Walt Disney World changing plans for Fantasyland expansion

by Leigh Caldwell on

The construction walls have been up for months, but Walt Disney World says its plans for expanding Fantasyland are being redrawn in an attempt to broaden its appeal.

When the Fantasyland expansion plans were introduced last year, the first thing most Disney fans noticed was that the new area of the theme park was aimed squarely at one demographic: young girls. There was a Little Mermaid theme park ride, castles for Belle and Aurora, and three interactive princess meet-and-greet areas.

Sure, the marketing of the Disney Princesses has been one of the company’s biggest wins ever, but where was the boy stuff?

Apparently, it’s a question that Tom Staggs, the new chairman of Disney Parks and Resorts, was asking, too. He is the dad of three young sons, after all.

Orlando Sentinel writer Jason Garcia interviewed Staggs this week and confirmed the rumors that the Fantasyland plans are being redrawn. Staggs indicated that the new plans may involve more thrills, as planners are reviewing the mix of “aspirational rides” with thrills or tension and rides that are for everyone.

Staggs said that the changes to Fantasyland shouldn’t delay the 2012 and 2013 opening dates of the new attractions. Testing and research on new guest experiences that are to be incorporated in the new attractions, such as Disney’s new queue-less wait system, have also been going on at Walt Disney World for several months.

Nostalgia reigns: Main Street Electrical Parade to remain at Walt Disney World indefinitely

by Leigh Caldwell on


The Main Street Electrical Parade, which was slated to end its run at the Magic Kingdom on Aug. 14, will continue at Walt Disney World‘s Magic Kingdom indefinitely.

The Disney Parks blog says the Main Street Electrical Parade has gotten high ratings from guests since it returned in June. Disney executives call it “an overwhelming success.”

It has been a Disney classic since 1972, but it hasn’t been seen at the Magic Kingdom since 2001. I remember watching from atop my dad’s shoulders in the 1980s, waving at the Disney characters as they rolled by. So, I was excited to share the Main Street Electrical Parade with my daughter this year.

Nostalgia like mine is apparently driving a lot of the parade’s popularity. I have talked with numerous Walt Disney World guests this summer who traveled to Orlando to pass the parade tradition on to their children.

Even many Disney employees have been excited to share the parade with a new generation.

Disney Ambassador Clay Shoemaker remembers first watching the Main Street Electrical Parade when he was 6 years old.

“I can remember seeing the lights coming closer and closer, and then Cinderella waved at me,” Shoemaker said. “You would’ve thought I was the only child in the park.”This summer, Shoemaker waved at Cinderella with his 2-year-old daughter by his side.

The parade, with its 23 floats, 80 performers and more than 500,000 lights, is an undertaking “bigger than any rock concert,” according to Forrest Bahruth, show director.

But there’s a pervasive belief among the Disney employees I talked with that the parade is more than the production.

“Underneath it all, it’s steel and copper and computers. Cold and heartless. But it’s more than that. It’s emotion and character and life,” said Marc Hurst, the parade’s technical director.

Bahruth even describes that parade with that “M” word you hear so often at Walt Disney World: magic.

“When we’re out there in town square and that gate opens…music, magic, memories.”

The Main Street Electrical Parade is performed nightly in the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World.

Walt Disney World debuts Summer Nightastic! Fireworks Spectacular

by Leigh Caldwell on

Walt Disney World‘s newest fireworks show, the Summer Nightastic! Fireworks Spectacular, opened this weekend at the Magic Kingdom.

The show replaces the popular “Wishes” nighttime entertainment at Walt Disney World for a limited summer run.

When I went to see the show on its opening night, I was worried. I’m a sucker for fireworks, but I was such a big fan of the “Wishes” show and soundtrack that I was afraid the evening would end in disappointment.

The score includes classic Disney tunes, as well as newer music from the “Pirates of the Caribbean” movie soundtracks. The show is hosted by the Fairy Godmother and other “famous fairies” in the Disney stable.

