Media Briefing on What's Next at The Magic Kingdom

[Figment!]

Fairies, parties en route to Magic Kingdom




by Dewayne Bevil
Orlando Sentinel's Theme Park Rangers
September 24, 2008

Just got in from a Disney media briefing, and there are things to share.

First: Fairies. It was billed as their first-ever appearance. Pardon the banquet tables.

Here they are (http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/photos/uncategorized/2008/09/24/fairiesdsc02554.jpg)from left: Fawn, an animal fairy; Rosetta, a garden fairy; Tinker Bell; Silvermist, a water fairy; and Iridessa, a light fairy. I think it's safe to say that Disney hopes the fairies take off like the princesses did.

This part of the briefing was tied to the official announcement of Pixie Hollow, which will open in Magic Kingdom on Oct. 24, four days before the long-awaited Tinker Bell animated feature becomes available on DVD and Blu-ray.

Many of the other details have been bouncing around the Internet, of course: Pixie Hollow will be in Toon Town; a corridor will "shrink" guests from human world to fairy-tale world; it will run continuously through the day and involve storytelling as well as meet-and-greet photo opportunities. The fairies will talk.

You can learn more about Disney Fairies at disneyfairies.com.

...

Francois Leroux, an executive with Walt Disney World Entertainment, shared some facts about the street parties and the Tomorrowland Party.

The street party will go up Main Street and set up shop for a stop at Cinderella Castle. This is happen three times a day and feature dancers and characters in colorful costuming. They will encourage everyone to celebrate something. It will be very musical. Two words: conga line. (I'm getting a variation on the Block Party Bash vibe here).

The Tomorrowland Party will be in a new area set up between Space Mountain and Carousel of Progress. "There's nothing there now," Leroux says. The continuous theme will be reports from the Tomorrow News Network ("news from the galaxy"). Expect more audience participation, live interaction (think Crush over at Epcot) and sightings of Wall-E, Buzz Lightyear and Stitch.

Unrelated but interesting: No word still on what will become of the Cinderella Suite in the castle. Since we're still in the Year of a Million Dreams, don't expect to hear anything until after the first of the year, we were told.

[like2workout]

figment - thanks! i always look forward to the updates from you!

[hoop de do]

Thanks Jason. We're going to miss their debut, we come back on the 11th. We'll catch them on our next trip. :thumbsup::thumbsup:

[January-2007]

:thumbsup:

[MickeyMomof2]

We are going in November. My daughter is going to be so excited!

[LauraleeH]

I'm excited!!! I just wish this had happened two years ago when I was OBSESSED with Tink. My entire room and wardrobe revolved around Tink. Now I have maybe 3 or 4 things left (Sold everything else) and I'm not as crazy about it as I would have been. Still...it will be interesting to see.

[tinksmom02]

Thanks, Jason! Sure wish the fairies room would've been ready for our trip last week. Oh, well.

Thanks again!

[pdrlkr]

Thanks Jason! :thumbsup: :mickey:

[Goofy4TheWorld]

The street party will go up Main Street and set up shop for a stop at Cinderella Castle. This is happen three times a day and feature dancers and characters in colorful costuming. They will encourage everyone to celebrate something. It will be very musical. Two words: conga line. (I'm getting a variation on the Block Party Bash vibe here).

What exactly does this mean? Will there be a "conga line" parade 3 times a day, in addition to Spectromagic 2 times (sometimes) a day?

If so, it sounds like Main Street would be near-non-stop gridlock.

[Pop Centurion]

Thanks for the report.

[CaptainJessicaSparrow]

Ohhhh Iridessa looks so cute! I got to work with her a while back!

The room for the Fairies is very nice so far. It'll be a lot of fun.

[joelkfla]

What exactly does this mean? Will there be a "conga line" parade 3 times a day, in addition to Spectromagic 2 times (sometimes) a day?

If so, it sounds like Main Street would be near-non-stop gridlock.
No more so than now.

