Fantasyland Project Tracker

[Aladdin6592]

I cannot wait to see this in person in just a few weeks!

[Witches of Morva]

ORDDU: My sisters and I went to the Magic Kingdom today to see the latest progress on the Magic Kingdom's Fantasyland construction. Things are really coming along well.

ORWEN: We stopped to ask a cast member near to It's a Small World about the new restooms they're building. We asked if there was any truth to the rumor this one person keeps claiming--about a tower for Rapunzel being built along with the restrooms.

ORDDU: According to her, there will be no tower for Rapunzel built next to the restrooms because Rapunzel will be meeting and greeting along side all the other princesses who will take over the former Snow White dark ride attraction. This is what we had heard before but for some reason a certain Disney fan keeps insisting that Rapunzel will have her own separate meet and greet next to the new restrooms. It really doesn't look as though that's going to happen.

[Melonballer]

I was thinking about that Gaston statue, and you know what, I like the barrel better. Well, I like it better if it is a water feature. If there is not water, then nevermind, gun better.

[Witches of Morva]

ORDDU: You just want to be able to take a shower under Gaston, Melonballer, duckling, that's all you want. And I must admit that I do, too!

[GhostHostJeff]

From the DisneyPark Blog:
Source: New Fantasyland Grand Opening Set For December 6 at Magic Kingdom Park at Walt Disney World Resort « Disney Parks Blog

Today we’re thrilled to announce that the grand opening of New Fantasyland will take place on December 6, 2012. Attractions included in this opening are Under the Sea ~ Journey of The Little Mermaid, Be Our Guest Restaurant, Enchanted Tales with Belle, Ariel’s Grotto, Gaston’s Tavern and Bonjour! Village Gifts.
Previews of these attractions will begin November 19.
As previously planned, the New Fantasyland expansion will continue with the opening of Princess Fairytale Hall in 2013 and the debut of a new Disney “mountain” in the form of the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train in 2014.
The Storybook Circus section of the New Fantasyland expansion, which includes Barnstormer – Starring the Great Goofini, the Casey Jr. Splash & Soak Station, and Dumbo the Flying Elephant, opened to guests in July.

[BTSauterTSMM]

The covers around the entrance walls have finally been removed and the grass covering on Mermaid has begun to go up!

Subscribe for more, plus a new construction video every week!!

[jamccul]

Based on the shape of the construction of the new Fantasyland restrooms and the fact that that area leads to Liberty Square, I was wondering if the design is based on one of the original images of Disneyland's Fantasy Faire. The maypole design could be the reference to Rapunzel.

[Witches of Morva]

ORDDU: That actually looks a lot like the concept art for Disneyland's upcoming Princess meet and greet which is supposed to have references to Rapunzel included.

[Bronco21]

ORDDU: That actually looks a lot like the concept art for Disneyland's upcoming Princess meet and greet which is supposed to have references to Rapunzel included.

WDI imagineering accidentally released both WDW's and DL's concept art when they announced Fantasy Faire Village at D23. It looks like it because that is the concept art for WDW not Disneyland. Disneyland is getting a completely different look. I believe Al Lutz talked about it in one of his articles a while back. I found the article where he talked about it.

The other thing to remember is that Disneyland is getting the fancier version of the Castle Fantasy Faire. Two different design renderings of the proposed Anaheim facility were accidentally released by WDI, one with a cheaper English Tudor façade for the building (shown below) and one with a far more intricate mish-mash of various Princess architectural styles (shown above).
The cheaper version was the earlier incarnation when both the Disneyland and Walt Disney World projects were receiving the same limited budget as part of the inane “One Disney” corporate philosophy managed out of Florida. The Florida version stuck to its original modest budget, and will set up a more basic twin-passageway setup dubbed Princess Fairytale Hall behind a lightly re-themed façade at what used to be their Snow White dark ride.

So Orlando.

