new changes to the Fantasyland Expansion

[Zipadeedooda]

Excited for the mine ride, how intense will it be. Like a thunder mountain or barnstormer. Bummed about the meet and greet, but swsa was getting a little boring. I mainly rode it for the nostalgic purposes.

[JNota0005DakMC]

A friend of mine visited WDW for the first time last spring and HATED Snow White. So much so that she skipped Peter Pan and Winnie the Pooh, expecting it to be just as bad. Yes, for nostalgia purposes, they're great rides. But when it comes to cutting edge, state-of-the-art these dark rides are not. Eventually, I can see more rides going away in favor of things that will draw today's crowds back. Universal Studios was deserted until they put in the amazing (or so I've heard... haven't been there yet) Harry Potter area. No, I have zero interest in the books, but I'd certainly go to check out how they've incorporated the technology into the area and ride.

What does surprise me is that they are taking away a "fun for the whole family" ride and replacing it with a second Barnstormer. Adios, kid's rides.

Mike I think my problem with SWSA isn't that it's closing... Even though it's an opening day attraction your right... It really doesnt do justice like it used to... My issue is the fact that they are putting a m&g there... It just seems like a slap in the face to the original imagineers... Here's your ride... It's old so we're making a meet and greet out of it...

[Flotsam&Jetsam]

I thought I read somewhere that the original vision for the new area was going to be mainly meet and greets. Has this changed and they are moving the location?

[doconeill]

I thought I read somewhere that the original vision for the new area was going to be mainly meet and greets. Has this changed and they are moving the location?

There were separate meet and greet areas for Belle, Cinderella, and Aurora I believe, spread around the area that will now be the mine coaster. There was a lot of criticism that it was a LOT of space just for those M&G (plus the Pixie Hollow area), now with separate lines that currently are serviced by one (and just one wait), and made the FLE extremely "girl oriented". So they nixed the M&G and Pixie Hollow areas, rearranged a couple of things, and added the mine coaster. The princesses will still have their M&G, but it will be relocated from Toontown to what is now SWSA. The pixies are apparently expelled from MK, with Tink temporarily over at DHS and the rest of them at Epcot at least during F&G Festival.

[HauntedGabe]

A friend of mine visited WDW for the first time last spring and HATED Snow White. So much so that she skipped Peter Pan and Winnie the Pooh, expecting it to be just as bad. Yes, for nostalgia purposes, they're great rides. But when it comes to cutting edge, state-of-the-art these dark rides are not. Eventually, I can see more rides going away in favor of things that will draw today's crowds back. Universal Studios was deserted until they put in the amazing (or so I've heard... haven't been there yet) Harry Potter area. No, I have zero interest in the books, but I'd certainly go to check out how they've incorporated the technology into the area and ride.

What does surprise me is that they are taking away a "fun for the whole family" ride and replacing it with a second Barnstormer. Adios, kid's rides.

Since my kids were preschoolers we have not spent a lot of time in Fantasyland. We'd hit Peter Pan late at night if the line was very short.
So much is dated. While the little ones love Pooh, I expected more out of that ride when it had its original entrance. Snow scares small children and bores older ones. PP is cool for me 'cause of how you fly over, but in reality, if this was a new attraction guests wouldn't be wowing it. You look inside Splash Mountain and you see what imagineers are or were capable of.

Hoping with all Disney tosses the area is nicer than it is. They need something for small kids to do that will not bore the heck out of their older siblings and parents. Disney continues to catch up to Universal and Isles on several levels. Uni's kids attractions are fun, colorful and interactive.
The silly carousel and all the fun themes in Seuss Land grabs little kids right in. Frankly Snow doesn't do that for the small.

Mike I think my problem with SWSA isn't that it's closing... Even though it's an opening day attraction your right... It really doesnt do justice like it used to... My issue is the fact that they are putting a m&g there... It just seems like a slap in the face to the original imagineers... Here's your ride... It's old so we're making a meet and greet out of it...