It will undoubtedly replace the Family Fun Day Parade, the current guest-interactive parade that runs down Main Street 3 times a day.

[SurferStitch]

Cool! The Fairies debut on our last day in WDW. We'll have to check them out before we leave.

[Bethanymouse]

For some reason I am not that excited about the fairy room. I am old school in my thought that Tink should not be a meet and greet. I love Tink, but she should be the magical fairy that flies from the castle at night. I think that they are making her too available and she is going to lose her magic. Just my opinion.

The street parade will be ok, I mean it basically replaces the Family fun day. I was hoping for something a bit more exciting, not sure what, but this just doesnt do it for me the same way Cinderella's castle, Toy Story Mania, and dream team did. Just my two cents

[EmISeeKayEeWhy]

I'm so happy about this, there is no bigger fan of Tink than my DD7. Her room,her wardrobe,everything Tink. It was so hard on our previous trip to explain to her, why my other DD(2 att) was able to meet her favorite (Belle) and she couldn't meet hers. Now this Nov, she can! I can't wait to tell her.

[EmISeeKayEeWhy]

For some reason I am not that excited about the fairy room. I am old school in my thought that Tink should not be a meet and greet. I love Tink, but she should be the magical fairy that flies from the castle at night. I think that they are making her too available and she is going to lose her magic. Just my opinion.

The street parade will be ok, I mean it basically replaces the Family fun day. I was hoping for something a bit more exciting, not sure what, but this just doesnt do it for me the same way Cinderella's castle, Toy Story Mania, and dream team did. Just my two cents
I understand your feelings on this, but I guess you have to get used to the fact (I just came to the realization myself lol) that they need to start catering to the newer generations. Like it or not MK is for the children. And we're at the point in time where I dare say that most children don't even know 50% of past Disney Chars. Heck, according to my DD's Ariel has been around since the beginning of Disney! Anyway back to my point, kids today will mostly know a talking Tink, for us it's sad because it's the ending of an era. I can imagine how our parents felt during a turning point. Only thing we can do is smile and get that warm feeling by watching our children's reactions and feel the magic through them.

[Aurora]

I am surprised at how "un-sparkly" the fairies look! Did they run out of pixie dust or is that just the photo?

[yjgirl32]

Thanks for the info. My Aunt will be very very glad to hear this.

[justice11]

i have to agree with you bethanymouse i seen the pictures and have decided we will not take the kids to see tink. she is supposed to be really tiny and magical. they did not look magical at all, they look like they have wal-mart costumes on.

[SurferStitch]

i have to agree with you bethanymouse i seen the pictures and have decided we will not take the kids to see tink. she is supposed to be really tiny and magical. they did not look magical at all, they look like they have wal-mart costumes on.

In the press release they state that you are magically transformed to Tink's "true" fairy size. So, little kids will think they are being shrunk down to her size. Children too old to believe that probably also don't believe that Tink is a real being, so the size thing doesn't really matter. They are just like the rest of us....they pretend everything is real and love to get pics with the characters. Nothing wrong with that.

Also, I'm sure with the proper lighting, and much higher quality photography, the fairies will look much more magical. You could make out some shimmery accents on all of their costumes in the photo. Plus, the fairies aren't very glittery in the animation....so why should they be all glittered up in real life?

[casey@bat]

I already told my kids about the magical room. My DD4 is sooooooo excited! She asked me how they would shrink us. I said,"I don't know." She can't wait to go and neither can I!!! I will be videoing and taking pix the whole time!

[lockedoutlogic]

The important thing i take outta this is that Disney has their priorities right....

Instead of bothering to development new attractions that appeal to a broad audience....

They have instead decided to throw down a few thousand a year on employees to "create" new photo ops and street parades that are aimed exclusively at 8 year old girls and to encourage the movement of product from gift shop shelves....

