Congratulations to everyone at the Magic Kingdom and especially those involved in the Fantasyland Expansion. With every major area of Storybook Circus now open to guests, I think we can safely say they have a real hit on their hands. The last section to open… Read More »Pete’s Silly Sideshow Meet & Greet Opens As Final Storybook Circus Area
Storybook Circus was the first area of the expanded Fantasyland area to open a few attractions at the Magic Kingdom. The backstory for the area is that a small circus has come to the small midwest town of Carolwood Park. Over the last few weeks, many of the final details have been added, but the land wasn’t completely open yet.
It’s still not completely open, but yesterday they opened Big Top Souvenirs and the new Fastpass distribution tent for the land. All that remains now is a little landscaping and Pete’s Silly Sideshow, the character meet and greet for the land.
When Imagineering originally wanted to redo the Toontown Fair area, the numbers folk at the park asked that they keep the large tent store since it’s one of the best performing stores per square foot in the park. So the imagineers compromised, give us the budget to really make the tent themed to a circus and we’ll redo our plans for the area to keep the tents.
Read More »Storybook Circus opens Big Top and Fastpass Distribution
Former Panel Members and fans pose for photos
We’re currently in the 5th year of the Walt Disney World Moms Panel social media outreach effort from Walt Disney Parks and Resorts. It started as a small panel of terrific travel planners (including a few Disney Dads) and has grown to really represent a large portion of Disney’s social media efforts. The whole experience now includes an expanded Disney mom’s network, a yearly convention and other events to go along with the online travel advice forum.
Before the event about 300 fans checked in and got acquainted on the 2nd floor of the Contemporary
I believe this is the fourth year for the Fan Appreciation event. It happens around the weekend of October 1st and is usually a small affair. But this year they brought in over 50 current and former members of the Disney Moms Panel and invited around 300 fans to the top of the Contemporary Hotel for a luncheon.
Today is my first chance to get out and explore the EPCOT Food & Wine Festival. I’m here as an invited media guest, which means I get access to a few places the day guest isn’t allowed. I’ll be sharing those and updating this post throughout the day with highlights of our excursions.
This the 17th annual International Food and Wine Festival at EPCOT and it includes more than 25 ethnic and regional marketplaces with tantalizing new drinks and flavors to explore around the World Showcase. The culinary event has even been named one of the Best Food and Wine Festivals by Travel Channel.
Foodie will celebrate with these new experiences: a new chocolate tasting, fresh Florida Local flavors, and the first marketplace with vegan cuisine. The festival also introduces its first watermelon patch, brings back the popular cranberry bog experience, and continues the nightly “Eat to the Beat” concert series — this year, featuring acts including Smash Mouth, Blues Traveler, Boyz II Men, and the Pointer Sisters.
Photos continue below :
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
The 2012 International Food & Wine Festival at EPCOT officially opens tomorrow, however, the food booths are open today as a soft opening. It will run for 46 days until November 16th and is one of the most popular food festivals in the world. Chefs… Read More »EPCOT Food & Wine Festival Launches Tomorrow
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