Fantasyland Refurb: It's Official!

[GothMickey]

I been wanting to post this for a few days now, but, I held off because everything was just speculation. However, it now appears as is plans are in place for a Fantasyland refurb. This morning someone leaked the plans for this refurb. The site owner took the plans down, but never called these plans a hoax. And other so-called insiders, in a round about say, also said the plans were not a hoax.

I did get to see the plans, and I will say this. If we get even half of what is on there, we will all be very happy. I will post what I saw, but please, as of now, let us treat these as rumors since nothing is officially announced, and well, as we know, plans can change.

1. Little Mermaid attraction will be built on the remaining 20K land.
2. Toontown will be gone as we know it.
3. Enchanted Forest will be created.
4. Pixie Hollow will be added.
5. Dumbo will be moved to the area formerly known as Toontown. A second Dumbo ride will be added next to the current one, in the new area. Between the two will be an interactive queue.
6. Barnstormer will be kept but rethemed.
7. A castle wall will be built out from the castle, seemingly separating the two sides of Fantasyland. This will make the way for the castle courtyard area.
8. Sleeping Beauty gets a show called Sleeping Beauty's Birthday Surprise.
9. Cinderella gets a walk through attraction.
10. A new restaurant will be built, tentatively called Be Our Guet Restaurant. Attached to the restaurant will be a counter service called Gaston's Tavern.
11. In the same area, BatB gets some attention as Belle gets a story book hour again.
12. A scavenger hunt.
13. More walkways and greenery seem to be added.
14. New merchandise shops are planned.
15. Train station to be remained Fantasyland Train Station with a possible Dumbo theme to it.

Again, please treat these as rumors. Nothing official. However, I must admit, I am very excited about the possibilities of this refurb.

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Message updated by Figment! on 07-18-2009 at 10:44 AM

Pictorial of Rumoured Changes

[LoriSan]

wow, that would be some big changes. I would be sad to see ToonTown go though, my DS LOVES Mickey and Minnie's houses.

[TennesseeTink]

I hope that this all really happens! How exciting! I have never been a fan of ToonTown so good riddance as far as I'm concerned. However my DD loved Mickey and Minnie's houses when she was little. But the last couple of trips we have skipped that area all together.

[Breochaid]

I must agree with previous posters, I have never been thrilled with Toon Town either. My DD LOVED Donald's Boat and I personally would hate to see Mickey and Minnie's houses go by the wayside, but the rest of the rumored plans sound fantastic to me!

[seanyred]

Having been to Disneyland last summer...I must say that in comparision DL Toontown is far superior to WDW. So I would be okay with a re-theming...but I would like to see Mikey and Minnie's Houses be relocated somewhere...I think its fun for the little ones...

Hope this is true....

[GothMickey]

I must agree with previous posters, I have never been thrilled with Toon Town either. My DD LOVED Donald's Boat and I personally would hate to see Mickey and Minnie's houses go by the wayside, but the rest of the rumored plans sound fantastic to me!

They do sound great. Let's hope these become more than just rumors. The plans did seem legit. We learned a lesson though with Beastly Kingdomme. Just because it is in the plans doesn't mean it will be built. Until ground is broken, remember, these are just rumors.

[afowl1017]

Wow! Lots of changes! It is exciting when Disney changes and grows but a part of me is sad to see old memories go. My little ones love the fab. five, they are avid watchers of Mickey Mouse Club House...we will miss that area, but I can see why they would remove Toontown and change it up.

(I would still like to see something for the original characters, like the fab. five, for they helped start the magic!)

[rjmdds]

I have some mixed feelings about these proposals. As hectic a spot as it is, there is something "magical" about riding Dumbo right in the middle of Fantasy Land. The view of the castle and the park fro that ride are very special. I love walking through the castle and seeing that ride in action. I would miss it in that location for sure. I do agree that Toontown could use some work. The Enchanted Forest is an intrigiuing idea.

[GothMickey]

I have the plans in front of me again. They are online. Google is your friend.

I will post what is there in time. This is going to take a while. LOL.

[Lakin]

On 11, what's BatB?

[disneymom15]

Sounds exciting! I hope they happen.

[JPL]

On 11, what's BatB?

Beauty and the Beast

[GothMickey]

Ok, let me see how I can post this without it sounding confusing. I am starting in Tomorrowland. I think it will be easier walking this way.

The tea cups and speedway are still there and still in the same place. Walking from there and into where Toontown would be, Barnstormer is still there but probably will be rethemed to the Dwarf Mine Cart Coaster, possibly in a 2nd phase of the refurb. Next to the Barnstormer zone in the train station, renamed Fantasyland Train Station. That area is zoned and labeled Dumbo. Leads me to believe the train station will have a Dumbo theme to it.

To the west of the train station is Pixie Hollow. The Pixie Hollow zone has the fairies meet and greet as well as a Pixie Hollow Play area.

