Walt Disney World Magic Kingdom Discussion Thread

[BeemerBoy]

I'm not going to recognize anything the next time I get to WDW.

The cost?

[ahecht]

http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2012/08/all-in-the-details-step-inside-the-world-of-belle-through-her-magic-mirror-at-magic-kingdom-park/

 

We’ve hinted before on the Disney Parks Blog that Enchanted Tales with Belle, in New Fantasyland at Magic Kingdom Park, will be no ordinary character greeting. Today, we’re excited to share more details about this special experience. As you’ll see from the video below – provided by Walt Disney Imagineering – the goal of this attraction is not just to give you a place to meet a Disney character, but to completely transport you into the world of “Beauty and The Beast.”

To be continued!

 

The mirror/door effect at

is simply amazing. It's like the D23 Expo portal on steroids!

[thepoint4life23]

What Can you guys tell me about the new fastpass +?

[broomy]

Cheers for updates loving all the changes, can't wait to check them out in a few weeks time although wish I was going when everything is open and launched.

[ernierocker]

What Can you guys tell me about the new fastpass +?

 

http://www.themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=51713&p=1157572&hilit=fastpass+#p1157572

 

It is the rumored (or should I say, strongly suggested to happen) evolution of the Fastpass system which will complement the existing free system in the form of a paid-to-use or resort exclusive (this hasn't been revealed, so the logistics are still based on speculation) add on to the park experience. This would include the hypothetical ability to reserve your ride time (like a Fastpass) days, weeks or possibly months ahead of your trip. This system would also include show times, parade and firework viewings and dining reservations.

 

That being said, none of this has been officially confirmed, so take it all with a grain of salt.

[jedimaster1227]

http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2012/08/all-in-the-details-head-under-the-sea-to-visit-ariels-grotto-at-magic-kingdom-park/

 

Many fans of “The Little Mermaid” have been asking for a mermaid-related update over the past few weeks, so today we’re happy to share the first look inside Ariel’s Grotto, a new character greeting location coming to New Fantasyland.

 

As you can see, Ariel will greet guests in mermaid form, seated on a giant seashell throne. The grotto will be located within the base of the seaside cliffs upon which Prince Eric’s Castle sits, but is separate from the Under the Sea ~ Journey of The Little Mermaid attraction.

 

This character greeting will debut with the rest of New Fantasyland for a preview period beginning November 19, and then a grand opening on December 6.

What do you think? Will you visit Ariel when New Fantasyland opens?

[SharkTums]

Kristen loved this meet and greet at Tokyo Disney Sea. This setup looks very similar to that. My only concern will be wait times. They only had 'one' little mermaid in Tokyo, hopefully they'll have more in Florida or you'll be in line all day for this!

[Nrthwnd]

Aren't some Meet & Greets in one or more Disney parks

starting to use a fastpass system, as well as attractions?

 

Just asking.

 

I thought there was going to be a few of them

using this system as well, so parents can plan their children's

Meet & Greet into their day's planning. Which I think is a

good idea considering all the tired and dazed kids and/or parents

I have seen in some M&G lines, around Disney's themepark world, lol.

 

Maybe the new Ariel M&G will be one of those with FP.

 

(EDIT TO ADD: Probably can't be done, with so many families coming

into the parks. And if there's a sellout of FPs to see Ariel... probable

chaos will ensue, LOL! So - I withdraw my suggestion )

Edited September 3, 2012 by Nrthwnd

[Nrthwnd]

I will go thru this attraction at least once,

just so I can get awed by all the special

effects they use in it.

 

The door is just the beginning......

 

[robbalvey]

We got invited to come preview "Enchanted Tales With Belle" at Magic Kingdom's New Fantasyland today. The best was to describe this attraction is like a "Character Meet and Greet on steroids!" In a way in shares some similarities with Turtle Talk or Monsters Inc Laugh Floor in that the characters in the room interact with the audience, but this is a much more close and personal experience.

 

Much like some of the walk-through attractions or pre-shows to attractions at Tokyo Disney, Enchanted Tales has some very impressive technology in both animatronics and visual effects.

 

The attraction is staged in three rooms, where about 25 guests are with you, and follow the story through each section. Each room has it's own unique set of "tricks" which and every one of them are very impressive. This is not your average meet & greet by any means!

 

The first room is Maurice's Cottage where the "mirror" transforms into a portal leading to the Beasts castle. The next room is where you'll encounter the "Wardrobe" where several members of the group volunteer to help act out the story of Beauty & The Beast. The final room is where you meet Belle, who is accompanied by a VERY impressive Lumiere animatronic.

 

The "show" is extremely well done! My only constructive feedback I'd have during this time of tweak & adjust would be that not all the kids in the final room got to take a picture with Belle, only the ones who volunteers for the story-telling aspect of it. I would have to think this would be a pretty big issue for most kids and parents having stood in line for a while to not get a picture with the princess. All of the kids get to meet her, and talk to her, just not everyone gets a picture on their Photo Pass card. I'm confident they will sort this out by the time it opens officially.

 

Anyway, here's some pictures and a video of the complete attraction!

 

Oooh! We are walking on the other side of the "wall" to get to Enchanted Tales With Belle!

Here's what it looks like, looking back!

You enter the attraction through Maurice's Cottage.

Some of the details that can be found inside the cottage.

Yup, more details and stuff....

Looks like a normal mirror, right?

Take a slightly closer look... See anything interesting? No?

As the mirror comes to life, the video (which is impressive quality) shows you the way to the Beasts castle. The mirror then extends to the floor....

And transforms before your eyes into a doorway leading to the castle.

In the next room we are greeted by the Wardrobe - this character reminds of a cross between a physical prop or animatronic, mixed with some of the video and interactive technology from Turtle Talk. This effect was very cool!