But TDA didn’t like the cheap Tudor look and it would have obviously clashed with the Germanic castle next door. Instead, TDA’s executive team pushed for more money for the Anaheim version, as they are so skilled at doing now. The result of the beefed up Anaheim budget is that a more elaborate façade was created that not only creates an eclectic little village of pan-European architecture, but subtly represents each of the main Princesses found inside. There will even be a few animatronic animal characters included in the queue pre-show for Anaheim’s version. A small snack cart theme like Stromboli’s wagon in Pinocchio will round out the basic offerings on Princess Fantasy Faire when it opens in spring, 2013.

- Al Lutz
Tired - MiceAge.com

[Witches of Morva]

ORDDU: It looks a bit too elaborate to be situated where Snow White's Scary Adventures used to be--if indeed that is the Magic Kingdom version seen in the concept art. Or maybe they are planning to have this placed where the new restrooms are being built in the former Skyway area? But we shall see.

[mratigan]

is it realy going to take up the whole ride

[danlb_2000]

ORDDU: My sisters and I went to the Magic Kingdom today to see the latest progress on the Magic Kingdom's Fantasyland construction. Things are really coming along well.

ORWEN: We stopped to ask a cast member near to It's a Small World about the new restooms they're building. We asked if there was any truth to the rumor this one person keeps claiming--about a tower for Rapunzel being built along with the restrooms.

ORDDU: According to her, there will be no tower for Rapunzel built next to the restrooms because Rapunzel will be meeting and greeting along side all the other princesses who will take over the former Snow White dark ride attraction. This is what we had heard before but for some reason a certain Disney fan keeps insisting that Rapunzel will have her own separate meet and greet next to the new restrooms. It really doesn't look as though that's going to happen.

Everything I have heard indicates that the will NOT be a M&G near the new restroom building, but the area will be themed to Tangled and it will include a forced perspective vesion of the tower. You can see it called out in a section of the plans for the area in this post from another site:

Fantasyland Aerials (July 5) | Page 3 | WDWMAGIC - Unofficial Walt Disney World discussion forums

[Witches of Morva]

ORDDU: Has anybody else noticed the change taking place to Prince Eric's Castle. On 9/2/12 my sisters and I noticed that there was a big hole in the side of the big, thick tower where 3 arched windows used to be. But it appears these 3 windows are being moved further to the left on the other side of the tower while the former position of these windows currently has a hole in the wall that is covered by a black tarpolian. Apprently the Imagineers decided to re-position these windows by moving them. We never thought the windows were properly positioned, ourselves, but it's interesting that the Imagineers agreed and are doing something about it.

ORWEN: Prince Eric's castle in the animated movie shows these same windows and has them further to the right. But when the New Fantasyland opens, guests will be approaching the castle from a different angle than I guess you would have in the movie. So, it really will look better to have the windows positioned further to the left. It's just one of those details people don't think about until after something is built.

ORDDU: Fortunately this mistake was caught before the New Fantasyland opened.

[migitmouse88]

I was at Magic Kingdom for my day off the other day, and after reading the article on Miceage about Enchanted Tales with Belle taking guests in to preview the attraction, I had a very specific goal in mind. Upon entering the park I ran towards fantasyland to find that they were testing out the attraction again that day. After a short wait in one of the most incredibly detailed cue's I have ever seen, I was invited into Maurices cottage. I was dissappointed to find that the line moved even faster once you enter the cottage as there are so many little details about the characters in the first room alone. Without giving too much away, I found the entire experience to be incredible. The animatronics are astounding, one of them is the best I have ever seen. The cast members are enthusiastic and clearly love their jobs. I would not be surprised if a job at this attraction becomes as sought after as a job on Jungle Cruise or GMR, the cast members play a huge role in this experience. This really is a next generation meet and greet, and I cant wait to see how well it is recieved, and how much further they can take character greetings from here. I dont think I will be able to see this again for a while, as I can see this being very popular and having a long line even in the off season for a pretty long time. The imagineers clearly worked very hard on this experience, and it shows in every last detail.

[traumwelt]

I will never forget attending D23 last year when Imagineers revealed detailed plans for a fantastic new Fantasyland in WDW. And Disneyland will get, eh ... a maypole. Lol! Excited for it all, but it was just anti-climatic... and funny! ;-)