Big news in this weeks Magic Kingdom Update. NextGen makes its next big leap into the parks, new Fantasyland grows taller, and Big Thunder Mountain rebuilds, plus other great stories. So let’s get to it.
New signs have been installed in Town Square and Liberty Square directing guests toward the Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom game stations.
Of course, it helps if the sign points in the right direction. This one would send guests out of Liberty Square, back toward Main Street. I guess they’d get there eventually.
As you may have heard, the NextGen Fastpass+ experience has begun testing this week. It’s a temporary test to try a few ideas about the system. A few selected guests are given a card with an RFID chip in it and a fixed itinerary of rides and attractions to enjoy. Each ride on the Fastpass+ network has a terminal at the entrance of the queue and at the merge point.
These stations are rumored to be temporary, so I’m not quite as bothered by the poor matching of cement colors in front of the Haunted Mansion.
The units themselves are a pole with a small ball on the top There are lights and sound features that will activate when your RFID card is cleared to enter.
I hope to get a photo soon.
Nice view of the castle, I wonder how much longer that crane will be there.
Even though Rapunzel has moved to Town Square, her old area hasn’t had much work done on it yet. Brave’s Princess Merida will move in here eventually.
Some great details work in the rocks are meant to evoke sea shells (or cinnamon buns).
A construction wall has been added near the Prince Charming Carousel and work continues on the new Fantasyland Castle Walls in the background.
The new bathrooms coming to the old Skyway station space is progressing. That retaining wall in the background looks to extend the backstage space.
Moving over to Storybook Circus, we learned that this vista will be occupied by a new yellow ‘tent’. It will alternatively be smaller food location (think carts) or a rest and relaxation zone with a place to recharge electronic devices. How about a combination of both?
Animals have moved in to the Casey Jr water zone. This was just announced to open in July, but it looks like it might be ready sooner.
The two temporary tents are still here, they just have a new larger outer structure. It gives the tents that classic circus tent shape the old tents did not have, but also doubles as hardening against storms. It was also confirmed that the red tent will house a character meet & greet, just not which characters.
Moving over to Dumbo, which was the other attraction announced for July, you can see assembly moving ahead on the second spinner. But there’s also a lot of brick work and pathways coming to that area. It will have a different feel than the other side, for sure.
Zooming in to the background a little bit, you see more work on the Mine Train coaster. The brown beams will hold the track and the gray beams support the show building. The main section you see there is actually the 2nd lift of the coaster.
They’re finally repainting the 2nd half of the Dumbo ‘tent’.
Work on the track for Big Thunder is pretty much done. But the main queue area is seeing lots of love and attention. Completely new siding, a lot of new roof work, and a re-alignment of the queue inside the building are all under way.
If you look close here you can see they’re adding a new queue area to the rock work.
Finally, you know it’s going to be a busy day when they’ve set out extra tables at Casey’s.
Thanks for coming with me on this journey. Which attraction are you most looking forward to?
I miss Thunder Mountain! Can’t wait to see the updates!
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