Gah! The wardobe exposes herself! (ok, not really!)

The cast member host finds volunteers to help act out the story of Beauty and the Beast, and along with the Wardrobe interacting with the audience, they decide which volunteers to choose.

The next room we move to is the library, where this very impressive Lumiere animatronic also interacts with the audience.

Belle comes in, speaks with Lumiere and then says hello to everyone in the room.

Lumiere and Belle exchange words, He tells her the audience wants to act out her story....

She meets all the volunteers and takes pictures with them.

Belle and Lumiere interact with what is going on in the room making each experience unique.

Belle says her goodbyes to the audience.

You exit once again next to Maurice's Cottage.

Here is some of the surrounding area of New Fantasyland.

More detail of the New Fantasyland area.

Another look at Maurice's Cottage.

This will eventually be the top of the Seven Dwarfs roller coaster.

More construction....

A look over towards the Little Mermaid area.

One of the castle walls at the entrance to New Fantasyland.

This will eventually be the walkway into New Fantasyland.

Here is the concept art on how the walkway and the castle walls from the two photos above will eventually look.

And here on the map is Enchanted Tales With Belle to give you an idea of where in New Fantasyland this attraction is located!

 

Looking forward to more previews of all these new attractions! Looks great so far!

[the ghost]

Admittedly I am a Disneyland fanboy... I don't even like MK as a park and Fantasyland was one of the reasons why because it used to look kind of like a lame county fair. After all of these updates it now looks absolutely amazing in every way and Enchanted Tales looks perfect for what Disney is looking for, a truly magical, interactive and innovative way for people to interact with their favorite characters. I hope some of this gets added soon to the West Coast because even if we get nothing of this scale it would be cool to see something like this in Mickey's and Minnie's respective houses in Toontown. This looks amazing!

[ernierocker]

Very impressive! The Cast Managers in the video were doing a great job keeping the story and plot going, but I could see where a less enthusiastic CM (especially after a long day) could make or break the whole experience.

[SLUSHIE]

The technology, theming, and all around encompassing experiences that Disney has been creating recently are simply amazing.

 

While this probably isn't something I'd ever do if I went to the park unless I was with some kids, the details are incredible. I hope they keep this standard for attractions in the future.

 

Looks like they had some problem with that water wheel, they cut a huge chunk out of it.

[Someotherguyuser]

I'm very impressed with what has been shown so far of the new Fantasyland. It sounds like I may have to take a trip back out there to see this cool experience and the Snow White coaster when they open.

 

Also ghost I have to disagree with you, I hope they DON'T bring this to Disneyland. I want some incentive to visit the MK.

[CoasterKings908]

Forget everything else, it's all about the mirror-portal-thing; it's freaking amazing!

[mknut389]

So is this a "general public" type attraction where anyone and everyone can decide to go without a special ticket of some sort, or is it something that only a select few can experience a day? I mean the whole attraction is quite lengthy and only allows 25 people at a time. Unless there are multiple simultaneous "shows" not only is it going to be straining for the cast members, but I can see no way of Disney satisfying the demand for such an awesome thing.

[robbalvey]

So is this a "general public" type attraction where anyone and everyone can decide to go without a special ticket of some sort, or is it something that only a select few can experience a day? I mean the whole attraction is quite lengthy and only allows 25 people at a time. Unless there are multiple simultaneous "shows" not only is it going to be straining for the cast members, but I can see no way of Disney satisfying the demand for such an awesome thing.

You have to also remember that this is really early previews while they are in "tweak and adjust" mode. Who knows, maybe the final group will be 50 people... I don't know if they have multiple show rooms, etc, like they do for other Meet & Greets. Also remember there are three show rooms in the attraction, so whatever the final number in each room is, multiply that by 3. I'm sure they will continue to work on timing so it can be the highest capacity possible.

 

Right now, they are just making sure that all the basics "work" and then they will continue to get it right....

[Nyteowl]

Looks amazing so far! Hopefully I'll be able to make another trip to WDW someday to check it out. Hope you Orlando locals enjoy your new expansion!

[cfc]

Very well done--families should love it. The "magic portal" actually lives up to the description the park used in the video tour they posted some time back. I think the Fantasyland in Florida is well on its way to becoming the best one of the Disney parks.

[SLUSHIE]

Unless there are multiple simultaneous "shows" not only is it going to be straining for the cast members...

 

The first thing I thought when watching this was how much it would suck it work this attraction. Having to repeat this over and over all day every 5 minutes or whatever and be all cheery n whatnot would drive me crazy. I've had jobs that were much more repetitive than this, but they allowed me to zone out if I needed to. These people have to be on it the whole time. I know there are a lot of crazies at Disney though that probably will love the job. I'm sure they rotate and stuff though and not be in the same spot for an 8 hour day, but this looks like one of those attractions where they expect you to be a robot.

[Nrthwnd]

^Yes, I think there would be the possibility of rotating casts

in the attraction, every two or three times per day.

 

Just so each cast can catch their collective breath, lol,

and then be 'on' for their next performance.

 

Just suggesting.

 

(EDIT to Add: It all looks AWESOME, Robb! Thanks for

sharing all of what you saw ~ Dwarfs' Coaster FanBoy already ~ )

[Mrlittle]

It looks good. If they have this much detail going into one thing as part of the New Fantasyland. I can't wait to see all the theming details in the rest of it. Also that mirror effect was wicked.

[Wes]

Impressive! Very Disney to take the concept of a meet and greet to the next level.

[Jew]

Awesome technology! Really loving how Disney is once again innovating with Universal right on their tail.

[dmofo]

Forget everything else, it's all about the mirror-portal-thing; it's freaking amazing!

 

Seriously. How is this done?