Just got back. Big thumbs down for New Fantasyland. :(

[missbrooke06]

I loved NFL when we were there last November. My husband took our son back to the hotel and I spent the last couple hours of MVMCP exploring it in the dark. Can't wait to go back!

 

[disneydee6]

I think that fantasy land has always been geared towards younger kids (mad tea party, Winnie the Pooh, carousel, dumbo, etc) so the addition, as far as my opinion goes, was not going to have any headliners and was going to be 7 and under friendly.

I do think that additional headliners would be beneficial though. I cannot wait for the avatar land addition and am hopeful a spectacular Star Wars addition. The WWoHP has been such a huge success disney needs something big and special (rather than old favorites be the only draw for older crowds). I'm bummed that the maelstrom (is rumored) to become frozen-ified (I hope that doesn't happen! Then again, I seem to be in the minority in support of avatar land so who knows lol) I say bring on the new additions. Let the kiddies enjoy FL, give me some real thrill rides!

 

[Tarheel girl 1975]

I have only been to NFL once so far, but I think part of the problem is that it took so many years to complete NFL that people thought it was going to be something spectacular. What new rides were added? Mermaid and Mine Train (and we lost Snow White in the process, so really only one new ride overall). There is a lot of theming that's new (circus tent- which I don't get at all- Gaston's, Belle's Cottage, BOG), but there's nothing much new for attractions compared to the long, drawn out process of building NFL. I think people expected more- I know that I did.

I agree. I think when you see something hyped for so long, you raise your expectations. The theming is good, but it didn't really raise the number of net attractions and The Little Mermaid ride is a duplicate of a DCA attraction so it's not like they had to design it from scratch.

 

[North of Mouse]

I really don't know what they were thinking here - other than trying to appeal to the 6 and under crowd. If that's the demographic they were targeting, then they did a decent job. Personally, there was nothing for my family.

The highlights/lowlights:

7DMT - a shorter version of BTMR. Nowhere near as visually appealing as I have come to expect from Disney.

Barnstormer - We, along with the people around us, got off laughing at the absurdity of waiting nearly 1/2 an hour for what could not have been more than a 40 second ride. Seriously?

Little Mermaid - Unless you are a 3-5 year old girl, you'll probably nap on this one.

We didn't get in to BOG, but maybe the restaurant is the one redeeming thing here. I don't know...

I'm so confused as to why they felt like they needed more preschool attractions. Aren't the most popular/biggest wait time attractions the ones that target older kids/adults? I'm thinking of Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, BTMR and - in the other parks - Test Track, Everest, Dinosaur, Rock and Roller Coaster, Tower of Terror, etc.? We had a great time overall, but the new Fantasyland got me thinking that my kids - ages 10 and 12 - might be outgrowing WDW which is sad. We've decided that our next trip to Orlando will be our first trip to Universal Studios.

Sorry it didn't meet with your expectation, but to me it's right in line with other 'Fantasyland' rides. Dh & I both really enjoy it and we are far from kids, but are still kids at heart.

We both loved BOG and have eaten there 3 times. Maybe you will enjoy that!

 

[canoe86]

Little Mermaid ride.

truly, is that the best Disney can do? Very poor effort imo.


But as another poster pointed out, for all the time spent, underwhelming.

 

[luvmylatte]

.....and for a year I thought it was just me. I was looking forward to awesome and felt all I got was a much hyped facelift. Architecture is awesome but that's about it. Still looking forward to this years trip.

 

[MartDM]

New Fantasyland leaves us cold as well. Our young son has no interest in any of the princess-centric theming or attractions and thus nor do we.

That said, we haven't ridden 7DMT, but I'm only expecting a well themed right and the novelty of a new attraction. Definitely not expecting to be wowed based on what I've read.

For all the drama and waiting involved, the results were kind of meh.

 

[Deanie1]

I was also very underwhelmed with NFL. It was so long in the making - couldn't they have thrown in another attraction or two? The theming is beautiful but there just is not that much there. Too bad 7DMT wasn't a bit longer. I agree with the circus tent. Coulddn't they have used that space a bit more wisely? I expected so much more!

