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

[mike the canuck]

Awesome thread. I'm following along

 

[mom2rtk]

Is this confirmed somewhere? I know the original plans called for all the princesses to have individual meet and greets, but I thought they did away with all of that when they added Fairytale Hall.

I haven't heard any of this confirmed either. But what I do recall is that FTH was put in place to replace the interactive Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella meet & greets.

 

[Berlioz70]

Alright, so I've read through most of this thread, and I know one of the questions was asked before, but was just wondering if anyone had any updated info on it.

#1: With Ariel getting the new ride & castle, will she move to that area for a M & G? Does she get her grotto back? Or is she just staying at the veranda with Eric?

#2: Any updates on whether Tiana will be going to fairytale hall (and thus Naveen leaving the parks...)??

Check the first post - Ariel's Grotto is a confirmed part of the expansion (her M&G)

1. Ariel and Belle (maybe Snow White too?) get their own M&Gs with their princes.

2. Tiana and Naveen go into FTH.

Belle and Ariel will be solo - no princes. Beast and Gaston may or may not pop up in the area, but not likely to be with Belle. I wouldn't count on Eric.

All signs point to Tiana going into FTH, no word on Naveen, but he will not likely be in FTH.

 

[arbolita]

Check the first post - Ariel's Grotto is a confirmed part of the expansion (her M&G)



Belle and Ariel will be solo - no princes. Beast and Gaston may or may not pop up in the area, but not likely to be with Belle. I wouldn't count on Eric.

All signs point to Tiana going into FTH, no word on Naveen, but he will not likely be in FTH.

I think Gaston is fairly likely to be making appearances, at least for the first couple months after the area opens, as he was seen in Epcot in the general area that most face characters get "tested" out before they are moved to a permanent location. (Flynn Rider was there as well a couple days ago, with Rapunzel).

 

[dawnmichele]

Where's the love for the princes? What's the thinking behind the boys being so absent in the parks and m&gs? Anyone know, or have a theory? Personally I like some of the princes better than their princesses (although I'd never mention that in front of any of them personally

 

[Berlioz70]

I think Gaston is fairly likely to be making appearances, at least for the first couple months after the area opens, as he was seen in Epcot in the general area that most face characters get "tested" out before they are moved to a permanent location. (Flynn Rider was there as well a couple days ago, with Rapunzel).

Gaston, Flynn, Snow Prince & Phillip are all out prepping for the parties.

Where's the love for the princes? What's the thinking behind the boys being so absent in the parks and m&gs? Anyone know, or have a theory? Personally I like some of the princes better than their princesses (although I'd never mention that in front of any of them personally

Ironically, I refer to the Flynn example listed above. Flynn spent some solo time out at Epcot last week and he told me that no one knew who he was. He walked around without a line, sat down and chatted with a family, taught kids how to smolder and never had a line. The family he chatted with didn't even want his photo.

About 10-15 minutes later Rapunzel came out to join him and BAM HUGE LINE!!!!

I was surprised when he told me know one recognized him (especially considering the campaign to keep him in the park). But, many of us DISsers over estimate the average Disney Guest character knowledge.

 

[arbolita]

This was within the comments of today's FLE blog post on the Disney Parks Blog

Kim from FL on July 17th, 2012 at 10:10 am

Any word on when the remainder of Storybook Circus will open?

Jennifer Fickley-Baker on July 17th, 2012 at 10:18 am(author of the blog post)

The attractions? This month.

 

[mom2rtk]

Where's the love for the princes? What's the thinking behind the boys being so absent in the parks and m&gs? Anyone know, or have a theory? Personally I like some of the princes better than their princesses (although I'd never mention that in front of any of them personally

As Berlioz mentioned, nobody knows who they are...... until the princess shows up. And having BOTH out is double the budget.

 

[Berlioz70]

This was within the comments of today's FLE blog post on the Disney Parks Blog

They're already open - they opened in June.

The tents are not considered attractions - 1 is Merchandise, and 1 is Entertainment... the other is assumed to be Food & Beverage: those openings are still unknown but rumors point to fall.

Disney Parks Blog:

All in the Details: Painting Beast & Gaston Into the Picture at New Fantasyland at Magic Kingdom Park, July 17, 2012

No changes in the timeline:

Many of you asked, in the comments section of last week’s post, about openings. Here’s the most updated info we have at this time:

* July 2012: Both sides of Dumbo the Flying Elephant, Dumbo’s big top tent queue, and the Casey Jr. Splash ‘N’ Soak Station kids’ water play area
* Holidays 2012: Under the Sea ~ Journey of The Little Mermaid, Enchanted Tales with Belle, Be Our Guest Restaurant, Gaston’s Tavern, and Ariel’s Grotto
* 2013: Princess Fairytale Hall (meet-and-greet area)
* 2014: Seven Dwarfs Mine Train attraction

 

[CentralFloridian99]

I originally thought the princes would be with the princesses. As for Gaston's Tavern, PLEASE HURRY UP WITH THE FOOD AND DRINKS!!!

