A Whole New World

Greetings everyone and welcome to another installation of Disney Magic Monday here at The Magical Mystery Blog.

With time comes change and a desire for something new, improved, and fantastic. Out with the old and in with the new and for Disney, this is no exception. Disney likes to keep up with the changing times to satisfy its massive population. Below are a few renovations you might not know of that show that Disney is magically changing.

           1)      New Fantasyland – this is the biggest renovation which opened on December 6^th, 2012.  This new location dominates the eastern half of the Magic Kingdom and is based on the Disney princesses. Towering over the rest of the park is Beast’s Castle where the Be Our Guest character dining restaurant presides. This castle also serves as a staple to show the Belle section of the New Fantasyland which includes a meet and greet opportunity with her. I find that there are more eateries when it comes to this new Beauty and the Beast section. Along with Be Our Guest, there are two fast food places, and a tavern.

Oh and also Gaston. Cause no one forgets Gaston!

Next to this is Ariel’s area with her new ride, Journey of the Little Mermaid, and her grotto. While there isn’t much of her, I hope there will be more of Ariel in the future. By next year (or 2015 at the latest), the new Snow White Mine Dwarf coaster will be in full operation, and replace the Snow White’s Scary Adventures ride.  It will be located in the heart of the New Fantasyland and be just like Big Thunder Mt. only with ‘It’s Off to Work We Go’ blasting at every twist and turn. 

However, there are traces of New Fantasyland escalating in the original Fantasyland.  Just behind the castle is another area in construction entitled the Princess Fantasy Hall.  By late 2013, this section will be opened up to the public where thousands can meet Disney princesses such as Cinderella, Aurora, Jasmine, and Snow White. The only downside to this new character meet and greet is that they had to tear down Snow White’s Scary Adventures. Towards the end of original Fantasyland, just before Liberty Square, visitors are introduced to another new aspect of New Fantasyland. Looming over the Haunted Mansion in all its royal glory is Rapunzel’s tower. The area below houses restrooms and a comfortable relaxing area for those who have walked throughout the Magic Kingdom.

          2)      Dumbo – believe it or not, this is the one of the most popular rides in Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom.  There’s something nostalgic and magical about taking flight on an elephant that children and parents adore. Over the years, this ride has had extremely crowded lines with a usual wait time of 30 – 75 minutes or more (unless you have a Fastpass).  After realizing that having people wait so long for a simple ride, Disney decided to do something about it. In March 2013, the Magic Kingdom opened The Storybook Circus as a part of their new Fantasyland. This particular section features not one but two Dumbo rides, the Barnstormer roller coaster (originally found in Toon Town but they moved it here), a character meet and greet, an indoor playground, and a miniature water play area.

Along with this new area, Disney also created a new way to board the Dumbo ride. As opposed to standing around and waiting for the line to gradually decline, ride operators now hand out pagers. The pagers flash and vibrate when the next ride is ready for boarding. While parents and children wait for the next available seats on Dumbo, they can relax in the large queue room. That’s right, you don’t have to wait under a canopy anymore. Instead you get to hang out in an air conditioned room themed to look like the big top circus from the Dumbo film. The only downside to this new renovation is that they had to eliminate Toon Town just to build it. 

          3)      Downtown Disney – while this renovation has not been completed yet, it is currently happening as we speak. In 2016, Imagineers are hoping to finish the new Downtown Disney or as it will soon be called, Disney Springs. The Downtown Disney we have all come to know and love, will be replaced by a Southern, Spanish atmosphere. The buildings will be redesigned to fit a Southern celebration theme with architecture similar to the Coronado Springs Disney resort.
 

      Disney Springs will also have separated sections, one for the overall marketplace (yes most of the stores will still be there including the Lego Shop and Once Upon a Toy), one for dining, and one for something else. Disney Springs was initially supposed to be the makeover of Pleasure Island but the Imagineers decided to take it a step further. Pleasure Island, I believe will also be a part of the renovation. 

           4)      Big Thunder Mt. Railroad – the ride itself did not receive a renovation. However, the queue line did. Since this is a popular coaster of the Magic Kingdom, the lines tend to be crowded. Sometimes the ride can even boast a 45 minute wait. People, especially children, tend to get antsy waiting in line for so long. In an attempt to remedy this, Disney added an interactive queue line which also added a story to the overall ride itself. Unlike EuroDisney where their Big Thunder Mt. story ties in with Phantom Manor’s, the Walt Disney World Big Thunder Mt. has a story all its own. Big Thunder Mt. was once a mining company owned by billionaire, Barnabas T. Bullion.

In his spare time, Mr. Bullion tried to make bouillon cubes out of bullion gold.  

       
As you make your way towards the ride, you venture through Barnabas’ office, tour through an explosives magazine room, and even get to help some of the miners out with their duties. You get to take part in mining activity by setting off some dynamite and even watching miners mine for gold through a subterrascope. This renovated line was completed this year and is in full operation.

          5)      Test Track – as mentioned in last week’s Disney Magic Monday entry, Test Track is a popular ride at EPCOT. On December 6^th, 2012 this Chevrolet sponsored ride was given a new, futuristic look.

You could say it's so futuristic it looks like Tron.

Now you can customize your own car and drive it through the test course. You decide what your car looks like, how it runs, how quick it responds to your command, and how much gas it saves by going green. The entire design phase is all done on a touch screen which gives you a whole new way of creating a car. Once you’re finished crafting your ride, you climb into a test car, and throughout the test run see how well your car does. When the ride is over, a screen will appear and show you how your car did. 

If there’s any information about any Disney Park (Disney World included) you would like to know about, feel free to comment, and I’d be more than happy to respond. Until then, have a little faith, trust, and pixie dust.