Hello, and welcome to [B]Dateline Disney World![/B] where we will be taking a close look at the [B]New Fantasyland[/B] construction over at the [B]Magic Kingdom[/B]. Things are moving quickly and many projects now look compete on the exterior.

[img]http://datelinedisneyland.smugmug.com/Other/DDW/i-tgSgFTp/0/O/magickingdom-5.png[/img]

Welcome to the Magic Kingdom!!

[img]http://www.miceshots.com/usr/72/DatelineDisneyWorld705-IMG_9535.jpg[/img]

[center][size=5][b]Construction Kingdom[/b][/size]
[img]http://datelinedisneyland.smugmug.com/Other/DDW/i-M7dg4fZ/0/O/inside-magickingdom-02.png[/img][/center]

We’ll start today’s update all the way on the left, where the new Tangled meet and greet and restroom are being built.

This shot shows the progress on what is supposedly going to be Rapunzel’s tower.

[img]http://www.miceshots.com/usr/72/DatelineDisneyWorld705-IMG_2952.jpg[/img]

Other construction in the area moving along.

[img]http://www.miceshots.com/usr/72/DatelineDisneyWorld705-IMG_2954.jpg[/img]

[img]http://www.miceshots.com/usr/72/DatelineDisneyWorld705-IMG_2955.jpg[/img]

At the Castle Wall, progress keeps on moving every week.

[img]http://www.miceshots.com/usr/72/DatelineDisneyWorld705-IMG_2956.jpg[/img]

[img]http://www.miceshots.com/usr/72/DatelineDisneyWorld705-IMG_2957.jpg[/img]

[img]http://www.miceshots.com/usr/72/DatelineDisneyWorld705-IMG_2959.jpg[/img]

More work has been done on the arches in the wall.

[img]http://www.miceshots.com/usr/72/DatelineDisneyWorld705-IMG_2958.jpg[/img]

You can see that there are now details going up on the second arch as well as the first.

[img]http://www.miceshots.com/usr/72/DatelineDisneyWorld705-IMG_2960.jpg[/img]

[img]http://www.miceshots.com/usr/72/DatelineDisneyWorld705-IMG_2961.jpg[/img]

The right side of the wall is playing catch up with the left still.

[img]http://www.miceshots.com/usr/72/DatelineDisneyWorld705-IMG_2962.jpg[/img]

[img]http://www.miceshots.com/usr/72/DatelineDisneyWorld705-IMG_2963.jpg[/img]

[img]http://www.miceshots.com/usr/72/DatelineDisneyWorld705-IMG_2964.jpg[/img]

[img]http://www.miceshots.com/usr/72/DatelineDisneyWorld705-IMG_2971.jpg[/img]

Detail pieces being put on the turrets.

[img]http://www.miceshots.com/usr/72/DatelineDisneyWorld705-IMG_2969.jpg[/img]

The wall in between the Carrousel and the Castle Wall has been removed. This shot shows the space between the old and new Fantasylands.

[img]http://www.miceshots.com/usr/72/DatelineDisneyWorld705-IMG_9553.jpg[/img]

And here is what the new area will look like when standing right near the Carrousel.

[img]http://www.miceshots.com/usr/72/DatelineDisneyWorld705-IMG_9555.jpg[/img]

I thought they may have been doing something serious, since these walls were up for a long time. But, it seems to have been just a ground refurb.

[img]http://www.miceshots.com/usr/72/DatelineDisneyWorld705-IMG_9556.jpg[/img]

At the Beauty and the Beast area, lots of work has been done at Maurice’s Cottage.

[img]http://www.miceshots.com/usr/72/DatelineDisneyWorld705-IMG_2970.jpg[/img]

Most of the roofing is done. Here’s the view of Maurice’s from Storybook Circus.

[img]http://www.miceshots.com/usr/72/DatelineDisneyWorld705-IMG_2980.jpg[/img]

The side of Gaston’s Tavern is now the same color as the front again, a darker shade of yellow.

[img]http://www.miceshots.com/usr/72/DatelineDisneyWorld705-IMG_2966.jpg[/img]

[img]http://www.miceshots.com/usr/72/DatelineDisneyWorld705-IMG_2968.jpg[/img]

Roofing looks to be wrapping up on this turret.

[img]http://www.miceshots.com/usr/72/DatelineDisneyWorld705-IMG_2967.jpg[/img]

And Bonjour! Village Gifts looks about the same as it did last week.

[img]http://www.miceshots.com/usr/72/DatelineDisneyWorld705-IMG_2965.jpg[/img]

At the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, there are some cross type supports going up.

