Originally Posted By oc_dean Speaking objectively here ... Disney IS taking a huge gamble that these interactive live experiences "making birthday cards with Aurora" is what is going to draw guests in. Oh sure .... they've brainwashed some gullible consumers that Disney can do no wrong .. and some people will just eat up these (less than) "state of the art" Disney Entertainment offerings .. but some won't be so gullible! If this were another time ... those (cheaper) interactive live experiences would be done up with innovative ride systems ... but lets be honest folks - Disney could spend a whopping $4,000,000,000.00 on Marvel .... but they are going to go for the cheapest offerings they (THINK) they can cook up. Other entertainment businesses ARE catching up .. and if the only real ride they can offer is a clone of what DCA is to get (Little Mermaid)........... well, again ..... ... not everyone with a wallet is not as gullible as they'd like!
Originally Posted By davewasbaloo Hmmmm, having looked at the rendering, this looks like it is pretty nice. One of my biggest disappointments at WDW has always been Fantasyland, especially when 20k's lagoon disappeared. this looks like although there is nothing easth shattering for the masculine amonst us (Unless they do something cool with the B&tB restaurant), it does look like it will finally be comparable with the Paris and California parks, and that is a great thing. I am looking forward to seeing how this turns out. Now, if we could convince them not to build Toy Story Playland in Paris (too late).
Originally Posted By BwanaBobby Our local newspaper, Orlando Sentinel, today indicated the barnstormer would remain and be rethemed as the Dumbo train and that Mickey's and Minne's homes would remain and be moved to the entrance. Does anyone have any idea of what entrance they are talking about?
Originally Posted By A Happy Haunt I'm very excited for this! can't wait to try Gaston's tavern!! since my DH also "uses antlers in all of his decorating!"
Originally Posted By Disneyday I did read that Mickey and Minnies' houses would be moved "to another part of WDW". I guess that means they're just moving them farther away from the new stuff. At first, I thought they might be moving them to another park.
Originally Posted By mickey_ring <<Disney says Mickey and Minnie will get new homes near the front entrance of the park.>> Cant really think of any open space near the entrance, unless some prized retail space is gonna go away. ? I do hope any new Mickey/Minnie house will be a lot more interactive than the walk-thru's that are there now.
Originally Posted By magic0214 Personally, I am very looking forward to this expansion. If the Barnstormer is re-themed MORE POWER TO THEM! The B&TB resturant looks very cool as well as Gaston's Tavern. I wonder if they will brew there own Root Beer? If this is the case though, will Gaston come out of hiding and FINALLY do meet and greets? They could do alot with him. Although it is a copy, I am looking forward to the Little Mermaid attraction. Seems like a lot of fun! I am just really looking forward to it, and it doesn't look cheap!
Originally Posted By Hista98 i like the idea of making casey jr. a roller coaster, i guess a good idea never dies. For those who don't know the DL version was supposed to be a rooler coaster but didn't work so it got rebuilt as a train ride.
Originally Posted By brotherdave I'm totally mixed on this news. The Good: Little Mermaid ride (FINALLY - a new E-ticket dark ride!) Beauty & the Beast restaurant - very cool! Gaston's Tavern - nice addition it seems Dumbo queue area - hopefully lives up to hype Nice cosmetic redo of a tired land New themed queue area for Pooh - Pooh's playground gets buldozed? (Hopefully!!!) The Bad: Princess meet and greets being a FOCAL point rather than just peripheral plussing. Sleeping Beauty crayon coloring "attraction" Pixie Hollow Not so sure either way: Cinderella's M&G "attraction" Loss of Mickey's & Minnie's Houses Retheming of Barnstormer (Hopefully Casey Jr with nice theming) Rest of exisitng Fantasyland unknown at this time Overall, It's nice to see SOMETHING being done, just not sure if this is what we would like. At least one or two C-Ticket dark ride additions would be nice along with the Mermaid E-Ticket. Alice in Wonderland would be the one clone that I'd love to see come to FL, but I'd rather see something new based on another property. 101 Dalmatians? Bambi? Hercules? An updated Mr. Toad would be a personal favorite I'd love to see happen, too! Also, if they move Mickey's & Minnie's house to the entrance of the MK, that would be the worst thing ever to happen to the park, imho. I'm betting that a newer "Toontown" might be part of DHS someday. Hopefully, it would be closer to Disneyland's than what they did at Disney Studios Paris, but that would be the most logical place to move them. I could also see Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Donald, and the other classic characters being moved to the former Walt Disney Story building for MK meet & greets, as long as they don't destroy Main Street's theming in doing it. You need SOMEWHERE for people to meet the Mouse and Friends at WDW's flagship park! I'm just hoping that they don't ruin Main Street to do it!
Originally Posted By u k fan I'm in the wait and see camp personally. It certainly looks like the themed areas will be well done, but what's in them is less than thrilling to me. My first change would be to lose Pixie Hollow and have a villains miniland there instead. Perhaps Mickey can dust of his swishy cape and move to Tomorrowland?!!!
