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----    THE LATEST BUZZ    ----
    (2/3/12) MouseSteps dropped by the Magic Kingdom to check out a new “Romance” segment being added to The Magic, The Memories and You show now through to mid-April.
    (1/31/12) A new Fantasyland construction update has been posted to Orlando Parks News this week with a look at the nearly empty hillside where the Fantasyland Skyway station used to (MORE...)
    (1/26/12) Lots of news updates for Fantasyland and Big Thunder Mt below. Scroll down to find them all.
    (1/23/12) According to a new rumor going around, Disney is making plans to launch a new deluxe daytime parade sometime in 2013… likely around the same time (MORE...)

Ride Rehabs - The following information is not guaranteed to be
100% accurate.
Dumbo – NOW CLOSED through 3/12/12
Big Thunder – NOW CLOSED through 5/27/12
Magic Carpets – 2/26/12 through 3/10/12

Park News - (2/3/12) MouseSteps dropped by the Magic Kingdom to check out a new “Romance” segment being added to The Magic, The Memories and You show now through to mid-April.
    (1/20/12) AmusementPics visited the Magic Kingdom on Thursday, where all of Main Street through to the Hub was closed off during the day for the President’s speech. Guest flow was sent backstage behind Main Street through what is normally a parking lot area for the upper management. To make it more festive, the lot was decorated with Main Street Vehicles and a collection of various parade float units.
    1/16/12) Orlando Parks News has posted a fairly large construction update this week showing off all the latest changes taking place at the Magic Kingdom. In addition to all of the Fantasyland work, it looks like there is a lot going on down on Main Street.
    (1/13/12) DaMouse is back with another Fantasyland construction update. Meanwhile MouseSteps takes a look at the new Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom.
    (12/8/11) MouseSteps checks in on the taking for Disney’s Christmas Parade at the Magic Kingdom this week.
    (12/5/11) ParkSleuth has posted an assortment is pictures taken during the advanced taping for Disney’s Christmas Day Parade special. MouseSteps has posted a few pictures from the first couple of nights of Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party nights.
    (11/7/11) Pictures taken at the first Christmas Castle Lighting ceremony at the Magic Kingdom have been posted at MouseSteps this week.
    (10/25/11) Curious to see the inside of the Cinderella Castle Suite in the heart of the Magic Kingdom? The crew at East Coast Coasters got a rare chance to stay in the suite and have posted a huge photo update showing off virtually every nook and cranny. They’ve also posted a video of the action, MTV Cribs style, which I’ve embedded below.

    (10/24/11) According to a news post at WDWInfo, Guests visiting the Magic Kingdom between now and November 12th may be asked to take part in a test run of a new Fastpass concept that would reserve you a prime viewing spot for the park’s Celebrate a Dream Come True parade.

2012 - Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom - Soft Open - (1/10/12) Da Mouse has posted a huge three-part photo update showcasing the new Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom interactive attraction at the Magic Kingdom. (Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3)
    (1/9/12) T he new Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom has been testing lately with park guests. One of our readers sent in some pictures of it in action, and a brief description.
“We did a few of the games, pretty fun although a few bugs to work out.  I have included a few pix if anyone is interested.  Basically you have a "Key Card" to start each station, the card has an RFID in it that you hold up to a logo and start the station.  At some times you need to cast a spell with some additional cards, there are over 70 spell cards and they can be traded apparently.”
    (11/11/11) Inside the Magic has posted a great article previewing how the park is starting to test the Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom interactive experience through the use of trading cards that activate special events to happen when displayed in the right place.
    (9/8/11) Disney’s official park blog has confirmed plans for a new role-playing adventure game coming to Walt Disney World called Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom. Merlin will recruit guests to become apprentice sorcerers and will them help you with maps and clues that will allow you to defeat an army of Disney villains. Look for it to debut in early 2012.
    (7/19/11) The Magic Kingdom is preparing to launch a new interactive game called Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom, similar in concept to the KimPossible game at Epcot. Sorcerers is said to eventually offer three quests, and it looks like the first one may go into Adventureland, though the Firehouse on Main Street may be repurposed as the game’s Headquarters. Read more details over at Disney At Work.

