It’s time to wrap up this week’s tour of the Magic Kingdom and surrounding area. We’ve so far seen Storybook Circus and New Fantasyland construction, but there’s a ton of other activity going on in the park. Fantasyland is definitely never going to be the… Read More »Magic Kingdom Photo Update – Part 3 – Around the World
Update: Just added part three with a lot more from around the Magic Kingdom.
In part one of this week’s Magic Kingdom Photo Update we covered some of the latest details to show up in Storybook Circus. Now we’re venturing into the rest of the Fantasyland expansion project. It too is racing toward completion. Limited soft openings are already underway at the Enchanted Tales with Belle attraction the more of the land could open by late October or early November. The Seven Dwarfs Mine Train is still on track for sometime in 2014, but they did lay the first track inside the ride this week. So that’s a step in the right direction for sure.
Starting with Beast’s castle they’ve re-installed scaffolding to erect the artificial trees that will go up at the top of that hill.
A peek through the wall gives us this great view of the menu podium and entrance sign for the Be Our Guest restaurant.
Read More »Magic Kingdom Photo Update – Part 2 – New Fantasyland Progress
Workers are all over the Magic Kingdom working on projects large and small. Changes are coming at such a rapid pace these days, it’s hard to keep pace with what’s new. Still, I have to try. Some of these pictures are a few days old, but I think they’re exciting anyway, and if you haven’t seen them, they’re new to you, right?. I’ve got almost 50 photos to share in this week’s photo update. We’ll cover New Fantasyland, Rapunzel’s Village, Tinker bell and more!
Today we’re going to get started with some of the final touches coming to Storybook Circus as the land races closer to opening. Make sure you scroll down to the end for a special treat you won’t want to miss. (Note: you can click on the image to see it larger, but you’ll have to click on the link to the full size image on that page to see it in the largest size I uploaded.)
The new Marquee for Storybook Circus is almost done. Looks nice too. Not quite as elaborate as the original concept art showed, but it fits in well with the rest of the area.
Read More »Magic Kingdom Photo Update – Part 1 – Storybook Circus Nears Finish
One of the features I really like about my camera, a Canon SX30, is its 35x optical zoom. I had an occasion to put it to a test last week when we dined at California Grill. It was nearing dusk and a huge rainstorm had just added significant amounts of water to the area and sending steam into the air. After walking out to the edge of the viewing platforms outside the restaurant on top of the Contemporary Hotel, I was able to get these images.
First is an image of a Magic Kingdom set in a reflection of light upon the water. It looks so beautiful I had to share.
On the other side of the water, the Grand Floridian DVC tower is coming together nicely.
Photos of New Fantasyland and more below the jump:
It’s been a few weeks since our last update and the construction at the Magic Kingdom has been moving at a quick pace. First, a little of the latest news:
Okay, let’s get on with the first part of our tour. It’s in two parts this week since we have a lot of photos to share:
The walls that separate old Fantasyland from new are nearing completion. There’s still some detail work to be done, but already there are some incredible elements leaking through. We love these ‘Coat of Arms’ that highlight classic Disney fairytales, including some that will have attractions behind the wall.
The other day as I strolled around EPCOT, I wondered why is ‘Future World’ stuck in the past. Of all the attractions only Mission: Space could be said to be forward looking. Spaceship Earth tacks a little choose your own adventure video on the end with a look forward, but the bulk of the ride is about the past. The rest of the ‘future attractions’ are really now ‘present day’ attractions. Why hasn’t Disney kept up with some of the latest technologies of the future?
Where are the ec0-friendly buildings, how about podcars (or other rapid transit innovations (Google Self Driving car anyone?)), and a view of what work will be like in the future. Recreate a portion of Masdar City, the first city designed to be energy neutral. Inspire guests with a vision of the future where technology is there to enable us to achieve even more as a planet.
Anyway, enough of that rant. There is change at the center, and I took a few pictures on my stroll. Here are some of the new things I saw in the park:
The cast member greeting position for the Seas with Finding Nemo pavilion has a new shade structure. It looks nice, but unfortunately they didn’t see fit to install a solar power fan for the cast member stationed there.
A close look at the floor reveals this is a future site of Fastpass Plus.
We’re back from the Magic Kingdom with another photo update. We check in on the progress around New Fantasyland, spot a number of new refurbishments going on in and around the park, and look at a few outstanding maintenance issues. Once again, based on the feedback from the last update, we are again using Google+ Hangout to record this video. It’s best viewed on full screen:
If you want to take a closer look at any of those photos, you can view them on our Google+ photo album.
Below the cut is a video Disney World created to inform its cast members about the Storybook Circus and New Fantasyland expansion. It contains some amazing footage from the other side of the construction walls and inside the rides and restaurants.
Ok. Bare with me as I try something new with the Magic Kingdom photo update. Rather than simply use a Google+ photo album, I’ve take advantage of the Google+ Hangout screenshare feature to capture a slideshow while I add a narrative over it. If you… Read More »Hanging Out in the Magic Kingdom Photo Update