Originally Posted By basas I am both impressed and disappointed. On one hand, the area looks like it will be very nicely themed and landscaped which is exactly what our Fantasyland needs. The concept art looks great (then again, what concept art doesn’t?) and the restaurant is badly needed. On the other hand, the size of Fantasyland is supposedly being DOUBLED (an area that includes Winnie the Pooh, Peter Pan, IASW, Snow White, Philharmagic, Dumbo, etc) and yet this ‘new half’ includes only 1 cloned attraction and a whole bunch of nicely-themed ‘meet and greets’. To me, there seems to be too much wasted space, unless there is land set-aside for future dark-ride additions (BatB, Cinderella, etc). I would have been far more impressed if the expansion included at least 1 D ticket to go along with the meet and greets. Also, aside from WTP, it doesn’t appear as though the facades of Peter Pan, Snow White or Philharmagic will be updated to be on par with their counterparts around the world. Still, any addition to the park is badly needed and will hopefully help with capacity issues.
Originally Posted By dshyates I hope that the Little Mermaid attractions is spectacular because at the pace WDW adds E-Tickets to the MK the next one should arrive early in 2034.
Originally Posted By jmuboy I follow DCA/DL very closely. And everything I have read and seen about TLM ride points to this being a TOP NOTCH ride. The ride itself is coming in around 100 million at DCA so its certainly not a cheap dark ride. I have high hopes and expect they will be met.
Originally Posted By dresswhites i don't know it all seems rather underwhelming(that is a word right?)they are expanding the land which is nice, but except for the little mermaid ride, everything seems like meet and greets. why spend all this money to retheme a land just to add meet and greets? while everything being added to DCA is toon related, at least there building some attractions, Carsland, Toy Story Mania, Little Mermaid, World of Color, ect. and dueling dumbos,sounds wierd.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros I think underwhelmed sums up how I feel about this best. I don't think that any of the additions they're talking about are bad ideas or they won't be entertaining. I just don't think that they are the best idea for how to use that space. This expansion pretty much finishes off Fantasyland. Forever. That's a long time. Sure, they could go back and tear out the meet and greets in the center of the land and add a dark ride there, but we all know how likely that will be (especially since they would have to evict Aurora and Cinderella in the process). There's a chance that they could eventually expand beyond the train tracks, but with the size of WDW property, they could probably find another suitable spot in one of the other parks. What fightens me about this expansion is that it seems to be very focused on what merchandise they have sold a lot of in the last 5 years (princesses) and what they expect to sell in the next 5 years (pixies). Neither of these groups of characters are nessecarily bad, but I just don't see them as being the best long term investment. I see this area being wildly popular when it opens, but I question if they will be willing to staff it in a way that will keep it fully operational 10 years later. How many CM's will they need to put on the BATB skit for Belle (performed by guests) on a daily basis? What about the dancing lessons? These both sound like they will require a lot of entertainment CM's, which sounds expensive long term. A dark ride is a lot more expensive up front, but over the years, it costs less to operate. I hope that they have fully thought this one through, and think that this expansion can support itself for years to come. Myself, I'm still not entirely convinced.
Originally Posted By dresswhites ^^^true, true. look how long they staffed princess fantasy faire at dl. it survived what 2 years?
Originally Posted By sjhym33 I went to meetings some 15 years ago that included the double Dumbo idea. There was talk at the time of putting the 2nd Dumbo behind the first one but obviously that didn't happen. I think considering the wait time at Dumbo, a second ride would be a good thing. As for the rest? Looking forward to the Little Mermaid. Not very interested in the rest. Yesterday was the first time I stepped in Toontown fair in 3 years. We dont have young children and there is nothing there that interests us. Looks like the Fantasyland expansion will be more of the same. And let me go on record. If Mickeys House ends up on Main Street in any form I will never ever go back to the MK. It will show to me that everything Walt stood for in the parks is dead.
Originally Posted By MinnieSummer Another website is reporting that the construction should be starting soon and the first phase will be open in 2012 with the second phase opening is 2013. I think the entire plan is wonderful and for those of you who are complaining already, you should be thankful that your hated Pooh's Playful Spot is dissappearing. Honestly, I'm really tired of the incredible negativity that is constantly spewed on this site. WDW is finally giving you the things you've asked for (and in some cases viciously complained about not getting): some TLC (although I think this goes way beyond TLC), an E-ticket ride, additional dining choices, no more poohs playground, Toon Town is dissappearing (you know, that place that was supposed to be temporary anyway), cheap re-do's, etc. At least wait until things start to happen before you start booing.
Originally Posted By wahooskipper I got the impression the Pooh Playground was staying...at least based on one of the renderings. The Princess Meet and Greets make perfect sense to me. I've spent many trips in the lines back in Toontown and seeing the princesses in a more welcoming environment can only be a good thing. There are a LOT of kids out there who would be happy to skip rides all day if they could just meet the ladies (or other characters). Mermaid attraction, at last. Beauty and the Beast restaurant can't miss. It will be difficult to get in there I'd guess. I'll be happy to see the "tackiness" of Mickey's Toontown replaced with something that, at least from 1st look, appears to have much more depth. I suppose Toontown was fine...it its day.
