Fantasyland Expansion

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Final Countdown To New Fantasyland

We are just 6 days away from the highly anticipated Grand Opening of the New Fantasyland® Area in the Magic Kingdom® Park. Officially opening on Thursday, Dec. 6th to park guests is the Enchanted Forest, consisting of Under the Sea~Journey of the Little Mermaid, Enchanted Tales with Belle, Ariel’s Grotto, Be Our Guest Restaurant, and Gaston’s Tavern. Storybook Circus, also part of the New Fantasyland® expansion, previously opened to guests. Future additions to New Fantasyland® include Princess Fairytale Hall(2013) and Seven Dwarfs Mine Train (2014).

We thought that some New Fantasyland® Fun Facts would be a great way help pass these few remaining days!

  • Originally 10 acres, the New Fantasyland expansion doubles the size to 21 acres!
  • Inside the Library at Enchanted Tales with Belle, guests will find over 12,000 “books.”
  • Beast’s Castle contains 115 windows.
  • The design teams called the lion-like figures flanking the door at the entrance to Be Our Guest Restaurant “golions,” a combination of goat and lion. The figures above the entrance doors, eagles with snake tails, were called “sneagles.”
  • Be Our Guest Restaurant’s centerpiece chandelier measures more than 12 feet tall and 11 feet wide. It boasts more than 84 candles and more than 100 jewels that hang down to give it added shine.
  • As a way to identify them, the six stone figures on the bridge leading to Be Our Guest Restaurant were all given the name “Frank” during the design phase.
  • At the Magic Kingdom® Park, Disneyland® Paris, Hong Kong Disneyland®, and at the Disneyland® Resort, Timothy Mouse carries a magic feather atop the Dumbo attraction. At Tokyo Disneyland®, he holds a circus whip.
  • Talk about authenticity! The music heard from the old fashioned calliope in the front of Pete’s Silly Sideshow was recorded from a set of antique circus crank organs owned by a collector in Southern California.
  • Of the 183 characters in Under the Sea ~ Journey of the Little Mermaid, more than 70 percent (128, to be exact) are featured in the “Under the Sea” scene.
  • The Audio-Animatronics® figure of the sea witch Ursula is 7 1/2-feet tall and 12 feet wide.

Photos: A Look Inside Magic Kingdom® Park’s Enchanted Forest

Guests who visited the Magic Kingdom® Park this past weekend received an extra surprise when they were treated to a “dress rehearsal” for the Enchanted Forest of the New Fantasyland® Area. Guests were able to experience the Under the Sea~Journey of the Little Mermaid Attraction, take part in Enchanted Tales with Belle, and meet and greet everyone’s favorite mermaid inside Ariel’s Grotto. Although Be Our Guest Restaurant wasn’t serving food, guests were permitted to go inside and look around.

While Enchanted Forest remained open all weekend long, it is unclear how often these “Dress Rehearsals” will happen between now and the scheduled soft opening date on Nov. 19. Special previews will be held starting Oct. 20 – Nov. 11 for registered parties of select groups, including Cast Members, Annual Passholders, D23 Members, and DVC Members.

Photos: Step Inside Pete’s Silly Sideshow

Pete’s Silly Sideshow, the new meet and greet area inside Storybook Circus at Magic Kingdom® Park welcomed its first guests yesterday. Inside, guests can choose to take one of two paths. The first will lead them to The Astounding Donaldo, the most charming of snake charmers, and The Great Goofini, circus stuntman extraordinaire. On the second path you will find Madame Daisy Fortuna, a mysterious gypsy fortuneteller, and the Parisian poodle trainer, Minnie Magnifique!

Take a peek inside the circus sideshow!

Photos: Castle Walls Emerge In New Fantasyland® Expansion

Construction walls have come down around a section of the castle walls that will be part of the New Fantasyland® at Magic Kingdom® Park. Guests will be amazed at the amount of detail that they will see in the wall and the sections that are still to come.

Click the images in the gallery below to enlarge:

The grand opening of the Enchanted Forest section of the New Fantasyland® is set for Dec. 6, 2012, with limited previews of the area starting Nov. 19, 2012.

Magic Kingdom® Park’s Be Our Guest Menu To Feature Wine & Beer

Walt Disney World® Resort recently announced that beer and wine will be included on the dinner menu when the Be Our Guest Restaurant opens on November 19th.

“As part of the overall theming, we wanted to offer wine that enhances the guest experience and complements the French-inspired cuisine. The wines focus primarily on France’s famous wine-growing regions, including Champagne, Alsace, Loire, Rhone, Burgundy and Bordeaux.” – Stuart McGuire, Beverage Director, Walt Disney Parks and Resorts

The restaurant will also offer the leading French beer, Kronenbourg 1664, and various Belgian beers from that same themed area.

Longtime Disney Chef Roland Muller, a native of Alsace, France, has lead a team of Walt Disney World® Resort’s Culinary Cast Members in creating the lunch and dinner menus for the restaurant. After more than three years of work, they are sure that guests will be happy with the selection. See a full listing of menu options here.