That being said, I have high hopes for Avatarland. I think if they do it right, it could be beautiful. Send those Dis execs over to Daigon Alley to see what they are up against.

 

[think-like-tink]

Ever hear the expression all foam, no beer? I found NFL to be all theme, no attraction.

Love this. Great places for photo ops! We did not go to the circus part. My kids had no desire to meet the characters.

7DMT-Could have been longer. DD8 loved it. DS said "that's it" when we pulled back into the station.

We did not ride Dumbo. BUT, Walked by it.

The BOG area is just beautiful.

I liked the Little Mermaid ride. DD8 loved it. DH and DS had FP for Splash when DD and I rode it. We split up for the morning because I scored A&E for us girls.

We also liked the "Tangled" Bathrooms. We are so lame.

 

[Suvadoo]

I agree, FL is underwhelming, but I really can't blame Disney for all of the hype. A lot of Dis posters were waxing poetic over the NFL. Even the Tangled Toilets generated a lot of oohing and aahing. My expectations were high and NFL was disappointing.

 

[edk35]

I will toss in my opinion of the new 7DMT. We were not impressed at all. I expected more from all the hype. I think younger kids will like it just fine, but for all of us that love Big Thunder and Expedition Everest, it is a let down. I knew it was not going to be a BIG thrill ride, but I did expect more. The seats are not comfortable AT ALL. Yes I have ridden Barn Stormer and those seats are better. It is short, but not as short at BS. My 15 year old waited in the standby line on Friday Aug. 8th at about 10:30 at night. IT took him 40 min. He liked it enough, said it was smooth and there was some cool stuff in the standby line. THEN we all rode it with FP's on Wed. night and the rest of us were underwhelmed. There were people behind us that had waited in the 85 min. standby that were very disappointed. They said "Is that it?" LOL We had two other sets of fast passes for two other days and we cancelled them and chose other rides. I think it is not worth all the hype and the hard to get fast passes.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

I went in Feb at age 39, I very much enjoyed it.

If you don't like it, that is fine. But many others do.

To answer your question--of course Disney caters Fantasyland to the short person age ranges. And there is nothing wrong with that. I happen to enjoy it as an adult, though.

 

[tfc3rid]

For the time it took to construct, New Fantasyland is a nice addition to the MAgic Kingdom but overall, in Orlando, in comparison to both Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley, it just does not cut it...

I visited UOR for the 1st time in over 20 years a week ago... It was a fantastic experience with more cutting edge type attractions than Walt Disney World has...

Now, I am a 30 year WDW Passholder and really, really hope that Disney sees that UOR is pulling days away from folk's Disney trips...

However, I will say I like 7DMT... Although it was too short, it was a neat ride. But sadly overhyped and opened in the wrong summer with Gringotts.

TLM needs the recent upgrades it received at Disney California Adventure.

I do think once the trees grow in and up, the Fantasyland Forest will really take shape.

 

[starsweeper]

As a mom to kids 7, 7, 3 & 2, it's a novel idea to visit a park like Magic Kingdom where everyone can ride nearly every ride and we can spend a full day there and not do everything. Epcot, AK and DHS are useless after a couple hours for us, there's so little for toddlers to do. Magic Kingdom, especially NFL is for the younger set, as it always was and hopefully always will be. Was I completely overwhelmed by NFL last October? No. I loved the theming but wished more rides had been added. I wish they had left Dumbo where it was and moved 7DMT to the Dumbo area. I didn't care for the flow of walkways in the new section, but that was my main gripe.

 

[ArwenMarie]

I have only been to NFL once so far, but I think part of the problem is that it took so many years to complete NFL that people thought it was going to be something spectacular. What new rides were added? Mermaid and Mine Train (and we lost Snow White in the process, so really only one new ride overall). There is a lot of theming that's new (circus tent- which I don't get at all- Gaston's, Belle's Cottage, BOG), but there's nothing much new for attractions compared to the long, drawn out process of building NFL. I think people expected more- I know that I did.

