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Once Upon a Time 1-15: Red-Handed

I never in a million years would have guessed where they were going with last night’s episode of Once Upon a Time. Well, okay, maybe I figured some of it out early on, but they still managed to throw some twists I wasn’t expecting. I think this was the darkest trip to Fairy Tale we’ve had yet.

I find it easiest to break the episode into the two settings, so I’m going to keep doing that, starting with Fairy Tale. We meet up with Red as she is flirting with Peter, her long time friend turned boyfriend through the window on Granny’s cottage. But it doesn’t last long because Granny insists that the cabin be locked up tight. A group of hunters even comes to the door talking about tracking and killing the wolf that terrorizes the village, but Granny says the best approach is to stay inside and wait out his time, two more days. Granny also insists that Red wear her famous red cloak because it repels wolves.Read More »Once Upon a Time 1-15: Red-Handed

Storybook Circus Soft Opening Update

Storybook Circus - New Fantasyland at Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom
A new poster lays out current and future attractions, stores, and dining coming to Storybook Circus. I love that Humphrey the Bear is there. I wonder if he’s replaced The Three Little Pigs who were featured on previous posters.

Took a few days of vacation last week, but returned just in time for the Magic Kingdom to do a soft opening of the first small portion of the New Fantasyland expansion on Tuesday. Storybook Circus opened half of the relocated Dumbo – The Flying Elephant. The Barnstormer returned with its new Great Goofini theme, and the Fantasyland Train Station returned with new restrooms and a tribute to Walt’s past.

This portion of Storybook Circus was not supposed to open until March 24th or so. But hotel occupancy forecasts that revised the Spring Break crowd expectations upwards forced Disney to race ahead and open the attractions 12 days early. I must say that every cast member was up to the task and very helpful. Details are obviously still being worked out in a few places, but signs of fore-thought were abundant too. All in all a great effort and result from Walt Disney World and the Magic Kingdom.

There are so many great details, I took a ton of photos and still didn’t capture but a fraction. You may have already seen a few in my post made live from the park yesterday. I’m not sure how many parts this post will have, but I know it will be more than one. So let’s get to it.

Here is a sort of overview of what I saw today, we’ll come back in and fill in the gaps in future posts.

Storybook Circus - New Fantasyland at Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom
The first sign guests got that today would be different, was a new guidemap with an old image of Dumbo on the cover.

Storybook Circus - New Fantasyland at Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom
Inside, the map reflects the soft opened area of the New Fantasyland expansion. They even show only one side of Dumbo being open. However, #35 has a caveat.

Read More »Storybook Circus Soft Opening Update

Storybook Circus Soft Opening Photos

With spring break crowds already in town, the Magic Kingdom put the rush on to open at least part of Storybook Circus to help alleviate the crush. Here are some of the first photos to hit the net. More later!

A Special Preview of the “Be Our Guest” Restaurant in New Fantasyland

Conceived to help alleviate some of the stress on Cinderella’s Royal Table, the Be Our Guest restaurant will transport guests into the world of Beauty & The Beast, one of Walt Disney Animation’s most loved movies. In this video, provided by WDI, Senior Concept Designer… Read More »A Special Preview of the “Be Our Guest” Restaurant in New Fantasyland

Wishcasting the 2013 Disney Legends

The 2013 D23 Expo dates have been set (August 9th through the 11th) and that means a new crop of Disney Legends. If you don’t know, the Disney Legend award is one of the highest honors you can receive from the Disney Company for your… Read More »Wishcasting the 2013 Disney Legends

Newsies Moves Into New Home on Broadway – Excitement Abounds

Every wonder about the glamorous life of a Broadway star when they’re backstage behind the curtains? Looks like it’s full of surprises for everyone. The cast of Disney’s Newsies The Musical just got an introduction to their new theater, The Nederlander, where they’ll be performing… Read More »Newsies Moves Into New Home on Broadway – Excitement Abounds

Tonto and The Lone Ranger – First Picture of Legendary Duo

Producer Jerry Bruckheimer did every Disney fan a favor when he recently tweeted the first image from the set of The Lone Ranger. It gives us our first glance at Johnny Depp as Tonto and Armie Hammer as the Lone Ranger. Production began at the… Read More »Tonto and The Lone Ranger – First Picture of Legendary Duo

Installing Sorcerer Mickey at EPCOT’s Entrance

Due to a family vacation, I’ve not yet found my way to this year’s Flower & Garden Festival at EPCOT. But after watching this behind the scenes video of the installation of the Sorcerer Mickey Topiary at the park’s entrance. Looks grand.