[img]http://www.miceshots.com/usr/72/DatelineDisneyWorld705-IMG_2972.jpg[/img]

[img]http://www.miceshots.com/usr/72/DatelineDisneyWorld705-IMG_2973.jpg[/img]

[img]http://www.miceshots.com/usr/72/DatelineDisneyWorld705-IMG_2978.jpg[/img]

Other brown supports are popping up at the lower levels of the project that barely make it over the walls.

[img]http://www.miceshots.com/usr/72/DatelineDisneyWorld705-IMG_2974.jpg[/img]

[img]http://www.miceshots.com/usr/72/DatelineDisneyWorld705-IMG_2979.jpg[/img]

At the Little Mermaid, rock work continues.

[img]http://www.miceshots.com/usr/72/DatelineDisneyWorld705-IMG_2975.jpg[/img]

[img]http://www.miceshots.com/usr/72/DatelineDisneyWorld705-IMG_2976.jpg[/img]

It’s hard to think that two weeks ago, this was just wire mesh, and now it fits right in and just needs to be painted!

[img]http://www.miceshots.com/usr/72/DatelineDisneyWorld705-IMG_2977.jpg[/img]

Moving on to Storybook Forest…err Circus 🙂

[img]http://www.miceshots.com/usr/72/DatelineDisneyWorld705-IMG_9557.jpg[/img]

Pretty cool to see both Dumbo spinners going at the same time!

[img]http://www.miceshots.com/usr/72/DatelineDisneyWorld705-IMG_9558.jpg[/img]

Although, they really do need to close the left one down so they can fix the scraping issue that we reported on last week.

And lastly, a quick update on the Casey Jr. Soak ‘n’ Splash play area. It is still immensely popular.

[img]http://www.miceshots.com/usr/72/DatelineDisneyWorld705-IMG_9559.jpg[/img]

I was talking to a friend while in the park the other day, and we were discussing this area. Sure, it isn’t the greatest thing to ever happen to the Magic Kingdom, but if you look at the families that are in there, it is a smash hit. The fence may be weird, and the scale may not be huge, but seeing the smiles on people’s faces kind of makes you realize that Disney did its job with this one, legal issues or not.

Fight Cancer With WDW Star Wars Weekends Photo Book
Also, today (Tuesday the 10th) I’m releasing (along with the Disney Photography Blog) a new photo eBook with 100% of the money going to charity. Our friend Katie Marino is running the Falmouth Road Race in Massachusetts on August 12th to benefit the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston. Katie has contributed to Disney Photography Blog and is a great photographer and friend, so we wanted to do what would could to help this great cause!
So, we will be asking for donations (of any amount) and as a thank you, we will be giving away a brand new eBook that includes almost 100 photos from this years Star Wars Weekends event at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Every penny we get will be donated to Dana-Farber!
We are hoping to help raise a lot of money and are asking the online Disney community to help in anyway possible. If you all could mention this on your sites, Facebooks or Twitters tomorrow and help spread the word, we would really appreciate it!
All the information and where you can donate will be found at:
To make things even easier, we have attached a few sample tweets that you could easily copy/paste to help us spread the word.
Tweet Sample 1:
@disphotoblog is raising money for cancer research & giving away a Star Wars Weekend eBook to everybody who donates http://bit.ly/L45jo4
Tweet Sample 2:
Help fight cancer by donating today and receive a FREE Star Wars Weekend photography eBook from @disphotoblog http://bit.ly/L45jo4
Tweet Sample 3:
Disney & Star Wars fans, get a FREE Star Wars Weekend eBook when donating to cancer research today on @disphotoblog http://bit.ly/L45jo4
We really appreciate your support and hope you can help out a great cause!!

Well, that’s going to do it for this New Fantasyland update. Are you excited for the new Tangled area? Ready to finally walk through that Castle Wall this holiday season? Let us know in the comments!! And don’t forget to check out the other half of this week’s column, where we talk about the rest of the Walt Disney World Resort!

If you enjoyed the column, especially the photos, and you want to check out more photos and tutorials on Disney photography, please check out my photo site, [URL=”http://www.DisneyPhotographyBlog.com”]Disney Photography Blog[/URL]. And if you like listening more than reading, you can hear us talk about Disney and photography on my podcast, [URL=”http://www.ISO5571.com”]ISO5571[/URL]

Cory Disbrow
Cory likes Walt Disney World so much, he recently packed his bags and moved to Orlando. Cory is a photographer and writes MiceChat's Dateline Disney World columns every Friday.