March 2012 - Storybook Circus - (1/26/12) According to local sources the new Storybook Circus version of Dumbo: The Flying Elephant should be ready to open March 12th, along with The Great Goofini coaster (formerly: Goofy’s Barnstormer). These will open up along with the new Casey Jr. water play area, character meet and greets and the nearby train station this Spring. 
    (1/20/12) The latest update at Orlando Parks News caught work crews busy removing and lifting out the old Dumbo ride arms with a crane. Plus they take a look around the rest of the Fantasyland construction site to see what’s new.
    (1/19/12) MouseSteps ventures back into the Magic Kingdom (and atop the Contemporary) to check out the latest construction progress taking place for the Fantasyland revamp.
    (1/9/12) A huge Fantasyland construction photo update has been posted to Theme Park Review this week.
    (1/4/12) MouseSteps has posted pictures today showing off a look at the latest Fantasyland progress as well as pics of the new Dumbo ride making a test run with only about four Elephants attached to the ends of the arms. But there were people riding in some of them… have to give them a proper test you know.
    (12/12/11) I figured as much, but I’ve been told that the footers going into the old circus tent structures are for new more beefy support structures to hold up a stronger framework. The new bigger supports are going into place, and actually poke up taller than the old roof structure does.
    (12/7/11) DizFanatic has posted some nice new aerial pictures from the Fantasyland construction site.  In addition to getting a great look at the new Dueling Dumbos, the skin on the two giant circus tents has come up and you can see that the work crews have been busy digging and setting up large square footers around the center of each tent. Anyone have a clue what’s going on here? There has also been some serious excavating going on across the pathway from Pooh on the site of the future Seven Dwarves Mine Ride.
    (12/1/11) Orlando Parks News has posted a few sneak peek pictures of the base for the new Dumbo ride going in over at the Storybook Circus area.
    (11/16/11) The center base of the new Dumbo ride has arrived according to the official Disney Parks Blog. If you want to see it with the cover off, check out a few new pictures posted to Orlando Parks News. Meanwhile an assortment of new trees have been planted in Fantasyland just behind the old Dumbo ride.
    (11/11/11) Disney World’s Passholder newsletter has confirmed that the new Storybook Circus area will be the first phase of the new Fantasyland to open in early 2012. This will include the new Casey Jr. water play feature, The Great Goofini coaster (formerly Goofy’s Barnstormer) and the first half of the new Dumbo attraction (with the new interactive circus queue). The second side of the nicknamed “Dueling Dumbos” will open later, once they move and refurbish the old existing ride to it’s new home.
    (6/15/11) The official Disney Blog is showing off a new piece of concept artwork showing off the new Storybook Circus area coming to the Magic Kingdom, which will be home to the new version of Dumbo as well as a recreation of the Casey Jr. train, who is getting splashed by playful circus animals. This area will be placed right in front of the train station, and we can now see where the old Barnstormer coaster, revised to be a stunt plane experience by The Great Goofini will fit into it all. The article really fails to talk about what’s inside all the big circus tents, though I’m guessing the old Meet & Greet areas will go back inside the big one.

May 2012 - Big Thunder Rehab - (1/26/12) Intercot reports that when Big Thunder Mountain reopens in late May the queue will have quite a few changes that will play up the “mining” backstory a lot more.
    (10/21/11) Work has begun to prepare Big Thunder for it’s track work project coming up, and they’ve begun to remove most of the wooden railroad tie pieces from the track sections where they are going to be doing work. You can see picture of the newly exposed and very coaster looking track sections posted to Westcoaster this week.
    (10/19/11) When Big Thunder closes for its extended rehab, look for the ride to receive a major track refurbishment package, said to be similar in scope to what was done to Space Mountain last time around. Even better… look for Big Thunder to get a little NextGen love and feature new surprises when it reopens.
    (10/11/11) Screamscape sources tell us that the plan for the Big Thunder Rehab is to perform an extensive rebuild / rehab to the ride’s track system. It is also expected to only be closed through to May 12, allowing for a few weeks of extra padding if needed between then and Memorial Day Weekend.
    (10/10/11) It has been reported that Big Thunder Mountain will close for a rather lengthy rehab starting January 9th, 2012 and isn’t expected to reopen until just before Memorial Day weekend in May.