Sorry to be a downer.....but this is another salvo fired in the role out of Disney's "Depression Mode" gameplan....

eliminate shows.....marketing campaigns aimed at nothing and costing nothing....."interactive character experiences"

and only construction for timeshare units...

I know i'll get sneered at for this....but let's face it: many...if not most of you are thinking the same thing

[SurferStitch]

Harsh.

There are plenty of non-8 year olds who have been wanting a Tink meet and greet for a while now. I think it's a wonderful addition. I also think the other fairies are beautiful.

I will agree, though...I am sick of the time shares.

As for more attractions, I'm satisfied. Toy Story Mania is new, and apparently, very well liked by adults and kids. MK has the Laugh Floor (somewhat new) and updates to HM and PotC. Epcot has Nemo (again, not brand new, but new), and AK has EE and Nemo. I don't expect big, new, amazing additions to every park every year. Even after 12 or 13 days on a WDW vacation, DH and I are FAR from bored with what's offered.

Then again, I tend to be a glass half full girl, and I appreciate WDW and everything it has to offer. DH and I have nothing but magical vacations there, and getting to see one of my very favorite characters for a photo op (after Stitch, of course) is magic to me.

[SFTrny]

Harsh.

There are plenty of non-8 year olds who have been wanting a Tink meet and greet for a while now.

Eight year olds?!?!? I know a lot of 30 and 40 year olds who are dying for a Tink meet and greet! :D

[SurferStitch]

Eight year olds?!?!? I know a lot of 30 and 40 year olds who are dying for a Tink meet and greet! :D

My point exactly.....and I'm one of them!! :D

[lockedoutlogic]

meet tinkerbell?

ok.....hmmmm:confused:

[lockedoutlogic]

just a clarification....

I'm not suggesting big new shiny rides every 6 months.....anyone with even a passing interest in WDW would know that that is not going to happen....

But don't laud them with all this credit for "new stuff"

they have toy story mania.....which is a good achievement....even if it's a recycled ride concept....

but it takes Disney's braintrust years to construct anything slightly innovative at this point.....years.....

so if no dirt is being moved now.....we're looking at 2011-12-13 for anything interesting....

If you take that into perspective....how satisfied are you now?

Again....i don't bore so easily that i need something with a fastpass kiosk everytime i'm there......but no development means a somewhat significant dryspell....

any incase anyone has caught 30 seconds of CNN over the last couple of weeks.....i'm told the economy is not so good....

disney built nothing of value from 1999-2005....that is the truth....rehashes and cookie cutter rides from third party machine shops....

we could be looking at a 5 or 6 or 7 year lull....i kid not

[vizsla]

Thanks for the update

[LarryBoy]

Unrelated but interesting: No word still on what will become of the Cinderella Suite in the castle. Since we're still in the Year of a Million Dreams, don't expect to hear anything until after the first of the year, we were told.

If they need me to, I can take care of that for them. :D I could move in with the fam, keep it looking real nice. I could even host some great parties. Sounds like a great plan to me. :thumbsup:

[lockedoutlogic]

I would think that the Cinderella suite would become somekind of walkthrough tour....

that would be my guess....logistically....it's not feasible to board paying customers up there under guard on a nightly basis

[AnnetteFan]

Disney just can't seem to win. If they build tons of new attractions they have to either expand to the point that it would take two weeks to be able to do everything that they're offering which just wouldn't be realistic or feasible or they have to replace older rides which some guests are going to be inevitably dissapointed about. I just don't know what people expect from them. Disney of course has the money and resources to embark on all kinds of new and wondeful expenditures even in slow economic times but would that really be the wise thing to do? It just seems to me like it isn't such a bad idea to have several years in between major new additions and in the meantime focus on less costly and maybe less impressive endeavors.

