have a home.    

·         Storybook Circus – The replacement for Toon Town will feature: 

o    Dumbo the Flying Elephant – Get ready for double the Dumbo!   Will this lessen the wait?  We can only hope.    Dumbo will be moving from its current location and will feature a second ride system doubling the capacity.   The attraction will also feature an interactive ride queue giving you the chance to join the circus and step inside the Big Top for fun-filled interactive experiences for kids of all ages.

o    Goofy as The Great Goofini – If you rode the Barnstormer then you might find this ride to be somewhat similar as it will be the exact same ride system with a new paint job giving you the feeling that you are taking a flight high above the new circus fun.   

 

And now for the moment you have all been waiting for…….The Swiss Family Tree House is currently closed for refurbishment until mid November 2011.   No changes have been announced so this is most likely standard cleanup and maintenance.       

 

 

Wordless Wednesday

A Bit of History

  Disney World turns 40 this year.  On October 1, 1971 it opened its doors to about 10,000 visitors.   Today, the Magic Kingdom tops 16 million visitors a year. 

   Walt Disney began purchasing property in Florida in the mid 1960’s.   He created many company names while purchasing the property to keep from creating a stir which would raise property prices.   Many of these company names can be found on windows as you walk down Main Street.   Walt passed away in ’66 and his brother Roy O. Disney took over the task of completing the Florida project.   In the end, over 30,000 acres were purchased, and about 20,000 acres remain undeveloped today.  Yep, there is room for more parks and hotels.

 

  It took more than 9,000 construction workers about 18 months to build The Magic Kingdom at a cost of about $400 million at that time.  On opening day $4.95 would get you into the one and only park (The Magic Kingdom), but each ride would cost a ticket (or coupon) A, B, or C with D and E tickets being added later.   A-Tickets could be used for smaller/unpopular rides with the E-Ticket being for the newest and most popular rides. This is where the term E-Ticket comes from today. Guests had two hotels to choose from, the Polynesian Village Resort and the Contemporary Resort (previously called the Tempo Bay Hotel). The Fort Wilderness Campground added 250 campsites in 1972.    

While in the park you could enjoy:

·           Walt Disney World Railroad

·           Town Square: Town Square Café

·           Main Street Transportation: Fire truck, Horse-drawn street cars, and Horseless carriages.

·           Main Street: Market House store, Camera Center, Coca-Cola Refreshment Corner, House of Magic shop, Penny Arcade, Main Street Confectionery Shop, Emporium store, Main Street Bake Shop, New Century Clock Shop, Main Street Cinema attraction, & Crystal Palace Restaurant

·           Adventureland:  Adventureland Veranda restaurant, Jungle Cruise attraction, Swiss Family Tree House attraction, & Sunshine Pavilion

·           Bear Country: Country Bear Jamboree

·           Fantasyland: Dumbo Flying Elephants, Mad Tea Party, Snow White's Adventures, Pinocchio Village Haus restaurant, Cinderella's Golden Carrousel, Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, Mickey Mouse Revue Audio-Animatronics musical, It's a Small World, & Skyway to Tomorrowland

·           Frontierland: Frontier Shooting Gallery, Frontier Trading Post shop, Pecos Bill Cafe restaurant, Mike Fink Keel Boats, Mile Long Bar, Diamond Horseshoe Revue

·           Liberty Square: Hall of Presidents, Columbia Harbor House restaurant, Heritage House shop, Liberty Tree Tavern restaurant, & Haunted Mansion

·           Tomorowland: Skyway to Fantasyland, Grand Prix Raceway, Mickey's Mart store, & Tomorrowland Terrace restaurant

·           Cinderella Castle: King Stefan's Banquet Hall

 Some of these rides and restaurants still stand today while some of them have fallen to new and better things.   What is your favorite spot at the Magic Kingdom?

Fun Fact:   Never Give Up

    When Walt Disney was young he worked for The Kansas City Star newspaper, because of his lack of creativity he was fired.   Years later he started “The Disney Company,” which bought ABC. Ironically, ABC owned The Kansas City Star newspaper.   So he was fired because of lack of creativity, only to turn around and buy the place from the money earned from his creativity.  This shows Walt didn’t give up in his dream, and neither should you.