By: Chuck Mirarchi
There were many presentations and announcements that took place last week at the first ever D23 Expo in Anaheim, California. The 4-day expo announced projects in just about every facet of The Walt Disney Company including Disney’s Cruise Line, Walt Disney Studios, Imagineering, and of course the Walt Disney Theme Parks.
Jay Rasulo, Chairman of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, announced new attractions for not only Walt Disney World, but also Disneyland in Anaheim, California, including a re-imagined, digital, 3-D Star Tours attractions scheduled to debut sometime in 2011, but front and center at the press conference was the Walt Disney Theme Park and the expansion of Fantasyland at the Walt Disney World Resort.
Scheduled in two phases: Princess Realms, completed in 2012 and Pixie Hollow, completed in 2013, the Fantasyland expansion will be the largest expansion in the history of the Magic Kingdom. Phase one will begin soon and Imagineer Chris Beatty said, “You’ll see some activity on the site early next year. The nice thing is alot of the site was the former 20,000 Leagues attraction that has been closed off for several years. We have complete access to that part of the site without disrupting the existing land.”
When asked about the cost of the expansion plans, Jay Rasulo declined to give a dollar amount, but said, “We’ll spend just enough to make it great.” However, according to a report on realestatechannel.com, “industry analysts who follow Disney’s financial performance regularly estimate in published accounts the cost will be at least $1 billion.”
The expansion, which doubles the size of Fantasyland, is not without its casualties. Imagineers said that Mickey’s Toontown will be slowly shut down and then eliminated. However, they did say that Mickey and Minnie’s houses will be saved and “have a great place” in another location. Goofy’s Barnstormer Coaster will be re-themed with a new overlay and possibly moved into the new Dumbo expansion area. Also re-themed will be the train stop. For the first time Fantasyland will now have a train stop.
Phase One will see the largest amount of construction with five new themed-areas including one for Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, and Dumbo. All the princesses will have their own castle, cottage, or chateau that will serve as “meet and greets.”
Cinderella will have a country chateau where she lives with her stepmother and stepsisters and guest will be able to see her transformed into a princess. Visitors will be able to then share a dance with Cinderella.
In Sleeping Beauty’s kingdom, guests will be able to celebrate Aurora’s Sweet 16 Birthday with her good fairy guardians Flora, Fauna, and Merriweather. They will also be able to make birthday cards for Aurora’s birthday and give them to her at her party.
For The Little Mermaid guests will step into the story by approaching Prince Eric’s Castle, walk by the grotto, tide pools and to the underside of the castle where the dark ride attraction is located. According to the imagineers, it will be a different story queue for Walt Disney World and Disney’s California Adventure, but the actual ride will be the same.
Beauty and The Beast will have the Beast’s Castle as the focal point. The castle will have three rooms or areas: the Beast’s Ballroom, the West Wing, and the Castle Gallery. In addition to joining Belle for an enchanting story performance, the castle will house a 552-seat restaurant with 3 dining rooms. These dining rooms will be quick service dining facilities by day and transform into table service at night. Imagineer Jon Georges said this dining transformation has never really been done before in any of the parks.
According to Georges, the main room is the Beast’s Ballroom. It will be very grand in scale where guests will be able to sit and take in the entire environment. The darkest and smallest of the 3 rooms is the West Wing – the Beast’s private antechamber where no one was allowed to go. Only the Beast was ‘allowed in this room,’ but now guests will be able to go in and experience what only the Beast saw. There will also be special effects including the rose with the petals falling off and a lightening effect that will bring the portrait of the Prince to life and transform him into the Beast. In the Castle Gallery guests will dine in splendor in a space that completely comes to life. The Gallery will be lined with portraits and tapestries that will tell the back-story – in a magical way – of who the castle staff was before it was cursed. At night the Gallery will become a sit-down restaurant.
Dumbo’s new area will become a 3-Ring Circus with an expanded Dumbo ride – actually 2 separate Flying Dumbo rides that will be side-by-side. What makes this unique is that there will be no queue, but a covered, interactive play area for kids and kids-at-heart, as well as bleachers for guests to sit down. Guests will get a “feather” upon entering and when your “feather” is called you proceed to one of the two Flying Dumbo rides. Also pictured in the park illustrations was Casey Jr’s Circus Train. During the press conference, Jon Georges was asked about the circus train and would it be in the area. He said that they are looking for opportunities for Casey Jr., and they might re-vision him and he may be used in a different way.
The Second Phase will be Pixie Hollow. This section, expected to be completed in 2013, will be the new home for not only Tinker Belle, but also all her friends.
When asked about the fact that it was heavily themed to girls with all the princesses and fairies, Jon Georges said, “We are really making great strides to broaden the appeal to not just little girls and not just little boys, but to families in general.” He continues to say, “Some of the early play tests we had… at Imagineering have really been great to show how we can take those classic stories from those films which really appeal to everyone. They have dragons and princes and swordfights and there’s great villains in every one of those films… you’re gonna get more than just the ball gown dress and the princess in the room. We really… excited about making it an attraction for everyone.”
Eric Jacobson, another Disney Imagineer, said that they are also constantly updating the other side of Fantasyland with major re-dos to Peter Pan’s Flight and It’s A Small World.
The Walt Disney Parks and Resorts are always changing and evolving to bring new experiences and create memories every time someone visits. As Jay Rasulo said in his keynote presentation, “Storytelling is the DNA of Disney dreams and we’re always exploring new ways to tell new stories in new places.”
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