I'm holding out hope that the Princess meet in greet will not be a forever thing. Hoping that when Disney re-vamped their ideas about the Fairy land that maybe they do not have time or money to overhaul Snow with everything else that is going on back there. Trading Mickey & Friends for a little girl heavy Princess M & G to me isn't endearing young boys to Disney, their parents would be better off taking them to the other park.
So I'm thinking temporary.

[ohiodisneydad]

Didn't SWSA just go through a refurb where it was toned down a bit to make it less frightening?

[Veritas]

So the gist of this I'm getting is

No Fairies
Voyage of the Little mermaid is still on
Dumbos Circus/Dueling Dumbos is till on
Meet and Greets are on life support and the be our guest dining area is still a go?

[ohiodisneydad]

Someone know when SWSA is scheduled to close?

[Sonny Eclipse]

Excited for the mine ride, how intense will it be. Like a thunder mountain or barnstormer. Bummed about the meet and greet, but swsa was getting a little boring. I mainly rode it for the nostalgic purposes.

My thoughts exactly.

[JNota0005DakMC]

I'm holding out hope that the Princess meet in greet will not be a forever thing. Hoping that when Disney re-vamped their ideas about the Fairy land that maybe they do not have time or money to overhaul Snow with everything else that is going on back there. Trading Mickey & Friends for a little girl heavy Princess M & G to me isn't endearing young boys to Disney, their parents would be better off taking them to the other park.
So I'm thinking temporary.

thats the hope i have... it is pretty embarrassing that they replace an opening day attraction with a meet and greet... i think thats whats making this whole thing difficult for people... not the attraction leaving... but what is replacing it...

Didn't SWSA just go through a refurb where it was toned down a bit to make it less frightening?

i wanna say that refurb was in the mid 90's so its been a while anyway...

[doconeill]

Someone know when SWSA is scheduled to close?

it isn't on the public schedule yet, and it probably won't be for quite a while - at least until some of the new stuff is opened I would think. The princesses are already getting temporary quarters on Main St.

[supernova]

The fairy people were always a wasted story expansion for me, anyway. And the fact that they bothered to bring them into the parks was just stupid. Keep Tinkerbell around if you must, but don't be bringing out red, blue and silver fairies just to give a few more local high school kids work.

The one thing Fantasyland really could use is one good dining option. Maybe this Beauty and the Beast one will work. However it needs to be a lot less expensive than that silly castle character meal thing. Other than make money hand-over-fist for Disney, why would you have something so cramped and difficult to get a reservation for?

As for Pooh, the crazy Japanese found a way to make their version a trackless system. The cars glide along the floor using sensors, and it still hops and swirls, just like the ride at WDW does. Similar ride, far more advanced technology, which should only lead to vast opportunities for Tokyo Disneyland in the future.

Dumbo? I guess the only way to expand that one is to go up and have two levels somehow, or to do the double ride. Still, it's as basic a carnival ride as you can get (replace Dumbo with horses, pigs, birds, rocket ships... oh wait, Disney did that) and it's any other ride at any other travelling carnival). This lineless system is either going to catch on or fall way flat. Time will tell.

[NC_WDW_Daddy]

I do not think all these changes to MK are necessarily a bad thing. When Toad left and Pooh came in, I thought it was terrible until I saw that my kids related to Pooh in a way they did not relate to Toad. Overall, I think updating and keeping the parks fresh is the way to go.

[supernova]

Here's their chance to incorporate Cars into the Speedway and remove the entrance from the ill-placed Tomorrowland. Gokarts are yesterday, not tomorrow.

[N.J.boy@N.C.St.]

as I'm about to begin my sociology class...in short, chance is good, but don't mess it up...I'm all for more up to date stuff in Fantasyland, and as long as they do it right and everything fits well...however, change usually seems to work out well (in most cases) for Disney Parks