I agree.

If they had opened everything at once, it would have gotten a much bigger reaction and made a bigger splash.

Waiting for Mine Train really got a lot of hype up. If it had opened with everything else, I think it would have been better. Then the stuff that opened early had a construction site in the middle of it for two years.

 

[ArwenMarie]

Whatever you think of the new rides, I think that the theming is amazing in NFL.

Now the problem is that "old" Fantasyland looks bad.

I think that they should have upgraded the facades on Peter Pan, IASW and Philharmagic while they were at it. Those look junky now in comparison.

 

[ghtx]

Whatever you think of the new rides, I think that the theming is amazing in NFL.

Now the problem is that "old" Fantasyland looks bad.

I think that they should have upgraded the facades on Peter Pan, IASW and Philharmagic while they were at it. Those look junky now in comparison.

As of today Peter Pan has construction walls up around its front, so maybe they are upgrading its facade.

 

[L&Lfan]

The facades of the dark rides (Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan, Mr Toad, Snow White and Pinocchio) in DL are spectacular! Peter Pan and Pooh deserve better fronts!

 

[MikeandReneePlus5]

I agree with those saying it didn't live up to the hype.

But if I compare the old area to what's there now I much prefer what's there now, it's better for sure and very nice and interesting to walk through.

 

[DisUniversal]

I really don't know what they were thinking here - other than trying to appeal to the 6 and under crowd. If that's the demographic they were targeting, then they did a decent job. Personally, there was nothing for my family.

The highlights/lowlights:

7DMT - a shorter version of BTMR. Nowhere near as visually appealing as I have come to expect from Disney.

Barnstormer - We, along with the people around us, got off laughing at the absurdity of waiting nearly 1/2 an hour for what could not have been more than a 40 second ride. Seriously?

Little Mermaid - Unless you are a 3-5 year old girl, you'll probably nap on this one.

We didn't get in to BOG, but maybe the restaurant is the one redeeming thing here. I don't know...

I'm so confused as to why they felt like they needed more preschool attractions. Aren't the most popular/biggest wait time attractions the ones that target older kids/adults? I'm thinking of Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, BTMR and - in the other parks - Test Track, Everest, Dinosaur, Rock and Roller Coaster, Tower of Terror, etc.? We had a great time overall, but the new Fantasyland got me thinking that my kids - ages 10 and 12 - might be outgrowing WDW which is sad. We've decided that our next trip to Orlando will be our first trip to Universal Studios.

I would tend to agree. The whole NFL seems to be a huge waste of money. It's nice...and I do enjoy it there, as do the kids, however I can't say we enjoy it any more than the old Fantasyland. Seems to me like they spent a bunch of money on nothing as there really wasn't any net gain in attractions either.

We lost the classic Snow Whites Scary Adventures and gained a coaster that's not as good as BTMRR with about 55 seconds of animatronics in the middle.

Little Mermaid...is sort of a disappointment. Has some of the poorest, cheapest animatronics I've ever seen. It is fun and do enjoy it, but come on...they could have done so much better. It's like they didn't even try.

The Beasts Castle is a joke...looks about the size you'd have in a miniature village with a G scale train running around it.

Princess Fairy Tale Hall is just a meet and greet area...fortunately they didn't seem to spend much money here.

A second Dumbo? Really? Maybe for the next expansion they can build a third.

Tangled...great movie and they get a bathroom.

Enchanted Tales was nice. Enjoyed that, but can't really see doing it again.

Haven't been to BoG yet. From what I've seen it looks pretty amazing, but not a morning person or someone who makes ADR's far into the future, so...may never see it.

Again, nice, but I'd gladly take the old Fantasyland with Mickey's Toontown, Mr. Toad, 20,000 Leagues (maybe re-themed to Nemo or LM) and the Skyway to Tomorrowland over what they have now.