Enjoy this preview of some of the dishes you can expect from Be Our Guest Restaurant when it opens in just a few short months!

Artist Rendering of Ariel’s Grotto Released

The Walt Disney World® Resort has released an artist rendering of Ariel’s Grotto, a new meet and greet location that will be part of the New Fantasyland® Expansion.

 Ariel’s Grotto will be located near the Under the Sea – Journey of the Little Mermaid Attraction, but will be a separate experience. When Ariel moves to her new location, she will meet her guests in mermaid form. The new Grotto location will officially open Dec. 6, but a preview period will start Nov. 19, 2012.

 

All images are artist renderings. Actual construction may vary.

Video: Sneak Peek of ‘Enchanted Tales With Belle’

We’ve already seen how many details the Imagineers are including in New Fantasyland® Area in the Magic Kingdom® Park! There truly is no inch of this expansion that wasn’t well planned with creativity and innovation.

Enchanted Tales with Belle is no exception. Imagineers wanted this experience to be more than a meet and greet – something that every guest would remember, regardless of their age or interest in Disney Princesses.

The Enchanted Tales with Belle experience begins inside Maurice’s cottage, Belle’s childhood home, and ends inside the library at Beast’s Castle.

You’re going to love this experience! Enjoy as this two-part video as Imagineers Chris Beatty, Chris Kelly and Ted Robledo explain how this “tale as old as time” will be brought to life – with you as a star! Parents: You may want to keep these videos to yourself and save the MAGIC for the little ones to experience in person!

The Enchanted Forest portion of the New Fantasyland® Area in the Magic Kingdom® Park will open Dec. 6, 2012 with limited previews beginning Nov. 19.

Contact your Magic Maker® today and ask how you can experience the New Fantasyland® expansion at a discounted price!

Request a Quote

‘Be Our Guest Restaurant’ Reservation Information

Finally, the date we have all been waiting for!

The new Be Our Guest Restaurant at Magic Kingdom® Park will begin taking advanced dining reservations for their dinner service on Monday, Aug. 20th at 7a. The first dinner service will be on Mon. Nov. 19th. All advanced dining reservations will require a credit card guarantee and guests who do not cancel at least one day in advance will be charged a $10 per person cancellation fee.

Be Our Guest Restaurant is part of the New Fantasyland® expansion in the Magic Kingdom® Park. Located below Beast’s castle, guests will be transported into the magical world of Beauty and the Beast. The restaurant features three themed dining rooms: the mysterious West Wing with the “enchanted rose;” the Rose Gallery with twirling, larger-than-life figures of Belle and Beast; and The Ballroom with elegant details, such as a domed ceiling, twinkling chandeliers and glimpses of softly falling snow outside.

Lunch is quick-service (no reservations required) and will be delivered to your table after you have ordered from a self service kiosk while Dinner is a traditional table service meal. They will be offering a fun French-inspired menu which we reported on earlier this summer. Be Our Guest Restaurant will be a participating on the Disney Dining Plan. Lunch will be considered (1) Counter Service credit and Dinner will be (1) Table service credit.

If you haven’t discussed the Be Our Guest Restaurant with your Magic Maker® yet, be sure to contact them quickly! Be Our Guest Restaurant is expected to be very popular and advance dining reservations for the location will be extremely difficult to secure for the upcoming months.

Grand Opening of New Fantasyland® Slated for Dec. 6th

We are so excited to share a very special date with you!

The grand opening of  the New Fantasyland® at Magic Kingdom® will take place on Dec. 6, 2012. Attractions included in this phase of opening are:

  • Under the Sea ~ Journey of The Little Mermaid
  • Enchanted Tales with Belle 
  • Ariel’s Grotto
  • Be Our Guest Restaurant 
  • Gaston’s Tavern 
  • Bonjour! Village Gifts.

Limited previews of the attractions will begin Nov. 19. Additional phases of the New Fantasyland® opening include Princess Fairytale Hall in 2013 and the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train in 2014.

Pete’s Silly Sideshow Coming To Storybook Circus

Our guests who have been fortunate enough to visit the Storybook Circus section of the New Fantasyland® area have no doubt been amazed at the new additions to the Magic Kingdom®. But while touring the area, it is hard to not notice that the Storybook Circus area is still not completely open. Details on 2 of those unfinished locations were just released today.

One of the big-top tents will house Pete’s Silly Sideshow. Inside, guests will have the opportunity to meet some of their favorite Disney characters who secretly have some circus-like special talents! The other tent will be Big Top Souvenirs.

Here’s a first look inside Pete’s Silly Sideshow:

An opening date for Pete’s Silly Sideshow has yet to be announced. Once opened, Mickey will continue to greet his guests inside his current location at Town Square Theater on Main Street, U.S.A.®.

All images are Walt Disney Imagineer Concept artwork. Actual construction and design may vary. All entertainment is subject to change.