You can wish Aurora a happy birthday.
The area formerly known as Toontown.
If you're planning a trip in the next year or so you're probably worried about what you'll find when you visit Fantasyland in the Magic Kingdom. Not knowing for certain what attractions will be open is especially frustrating for guests who use touring plans or who are visiting the park for the first time. So far there's not much evidence, save for a few high fences, to indicate that there's any work going on at all. So what can park goers expect in the near future?
At some point, we know that Mickey's Toon Town Fair will be dismantled, but Disney has said that the existing attractions in Fantasyland will remain open during the expansion. This indicates to me that Disney will keep older, same-character attractions running until their newer counterparts are open. This potentially means that the old Dumbo attraction won't close until very close to the opening of the new Dueling Dumbo. Same for Ariel's Grotto, which will close permanently at some point, but likely won't be dismantled until the Little Mermaid attraction is close to being completed.
No, not this.
Gaston's Tavern: He uses antlers in all of his decorating . . . and apparently serves turkey legs.
Disney has announced that the expansion will be completed in two phases, the first in 2012 and the second in 2013, starting from the outer portion of the park and working its way in. Only portions of Fantasyland will be effected at any given time. Closures will be announced three to four months in advance, the same way regular refurbishments are announced. Considering that Disney works pretty seamlessly when adding attractions and undertaking refurbishments, I don't think that the average visitor's vacation will be negatively effected by the construction.
You can choose either quick or table service dining at the Beast's castle.
Now for the rumor side of the story, the part gleaned from message boards and a couple of cast member friends. Please take this with a grain of salt as they are just rumors. With that being said, rumor has it:
. . . that Toontown is safe from the demolition ball until at least the Fall, if not for the rest of the year.
. . . that the main part of the expansion will be complete by the end of 2012. The second part, Pixie Hollow, will be finished sometime in 2013. Given that Toontown will be replaced by Pixie Hollow and that Pixie Hollow opens after the princess expansion, can we expect a later start date for the demo of Toontown, say sometime closer to 2012 than this year?
. . . that Mickey and Minnie's charming houses will be moved to another part of the Magic Kingdom, although I'm not sure how this fits in with the announcement by Disney that they'll be given a place inside the Expo Hall as you first come into the Magic Kingdom. Perhaps this is just temporary until the houses are moved? Rumor is that the houses will be relocated "somewhere" in the front of the park, but this could just be wishful thinking on the part of guests (like me) who really like the houses. Any guesses where they could go?
More news on the expansion:
The Little Mermaid attraciton scheduled to open in Disneyland in 2011 will be similar to the one in the Magic Kingdom.
Some recent photographs of the fences in Fantasyland, the only real indication that work is being done.
All the above concept art comes from Disney. To see more, go to Attractions Magazine.
3 comments:
Oh I wonder if anything will have changed and is new by the time November rolls around.
I was in Magic Kingdom on March 20. When on the Railroad heading towards Toontown, there is a section of the park on the right side of the train where there's cleared trees. You could now see parts of Fantasyland, although it was just the very top of all the buildings. What part exactly, I don't remember. Also, the ground looked like they had just cleared away all the leftover tree debris.
Gastons Pub looks exactly like The Three Broomsticks at The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal. To quote Shrek, “Hmmm, looks like someone is trying to compensate for something”!
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