[BMan62]

Disney just can't seem to win. If they build tons of new attractions they have to either expand to the point that it would take two weeks to be able to do everything that they're offering which just wouldn't be realistic or feasible or they have to replace older rides which some guests are going to be inevitably dissapointed about. I just don't know what people expect from them. Disney of course has the money and resources to embark on all kinds of new and wondeful expenditures even in slow economic times but would that really be the wise thing to do? It just seems to me like it isn't such a bad idea to have several years in between major new additions and in the meantime focus on less costly and maybe less impressive endeavors.

Of these two choices, in the weakened economic position the US finds itself, the opportunity to build new park(s)/resort(s)/attraction(s) is almost too tempting to pass up. Cheap(er) materials and labor would keep construction costs down. Unfortunately, this would mean increasing staffing and that would be a big concern. How many more people in the central Florida region can Disney pay low wages to?

Second, your point about making it take two weeks to see everything would be a dream for Disney. Since most domestic trips are one week or less, it would "force" people to make multiple trips so that they could experience all that is offered. This would increase bookings and therefore increase $$$ in Disney pockets.

In my opinion, expansion in this (dare I say it) depressed economy would be a wise move for Disney in the US markets.

[SFTrny]

I'm not sure that the economic analysis is correct. This a weird sort of economic environment that we are in. Stock prices are low and banks are failing. This means that there is less capital available in the market for Disney to use unless they dip into their cash reserves. Reaching into cash reserves when there is a questionable economy is not the right decision.

The other weird thing is that inflation and employment rates have actually been pretty good. I know a lot of us have seen or been affected by layoffs, but across the market, employment rates are pretty decent. That means that wage rates haven't dipped. Same for the cost of goods. If anything, the cost of goods is going up, in particular food staples which is a big part of the parks and resorts expenses.

I think that domestically, travel is down, but since the dollar has been going down against foreign currency, international tourism is up and Disney has had an increase in international visitors. I don't know if that offsets the drop in domestic visitors. My guess is that those travel patterns and spending habits are very different. Also, I've heard that some of the US travel has shifted from international to domestic, so at the upper level, Disney may actually have higher attendance rates from domestic vacationers who would have otherwise travelled out of the country.

Kind of a confusing area without any real insight into the realities of WDW finances. But most business that I know are taking a more conservative approach and are delaying any major investment projects until they see what the next 6 months hold.

Of course, if Disney wanted to get into the financial market...it's a good time to buy a bank. I hear they are going cheap!

[bwgens]

We can't forget however, that the Walt Disney Company is in the process of spending a ton of money on California Adventure. That is a huge undertaking trying to take a poor park done by the previous regime, and turning it into something people really want to go to. So yes, there will be less money available for WDW. I am willing to give them a pass for that seeing what it is they are trying to accomplish at DL.

I for one have much faith in Lasseter and company to turn this thing around not just at DL but at WDW as well. Not to say that either place is on the verge of anything horrible either. I'm just saying that I believe Lasseter knows more of what makes Disney Disney than Eisner did at the end of his tenure, and probably more than Iger. At least Iger had the business sense to see that Lasseter is someone that can put that Disney touch on anything he's involved in.

:mickey:

[Mackflava99]

Excellent update- thanks!!

["SULLEY "RULES!!]

Harsh.

There are plenty of non-8 year olds who have been wanting a Tink meet and greet for a while now. I think it's a wonderful addition. I also think the other fairies are beautiful.

I will agree, though...I am sick of the time shares.

As for more attractions, I'm satisfied. Toy Story Mania is new, and apparently, very well liked by adults and kids. MK has the Laugh Floor (somewhat new) and updates to HM and PotC. Epcot has Nemo (again, not brand new, but new), and AK has EE and Nemo. I don't expect big, new, amazing additions to every park every year. Even after 12 or 13 days on a WDW vacation, DH and I are FAR from bored with what's offered.

Then again, I tend to be a glass half full girl, and I appreciate WDW and everything it has to offer. DH and I have nothing but magical vacations there, and getting to see one of my very favorite characters for a photo op (after Stitch, of course) is magic to me.
I agree 100%:number1: