Fantasyland Refurb: It's Official!

[DisneyFanaticDargon]

EVEN the Little Mermaid attraction, for which they have *most* of the attraction building already constructed, will not be complete until 2011, and they are ALREADY working inside the building. So, if they are thinking of doing a Little Mermaid attraction in the 20K lagoon site, that ride will take a LONG time to construct (the building...), I would think. Half of 2009 is already over.

Bear in mind that The Little Mermaid in DCA had to go into a pre-existing building which needed to be gutted and remodeled both inside and out before they could begin serious construction.

At MK, this step isn't necessary because Disney has had the land where this attraction would go cleared for some time. All that would be needed would be to construct the attraction on the empty land, and they wouldn't even need to impede guest walkways to do it.

Although, yes, I do agree, sometimes construction projects like this take a lot of time. When I worked at Studios in fall of '06 they were already doing work on the then-empty building that now houses Toy Story Mania, long before it was announced, and that didn't even open until summer of 2008.

[brownie]

I would hate to see Toontown go. I really liked the iteration at Disneyland, so I'd hope if they were making changes they'd improve what's there instead of removing it.

Seeing as how there's been no official announcement, this is all speculation. Plans can change even after something is announced.

[DisneyOtaku]

Some of these changes sound really great! Personally, I'm all for getting rid of Toontown and retheming it--but then again, I was a little girl when it was Mickey's Birthday Land and loved every inch of it, and was sad when it changed to Toontown, so maybe I'm just a bit bitter.

In any case, these changes would take a long time to bring about. Be interesting to see what Disney will do.

[Buttercup]

First, I LOVE the ideas they have and hope they implement most, if not all of them. Although that new castle wall looks like it's going to block people in, where Fantasyland is already a bottleneck of people.
BUT. As much as I find Mickey's Toontown fairly boring, I wonder -- if they remove it to expand Fantasyland, will there be ANY sign of Mickey Mouse & the gang in the park? I guess Philharmagic is the only place.
If it were me (and I wish it was!) I would somehow keep Mickey & Minnie's houses, and then refurb the rest of Toontown to Fantasyland. Even if their houses weren't left in that area, but moved somewhere else? Not even sure where they would fit in. But some kind of little 'tribute' area to Mickey & his pals would be appropriate I think.

[GrumpyFan]

Yeah, but how is just leaking some blue-sky plans going to keep anybody from going to Harry Potter Land??? If you like HP, you like it.....a cad drawing of an enchanted forest idea isn't going to change anyone's mind about diddly.

Now if they actually get on the stick and follow through with some REAL Disney magic and sizzle....*breath is held* then your talking turkey!!! It might cause some pause in how folks dole out their vacation dollars.

Disney doesn't actually need a new attraction to steal some of the Buzz from Universal and HP. All they need to do is make a couple of press announcements around the same time, and put up some construction walls, and boom, instant buzz-kill. Why, you ask? Because, regardless of what Universal does, everybody still looks to Disney to see what they're going to do next. Universal may have the upper-hand for the short future, but if these rumors are true, then Disney WILL respond with their own announcements of something new.

[yjgirl32]

I love all the new changes- EXCEPT I too still love the fab five. I hope they don't take away from the fact that it all started with a mouse. I also wish they would get a character dining in somewhere for boys.

I am all for expanding for more princess stuff- it's selling and is a huge success, but still would like to see 1 character dining with like buzz or woody.

[Ian]

Personally, I think Disney needs to be scared of Wizarding Worlds.

I know a lot of Disney geeks pooh-pooh the idea that it's going to affect Walt Disney World all that much, but I don't agree.

I think people will FLOCK to Universal to see Harry Potter. The most recent movie just opened to the largest audience ever in movie history and there are still two films to go. This franchise will probably ride high for at least a decade and Universal is going to reap massive rewards from that.

And I think the fact that Universal paid through the nose to get the rights over Disney bears out that both Disney and Universal feel the same way.

[gueli]

Personally, I think Disney needs to be scared of Wizarding Worlds.

I know a lot of Disney geeks pooh-pooh the idea that it's going to affect Walt Disney World all that much, but I don't agree.

I think people will FLOCK to Universal to see Harry Potter. The most recent movie just opened to the largest audience ever in movie history and there are still two films to go. This franchise will probably ride high for at least a decade and Universal is going to reap massive rewards from that.

And I think the fact that Universal paid through the nose to get the rights over Disney bears out that both Disney and Universal feel the same way.

I agree. HP can be an effective tool to get disney customers to universal. My next trip is disney, but what about the one after that ? Is the HP appeal a draw- yes, especially to me and to countless other adults and teens/early twenties who have read the books. If universal does it right ( I've heard rumors that they have - even former imangineers working on the project) than they will influence where my money is spent.

Back to the original thread,
I think it is wise for disney to be spending money at the parks, updating and rehabbing. It helps keep me comming back for more.

Please lets keep somewhat on topic, before this thread gets closed...

[CaptSmee]

this would rock!

[antngoof89]

Screamscape just released something stating that this leak was on purpose in response to HP land. Apparently there is rumour that there will be a small amount of this done in FL and new attractions at each of the 4 parks.

Opinions?

[BrerGnat]

I have to chime in on the HP angle as well...

NOTHING that Disney does will keep me from visiting IOA at least ONCE to see HP Land. I like IOA, but after visiting three times, I was sort of over it. I'm waiting for Wizarding World to open up to draw me back again. And it will.

BUT...I will still return to WDW as my primary vacation destination when I travel to Orlando. But that's just me. I would NOT book a trip to Orlando *just* for the Wizarding World...IOA will still just be a day trip for me. Yes, it may take away a day that I *might* otherwise spend at a Disney park, or maybe not. Most often, I only get a 5 day hopper pass at WDW...but I stay a week. One of those "off" days will be an IOA day...

However, I don't discount that some people will stay longer at Universal/IOA to experience Wizarding World, AND if Disney were to offer up an EQUAL draw over at WDW, then maybe they would think twice. But really, it would have to be something HUGE...a Fantasyland retheme is not gonna cut it. As mentioned by a previous poster, they'd have to go all out in a BIG way in more than one park to make an impact large enough to draw people AWAY from IOA who might otherwise spend more than one day there to experience HP land...

[bwgens]

Ok, I have a couple thoughts on whats been discussed here.

1) I think the plans are real, but not necessarily the final version of what they are thinking.

2) I think it is great that Disney is "scared" of HP, that can lead to nothing but more attractions and increased overall spending in the parks for the near future.

3) I believe that this is just the start of what we'll be hearing. With Lasseter seemingly being more involved in whats going on with the parks, I can't see there being any shortcuts or cheapining of whats to be done. Maybe HP will be the excuse he needs to really amp up what his vision for the parks may be. Only time will tell on this one I guess...

4) Lastly, I wonder if with the timeline being discussed here, if we could have the possibility of there being an announcement of some kind at the D23 convention in September. All of the major players would be there, and what better place to make an announcement of this kind than in front of thousands of Disney fans, including myself, that will be there?

In the end, it is just fun to be discussing what could be coming to the Disney parks, DCA included.

[antngoof89]

Ok, I have a couple thoughts on whats been discussed here.

1) I think the plans are real, but not necessarily the final version of what they are thinking.

2) I think it is great that Disney is "scared" of HP, that can lead to nothing but more attractions and increased overall spending in the parks for the near future.

3) I believe that this is just the start of what we'll be hearing. With Lasseter seemingly being more involved in whats going on with the parks, I can't see there being any shortcuts or cheapining of whats to be done. Maybe HP will be the excuse he needs to really amp up what his vision for the parks may be. Only time will tell on this one I guess...

4) Lastly, I wonder if with the timeline being discussed here, if we could have the possibility of there being an announcement of some kind at the D23 convention in September. All of the major players would be there, and what better place to make an announcement of this kind than in front of thousands of Disney fans, including myself, that will be there?

In the end, it is just fun to be discussing what could be coming to the Disney parks, DCA included.

It is a lot of fun to be discussing what could be happening at the parks, but honestly, I think Disney really may revamp a lot of things, maybe not neccesarily because of the HP park, but because of a new chairman for disney having an excuse to really pump out some ideas. Two years ago Disney released pumping up DCA and seeing the vacation videos for Disney, I really wouldn't mind going to Disneyland for that park. Perhaps since that is going over well they may take this as a cue to do something big for WDW since nothing has been done really that big since AK.

[3Cabsfan]

Just saying goodbye to ToonTown would be a great refurbishment!

[DizneyFreak2002]

My understanding is that the plans were to be announced at D23, and then a formal media day in Orlando would give full details... And now that the plans have slipped, there are some pretty mad people inside the company....

[DisneyFanaticDargon]

My understanding is that the plans were to be announced at D23, and then a formal media day in Orlando would give full details... And now that the plans have slipped, there are some pretty mad people inside the company....

Why? Because there's 1 random blueprint floating around the internet with no real explanation as to what it contains? There's only so much guesswork that we can do. Anything that Disney officially says about it is whats going to actually get us really excited.

[Marceline]

Why? Because there's 1 random blueprint floating around the internet with no real explanation as to what it contains? There's only so much guesswork that we can do. Anything that Disney officially says about it is whats going to actually get us really excited.

I agree. A few Disney fanatics on a handful of message boards isn't going to steal their thunder one bit. The general public and other fans who haven't gotten word will still be very interested in any announcements of large scale upgrades to MK. If anything the leak gives us some anticipation to chew on and the brass some minor feedback on the plan.

[Ian]

I agree. A few Disney fanatics on a handful of message boards isn't going to steal their thunder one bit. The general public and other fans who haven't gotten word will still be very interested in any announcements of large scale upgrades to MK. If anything the leak gives us some anticipation to chew on and the brass some minor feedback on the plan.

Actually, I disagree.

I think the only people who get worked up over this stuff are Disney nerds. The general public, by and large, really has no idea what's in Disney World (except for the obvious Small World, Pirates, etc.) and really doesn't care.

They go once-in-a-lifetime because they have to. Frankly, they're more likely to be annoyed by the construction than anything else.

This kind of stuff is really aimed towards the dweebs like us that are there 5 times a year or more.

[DisneyFanaticDargon]

The general public, by and large, really has no idea what's in Disney World (except for the obvious Small World, Pirates, etc.) and really doesn't care.

True. These are the same people that refer to Magic Kingdom as Disney World/Disneyland and have the nerve to act shocked when they show up around Christmas thinking it'd be a good time to go, and instead discover it's packed wall-to-wall. In my opinion, their lack of research and desire to learn a little bit about Disney lets them get what they deserve.

[Mousemates]

True. These are the same people that refer to Magic Kingdom as Disney World/Disneyland and have the nerve to act shocked when they show up around Christmas thinking it'd be a good time to go, and instead discover it's packed wall-to-wall. In my opinion, their lack of research and desire to learn a little bit about Disney lets them get what they deserve.

hey...don't be bashing the "dumb folks" who go at Christmas...it is a great time to go...infact we do it every year.