Hello, and welcome to Dateline Disney World. There was big news in the Disney universe this week as we learned that Meg Crofton would finally be leaving as head of the Walt Disney World Resort (She’s not leaving the company, just focusing on her job as head of all the parks and resorts, including Disneyland). In her place is the current, and well loved, Disneyland President, George Kalogridis. He officially starts on February 1st, though he’s already been spending time in the resort. I feel bad for the the California fans, but we need him more than you do! Today, we’ll take a look at the post New Year feel in the Magic Kingdom, as well as the construction and news around the park. Lots of stuff to discuss, so let’s go!
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Welcome to the Magic Kingdom!!
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Now that the post New Year season is upon us, a bunch of scrims and construction walls have gone up in the park. They start right at the front where a good chunk of the turnstiles are behind walls, presumably for MyMagic+ installation.
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There is a scrim up on Main Street, which is interesting, as I thought they had completely finished Main Street by around 4th of July in 2012.
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Over by the old Adventureland Verandah, there were tarps in the back a few weeks ago, but now they extend all the way out to the front.
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This seating area next to Aloha Isle is also behind walls.
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The old Crow’s Nest gift shop is still behind walls, which it has been for months now.
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This box of walls is up near Splash Mountain. Anyone know what it normally covers?
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There was lots of movement this past week at the Tangled restrooms, which much of the scaffolding removed, and what looks to be close to a finished product.
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I’m a little concerned about the color of this roofing, but we’ll see how it looks when it’s all done.
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Heading over to the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, where we saw lots of new things!
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First of all, there is new track! It looks like a double dip coming out of the large portion of the hill.
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There was also lots of progress with the setting for the rock work.
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Also notice the tar paper going up on the roofing of the cottage buildings.
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We went around the back, and found even more new track.
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To my eyes, the track looks very similar to that of Expedition Everest, although obviously not as big in scale.
These are the views through the peek a boo walls from this week.
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And lastly, a view from the front.
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| [center][size=5][b]This and That[/b][/size] [img]http://datelinedisneyland.smugmug.com/Other/DDW/i-M7dg4fZ/0/O/inside-magickingdom-02.png[/img][/center] |
Splash Mountain’s refurbishment is well under way.
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Lots of scaffolding up on the mountain, and even some rock work removed from the final drop to be replaced.
[img]http://www.miceshots.com/usr/72/DatelineDisneyWorldJanuary92013-IMG_9157.jpg[/img]
I’m very much trying to be optimistic for this refurb, as Splash is a favorite and I really hope it gets the proper treatment it deserves. It would also be cool if along with George Kalogridis coming here from Disneyland, some of their maintenance did too, as Disneyland tends to sparkle, and WDW needs some of that right now. Some feel that George K. isn’t responsible for much of that, but I’m hopeful that his replacing Meg Crofton will be good for the resort.
Over in Storybook Circus, there are new signs along the construction walls helping guests find the Fastpass distribution areas for Dumbo and the Barnstormer.
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And finally for this week, here are some views of the Grand Villa construction at the Grand Floridian from the monorail.
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Well, that wraps it up for this week’s Dateline. What are your thoughts on some of the color choices for the Tangled restrooms? How do you feel about George K. coming to WDW from Disneyland? Let us know in the comments!!
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