North of Pixie Hollow is a second named Dumbo zone. Here is where the two Dumbo rides (Dumbo A and Dumbo B) are located, right next to each other. There appears to be an indoor queue leading to both rides. The queue is labeled Interactive Queue. This area would be the northern most part of Toontown and pushing the boundry with the train tracks for WDW Railroad.

Ok, let's circle back to the Indy Speedway and the teacups. Walk west into Fantasyland. Right off the teacup area is a zone labeled Aurora. Inside this zone is an area labeled Aurora Attraction. This area is inside were Toontown was, and right behind Pooh's Playful Spot, which is staying.

Walk past Pooh's Playful Spot, heading west. You will come to a new zone called Cinderella. And inside this Cinderella zone is something called Cinderella Attraction. Attached to the Cinderella attraction is a building labeled MIRROR. I am assuming this attraction in a walkthrough, and the MIRROR is a magic mirror with technology similar to Turtle Talk. Pooh and Snow White's rides appear unaffected cause they are still on the plans.

Directly in front of Cinderella zone, and behind the Carousell, is Castle Wall. And inside the wall is a lable Entrance Castle Wall. This castle wall zone appears to border Pinocchio Village Haus. This wall seems to travel up the side of the building, thus creating the Castle Courtyard. The one thing about the wall, though, is I am not sure how high it is, as you cannot tell by these plans, and if this wall really does separate Fantasyland into two areas, as it appears to do in the plans.

Next to the Cinderella zone, located within the courtyard, is a zone titled Belle. In this zone is a Belle attraction, a new restaurant called Be Our Guest Restaurant, and what appears to be a counter service called Gaston's Tavern.

Behind Cinderella Zone and next to Be Our Guest Restaurant is Mermaid.The ride takes up the remaining 20K space and a little of toontown it appears. Also, Ariel's meet and greet is now located there. Yes it appears that the current Mermaid Lagoon is either relocated or gone, unless I am missing something. The way it looks to me is Belle and Be Our Guest is taking over that area.

The Cinderella Carsousel looks like it is staying in the same area, but in front of the wall. Dumbo is relocated to the area I mentioned. The princesses appear to be inside the courtyard and inside enchanted forest.

There also appears to me more walkway and greenery.

The plans do not show what changes, if any, will be coming to the other side of Fantasyland. That side may be a 2nd or 3rd phase, if a plan exists for that area at all.

My opinion, this is very extensive, and if true, is completely AWESOME!!!!!

[GothMickey]

As you can see, Toontown is gone. Magic Kingdom will be back to 6 lands.

[4boysmom]

When are all these changes suppose to take place?

[Ian]

I have mixed feelings ... some of this sounds really cool and other parts I'm kinda "meh" over.

Like the whole wall idea? That sounds like a big traffic snarl waiting to happen to me. That section of Fantasyland is always a mess to begin with. If there's some kind of wall built there that you have to navigate through, that could really create some traffic jams. Also, visually, I have a tough time seeing how that would really integrate with the rest of the area?

Also, while I personally am not a huge fan of Toontown, my kids are. And it seems that, once Toontown is gone, the classic characters will once again not really have a home in the Magic Kingdom. With the huge popularity of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, it seems like a strange choice to emphasize Dumbo (kind of a "washed up" character, if you ask me) over the Fab Five?

But some of these changes are exciting. I like the idea of the Little Mermaid attraction being added and I like the re-theming of the Barnstormer.

Hard to judge the others until I find out what a "Sleeping Beauty Attraction" and a "Cinderella Attraction" really are.

[GothMickey]

Actually, let me clarify something. I missed this before. Peter Pan, Small World, Philharmagic and Pinocchio Village Haus will be INSIDE the Castle Courtyard while the 4 areas dedicated to Cinderella, Belle, Aurora, and Ariel are inside the Enchanted Forest. This also includes Pooh and Snow White. Snow White makes sense since she is a princess and Pooh makes sense cause of the 100 Acre Wood.

I have to honestly say, I like it.

[GothMickey]

When are all these changes suppose to take place?

Well, since nothing is official, there are no dates in place. I am thinking we COULD start seeing something happening in the next year, with completion by the 40th, but, that is being really aggressive. I am hoping, if this is true, we get the announcement in October.

[antngoof89]

Actually, let me clarify something. I missed this before. Peter Pan, Small World, Philharmagic and Pinocchio Village Haus will be INSIDE the Castle Courtyard while the 4 areas dedicated to Cinderella, Belle, Aurora, and Ariel are inside the Enchanted Forest. This also includes Pooh and Snow White. Snow White makes sense since she is a princess and Pooh makes sense cause of the 100 Acre Wood.

I have to honestly say, I like it.

I completely agree. This sounds like an awesome idea for disney, although I agree with a previous poster. It does seem like Disney is getting rid of the fab five. I believe Disney needs to do something to make sure to keep the original toons an avid part of the Disney Magic. I just hope they don't do away with the original toons all together, Goofy has always been my favorite and I really hope to continue seeing a bunch of him around the parks for all of my lifetime.

[disneymom15]

When you googled what phrase in you type in?