There’s a recurring fight between Fauna and Merryweather over the color that the fireworks should be (“Pink,” “Blue,” “Pink,” “Blue…”), just like the magical fight they had over the color of Aurora’s birthday dress in “Sleeping Beauty.”
Capt. Hook and his pirates arrive to lay siege to Cinderella Castle until a familiar fairy — Tinkerbell — shows up to save the day.

Disney promised “dazzling effects” for this new fireworks show, and they delivered. The cannon battle for the castle is particularly impressive, with smoke that obscures it and the reflection of a skull-and-crossbones flag denoting that the pirates have taken over Walt Disney World’s most famous landmark.

Disney’s typical fireworks show happens over and behind Cinderella Castle, which means you really need to be in front of the castle to get the full effect. And you know what else that means: The areas of the park in front of the castle get crowded with what seems like the entire global population in the 30 minutes before the show begins.

Bigger displays that happen around the park — dubbed “perimeter fireworks” — were reserved for special events, such as the Fourth of July and Halloween. But the Summer Nightastic! fireworks will have perimeter fireworks every night.

They are cooler, of course, because at certain points in the show you have fireworks exploding in a circle surrounding. And they give you a chance to be cooler, too, because you can see them from just about anywhere in the Magic Kingdom and there’s no need for the larger summer crowds to all pack in one spot in the Florida heat.

The Summer Nightastic! Fireworks Spectacular runs nightly through Aug. 14 at Walt Disney World.

Hundreds stranded by malfunctioning monorail at Disney World

by Katie Hammel on

Disney World is supposed to be the “happiest place on earth”, but for about 300 people who were trapped on the monorail when three trains broke down early Sunday morning, it was probably anything but.

The system suffered a power outage brought on by a failed hard drive around 1am on Sunday. The Magic Kingdom had been open late, and the trains were carrying the last of the park’s visitors back to parking lots and other resorts. Three of the trains were not in stations at the time of the outage, so passengers had to wait for almost three hours in hot train cars until help arrived.

Firefighters used ladders to get the stranded riders down. While a spokeswoman for Disney World apologized to the guests who got stuck, it seems the incident was a minor one. No injuries were reported in the shut down and trains were back up and running by the time the park opened on Sunday morning.

I’m sure sitting in a hot monorail car for three hours is no fun, but there are worse places to get stranded in Disney World. Who hasn’t had a nightmare about breaking down on the Small World ride and being force to listen to that song over…and over…and over again? At least the stranded passengers can be thankful that wasn’t their fate.

[via Chicago Tribune]

Where Disney and real nature meet

by Jamie Rhein on

There’s the Enchanted Tiki Room version of the bird world found in the Magic Kingdom of Walt Disney World. This is a place where mechanical birds talk and sing. Then there is Disney World’s real bird world. These are not the birds put here on purpose as part of an exhibit, but birds that just show up. These birds don’t talk, at least not in human speak, but they do sing.

When I was at Disney World winter before last, I wasn’t paying attention to the real bird kingdom while I was hoofing it between attractions in the Magic Kingdom. According to this article in the Dallas Morning News, the lakes in Disney World’s parks attract migrating birds. They stop here for a rest during their journey between South and Central America and points north. Some birds like Florida so much, they use Disney World’s parks as nesting grounds. As the article points out, 45 square miles of Disney World are protected for wildlife.

The best place to bird-watch is at Seven Seas Lagoon, Bay Lake and on the Maharajah Jungle Trek in the Animal Kingdom. It’s not uncommon to see exotic birds hanging out with the other wild life. The photo by Conspiracy of Happiness is of a pair of white ibis at Bay Lake.

Here are some other birds to look for: Sarus cranes, mallard ducks, egrets, and herons. When you’re packing for your Disneyland experience, tuck in a bird guide and binoculars. While you’re waiting in line, birdwatching might be something to do. It’s also free. For the tiki tiki tiki tiki tiki room song, click here, although something funky is going on at the end of it.