 

[DISvirgin1]

I see that the Princess Fairytale Hall is opening in 2013, but I am hoping it will be open by President's week in February when we go. Does anyone know if it will be open by then?
When we were in Disney in 2011 they have just closed off a lot of the area to start the expansion and had said it would be completed by 2013, but now I'm seeing one attraction won't be open until 2014. That's fine, it just means we'll have to go back

 

[mom2rtk]

I see that the Princess Fairytale Hall is opening in 2013, but I am hoping it will be open by President's week in February when we go. Does anyone know if it will be open by then?
When we were in Disney in 2011 they have just closed off a lot of the area to start the expansion and had said it would be completed by 2013, but now I'm seeing one attraction won't be open until 2014. That's fine, it just means we'll have to go back

If you check the first post in this thread, you'll see Fairytale Hall is expected in "late" 2013. So probably no chance of February.

The things that are opening late 2013 and into 2014 were part of some later changes to the initial overall plans for the area. Initially the mine area was supposed to be enhanced interactive meet and greets for Cinderella and Aurora. Those were scrapped in favor of closing the old Snow White ride, downscaling their meet and greets and moving them there, then taking the meet and greet area for the Mine Coaster.

 

[Berlioz70]

Disney is certainly keeping a tight lip about the tents:

Just a few Disney Fantasyland tidbits to tide you over

•On tents seen in the Fantasyland renderings: Those are "new experiences that are coming at a later date."

 

[Disco]

I see that the Princess Fairytale Hall is opening in 2013, but I am hoping it will be open by President's week in February when we go. Does anyone know if it will be open by then?
When we were in Disney in 2011 they have just closed off a lot of the area to start the expansion and had said it would be completed by 2013, but now I'm seeing one attraction won't be open until 2014. That's fine, it just means we'll have to go back

Yeah,
They just closed down the SW ride not too long ago. I don't think there is any chance of a Feb opening.

 

[DCTooTall]

Yeah,
They just closed down the SW ride not too long ago. I don't think there is any chance of a Feb opening.

IMHO, ESPECIALLY since SW was an opening day attraction, and this will be the first time the show building/space has received any sort of extensive remodel/refurb in 40 years. I wouldn't be surprised if as part of the transformation work into the new M&G space if there was included a need to bring elements of the building up to current codes requirements, or even possibly some environmental concerns such as potential asbestos use in the original construction that would need to be addressed.

 

[CentralFloridian99]

IMHO, ESPECIALLY since SW was an opening day attraction, and this will be the first time the show building/space has received any sort of extensive remodel/refurb in 40 years. I wouldn't be surprised if as part of the transformation work into the new M&G space if there was included a need to bring elements of the building up to current codes requirements, or even possibly some environmental concerns such as potential asbestos use in the original construction that would need to be addressed.

Agreed. This will be a big renovation like Minion Mayhem at USF.

 

[DCTooTall]

Agreed. This will be a big renovation like Minion Mayhem at USF.

Minion Mayhem I don't believe required as much Site work not related to the actual attraction change. The Show Building itself was only 20yrs old, and it received a pretty big makeover about 10years ago when Jetsons was replaced by Jimmy Neutron.

SW on the other hand was opened in 71 (Totally different era when you think about building codes and materials), and other than a 'minor' refurb into the "Scary Adventures" version, which was just a small change to some set pieces, Has been operated pretty much as is since that time.

 

[tupperware509]

thanks great info

 

[CentralFloridian99]

Minion Mayhem I don't believe required as much Site work not related to the actual attraction change. The Show Building itself was only 20yrs old, and it received a pretty big makeover about 10years ago when Jetsons was replaced by Jimmy Neutron.

SW on the other hand was opened in 71 (Totally different era when you think about building codes and materials), and other than a 'minor' refurb into the "Scary Adventures" version, which was just a small change to some set pieces, Has been operated pretty much as is since that time.

As far as I'm concerned Minion Mayhem got an extra room.

 

[Berlioz70]

The Castle Wall is coming along nicely - the quicker it's done, the quicker we'll get access to the back!

PHOTOS - Latest Fantasyland construction site update, July 20, 2012