Fall 2012 - The Little Mermaid - (1/31/12) A new Fantasyland construction update has been posted to Orlando Parks News this week with a look at the nearly empty hillside where the Fantasyland Skyway station used to sit. Be sure to check out the second-half of the update to see how the buildings and exterior of the Little Mermaid ride are forming up nicely as well as a look at the new fancy brick look of the former Toontown Train Station.
    (1/26/12) According to this news report the Little Mermaid ride will feature an “interactive scavenger hunt in the queue” when it opens in late 2012. I’m not certain, but I believe the Be Out Guest restaurant and Gaston’s Tavern may also be ready to open around this same time. (If anyone knows otherwise, please update me.)
    (12/22/11) A nice set of new aerial photos of the Fantasyland construction site has been posted to Theme Park Review this week.
    (12/13/11) New Fantasyland construction updates have been posted to MouseSteps and DaMouse this week.
    (9/7/11) Seeming to back up the rumor that Gaston’s pub may be serving some kind of Butterbeer style drink is Disney’s very own concept artwork showing off a restaurant full of families, with tons of kids drinking large frothy golden beverages out of the huge glass mugs. I’m sure Disney isn’t trying to sell beer to kids, so they must have something special in the works here.
    (9/6/11) In a strange bit of news, I’m hearing quite an interesting rumor regarding some plans Disney may be trying to flesh out for Gaston’s Pub in Fantasyland. Inspired by the success of Butterbeer over at Universal’s Wizarding World, Disney may be not only trying to create their own version of a Butterbeer style beverage, but a small variety of other custom beverages that guests will only be able to get from Gaston’s pub. How many different drinks go on tap will apparently depend on how the taste tests go over at Disney’s secret labs. Also check out a nice photo update from the Fantasyland project can be found over at MouseSteps this week.
    (7/12/11) The latest update at Disney and More shows off a ton of new concept artwork for the newly renamed Under the Sea: Journey of the Little Mermaid ride coming to the Magic Kingdom in Fall 2012. The artwork shows off the very different themed exterior of the attraction building, as well as views inside what appears to be an interactive themed queue area, something they didn’t have room for at the California Adventure version. All this comes from a great new video about the attraction from Disney Imagineering, embedded below.
    Of course if you want to really get a solid idea of what you can expect from this new ride, then check out my own video of the California Adventure version that just opened last month below that. You can also see a few new pictures of the construction progress in the Fantasyland area over at WDW News Today.

    (6/15/11) Last week the blog also shows off a peek over the wall at the new Enchanted Tales With Belle building along with Maurice’s Workshop. Before that, they looked at Under the Sea – Journey of the Little Mermaid. For those hoping to get a ride next summer, you may be out of luck as the blog states that the expanded Fantasyland offerings will start to open in phases, but not until “late 2012”. It’s just a guess, but maybe Oct. 1st?
    (4/26/10) About Theme Parks has posted an interesting rumor about the new Beauty and the Beast themed restaurant coming with the Fantasyland upgrade. The article claims that while the restaurant will function as a typical quick service restaurant during the day, it will transform into a full-service high-end eatery in the evenings for Dinner.

Late 2013/Early 2014 - Seven Dwarves Mine Ride - (10/5/11) Disney has posted a new time-lapse construction video showing off everything that has changed so far in Fantasyland, giving you a good view of just how much bigger Fantasyland is going to be by the time they are done.

    (9/2/11) Disney has posted a few new pictures pieces of artwork for the Fantasyland revamp on their Blog, which includes a nice shot of the Seven Dwarves coaster and a look at what will become of the current Snow White ride building.
    (8/26/11) At the D23 convention last week, Disney shared some test animation showing off what some of the Seven Dwarves Mine Train coaster would look like. Check it out below.

