Category — t. Disney’s MyMagic+ Project and Expansion Plans

DUMBO IN NEW FANTASYLAND

Dumbo–a simple and undistinguished flying elephant ride–has been a mainstay in the Magic Kingdom since the park opened, delighting millions of toddlers, not so much their parents.

As part of the Fantasyland expansion project, Dumbo has been moved to the new Storybook Circus section of Fantasyland (where Toontown Fair used to be located), spiffed up, added to the FASTPASS program, duplicated so that there are now two copies of the basic Dumbo ride, and had an air-conditioned indoor waiting play area added.

For both parents and little ones, the changes are an improvement.

For the little ones who love Dumbo so much, the ride has the same appeal to little kids that it (and its earlier incarnation at Disneyland) has always had. Little ones will enjoy the added color and action of the new Storybook Circus setting, and the play opportunity in the stand-by line.

(The image is my sister and I on Dumbo at Disneyland in the late 60s.)

For the parents who wait with these kids, the changes–so far–have been a godsend.

The addition of FASTPASSES and the doubling of capacity means wait times are down, and the air-conditioned play area both increases the comfort and decreases the boredom the waiting line.

It’s still just Dumbo–skippable for all but the younger set–but Dumbo with a faster moving, more comfortable line than it’s ever had before, and a more charming and thematically appropriate setting in Storybook Circus!

UNDER THE SEA ~ JOURNEY OF THE LITTLE MERMAID AT THE MAGIC KINGDOM

The signature ride of Disney World’s Fantasyland expansion, Under the Sea ~ The Journey of the Little Mermaid, formally opened in early December 2012.

Located in Prince Eric’s castle, and duplicating the already opened version in Disney California Adventure, this new attraction is both wildly popular (so far) and quite a disappointment. [Read more →]

Disney had its FY2012 earnings conference call late last week, and a couple of items were interesting.

MORE DETAILS ON NEXTGEN “EARLY NEXT YEAR,” BUT LAUNCH DATE UNCLEAR

Disney’s NextGen project was referred to several times in the call—although neither the words NextGen nor Fastpass+ came up.

The language used was variants of “guest experience enhancement project,” and the most detail that came out called it “pre-reserving…to make guests’ visit[s] more efficient and enjoyable while they’re there,” thus “giving guests the chance to plan their itineraries ahead of time, including access to their favorite, and often our most popular, attractions.”

This is consistent with prior Disney comments about NextGen, without giving any more specifics.

On the call, more detail was promised “early next year” when the program is “ready for primetime…but we’re getting close.”

The actual launch date was not announced.  While listening to the call, I had the distinct impression that launch would be in FY2013—that is, affect visits by the end of September 2013.  But reading the transcript of the call does not give nearly so sharp an impression.

My bet is still FY2013, and it’s interesting to speculate about when. [Read more →]

Walt Disney World will be offering an additional set of passholder previews of the Fantasyland expansion.

More passholder previews of New Fantasyland will be held November 6-9 and 12-18.  For the time slots, see this.  You can sign up to try for as many as fit your schedule, and Disney will fill the slots randomly.

Sign up needs to happen by the end of October, and Disney will email results around November 2.

To sign up, login on the passholder website and click through the links.

RUMOR: BE OUR GUEST TO OPEN THIS SUNDAY

A trusted source tells me that a trusted source tells her that Disney World’s new restaurant, Be Our Guest, will begin offering counter service meals on October 28.

The quality of my sources suggests to me that this is a real intention   That doesn’t mean it will happen.  Operational challenges may delay the opening; if it does open, it could close at any time and not re-open until Disney thinks it is ready.

So I wouldn’t make a special trip to the Magic Kingdom Sunday based on this–but if you are there, check it out–and let me know if it’s open!

I got an email at 10.35a this morning from Disney with the following message:

“We are experiencing technical difficulties with the Annual Passholder New Fantasyland preview sign-ups that have made it necessary to delay the sign-up date one week. The Walt Disney World Annual Passholder New Fantasyland preview sign-ups will now begin on Monday, October 15 at 12:00pm ET.”