    (3/23/11) Despite the concept artwork released to date, Screamscape has heard it said before, and once again now, that the Seven Dwarves coaster will mostly be an outdoor ride. I’ve also heard that it may not be ready to open until 2014 right now, though these kind of things are subject to change.
    (2/3/11) Theme Park Tourist has written up a nice little piece on the Seven Dwarves coaster, which looks at all the various rumors about the ride and tries to narrow down the facts.
    (1/29/11) Everyone has been wondering just what we can expect from the Seven Dwarves coaster and according to this interview with Disney Imagineer Eric Jacobson, the experience will be somewhere in between Big Thunder Mountain and Goofy’s Barnstormer. By the end of the ride, the cars your in are supposed to be so full of jewels from the mine, they’ll tip side to side to “unload their cargo”.
    (1/26/11) New concept artwork showing off an indoor scene within the new Seven Dwarves coaster has been posted onto one of the construction walls within the park. You can see it over at Inside The Magic.
    (1/19/11) Disney World held a special media event on Tuesday to talk about all kinds of exciting new things. A big part of this was to unveil the revised plans for the New Fantasyland project, which will nearly double the size of Fantasyland.
   The new timeline has the early phases ready to open in late 2012, which should start with the attractions we already know about which have been under construction for months now. T his includes Under the Sea – Journey of the Little Mermaid (a new dark ride), Enchanted Tales with Belle and the Be Our Guest Restaurant. Enchanted Tales with Belle will begin in Maurice’s workshop where a magical mirror transports guests into the Beast’s library to meet Belle and Lumiere.  The Be Our Guest Restaurant will feaure dining experiences in the ballroom, gallery and mysterious “West Wing” of the castle. The new eatery will have seating for 550 guests and while it will offer a more fast food offering during the daytime, by evening the restaurant will transform into a table service dining facility. Nearby you will also find Gaston’s Tavern and Bonjour! Village Gifts.
    It is true that the concepts for individual attraction environments for several other princess characters has been cut, they will now be merged into the Princess Fairytale Hall where guests can meet Aurora, Cinderella, Tiana, Rapunzel and more. The new Princess Fairytale Hall will be located where the Snow White’s Scary Adventures dark ride stands today, so it is sad that we will lose a classic dark ride in the process. In an attempt to make up for this however, Disney has confirmed that The Seven Dwarfs Mine Train ride is real and on the way to New Fantasyland. According to the description the mine train will, “take guests on a rollicking, musical ride into the mine “where a million diamonds shine.”  The coaster will feature a first-of-its kind ride system with a train of ride vehicles that swing back and forth, responding to every twist and turn of the track.  The journey will be accompanied by music from the classic Disney film and animated figures of Snow White and the Dwarfs.” Interesting bit about the coaster cars and how they moved with the turns. I’m wondering if they really “swing” side to side, or sway or perhaps more of a fishtail. There have been a few concepts thrown out at IAAPA to perform a few moves like this from companies like Mack and Premier Rides.
    And finally we hear on over to what will replace Toontown Fair, starting with the new Storybook Circus featuring two side by side Dumo the Flying Elephant rides. (aka: Nicknamed by the fans: Dueling Dumbos). Before you ride, you’ll enter the Big Top which has been filled with tons of “family games and interactive wonders for kids of all ages”. Next door you’ll find the coaster formerly known as Goofy’s Barnstormer, which will get an all new and be rethemed to The Great Goofini, the famous stunt pilot. I believe the plan is to try and finish up the final phases of the New Fantasyland by late 2013 or early 2014. Now if you get a chance, take a look at our new artwork pictures. I’ve included both the newly released overall artwork of the land as well as a the previous version of this same painting that was released way back at the D23 Expo. You can see how things have changed a bit here and there... especially with the addition of the Seven Dwarves Mine Train as well as whatever all those circus tents in the upper right corner are going to be used for in the New Fantasyland. Originally this area was to be used for Pixie Hollow, then as a home for Dueling Dumbos for a time... and now it’s kind of a mystery.
    (10/18/10) Amusement Insider has posted a rather huge scoop this week (scroll down a little to find it) regarding the second phase of the Fantasyland expansion. From the sound of it, most of Phase 2 may have been tossed in favor of some new additions. First the good news… that long rumored and dropped roller coaster for the Seven Dwarves mine ride is said to be 100% back on track and will involve a layout with both indoor and outdoor coaster sections. In addition Goofy’s Barnstormer may actually get to keep it’s name, and may be given a minor new theme of Goofy’s performing an aerial circus act, which will fit right in with the new Double Dumbo ride going in next door.
    Now for the bad news… especially for the Disney Princess fans out there. They claim that the Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella Meet & Greet attractions may have been scrapped entirely along with the entire Pixie Hollow concept. Even worse however is the rumor that Snow White’s Scary Adventure will be closed down entirely as early as February 2011 to allow for the new redesign plans for this area of the park. Want a little more? Be sure to check out the Amusement Insider’s own Fantasyland construction update as well.

2013 - New Parade - Rumor - (1/23/12) According to a new rumor going around, Disney is making plans to launch a new deluxe daytime parade sometime in 2013… likely around the same time they are ready to open the majority of the Fantasyland expansion site. No word on the theme or the show, though I’ve heard that that proposed floats will be quite complex. As for the night parade, I’ve also heard that there may be plans afoot to refurbish and upgrade Spectromagic for an eventual return when they finally retire the Main Street Electrical Parade once again.  (I’ve got to wonder if they’ll send MSEP to Shanghai at that point…)